“The StarMan,” Azhure said tightly.
There was complete silence.
“Yes, of course,” Adamon finally whispered. “Axis. The StarMan. The God of Song.”
Azhure stared. “No. It cannot be.”
“Accept,” Xanon murmured by her side, and turrfed the woman’s shoulders towards the representation of the Goddess of the Moon.
The figure slowly turned in her sleep, and Azhure could see that she had raven-blue hair, and when she had rolled completely over, Azhure saw that the representation wore her own face.
“No…”
“Accept,” the seven whispered.
“No,” Azhure cried, but she let the Goddess cradle her in her arms as she stared sightlessly ahead.
“We are still vulnerable,” Adamon said eventually, “and we can still be defeated. Artor is strong. And I spoke only in hope when said Axis was the God of Song. There are two claimants to the last place among us – Axis and Gorgrael. If Gorgrael defeats Axis – and Gorgrael is the only one now who can kill Axis – then he will take the place among the Nine.”
“And we would not like that at all,” said Flulia. “For the God of Song would wield the Dance of Death.”
“Azhure,” Adamon said, “what you have heard here tonight shall not alter your life very much. But you needed to hear it to grow into your power. Already the Alaunt have sought you out, as has the Wolven. You wear the Circle of Stars, the symbol of unity and completeness -”
“Which was granted to the Enchantress to wear for her lifetime, but which truly waited for you,” Pors interrupted.
Azhure shook her head. “No. This cannot be. There have always been the Nine. Always. How can Axis and I now stand forth and claim to be…to be …”
“Claim to be of the Nine?” Xanon asked. “Those of the Nine have only come together gradually. There was always potential and need for Nine. Gradually the Seven were revealed. But the need for Song and Moon remained. Until now. Soon we will be complete.”
Azhure laughed softly, but her laughter was brittle. “No, no. No! This is going too far. Two years ago I was a simple peasant girl. Then I became mistress to the StarMan, then his wife and an Icarii Enchanter myself. Now . . . now you tell me that I ,am a god.” She paused, her eyes flitting about the group, wanting them to deny her words. But they kept silent. “It is a dizzying journey from the depths. And I do not think I like it.”
Xanon’s arm tightened about her shoulders. “Azhure, believe me, we were all human or Icarii at one point. All lowborn . . . but all directly descended from the Enchantress. Each of us was Called, and our Calling awakened special powers within us. Low-born,” she repeated, winking at Pors, and the god laughed.
“I was a simple marsh man, Azhure, seven thousand years ago. I thought my greatest calling was to trap the brown-legged frogs of Bogle Marsh to sell in the market places of western Tencendor. But then …” He shrugged expressively and looked at Flulia.
“And I a laundress from the town that once stood in the same site as Ysbadd,” she said. “I cared for sheets and starched creases and little else. And yet one day I found that I had a higher Calling. I found it hard to accept.”
“We all found it hard,” Xanon said, “especially those of us who were Called first. But it was a duty we were born into, destined for, and none of us could deny it.”
“Azhure, of all the Nine, you have had the highest parentage. WolfStar, a powerful Enchanter-Talon and one of the Lesser. Niah, the First Priestess of the Order of the Stars, whose first duty is always to the Moon.” Adamon sat back a moment and thought. “And you were conceived in the full of the Moon in the Dome of the Stars. How can you doubt your Calling?”
“You were the last chosen, Azhure. Born some two years after the StarMan and the Destroyer. Thus to you the Circle of Stars has come home. Soon we will be Nine. Soon we will be complete.”
“But a god?” Azhure’s eyes were still huge, still frightened.
Adamon reached across and took her hand. “Azhure, you place too much importance on the word ‘god’. We are only creatures of magic and workers of magic. And you have met and accepted many such creatures before. Have you not accepted the Sentinels?” She nodded hesitantly. “And the concept of the Enchanters? WolfStar? Orr? Axis himself?”
Azhure nodded again, more strongly this time, and Adamon smiled reassuringly at her. “And yet WolfStar has returned from death, and has walked this land for three thousand years. Orr has sat in his ferry for very, very much longer. You welcomed the Alaunt, and yet they are stranger still. You have borne the children of a man who sings with magic. You have taken tea with the Mother and Ur in the Enchanted Wood. Why the difficulty with the concept of ‘god’?”
“Azhure,” Silton said intensely, “we have our responsibilities, but we do not interfere in the daily lives of men and women. We are creatures of magic, as Adamon has said, except
that we exist on a different level than you have encountered previously. Accept.”
“Immortal?” Azhure whispered.
Again Pors shrugged. “Who knows?”
For a long time Azhure sat silently. “Would Axis and I have to, ah, spend our time…here?”
The Gods looked about at each other, laughing. “Oh, Azhure,” Zest said eventually, “do you think that we sit about these misty chambers and look solemn all day long? No. We meet as a group only occasionally. Now that we are free, we will spend our time as we want. If you and Axis choose to walk Tencendor, then that is what you do. If you wish to live in Sigholt or Carlon, well, that is your right. We all live our lives as we please. Of gods you have had experience only of Artor, and he chose to secrete himself from sight and wrap himself in pretensions. None of us are like that.”
Such a look of relief crossed Azhure’s face that the gods laughed again, and even the GateKeeper smiled. Azhure finally relaxed enough to grin herself. A worker of magic. Yes, she could accept that. “Then will you show me how to use my power?”
“Azhure, it will be our pleasure,” Xanon replied. “But you must learn slowly. For now all you need to know is that you do not have to wield or command power as such. You are magic, and eventually your power will come to you instinctively. As your acceptance deepens, so will your ability flower. But we will help.”
“I don’t have to learn to sing, do I?” Azhure asked with a wry grin, and Adamon patted her hand, restraining his smile.
“No, but one day you will learn more about the Star Dance than any of the Enchanters who surround you.”
“And Axis? What can I do for him?”
“Go to him, Azhure, and we will speak to you on the way,” Adamon said. “Teach you. And in turn you must teach Axis, and help him accept, too.”
“You will grow on the way,” Xanon said in a voice so soft that Azhure barely heard her.
“We will all see you again, Azhure.” Pors.
“Soon we will be Nine.” Flulia.
“Full Circle.” Silton.
“And now,” Adamon said briskly, standing up, “the sun is ready to rise, and you must return to your children and to StarDrifter, who will have need of your hands if his headache is to be assuaged.”
Azhure found herself swaying on the steps cut into the cliff-top. Frantically she leaned in towards the cliff face, but then she stopped herself.
“Instinctive,” she muttered, and let her hands fall to her side.
Instinctive, the waves sang as the tide surged forward. And Azhure laughed and ran lightly up the steps.
When she reached the top, WolfStar handed her a warm cloak and hugged her. “I may not see you for a very long time, Azhure, but always remember that I love you.”
And then he was gone.
She found StarDrifter, his face contorted in pain, leading a band of worried Priestesses and Icarii towards the cliff. Sicarius bounded ahead, and bayed joyfully when he saw Azhure.
StarDrifter couldn’t believe his eyes. Azhure had been weak and riddled with pain when last he saw her, but now she almost skipped along, holding a cloak tightly about her, her cheeks flushed with good health and vitality, and her hair streaming out behind her.
When she reached him she seized his head in her hands, kissed him, and leaned back. “Better?” she asked, her eyes mischievous, and StarDrifter realised his headache had completely disappeared.
“How?” he asked, but she laughed joyfully again, and took him by the hand.
“Instinctive!”
“May We Learn to Live with Each Other”