Part 2 (2/2)
”Yes, Lord,” Fearin said, then raised his cup of wine. ”The will of Diin-tha shall ever be mine.”
The G.o.d nodded regally as Fearin drank from his cup, then turned toward the fighter Garam while the High Master reseated himself on the golden floor weaving. Garam rose immediately to his feet, his usual arrogance pushed well behind him.
”We give you greetings and welcome, Lord,” Garam said, looking up at the giant figure before him. ”As always, you honor us with your presence.”
”How goes your planning for the taking of the city, Prince Garam?” the G.o.d asked, acknowledging the fighter's words with a movement of his finger. ”Have you yet finalized yourintentions?”
”In all details but one, Lord,” Garam answered, working very hard not to look as frightened as I knew he felt. I could smell the fear on him even with the G.o.d and his mist between us, and wasn't particularly surprised.
”I still need someone who knows the city to guide me and my infiltration force to the places where we want to be before the attack,” Garam explained, gently swirling the wine in the cup he held. ”If we have to find those places ourselves, the risk of detection goes up rather alarmingly. It also delays the attack, and every delay threatens our possession of the element of surprise.”
”Be at ease, for you will soon have the a.s.sistance you require,” the G.o.d told him, a faint soothing now evident in the deep rumble. ”Use the a.s.sistance wisely, and continue to plan as successfully as you have. You may now retire.”
”Yes, Lord,” Garam said, then raised his cup of wine the way Fearin had. ”The will of Diin-tha shall ever be mine.”
For the second time the G.o.d nodded acknowledgment of the words of dedication, and then he turned to the Healing Master Lokkel. Garam sat down while Lokkel stood up, but my attention wandered from the now-familiar greeting being spoken by Lokkel. It was fairly clear that it would eventually be my turn, and I was having trouble deciding what I would say and do.
Dealing with a G.o.d was not like dealing with men, something I didn't have to be told.
The problem took me so deeply into my thoughts that I came back to awareness only to discover that Ranander was speaking the words of dedication. I'd missed what had been said to three of the men here, including what talent or ability the fighter Talasin had. It was clear everyone at the gathering had a talent or ability, which was why they were here in the first place.
Ranander spoke warmly and happily, as calm as Garam had been frightened, and then suddenly those very black, more than human, eyes were on me. I got to my feet rather more slowly than Fearin and Garam and Lokkel had done, and simply stood there in silence.
”And you have something of a dilemma, have you not, child?” the G.o.d said as he looked down at me, faint amus.e.m.e.nt on that very beautiful face. ”Having been dedicated to Bellid makes you unable to dedicate yourself to me, no matter your own wishes in the matter. Surely you would join my effort willingly if that were not so.”
”Join an effort I know nothing about?” I came back, annoyed at having been worried for nothing. Of course Diin-tha would know I'd been dedicated to Bellid; G.o.ds had a habit of knowing everything. ”Is that the way you got these others to join you? First demanding that they dedicate themselves, and only later telling them what it's all about? If that's the way they let it happen, you won't get as much out of them as you expect to.”
”Bellid must surely have been greatly pleased with your dedication to him,” Diin-tha commented, a definite dryness in the deep rumble. ”He has always had an unexplained fondness for rudeness and effrontery, a fondness few of the rest of us share. He takes pride in being the patron of those who are called Shadowborn, those mortals who live such singular lives.”
I heard Fearin draw in his breath sharply, as though he'd almost said something out of turn, but apparently he had more self-discipline than that. He'd heard the word Shadowborn before now, and knew what we were - or, more accurately, knew what I was. Lack of reaction from the others probably meant they knew nothing of the same, but I doubted if it would be long before they did.
”You stand silent but unrepentant,” Diin-tha remarked, still staring down at me with those deep black eyes. ”Your nature has become such that you are now truly one of Bellid's own, his despite the fact that your original dedication was in no manner your own doing. With such a truth in mind I will do as I had not intended, and shall speak to you as though you were male.”
There was a stirring around the circle, as if most of those in the tent s.h.i.+fted in place, but no onespoke. I knew I was being accorded a rather high privilege, but somehow my enthusiasm wasn't as great as it might have been.
”Those about you have been enlisted in a proposed war of conquest, but not a war of the sort you mortals engage in,” the G.o.d said. ”It will seem as though the desire for conquest is Fearin's, but once his final objective has been reached it will be my desires which are satisfied.
One who is my enemy thinks he has taken my followers from me in a city which has ever been mine, and the return of that city to the rest of my domain is the victory those about you now bend their efforts toward.”
Most of my attention was on the G.o.d, but I had no trouble noticing that the men in the circle were listening carefully to what was being said to me.
”My active support will be available to this group in the last of the effort, but none save those of this gathering must know of my involvement before then,” Diin-tha continued. ”Your skills are necessary for my success, so necessary that I spoke with Bellid, who graciously allowed me your loan. The decision of your joining this gathering has already been made for you, by the one who holds your destiny-oath, but I would have you understand what occurs about you and through that receive the greatest effort you are capable of. Do you understand what you have been told?”
Those black eyes stared at me soberly, possibly trying to judge how I was taking what I'd heard. Out of habit my face showed nothing of my feelings, I knew, but the G.o.d had no real need to see an expression before he had his answer.
”You understand completely and are extremely agitated,” he observed, an unreadable expression on his own handsome face. ”Such a state of mind is hardly conducive toward excellent performances by mortals, therefore I shall add a further datum. When you are all victorious on my behalf, each of you will receive two blessings from me, one a thing you desire, the other a thing you have need of. Between the two, you will find yourself well repaid for having striven to the utmost for me.”
”Why would I be given those blessings?” I asked at once, the churning inside me overriding the prudent silence I'd been trying to maintain. ”If my skills and I have already been given to you by Bellid, your appreciation and thanks should be his rather than mine.”
”Bellid and I have made other arrangements concerning my appreciation,” Diin-tha said, a faint smile now curving the corners of his mouth. ”You, not being a G.o.d, would have little understanding of what such an arrangement entails. However, your being mortal guarantees an appreciation of being rewarded for a service. Am I now to have your willing a.s.sistance, rather than little beyond your mere presence?”
The urge to ask why he didn't simply force willingness on me was almost overpowering, but I wasn't as completely Bellid's as I might have been. The G.o.ds do things in their own way for their own reasons, and those who question a beneficial way too often find one less easy to live with. I had very little interest in Diin-tha's game of conquest, but I also had very little choice about joining it.
”My willing a.s.sistance, such as it is, is now yours,” I acknowledged with a small nod. ”What skills I have will be exercised fully and enthusiastically on your behalf.”
”Enthusiastically,” the G.o.d repeated with something of a look of reproach, then he shook his head. ”I'd wondered at Bellid's amus.e.m.e.nt when I presented my proposal to him, but now I wonder no longer. Your service will clearly be an experience I have not before encountered.”
He stared down at me again, possibly wondering if hitting me with a lightning bolt would do too much damage, then he sighed and turned to Fearin.
”The circle is now complete, High Master,” Diin-tha said. ”As that is so, I have certain instructions for your ears alone.”
Since I had just reclaimed my seat on the floor weaving I thought I would have to get up again to give Fearin and the G.o.d privacy, but that turned out not to be necessary. The G.o.d went on speaking while Fearin nodded in understanding or asked an occasional question, but none ofthe sound of the conversation reached the rest of us.
A glance around showed me that the others weren't even looking at the two, a gesture adding even more to the privacy of the conversation, and I had the distinct feeling the same thing had been done any number of times before. I felt tempted to try reading the words on the lips of the two, then decided it might be wiser to wait until I was more fully recovered before I tried the patience of the G.o.d any further. Mortals need all the strength they can bring to bear when they have to face the anger of the G.o.ds.
I expected the private conversation to go on for some time, and was faintly surprised when it didn't. Without warning the G.o.d returned himself to the exact center of our circle, and then the mist that had clung to him in graceful patches began to thicken again. As the mist thickened the giant form inside it faded, and within a matter of heartbeats both form and mist were completely gone. Those in the circle seemed unwilling to break the silence that held them, but Fearin came out of distraction to take care of the matter.
”Since the gathering is now over, you can all go back to your tents or to wherever you like,”
the man of Power said, then turned his head to look at me. ”All, that is, but Aelana. There are a few things we need to discuss, so leave the guardsmen where they are. I'll dismiss them later.”
Even without looking at the others I could sense the hesitation in the four men who nevertheless got to their feet to leave. I had the distinct feeling they wanted to know what would be said between Fearin and me, but the High Master's att.i.tude told them there was no room for argument. Rather than voice any protests the four filed out of the tent, and after a long moment of considering me Fearin showed a very faint smile.
”I've never before met anyone who was trained by the Inadni,” he said, his tone odd. ”Most of those who complete their training are apparently sent ... somewhere to do things outsiders never learn about, and the rest stay a while to work with others after them before going off wherever it is they go off to. Also, I understand that the trainees are usually male.”
”As far as anyone knows, the trainees have always been male,” I answered, considering the cup of wine I hadn't needed after all before putting it aside. ”No one, including me, could understand why the Inadni chose a female, but they make a practice of never explaining themselves. And to answer the other question you implied, no, I didn't complete the training.
The Inadni and I ... didn't get along.”
”I see,” Fearin said, the expression in his dark blue eyes now hooded, his hand stroking his short blond beard. ”You didn't get along with the Inadni, but they still let you live. How far did you get in the training?”
”I achieved the eighteenth level before leaving,” I said, then gave him a faint smile of my own.
”If that means anything to you, the Inadni don't keep secrets as well as they think they do.”
”And you have no intention of explaining what it does mean,” he said, something of faint annoyance beginning to tickle him. ”How am I supposed to use your skills most effectively if you won't even tell me exactly what they are?”
”If I had to guess, I'd say you've heard as many whispered rumors about what Shadowborn are capable of as anyone else,” I said, for the most part unimpressed with his annoyance. ”For the purposes of this game you can consider the rumors all true, and if you have any specific questions about whether I can do something, all you have to do is ask. I won't lie no matter what the answer is.”
”But those rumors are - ” he began, deeply disturbed as he stopped the words in mid sentence.
For a moment I thought he would change the subject, but he apparently decided against it.
”But those rumors are the next thing to unbelievable, not to mention designed to frighten the wits out of people,” he said, studying me soberly. ”Can you speak to the wild animals of the forest, for example, and at certain times become like them? Can you reach a man surrounded by guardsmen, kill him silently, then melt away again into the shadows? Can you create dazzling beauty or produce horrifying ugliness, as the situation or your own inclinations demand?””Yes.” My one-word statement answered the questions that were only supposed to be examples, smiling again at the way Fearin reacted. This time disturbed was far too mild a description, but the look in the man's eyes made me lose the smile. ”I can do all of those things and a number of others, especially now that Bellid is no longer angry with me. He took away my ability to do a lot of that when I left the Inadni without their permission, but now that the abilities are back you don't have to worry. I doubt if Diin-tha will let me do it to you or the others, at least until he has what he wants.”
”I've never believed someone without the Power could do that much,” he said, gesturing away something I'd said without losing the really deep disturbance he'd been showing. ”Under other circ.u.mstances I might be tempted to doubt you, but with a G.o.d standing witness to the truth of what you're saying... I'd wondered why you hadn't managed to escape slavery sooner. Your G.o.d was angry with you.”
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