Part 65 (1/2)

Da's head flopped to one side.

”Da,” Talen said, horror slithering itself about him.

The monster held its ink black arm aloft, then it punched it into the belly of the figure lying on the floor. It knelt there until Talen realized the blackness was leaching out of the monster's arm and into the clay belly of the second monster.

Talen could barely whisper. ”No,” he said in a small voice. ”No.”

An eternity pa.s.sed, and then the monster withdrew its fist. The blackness was gone.

The earthen body upon the floor stirred. Its hideous mouth opened as if taking a breath. Then it turned its awful head to look Talen in the face.

Talen recoiled.

He could not breathe. Could not speak. What had they done to Da!

The woman turned, her escort s.h.i.+mmering about her, and Talen noticed her hands. They were smoky, flickering. Almost like that of a wraith. He had not noticed this before.

”Your former masters were lax to allow untamed elements into the populace. So I shall educate you. There is a great order of beings. This is the nature of creation. Humans have mastered many things, but not all. There are greater powers still. I will protect you from all takers. Serve me, and I will give you knowledge and power beyond what you can imagine. I shall raise you and crown you as Divines to your people. Think of all you could do with such power. Just bring me the master of the harvest.”

Her words were as smooth as silver. She was so beautiful, so convincing. A sc.r.a.p of a memory came to him. And he realized that when he was a child, he'd dreamt of this woman, of the bands of living light. He remembered the joy of those dreams, but they were so long ago. Before mother had died.

Part of him wanted to bask in her radiance. But there was a part of Talen that resisted her, part of him roiling with revulsion. He looked at the crown in his hand. If he could use it, perhaps he could do something, but the power of the crown was beyond him.

”I ask you again,” the woman said. She held up the wisterwife charm. ”Where are you hiding the one that bore my might?” Her words caressed Talen like silk. If he had known the truth, he would have told her.

And then he stopped himself-he did know the truth.

The charm, the dreams, the words River and the Creek Widow had spoken to him-they all roiled in his mind. His mother had discovered, working in the fiber of his body, strange and intricate patterns of power. ”Twisted,” River had said. ”Pruned and grafted for a great purpose,” the Creek Widow had said. They had all suspected it was for some greater good. But none of them could have suspected this.

It's me, he thought. I am the one she seeks. With a clarity that rang like a bell, Talen felt the truth of it. It sounded in his very bones. Talen's world was gone, replaced by this nightmare.

But what was he? Was he even human? He felt the panic of standing next to a high precipice and knowing he was going to tumble over the edge. He felt the fear of being dragged by a treacherous current far out to the deep and rough waters of a cold sea.

The woman motioned at Da's body. ”He's cooling even as we speak, but it's not too late. I can reverse the quickening. Tell me where the master is, and you shall save your friend.”

He could save Da. His mind told him this was true. But the crown in his hand whispered a warning.

He looked over at River. Her face was wracked with grief and fear.

”No,” she shook her head.

She'd freed herself of the collar, which meant she was probably working her lore, multiplying her powers. Even so, what could she do that Da as a Victor could not? Her attack would be as futile as Ke's had been.

”Don't listen,” said Uncle Argoth. ”She means to put us up like so much smoked meat.”

”That is true,” the woman said. ”But this is the order of things. You love and cherish your cattle, your sheep, your beasts. But in the end you feed off of them. Why should it be any different with us? Besides, you will fare better under my management than you ever could on your own. You people will grow old in peace. You yourself will live to the age of a tree doing much good, protecting those most dear to you, putting down injustice and squas.h.i.+ng your enemies beneath your feet. You will heal sickness in children, cattle, and herbs. Peace and fatness will reign in these valleys and hills and sh.o.r.es until the end of your days. This is what I give you-the power to bless.”

The joy of her vision overwhelmed Talen. Indeed, he thought, why should they fight her? Is this not what every man and woman desired? The good he could do was unimaginable. And how could he be so ungrateful when she was offering him the means to save Da?

Again, revulsion roiled in him. The vision faltered. Was she lying?

He looked at Da lying in the dust. He could save Da. He could do good. And if he didn't pick up the reins she was offering to them, surely someone else would. Someone like Fabbis or Sabin or the Crab who would rule with cruelty.

Her words filled him with hope, and he made his decision.

”I am the one,” he said. ”It is me you seek.”

”No, Talen!” Uncle Argoth shouted. ”She twists life. She will steal your will.”

”On the contrary,” the woman said, turning toward him. ”This is your will, is it not?”

His traitorous heart leapt to her. Yes, it was his will. And yet it was not.

”Those that fight the thrall do not endure,” she said. ”They are creatures destined for madness and wrath. And when a creature's wrath is full, there is nothing left to do but cut it down for the devouring. But you see he comes to me without a collar. He was bred to rule. It is best that humans rule other humans. It's a matter of trust.”

”She lies,” said Uncle Argoth. ”You can fight her.”

”Does not a dog glory in the praise of its master? Has it not been bred to do so? The world of men was domesticated ages ago. Your very nature makes you dependent on us. The only difference between you and your dogs is the genius of your masters.” She turned to Talen. ”You were woven to work with me without impediment. Your only task master will be my approbation.”

The woman came to him in her beauty and s.h.i.+ning light.

”Save him,” Talen said and pointed at Da.

”All in good time,” said the woman. ”All in good time. First, we shall see if you are what you claim to be.”

Yes, he thought. That was right. But underneath it all he knew it was not. Da was dying. Every second would count.

”Just as a crucible is made to hold heat other vessels cannot contain, you have been bred to wield power impossible to others. We will raise an army from the very earth,” said the woman. ”And you will command it.”

She approached him, reaching out with her smoky hands. Her s.h.i.+ning escort enveloped him.

He should have felt fear, but all he felt was the ease of the woman and her smiling eyes. The warning in the crown built. It vibrated in his feet and across his shoulders-an urgent call to step away. But why was he even holding the crown? He let it drop to the floor, and as he did the glory about her grew. She was so beautiful. Atra was nothing compared to this woman. And yet did this woman not look like Atra?

Something probed him. Talen held his doors closed, but he could feel her gnawing all along his essence with something as small and sharp as the teeth of rats.

The probing became stronger.

Reflexively, he shut himself tight as River had taught him.

The woman pulled away and appraised him. He felt her pleasure, and it almost sent him to his knees. ”You are indeed mine. Mine from the moment you were conceived. The weave has been changed. But the flaw that's been introduced is nothing that, with time, cannot be righted.”

The flaw. Somehow that was significant, but he could not hold that thought. She spoke in Atra's voice. Looked at him with Atra's eyes. Except they weren't Atra's. They were at once more alien and more captivating than Atra's could ever be.

Another wave of pleasure washed over him. He looked at Da's body. It was not right to have such wondrous feelings. It was wicked. It was an abomination. And yet he could not deny the power of them.

”In time you will become as great as the Goat King himself.”

Suddenly a music inside him swelled. It sang in his blood and bones. He thought it was the crown, but then remembered he'd dropped that. For a brief moment the fog in his mind cleared away. The woman's voice fell flat.