No one said much as they turned away and went on westwards towards the mountains.
The valley to which Sidudu took them was tucked away in the foothills. It was so well concealed by trees and the folds of the land that it was not visible until they were looking down into it. There was good grazing for the horses and a tiny spring that supplied sufficient water for their needs. The cave was dry and warm. Sidudu's family had left a pair of battered old cooking pots and other utensils in a crevice at the back, with a large pile of firewood. The women cooked the evening meal, and they all gathered round the fire to eat.
'We will be comfortable enough here,' Fenn said, 'but how far are we from the citadel and the road that leads up to the Cloud Gardens?'
'Six or seven leagues to the north,' Sidudu answered.
'Good!' said Meren, through a mouthful of venison stew. 'Far enough to be unobtrusive but close enough to reach Taita swiftly when he comes down.'
'I am pleased that you said when and not i,' Fenn observed quietly.
There was silence for a while, except for the clinking of spoons in the copper bowls.
'How will we know when he comes?' Sidudu asked. 'Will we have to keep watch for him on the road?' They all looked at Fenn.
'There will be no need for that,' Fenn replied, i will know when he comes. He will warn me.'
They had been continually on the move, riding and fighting, for many months. In all that time this was their first chance for a full night's sleep, broken only by their turns on sentry duty. Fenn and Sidudu took the midnight watch and when the great cross of stars in the south dipped towards the horizon they stumbled half asleep into the cave to wake Nakonto and Imbali for the dog watch. Then they fell on to their sleeping mats and dropped into oblivion.
Before dawn the next morning Fenn shook Meren awake. He started up so violently that he woke the others - and when he saw the tears on Fenn's cheeks he reached for his sword. 'What is it, Fenn? What is amiss?'
'Nothing!' Fenn cried. Now he looked properly at her face, and realized she was weeping for joy. 'Everything is perfect. Taita is alive. He came to me in the night.'
'Did you see him?' Meren seized her arm and shook her in agitation.
'Where is he now? Where has he gone?'
'He came to overlook me while I was asleep. When I awoke he showed me his spirit sign and told me, 1 will return to you soon, very soon.'
Sidudu leapt up from her mat and embraced Fenn. 'Oh, I am so happy for you, and for the rest of us.'
'Now everything will be all right,' Fenn said. 'Taita is coming back and we will be safe.'
' IT have waited through the aeons for you to come to me,' said Eos, I and although he knew that she embodied the great Lie, Taita could JL not help but believe her. She turned and walked back into the mouth of the grotto. Taita did not try to resist. He knew that he could do nothing but follow her. Despite all the defences he had raised against her enchantments, there was nothing he wanted to do more at that moment than follow wherever she might lead.
Beyond the entrance the tunnel narrowed until the lichen-covered rock brushed his shoulders. The spring water was icy as it burbled over his feet and splashed the hem of his tunic. Eos glided ahead. Under the black silk her hips moved with the undulating motion of a swaying
cobra. She left the stream and went up a narrow stone ramp. At the top the tunnel widened and became a roomy passageway. The walls were covered with lapis-lazuli tiles carved in bas-relief, depicting human fdrms, and beasts both real and fabulous. The floor was inlaid with tiger's eye, and the roof with rose quartz. Large rock crystals the size of a man's head were set on brackets on the wall. As Eos approached each in turn they emitted a mysterious orange glow that illuminated the passage ahead.
As they moved on, the crystals faded into darkness. Once or twice Taita glimpsed the shaggy black shapes of apes as they moved away into the shadows and disappeared. Silently Eos's small bare feet flitted over the golden tiles. They fascinated him, and he found it difficult to take his eyes off them. As she moved on she left a delicate perfume on the air.
He savoured it with intense pleasure and recognized it as the scent of sun lilies.
At last they reached a commodious chamber of elegant proportions.
Here the walls were of green malachite. Shafts in the high ceiling must have reached up to the earth's surface for the sunlight spilled down through them and was reflected from the walls in a glowing emerald effusion. The furniture of the room was of carved ivory, and the central pieces were two low couches. Eos went to one and seated herself, folding her legs under her and spreading her cloak so that even her feet were concealed. She gestured to the couch facing her. 'Please be at your ease.
You are my honoured and beloved guest, Taita,' she said, in the Tenmass.
He went to the couch and sat opposite her. It was covered with an embroidered silk mattress.
'I am Eos,' she said.
'Why did you call me “beloved”? This is our first meeting. You do not know me at all.'
'Ah, Taita, I know you as well as you know yourself. Perhaps even better.'
Her laughter was sweeter on his ears than any music he had ever listened to. He tried to close his mind to it. 'Even though your words defy reason, somehow I cannot doubt them. I accept that you know me, but I know nothing of you, except your name,' he replied.
'Taita, we must be honest with each other. I will speak only the truth to you. You must do the same for me. Your last statement was a lie. You know much about me, and you have formed opinions that are, alas, mostly erroneous. It is my purpose to enlighten you, and to correct your misconceptions.'
'Tell me where I have erred.'
'You believe I am your enemy.'
Taita remained silent.
'I am your friend,' Eos went on. 'The dearest and sweetest friend you will ever have.'
Taita inclined his head gravely, but again made no reply. He found he wanted desperately to believe her. It took all his determination to keep his shield high.
After a beat, Eos continued, 'You imagine that I will lie to you, that I have already lied to you as you have lied to me,' she said.
He was relieved that he threw no aura for her to read: his emotions were seething.
'I have spoken only the truth to you. The images I showed you in the grotto were the truth. There was no element of deceit in them,' she told him.
'They were forceful images,' he said, his tone neutral and noncommittal.
'They were all true. All I have promised is in my power to give to you.'
'Why of all mankind have you chosen me?'
'All mankind?' she exclaimed, with scorn. 'All mankind is no more important to me than the individual termites in a colony. They are creatures of instinct, not of reason or wisdom, for they do not live long enough to acquire those virtues.'
'I have known wise men of learning, compassion and humanity,' he contradicted her.
'You make that judgement from the observations of your own short existence,' she said.
'I have lived long,' he said.
'But you will not live much longer,' she told him. 'Your time is nearly done.'
'You are direct, Eos.'
'As I have already promised, I will speak only the truth to you. The human body is an imperfect vehicle and life is ephemeral. A man lives too short a span to acquire true wisdom and understanding. By human standards you are a Long Liver, one hundred and fifty-six years by my reckoning. To me, that is not much longer than a butterfly lives, or the blooming of a night-flowering cactus, born at dusk and perishing before dawn. The physical vehicle in which your spirit soul rides will soon fail you.' Suddenly she thrust her right hand from beneath the black silk cloak and made a sign of benediction.