Kindra nodded, pleased at Rohana’s quick comprehension of her plan. Rafaella played a short introduction, and Rohana began, hearing her own voice wavering:
“The stars were mirrored on the shore, Dark was the dim enchanted moor; Silent were field and tree and ‘stone….”
The other women clustered in close, as if to listen to the ancient ballad; Rohana heard her own voice falter, fought to steady it. She must somehow collect herself to remember all the seemingly endless verses, string it out while Kindra gave soft, detailed instructions to every one of the Amazons. Get hold of yourself, she ordered and commanded herself: This is something you can do, while they do the real work … the dangerous work, the fighting . . ..
Yet they are women. I learned to think fighting was for men; I could never carry a knife, strike, see blood flow, perhaps suffer wounding, die…
Sing, damn you, Rohana! Stop thinking, sing….
“He lay thrown up along the shore, The sands were jeweled evermore, And to the shore Cassilda came And called him by a mortal name….”
Struggling to remember the next lines, she heard Kindra, in a low, tense voice, detailing the information she had been given, pointing to the pattern she had scratched in the sand by firelight.
“Jalak sleeps here, with his favorites and Melora; there are no guards in the room, but just outside…”
“Cassilda wept and paled and fled, Camilla knelt and raised his head, He left his high immortal fire, For mortal man’s entranced desire; White bread and wine and cherries red…
“-No, damn it, I skipped a verse,” she said, breaking off in vexation, then realized it did not matter; no one was listening anyway.
“Brought by her doves through morning bright,
Camilla came, and bowed her head, He ate and drank by mortal light;
And as his brilliance paled away
Into a dimmer earthly day
Cassilda left her shining loom:
A starflower in his hand she laid;
Then on him fell a mortal doom….”
“Are the windows accessible by ladders?” asked Gwennis, and Kindra snapped, “They might be, if we had ladders. Next question, but no more stupid ones, please! We have time to kill, but not that much time!”
“Into the heart of Alar fell, A splinter from the Darkest Hell, And madness raging on him came, He cried again on Zandru’s name, And at the darkened forge he made A darkly shining magic blade; An evil spell upon it cast….”
“Devra and Rima, you will stay here, and the moment we come in sight, get moving! Be sure that the guards at the gate make no outcry—–” Kindra looked meaningfully at Rima.
The fat woman laid a hand on her knife, with a grim nod. Kindra said, “Camilla, you ride lighter than any of us; you will carry the child on your saddle. Lady Rohana-no, go on singing! You must be ready to ride close to Melora, to be alert for anything she needs; we shall all be busy enough evading pursuit and dealing with anyone who might come after us.”
Rohana felt a shudder take her, seize her body and shake it like a rabbithorn in the grip of a wolf. Her voice faltered; she tried to cover it with a cough, and doggedly went on, knowing she was garbling the words horribly:
“He could not see the-something-plan That gave a God to mortal wife, That earthly love with mortal man- Should bring to man a-something-life, Camilla fell without a cry-”
Damn, damn, I’ve skipped two whole verses again….
“And Hastur, shielded by her heart, Knew he could die as mortals die….”
“Lori, you handle the cralmacs; I understand you know how they fight. Those long blades . . . anything else? Leeanne?”
“Remember that sometimes the Dry-Towners poison their swords. Don’t neglect even a scratch. I’ve got some ointment that is supposed to neutralize their worst poisons….”
“Then Hastur son of Light had known, (For so had ruled the Shining Sire When first he left the Realm of Fire) Once more his star must burn alone … For on the earth he might not reign If he should cause one mortal pain, Or in that hour he must return To the far realms that were his own….”