Gilthas let the ash twig drop from his hands as the human prisoner arrived. Jeralund gaped at the bounty arranged around the throne.
Gilthas ordered his bonds removed then asked politely, “Are you well?”
Jeralund said he was. The Great Change had healed his relatively minor injuries too.
“Have you any reason to complain of your treatment here?”
“No, Speaker.”
Gilthas leaned back in his chair and gestured for Jeralund to help himself from a nearby bowl of fruit. Drink was brought. Soon the sergeant was sipping rich red berry juice.
“Although you were the consort of an assassin, I have chosen to parole you.”
Jeralund choked on a mouthful of juice. Gilthas had had his suspicions about the human—plainly a soldier and not the type to enter Inath-Wakenti on his own. Kerian’s description of the killing of Faeterus smacked of a Nerakan plot. The sergeant’s reaction confirmed that theory. Exactly why the Order wanted Faeterus dead, Gilthas didn’t know.
“I release you for one purpose: to return to your masters and tell them what you have seen here.”
Jeralund wiped juice from his lips. He regarded the Speaker thoughtfully for a moment then repeated, “Tell them what I have seen?”
“In every detail. I wish it known in Neraka that we have recovered from our time in Khur. Tell them of our new strength and our new riches; then tell them to darken our doorstep no more.”
With freedom in his hands, Jeralund did an odd thing. He spoke the truth.
“Why should the lords of Neraka heed your command, Speaker?” he said. “Why shouldn’t they gather their armies and seize this fertile land for themselves?”
Gilthas glanced at Kerian. The Great Change had healed her griffon’s eye, and Eagle Eye stood like a fierce statue by his mistress’s right hand. Kagonesti and griffon wore similar expressions of proud disdain. It did not escape the Speaker’s notice that Jeralund kept darting uncertain looks in their direction. It was impossible to know which of them unnerved him more.
“Your masters will not come here,” Gilthas finally replied. “The same power that changed a sterile wasteland into a garden is still here. Consider what might happen should that power be unleashed with unfriendly intent.”
“If you have such power, why not use it now to extinguish your enemies forever?”
“I am tired of war. I want to build a nation, not conquer others. Tell your lords that too. If they let us be, we will let them be. Move against us, and the consequences will be dire.”
Jeralund bowed with rough grace and vowed to deliver the Speaker’s message as dictated.
After he had been escorted away, Kerian asked, “How do you know he’ll do what you ask? His masters don’t welcome ultimatums. He may turn south and never see Neraka again.”
“It might be more effective for us if he does just that. If he spreads his tale among those he meets along the way, the story will reach Neraka through a thousand channels instead of only one. The knights may be more likely to believe it.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You are devious,” she said. She meant it as a compliment.
The human spy dealt with, Kerian swung onto Eagle Eye’s back. A question had been nagging her since the Great Change. Consultation with the high priestess Sa’ida had not supplied an answer. To quiet her concerns, a return to Mount Rakaris was in order.
Before she took off, Gilthas asked how she was feeling. It was a question he asked frequently these days. Kerian had been up at dawn, losing what remained of her dinner the night before.
“I’m fine,” she said sourly. “And no, I don’t want an apple.” He had acquired an annoying tendency to press food upon her at every turn.
“Fruit is good for you.”
“Did I say you were devious? I meant cruel,” she shot back. She and Eagle Eye took wing.
Even as the breeze stirred up by the griffon’s departure died away, Sa’ida arrived. Just before the Great Change, the elves had found her unconscious in her tent, a terrible gash in her thigh. The magical blast healed her wound, but she remained unconscious for hours after everyone else had awakened. When finally she did revive, she awoke screaming. Truthanar told her what had happened—the explosions, the miraculous healing, and the astounding transformation of Inath-Wakenti. She nodded, then lapsed into a natural, restful sleep.
Still looking wan and moving slowly, she bowed to the Speaker. He bade her sit.
“How are you today, Holy One? I’m told that of all the souls in Inath-Wakenti, you are the only one not strengthened by the Great Change,” he said.
She admitted he was right, rubbing her forehead and grimacing. “Great Speaker, I’m not certain you realize just how much power was released here. It was”—she shivered—“overwhelming. I will live, sire, but I fear I will never practice the high art again.”
Attuned to the natural world by her devotion to the goddess, Sa’ida experienced the mighty surge as a blow that struck at the very core of her being. The tremendous force had burned her soul, and she could not bear the thought of coming into contact with magic again.
“What will you do, lady?” asked Hamaramis.
“I don’t know. I cannot return to the temple.” In that mystic place, she would be in constant torment, and of little use besides.
“Stay with us,” Gilthas offered. “You will always be welcome here.”
Her smile was forced. “Your Majesty is generous, but the air here crackles with latent power. I cannot remain.”
He did not waste time trying to persuade her. He did offer whatever she might need for her journey, including a griffon ride to the destination of her choice. Instead of aerial transport, she requested a cart and a sturdy horse to pull it. She wished to depart as soon as possible.
While the cart was stocked with food and water, Sa’ida put two sealed scrolls into the Speaker’s hands. One was a letter to be delivered to her sisters in the Temple of Elir-Sana. The other, thicker roll of parchment was for Sahim-Khan. Gilthas eyed the latter as if it was a deadly serpent.
Sa’ida said, “I’ve told him I will not be returning to Khuri-Khan, and of my suspicions about the workings of the Nerakans in Khur and what I know of his son’s condition. I’m sure he will know what to do with the information.”
He promised to have both messages delivered. Robien was returning to Khur with the desiccated skull of Faeterus to collect a sizable bounty. He could carry the sealed scrolls as well as his prize.
The priestess’s departure was difficult for Gilthas. If she hadn’t braved the unknown and come to the valley, he would not have survived to see the Great Change. And because she had, she’d lost everything that was important to her. Truly grieving her loss, he rose and took her hand in both of his.
“If ever you need me, holy lady, you need only ask. You have the unending gratitude not only of the Speaker of the Sun and Stars, but of Gilthas Pathfinder.”
Bestowing a kiss on her hand, he let her go. She limped away. Truthanar assured Gilthas the strange wound on her leg had disappeared completely, yet she still favored the limb.
The small, horse-drawn cart rolled down a natural lane of towering elms on its way out of Inath-Wakenti, eliciting little notice amid the general excitement and bustle. But General Taranath and the warriors on duty in the pass presented arms as the former high priestess passed their way.
Outside the pass, beyond the remnants of the wall begun by the nomads, Sa’ida let the reins hang slack, giving the horse its head. It veered southwest to keep the morning sun out of its eyes.
Sa’ida was drowsing beneath her sun hat when she became aware of a presence beside her. Bolting upright, she found herself sharing the cart seat with an old man. A pair of knowing eyes looked out at her from beneath short, unkempt white hair. A circlet of green leaves rested atop his head. His priestly robe was many-times patched.