But Tamis continued as if she had not heard her, her words striking Derae like sharp knives. ‘I watched you heal Hermias, when his skull was crushed! That is when I knew you were the one to follow me. You can do it, Derae – but only by surrendering another gift. You know what is needed, why do you persevere with this defiance?’
‘I will not do it!’ stormed the girl. ‘Never! You will not take my eyes!’
Tamis had shrugged and had patiently continued with the lessons. By the third year Derae showed small signs of success. She could stand in the garden and will sparrows to fly to her hand; and once she healed Naza of a cut to his arm, placing her fingers over the wound and sealing it so that there was no scar.
At night she still dreamt of escape – of running into the hills, hiding in the distant woods and somehow finding her way back to Sparta – and Parmenion.
But it would not be today, she realized, staring at the open gateway and the fields beyond. Slowly she walked between the temple pillars to the open altar where she laid the roses Naza had given her.
‘When will you learn, child?’ asked Tamis.
The girl looked round. ‘I did not know you had returned.’
The old woman approached the priestess, laying her hand on the girl’s shoulder. ‘It must be as it is. Try to accept it: you are Chosen.’
‘I don’t want it!’ cried the girl, brushing Tamis’ hand from her shoulder. ‘I never wanted it.’
‘You think that I did? Wanting it is not part of the gift. You have it, or you do not.’
‘Well, I do not. I speak no prophecies, there are no visions.’
Tamis took the girl by the arm and led her back into the garden to sit beside a white-walled pool. ‘There are men and women who will die today,’ said the old woman softly. ‘They do not wish to. All of them will have works that are left undone, or children, or husbands or wives. They have no choice – as you have no choice. The days of the Dark God are close, my dear, and I will be dead. Someone must follow me. Someone of courage and spirit. Someone who cares. It was always to be you.’
‘Are you deaf, Tamis? I have few gifts!’
‘They are there, but they have been pushed deep. You will find them when you give your own gift to the Lord of All Things, when you give up your sight.’
‘No!’ said the girl. ‘You cannot force me! I will not do it!
‘No one is going to force you – that would destroy all I have worked for. It must be your own decision.’
‘And if I do not?’
‘I don’t know, child. I wish that I did.’
‘But you can see the future – you are a sorceress.’
Tamis smiled. Leaning forward, she cupped her hand in the water of the pool and drank. ‘Life is not so simple. There are many futures. The life of a single person is like a great tree: every branch, every twig, every leaf is a possible
future. Years ago I looked at my own deaths – it took almost a year to track them all down and at the end I realized there were still thousands to be seen. Now the end is close, and I know the day. But, yes, I have seen you take up the challenge and refuse it, and I have seen you both win and lose. But which is it to be?’
‘Will I be able to speak to the gods?’ questioned the priestess.
Tamis was silent for a moment, then she sighed. ‘I am patient, Derae, but time is becoming precious. I have waited three years for you to realize there is no going back. But now is the time for a different course. I may be wrong, but I will tell you the truth – all of it, though it will be painful. Firstly, there are no gods as you think of them. The names we know – Zeus, Apollo, Aphrodite – all were once men and women like you and I. But that is not to say there are no gods at all. For beyond the myths there are real forces of light and darkness, of love and chaos.’