The Lightstone

Chapter 18

And so we listened and learned of how the golden cup had been made by the Elijin on another world and brought to Ea by the Star People at the beginning of the Lost Ages; and of how Aryu of the Valari tribe fell mad and killed his brother, Elahad, and stole the Lightstone only to lose it in death on an island near Nedu; of how the whole Valari tribe fell mad and set out on a futile mission to recover the Lightstone and avenge Elahad. And then King Kiritan told of the great First Quest, which had ultimately ended in success – though in bitter failure as well.

'This happened in the year 2259 of the Age of Swords,' King Kiritan told us. 'The story comes from a chronicle that should have been included in the Saganom Elu.

But it was recorded in the Damitan Elu. We've had our scribe bring it over from the library to read it to you.'

He nodded at a pale, balding man standing near his throne. The man approached bearing a huge, leather-bound book in his hand. He opened it to a marked page, cleared his throat and began reading its account of the First Lightstone Quest.

That Quest, as well, had been foretold by an Alonian scryer and called by an Alonian king: Sartag Ars Hastar. Some of the names of the heroes who answered his summons were recorded in the Damitan Elu: Averin, Prince Garain, Iojin, Kalkin the Great, Bramu Rologar and Kalkamesh.

And perhaps the greatest of the heroes, whose name was Morjin. For Morjin, before he fell into darkness, was renowned for his trueness of heart and was fair to look upon; he was said to be the finest swordsman of the age. According to the ancient account, he had led his six companions to the great library in Yarkona. There they had found an ancient map once drawn by Aryu's son, Jolonu, and passed down to his descendants for ages until it had finally found its way to the great library. The map showed the location of the island on which Aryu had died and hidden the Lightstone more than ten thousand years before.

After many adventures, the heroes had at last come to this little island near Nedu, where they found the Lightstone still sitting in a dark cave. The seven heroes then passed it from hand to hand as they beheld the intense radiance streaming out of the golden cup. Six of them it had filled with the splendor of the One. But the seventh, Morjin, was unable to bear its brilliant light. He fell mad, as had Aryu and the Valari; he began a long descent into the black caverns of envy and hate that open inside anyone who covets the infinite powers of creation itself. And so, on the voyage home to Tria, he secretly slew the great Kalkin and pushed him into the sea. One by one, he then murdered Iojin, Prince Garain, Averin and Bramu Rologar, for in touching the Lightstone they had gained immortality even as he had, and he was afraid that one of them would eventually kill him and claim the Lightstone for himself.

Only Kalkamesh lived to avenge his companions. The Damitan Elu told that he had escaped by jumping into the shark-infested waters of the islands off the Elyssu. He had swum to safety, vowing to kill Morjin it took him a thousand years and to reclaim the Lightstone for himself and all of Ea.

Here the scribe finished reading and closed his book. King Kiritan thanked him with a bow of his head. Then he resumed telling the Lightstone's history, giving a particularly detailed account of how Morjin had reappeared ten years later and had come to power in the Blue Mountains by usurping a duke named Patamon. From this base in the westernmost domain of Alonia, Morjin had founded the Kallimun; he had used the Lightstone to master the other gelstei, even as he used its beautiful light to master men. It took him only twelve years to conquer all of Alonia. And only eight more to crush the Sisters of the Maitriche Telu, conquer the Elyssu and most of Delu. And then he had nearly destroyed the Valari kingdoms as well. Only the fateful arrival of Kalkamesh at the Battle of Tulku Tor, he said, had turned the tide of Morjin's invasion and saved the Nine Kingdoms.

'Kalkamesh was a great hero,' King Kiritan said. 'Perhaps the greatest ever to arise from our land.'

As the crowds of Alonians rumbled their approval, I traded a quick look with Kane.

His black eyes were blazing; so, I thought, were mine. I had been taught that Kalkamesh was Valari and of Mesh – hence his honored name. Kane must have thought this, too. He leaned his head close to me and whispered: 'Ha, Kalkamesh was no more Alonian than you or I!'

But King Kiritan seemed determined to claim this immortal man as his own, and so he continued his story: 'The server Rohana Lais had foretold that Morjin could be brought down only by a gelstei made of true silver, but no-one in all of Ea knew how to fabricate such a stone. Except Kalkamesh. For in the years that Morjin spent on his illegitimate conquests, Kalkamesh had put the illumination gained by his touching the Lightstone to good use. We know that he was the first to forge the silver geistei.

And so he appeared at Tulku Tor wielding a sword made of pure silver geistei. The Bright Sword, men called it. It was said to cut steel as steel does wood. Kalkamesh used it to cut a swath through Morjin's army. Thus he saved the battle for Aramesh.

And two years later, at the Sarburn, he used this same sword to finally overthrow Morjin.'

King Kiritan paused to look out into the hall; I had a disquieting sense that he was singling out the few Valari present to bear his bitterness and opprobrium.

'After Morjin was taken', he said, Kalkamesh had wanted to kill Morjin, as should have been done. Instead, Aramesh imprisoned him and took the Lightstone for himself. He took it back to the mountains of Mesh where it was selfishly kept in a tumbledown, little castle for all the Age of Law.'

Now the burn of my eyes spread to my ears. My father's castle, I thought, might not be especially large, but it had always been kept in excellent repair.

'For all the Age of Law!' King Kiritan's voice rang out again. 'For three thousand years, while men learned to forge all the geistei except the gold and built a civilization worthy of the stars, the Valari kept the greatest of the gelstei from being used. By the time they finally saw their folly and returned the Lightstone to Tria, it was too late.'

The King's face fell cold and grave with judgment as he went on to tell of the tragedy of Godavanni Hastar. This great man, he said, had been born in Delu at a time when the whole Eaean civilization turned toward the dream of returning to the stars. Three hundred years before, the great Eluli Ashtoreth had united all of Ea – save the Nine Kingdoms – and had sat as High King on the very same throne before us. From Godavanni's birth, it was prophesied that he would someday become Ea's High King as well. He had the gift of healing and touching men's hearts, and many proclaimed him to be the Maitreya foretold for the end of the Age of Law. It was hoped that he would complete the task of healing the earth and lead the Return, as it was called. In the year 2939, Godavanni had become King of Delu. And two years later, upon the death of the High Queen, Morena Eriades (for in that time, there were ruling queens and well as kings), the Council of Twenty had elected Godavanni High King of Ea.

And so Godavanni had come to Tria for his coronation and to sit on the Throne of the Golden Dove. This event was the greatest of the great Age of Law. Kings and queens of Ea's many lands journeyed to Tria to honor Godavanni. One of these was Julumesh, who had befriended Godavanni and decided that the time had finally come for the Valari to surrender the Lightstone to one who could use it as the Elijin had intended. And so he brought the Lightstone from Silvassu to Tria to give into Godavanni's hands. As Godavanni took the Lightstone from him, a great light poured out of the cup and through him. He restored sight to old, blind King Durriken and touched many with a healing radiance. Everyone was touched with his compassion. But it was his compassion, and the deeper love from which it flowed, that proved to be his undoing – and Ea's, as well.

For this King of Kings known as Godavanni the Glorious wanted to show the people that a new age had begun. And so he ordered Morjin freed from the fortress on Damoom and brought to Tria. He believed that he had the power to heal Morjin, thus turning a once-great hero back toward the light, which would have been a great gift for all of Ea.

And perhaps Godavanni, through the Lightstone, did have this power. But there were other powers in the universe, too. Even as Godavanni opened himself completely and turned the radiance of the Lightstone toward Morjin, a window to the stars was opened. In an instant, Angra Mainyu, from his dark and distant world of Damoom, joined minds with Morjin. And with others in the hall, too. One of these -

King Craydan of Surrapam – he caused to fall mad. And so King Craydan, who would ever after be known as Craydan the Ghul, sprang forward to give Morjin his sword. Morjin used it to stab Godavanni in the heart. He ripped the golden cup from Godavanni's hands. And then, with the help of his Kallimun priests who were hidden among the crowds in the hall, he made a daring escape, fleeing Tria and Alonia for the mountain fastness of Sakai.

This great catastrophe stunned the assembled royalty. After they recovered from the shock, everyone wanted to blame everyone else. As the light left Godavanni's eyes, the light seemed to go out of the whole Eaean civilization. In fit of fury, Julumesh killed King Craydan and then led his Valari guard on a mission to pursue Morjin. But an army of Kallimun priests intercepted them and slew them to the last man. The Delian nobles took Godavanni's body back to Delu to bury. The Council of Twenty Kings and Queens, now reduced by three, began arguing among themselves as to what should be done.

'In the coming years,' King Kiritan told us in a heavy voice, 'the Council could not agree on a High King or Queen. This was the Breaking of the Twenty Kingdoms.

Then came the time of sorrows. The Delians blamed Alonia for letting their greatest king be killed. Everyone blamed Surrapam for the weakness of their king. The Zayak and Marituk tribes of the Sarni tried to invade the White Mountains to regain the Lightstone, but Morjin won them over with gold and promises of forging a great empire. King Yemon of Ishka accused the Meshians of carelessness in losing the Lightstone. And so the Valari fought among themselves, as is their wont, as they have always loved doing at the expense of all else. They fought kingdom against kingdom, even as Morjin's power grew and the kingdom of Sakai grew stronger. At last, King Dumakan Eriades called upon the Valari to end their futile wars and join him in a crusade against Sakai. He had with him great firestones. But Morjin used the Lightstone to turn the red gelstei against the King and his men. The stones exploded in a terrible fire; it melted steel, and the Alonian army was destroyed, the King and all of his men. Morjin crucified the Valari survivors along the road leading to Argattha.

So began the War of the Stones and the Age of the Dragon, when all of Ea should have entered the Age of Light instead.'

King Kiritan paused to look around the room. His eyes settled on a Valari warrior bearing on his tunic the green falcons of the Rezu clan. I guessed that this must be Sar Ianar, Duke Rezu's son. King Kiritan regarded him scornfully. Great blame he had told of, and blame lived on in his icy blue eyes almost three thousand years after Godavanni's death.

As the King gripped his golden wand of rule and sat up even straighter upon his golden throne, he resumed his story. The part that he now told was more well known, for it had spread into all lands as the Song of Kalkamesh and Telemesh – the very same song that Duke Rezu's minstrel had sung for us in his castle. Now the King told of how Kalkamesh returned, and with the aid of one of Morjin's most trusted priests, the traitor Sartan Odinan, stole into the underground city of Argattha and stole the Lightstone; and of how Kalkamesh was captured and tortured while Sartan escaped with the Lightstone – only to lose it again or hide it somewhere unknown to history or to any man.

'Where the Lightstone now lies, no one knows,' King Kiritan said. 'But we do know that it will be found. You have all heard the prophecy of Ayondela Kirriland, but we will repeat it here for the words must not be forgotten: "The seven brothers and sisters of the earth with the seven stones will set forth into the darkness. The Lightstone will be found, the Maitreya will come forth, and a new age will begin."'

I waited for him to supply the missing lines of which Kane had told us, but of course he did not. Kane and I – and Atara, Maram and Master Juwain – all traded knowing looks as a great stir of excitement spread through the hall.

'Ayondela did not live to see this new age,' King Kiritan told us, 'for she was struck down by an assassin sent by Morjin, who would silence those who speak of hope.

But he has no power to silence us now. We must now speak of our great hope: and that is the very dream of the Star People who came to Ea ages ago. It was their purpose to create a civilization that would give birth to men and women as they were born to be. Men who would transcend themselves, in body and spirit and return to the stars as Elijin; immortal women shining like suns who would follow the Law of the One and go on to ever deeper life in the glorious forms of the Galadin themselves.

'But where are these men and women? Where is this great civilization? Where is the golden cup that will restore the lands of Ea to their promise and hope? We know that it was stolen from us by Aryu; and kept behind the Morning Mountains by selfish kings; and taken away by Morjin, only to become lost yet again. For all of an age, Morjin has sought it – only to be opposed and thwarted. By the Brotherhoods, by the Sisterhood of Servers, by great kings, by brave people in all the free lands. But now Morjin has conquered Acadu and Uskudar; his priests rule Karabuk, Hesperu and Galda in his name. Surrapam may soon fall. If it is he who finds the Lightstone, all of Ea will surely fall. Then the seven brothers and sisters of the earth will go forth into the darkness and not return; the Maitreya will come forth only to be crucified; a new age will begin: the Age of Darkness that will last a thousand times three thousand years.'

King Kiritan, who was now breathing hard, paused to swallow painfully. I could almost feel his thirst and desire to call for a glass of water. But he would not be seen surrendering to his body's needs at such a moment. And so he pressed his thin, dry lips together as he sat tensely on his throne.

And then he cried out, 'And that is why it must be we who find the Lightstone first!

One of us here in thMhall tonight! Or seven, or seventy, or a thousand – who will join voices with me and vow to make this Quest?'

For a moment, no one in the hall moved. Then Count Dario, with his flaming red hair and burning eyes, put his hand to his sword as he cried out, 'I will seek the Lightstone!'

Behind him, two more Alonian knights touched hands to swords and shouted, 1 will!' as well. And then five knights from the Elyssu called out their promise, and all at once, like a fire shooting through dry wood, the fervor to regain this lost cup spread through the hall as hundreds of voices began crying out as one: 'I will! I will!

I will!'

There was magic in that moment, and I found myself calling out the same pledge I had made in the hall of my father's castle. Atara and Master Juwain joined me, and Maram, despite his doubts, added his booming voice to the clamor. Even Kane seemed swept away by the great passion of it all and growled out his assent.

After a while, when the multitude had quieted and the stones of the hall grew silent again, King Kiritan drew forth his sword and held it by the blade for all to see. He said to us, 'Swear this oath, then. By your swords, by your honor, by your lives – swear that you will seek the Lightstone and never rest until it is found. Swear that you will seek it by road, by water, by fire, by darkness, by the paths of the mind and the heart. Swear that your seeking will not end unless illness, wounds or death strike you down first. Swear that you will seek the Cup of Heaven for all of Ea and not yourselves.'

It was a harsh oath that King Kiritan called us to make, and more than one knight present bit his lip and shook his head. But many more called out that they would do what was asked of them. Atara, Kane and I did; Master Juwain, though no knight, did as well. I was afraid that Maram might balk at speaking such binding words. But he surprised me, and himself, by vowing to seek the Lightstone to his very death.

'Ah, Maram, my friend,' I heard him muttering to himself a moment later, 'what have you done?'

At first, I supposed that he had become drunk on the powerful wine of fellowship and had forgotten himself. And then I saw him staring at a pretty Alonian woman; she had hair like burnished bronze and full red lips and adoring eyes for all the knights who had vowed to make the quest. If Maram failed to catch her attention, I thought, there would be many other women in the coming years who would want to bless his bravery by giving him what gifts they could.

Now the time had come for King Kiritan to bless those who had made vows. These numbered perhaps a thousand of those present King Kiritan called for them to move towards his throne. Even as my friends and I began pressing through the crush of people in the hall, King Kiritan stepped down from his throne. Then he called out to ten of his grooms, who walked down the southern aisle bearing a golden chest between each pair of them. They set the five chests at King Kiritan's feet near the first step of his throne. King Kiritan smiled as he bowed toward the handsome woman I had presumed to be his wife. And so she was. She had golden hair almost the color of Atara's and a haughty manner, and the King presented her as Queen Daryana Ars Narmada.

The Queen opened one of the chests and removed a large, gold medallion suspended from a golden chain. She held it high above her head for everyone to behold. The medallion was cast into the shape of a sunburst with flames shooting off of it As I would soon see, a cup stood out in relief at its center. Seven rays, also in relief, streamed out of the cup toward the medallion's rim. There, around the rim, were written words in ancient Ardik that those making the quest should never forget: Sura Longaram Tat-Tanuar Galardar.

Queen Daryana gave this medallion to King Kirtian, who then draped it over the head of Count Dario, the first knight to have caleed out his pledge. After the King had given his blessing, Queen Daryana reached into the chest for another medallion, even as another knight stepped up to the King. This knight, too, received both medallion and blessing. And so it went, the Queen removing the medallions from the chest one by one as the King gave them with his own hands to the many questers lining up before him. As there were a thousand of us, however, this gift-giving took a long time. My friends and I were the last to enter the hall, and so we would be the last to receive our medallions.

While we stood waiting among the multitude in the hall, various knights announced their plans for finding the Lightstone. Many, of course, would journey to Ea's many oracles in hope of receiving prophecies that might direct them. Some would search the island off Nedu. for they believed that perhaps the Lightstone that Morjin claimed at the end of the Age of Law was only one of the many False Gelstei and that the true and only Gelstei remained somewhere on the island where Aryu originally left it.

Three knights from Delu were determined to journey into the Great Southern Forest of Acadu while others planned voyages across the sea. I heard knights vowing to seek the Lightstone in old sanctuaries or museums or in the ruins of ancient cities. A few decided to set forth alone, but many more were forming into bands of seven, for good luck and protection, but also because the prophecy spoke of 'the seven brothers and sisters of the earth with the seven stones.' These seven stones everyone presumed to be geistei but where the questers might find them, no one knew for most of the gelstei forged during the Age of Law had been destroyed or lost and those few that remained were jealously guarded like the treasures they were.

With Master Juwain pressed against my side, I thought of the varistei that Pualani had given him and of the black stone that Kane had cut from the Gray's forehead.

Kane, standing just ahead of me, had surely secreted this stone on his person. I knew that he would guard it to the death from anyone who tried to take it from him.

Of lesser treasures., he seemed to care nothing. He nodded toward King Kiritan and the chest of medallion and said, 'That's a pretty piece of gold that the King's handing out and a thousand of them must have cost him dearly. But gold's only gold – it's the true gold that we're after. We've made our vows to find it. Now why don't we leave before something keeps us from our quest?'

'But we haven't received the King's blessing,' I whispered to him.

'If it's a blessing you want,' he grumbled, 'I'll give you mine.'

'Thank you,' I said. 'But you're not a king.'

At this, Kane ground his teeth together as he stared at me. Master Juwain said that we should certainly stay to receive King Kiritan's blessing while Maram, in his own mind, was likely already strutting before the ladies with his new golden medallion shining from his chest. As for Atara, she hadn't come all this way from the Wendrush and fought two battles to turn aside now. Each time Queen Daryana handed a medallion to the King, Atara's blue eyes flared like stars as a fierce desire ignited inside her.

The great nobles of Alonia were the first to receive their medallions that night. I heard them call out their names one by one. These included Belur Narmada, Julumar Hastar, Breyonan Eriades, Javan Kirriland and Hanitan Marshan. All were scions of the ancient Five Families, each of which had been founded in the Age of the Mother by the Aryan invaders who sailed with Bohimir Marshan. For three ages, the Alonian kings and queens had come from these clans. They built their palaces on Tria's seven hills, to which they had given their names. They also kepi great estates on the lands surrounding the city. Many times the nobles had fought among themselves for the throne. They established dynasties, such as the renowned Marshanid dynasty, only to be overthrown and wait a hundred or five hundred more years to see their clan rise to preeminence again. Warriors their patriarchs had been, and warriors they remained. They wore well-used armor, and were fairer of hair and eyes than most of the Alonians I had seen in the streets.

Most recently, they and their fathers had made war upon the second group of nobles to stand before the King. These were the lords of Alonia's various domains. The greatest of them, Kane told me, were Baron Narcavage of Amgin and Baron Monteer of Ivendenhall. Two generations earlier, when Alonia had been reduced in power and size, the barons and dukes had ruled their possessions as independent lords. But King Sakandar the Fair, King Kiritan's grandfather, had begun the reconquest of Alonia's ancient realm. Before he died, he had forced the Duke of Raanan and the Count of Iviunn to do him homage and kneel to him. His son, King Hanikul, had continued the wars that he began. Only upon the ascension of his son, King Kiritan, however, had the reconquest been completed. King Kiritan had spent almost his entire reign riding at the head of his knights into one rebellious domain or another.

Just two years before, the last of the lords had knelt before him and called him sire.

And so Alonia had been restored to her ancient borders: from the Dolphin Channel in the north to the Long Wall in the south; and from the Blue Mountains in the west six hundred miles east all the way to the Alonian Sea. Many there were who had begun calling him King Kiritan the Great. It was said that although he hadn't sought this honorific for himself, neither did he discourage it.

It was also said – I heard these whispers and grumblings from various knights around me – that the King had more than one reason for calling the Quest. No one doubted that he loved Ea and wished to see her restored to her ancient splendor. No one doubted that he opposed Morjin with all his will and might. But neither did anyone doubt his need to check the power of his barons. And so he had called them to make vows: those who accepted his medallion would have to go forth upon the quest and leave their domains and intrigues behind them. Those who refused would shame themselves and mar their honor, thus diminishing their ability to mount any opposition to the King. As for King Kiritan himself, he would make his quest by seeking the Lightstone solely within Alonia's various domains. He would ride at the head of his knights into Tarlan or Aquantir as he always had, and so keep watch upon his realm. A cunning man was King Kiritan Ars Narmada, and a deep one, too.

After a long time, the last of the knights and nobles stepped away from the throne with their medallions shining brightly for all to see. Then it came time for my friends and me to stand before the King. As a great feast had been promised following this ceremony, everyone was now waiting for us to receive the King's blessing. Everyone grew quiet and watched as we approached the throne. Master Juwain was the first of us to throw back his cloak and call onhis name: 'Master Juwaian Zadoran,' he said,

'Greetings, King Kiritan.'

'Master Juwain Zadoran of what realm?' the King asked him as he studied his plain woolens doubtfully.

'Formerly of the Elyssu,' Master Juwain said. 'But for many years of that landless realm known as the Brotherhood.'

'Well, this is a surprise,' the King said with a smile. He turned to look at Queen Daryana and at Count Dario who stood nearby. 'A master of the Brotherhood will dare to undertake the Quest! We are honored.'

'The honor is mine, King Kiritan.'

'Well, it is growing late, and we still have many hungry bellies to feed,' the King said.

He nodded at Queen Daryana, who reached into the fifth golden chest and removed a medallion. The King draped this over Master Juwain's bald head and told him:

'Master Juwain Zadoran, accept this with our blessing that you might be known and honored in all lands.'

Master Juwain bowed to the King and backed away as Maram now stepped up to him. With a great flourish, he loosened his cloak to reveal the red tunic and sword beneath. Then he called out: 'Prince Maram Marshayk of Delu.'

This announcement caused a great stir among the nobles in the room. At least forty knights present were from Delu's various dukedoms or baronies, and they looked at Maram with the shock of recognition brightening their faces.

'Now, this is an even greater surprise,' the King said. 'We were, hoping that King Maralah might send one of his own to honor us this day. How is it that his son happens to be traveling with a master of the Brotherhood?'

'That is long story,' Maram said as he boldly stared at Queen Daryana. Although almost forty years old, she was still acclaimed for her beauty. 'Ah, perhaps I could tell it to you and your lovely queen later over a goblet of your finest wine.'

'Perhaps you could,' King Kiritan said, forcing a thin smile. 'We would like to hear it'

And with that, he bestowed upon Maram his much-desired medallion and blessing.

Next Kane approached the King. With great reluctance, he uncloaked himself. And then, in a savage and almost disrespectful voice, he gave his name.

'Just "Kane"?' the King asked him as he gazed at him disapprovingly,

'So, just Kane,' Kane growled out 'Kane of Erathe.'

The King seemed as curious to learn of his homeland as I was, and he asked,

'Erathe? We have never heard of that realm. Where does it lie?'

'Far away,' Kane said. 'It is very far away.'

'In what direction?'

But in answer, Kane only stared at him as his black eyes grew bright with the starlight pouring down through the dome.

'Who is your king, then?' King Kiritan asked him. 'Tell us the name of your lord.'

'No man is my lord,' Kane said. 'Nor do I call any man king.'

The King bit his lip in distaste and then said, 'You're not the first lordless knight to make vows tonight. But you have made vows, it seems. And so we will give you our blessing.'

As quickly as he could, the King took the medallion from Queen Daryana and dropped it over Kane's head. He looked away as Kane pressed his finger to the cup at the center of the medallion and stepped over to me, 'It's your turn,' he snarled out

'Let's get this over and be done.'

It was my turn, and some three thousand knights, nobles and ladies were waiting for me to take it. But I sensed in Atara a great unease at so many people watching her. It would be hard to be the last to receive the King's blessing, I thought. And so I leaned my head back and asked if she wanted take my place. 'No, you go first,' she insisted. 'Please.'

'All right,' I said. Then I stepped up to King Kiritan, pulled back my cloak and told him my name: 'Sar Valashu Elahad of Mesh.'

For a moment, King Kiritan's face looked as if it had been slapped in front of the three thousand nobles quietly watching us. Then he recovered his composure; he nodded toward Count Dario as he said, 'We had heard that the son of King Shamesh would make this Quest. But it is a great distance between Silvassu and Tria. We had supposed you had lost your way in coming here.'

'No, King Kiritan,' I said as I glanced at Kane, 'we were delayed.'

'Well, then, we should rejoice that the Valari have sent a prince upon the Quest,' he said joylessly. 'We're honored that Shavashar Elahad sends us his seventh son.'

I winced as he said this, and so did Kane. I felt many eyes upon me. Who knew which pair of them had seen the words to the last two lines of Ayondela's prophecy?

'It is good,' King Kiritan continued, 'that a prince of Mesh will seek to put aright the great wrong done by his sires in ages past.'

Great pain the kirax in my blood still caused me, but it seemed slight against the burning I felt there now. King Kiritan knew nothing of my purpose in making the quest. And it was wrong for him to say that the kings of my line had done wrong.

Even so, I did not gainsay him. I thought it more seemly to respect the decorum of the moment even if he did not.

'By my sword, by my honor, by my life,' I told him, 'I seek the Lightstone. For all of Ea and not myself.'

'Very good, then,' King Kiritan said looking at me closely. He held out his hand for a medallion, which he placed over my head. It seemed a great weight pressing against my chest. 'Sar Valashu Elahad, accept this with our blessing that you might be known and honored in all lands.'

I bowed and backed away, glad to done with him. Then Atara stepped forward. I was very glad that in only a few more moments, we would be free to leave the hall and set out on the next part of our journey.

'Look, it's the Princess!' heard someone exclaim as Atara threw back her cloak.

I thought it a strange thing to say. The granddaughter of Sajagax she might be, but I had never heard the chiefs of the Sarni tribes called kings nor those of their lineage called princesses.

Atara, clad in her bloodstained trousers and black leather armor studded with steel, caused the assembled nobles to wag their fingers and begin talking furiously. Other Sarni warriors, similarly attired, had already stood before the King. But they had been men; it seemed that no one present had ever seen a woman warrior, much less one of the Manslayer Society.

She stepped straight up to the King and looked him boldly in the eyes. Then she said, 'Atara Manslayer of the Kurmak.'

The King's ruddy face paled with shock; his lips moved silently as he fought for words. Queen Daryana, too, stared at Atara as did Count Dario and all the other nobles near the throne.

'You,' the King said as he held his trembling hand out to Atara, 'have another name.

Say it now so that we may hear it.'

Atara looked at me as if to beg my forgiveness. Then she smiled, drew in a breath and called out: 'Atara Ars Narmada – of Alonia and the Wendrush.'

I gasped in astonishment along with a thousand others. How it had come to be that this wild Sarni warrior was also a princess of the Narmada line, 1 couldn't understand. But that she was King Kiritan's daughter couldn't be denied. I saw it in the set of their square, stubborn faces and in the fire of their diamond-blue eyes; I felt it passing back and forth between them in fierce emotions that tasted both of love and hate.

'It's his daughter,' someone behind me whispered as if explaining Alonian court intrigues to an outsider. 'She's still alive.'

'Is she still our daughter?' King Kiritan asked, looking at Atara.

'Of course she is,' Queen Daryana said as she dropped the last medallion back into its chest. She hurried forward past the King and threw her arms around Atara. Not caring who was watching, she kissed her and stroked her long hair with delight.

Tears were streaming from her eyes as she laughed out, 'Our brave, beautiful daughter – oh, you are still alive!'

King Kiritan stood very straight as he scowled at Atara. 'Six years it's been since you fled our kingdom for lands unknown. Six years! We had thought you dead.'

'I'm sorry, Father.'

'Remember where you are!'

'Excuse me… Sire.'

That's better,' King Kiritan snapped. 'Are we to presume, then, that you've been living with the Kurmak all this time?'

'Yes, Sire.'

'You might have sent word to us that you were well.'

'Yes, I might have,' she said.

The King's eyes flicked up and down as he studied Atara's garments.

Then he said, 'And now you return to us, on this night, in front of our guests, attired as… as what? A Sarni warrior? Is this how women dress on the Wendrush?'

Across the room I saw several Sarni warriors, with their drooping blonde mustaches and curious blue eyes, pressing closer.

'Some of them do,' Queen Daryana said. Standing next to her daughter, it was clear to see that they were of the same height and strong cast of body. They were both strong in other ways, too. The Queen seemed as unafraid of her husband as Atara had been of the hill-men. To King Kiritan she said, 'Did you not hear her name herself as a Manslayer?' 'No, we tried not to hear that name. What does it mean?' 'It means she is a warrior,' Queen Daryana said simply. Then a great bitterness came into her voice. 'You take little interest in my people beyond seeing that they remain outside your Long Wall.'

'Your people,' he reminded the Queen, 'are Alonians and have been for more than twenty years.'

In the heated words that followed, I pieced together the story of Atara's life – and some of the recent history of Alonia. It seemed that early in King Kiritan's reign, to protect his southern borders, he had felt compelled to cement an alliance with the ferocious Kurmak tribe. And so he had sent a great weight of gold to Sajagax in exchange for his daughter Daryana's hand in marriage. The Kurmak had made peace with Alonia, and more, had checked the power of the equally ferocious Marituk tribe who patrolled the Wendrush between the Blue Mountains and the Poru, from the Long Wall as far south as the Blood River. But there had been little peace between King Kiritan and his proud, fierce, headstrong queen. As she would tell anyone who would listen, she had been born free and would not be ruled by any man, not even Ea's greatest king. And so for every command or slight the King gave her, she gave him back words barbed like the points of the Sarni's arrows. It was said that King Kiritan had once dared to strike her face; to repay him, she had cut the scar marking his cheek with her strong, white teeth.

'The King,' she said to Atara, 'has told me that your grandfather and grandmother, and your mother's brothers and sisters and their children – all the warriors and women of the Kurmak – are not my people. If he cut out my heart, would he not see that my blood remains as red as theirs? But he is the King, and he has said what he has said. And this on a day when he has invited all the free peoples of Ea into our home to go forth on a great quest as one people. Is this worthy of the great man you love and revere as your Sire?'

It was also said that for many years, King Kiritan had given Daryana coldness in place of love. And so she had given him one daughter only and no sons.

I wondered why Daryana hadn't fled back to the Kurmak as Atara had done. In answer, almost as if she could hear my thoughts, she said, 'Of course some might say that since gold has been paid in dower to my father, that I now belong to him who paid it. A deal is a deal, and can't be broken, yes? But I hadn't heard that the Alonians had entered the business of buying and selling human beings.'

At this, the King flashed her a look of hate as he said, 'No, you're right – that is not our business. And you're also right to say that a deal cannot be broken. Especially one that was agreed upon freely, and as we remember, enthusiastically.'

Queen Daryana's eyes were full of sadness as she looked at Atara and said, 'Choices must always be made; seldom can they be unmade. I might have joined the Manslayers even as you have. But then I wouldn't have lived to bear such a beautiful daughter.'

Atara, who was blinking back tears, bowed her head to her mother and then looked down at the floor.

'Yes, a daughter,' the King said as if he had bit into a lemon. 'But how is a king to secure the continuance of his line and the peace of his lands without sons?'

Queen Daryana's eyes were like daggers of ice as she told him, 'It's said that the King doesn't lack sons.'

It was said – I learned this later from the Duke of Raanan – that King Kiritan had multiplied to himself many concubines, if not wives. And many of these had borne him bastard sons, whom he kept hidden in various estates among his domains.

Now the King's face grew as red as heated iron. His hand closed into a fist, and I was afraid he might strike Daryana. The Sarni warriors, I saw, were pulling at their mustaches and smiling at Daryana's defiance of him. Everyone was now watching King Kiritan, who must have felt the shame of their wondering how he could rule a kingdom if he couldn't even rule his own wife and daughter. But it seemed that he could at least rule his wrath. He looked down at his fist as if commanding it to relax and open. Then he turned to Atara and held this open hand toward her.

'It has been said,' he told her, 'that we know little of your grandfather's people.

Especially this Society of Manslayers, as you call it. Would you please tell us more?'

This Atara did. Everyone in the hall pressed close to hear stories of women warriors riding their ponies across the Wendrush and killing their enemies with arrows. By the time Atara told of being left naked in the middle of the steppe with nothing more than a knife to work her survival, and hinted at other fiercer and more secret initiations, the King's lips were white and pressed tightly together

'A hundred of your enemies,' the King said, shaking his head. He looked at Count Dario and Baron Belur who stood near the throne. 'Few of even my finest knights have slain so many.'

'They haven't been trained by the Manslayers,' Atara said proudly.

The King ignored this slight against Aloniaa arms, and said, 'Then none of these women may marry until they've reached this number? Are there no exceptions?'

'No, Sire.'

'Not even for one who is also the daughter of the Alonian king?'

'I have made vows,' Atara told him.

'Do your vows then supersede your duty to your Lord?'

'And what duty is that?' Atara asked as she looked at Prince Jardan of the Elyssu.

With his curled brown hair, he was a handsome man and a tall one – though the webwork of broken blood vessels on his red nose hinted of weakness and craving for strong drink. 'The duty to be sold in marriage to the highest bidder?'

It was well, I thought, that Atara had fled her home at the young age of sixteen. I saw that she vexed King Kiritan even more than did her mother. Again, his hand closed into a fist as he ground his teeth and his whole body trembled with rage. Because I couldn't allow him to strike her, I readied myself to rush forward and stand between them. But the King's guards saw my concern, and readied themselves to stop me.

King Kiritan saw this, too.

'When did the sanctity of marriage come to be so little regarded?' he said to Atara.

He cast me a dismissive look, then glowered at Maram and Kane. 'Is it right that you should forsake such a blessed union to take up with a ragtag band of adventurers?'

'Hmmph,' Atara said, 'you may call them that, but my friends are -'

'A bald, old man, a fat lecher, a mercenary and a knight of little name.'

Atara opened her mouth to parry his careless words. But warrior of the Manslayers though she might be, I could not allow her to fight my battles for me. I threw off my cloak then so that the King could see my surcoat and the silver swan and seven stars shining from it.

'My sires were kings, even as yours were, King Kiritan,' I said. 'And their sires were kings when the Narmadas were still warlords fighting the Hastars and Kirilands for the throne.'

Now the hands of Count Dario and Baron Belur snapped toward the hilts of their swords. A dozen other knights grumbled their resentment of what I had said. It was one thing for the King's own wife and daughter to dispute with him, but quite another for an outland warrior to shame him with the truth.

'Sar Valashu Elahad,' the King huffed at me. 'It's said that your line is descended, father and son, from the Elahad. Well, it's also said that the Saryaks claim descent from Valorem himself.'

'Many things are said, King Kiritan. And one of these is that a wise king will be able to tell what is true from what is false.'

'We tell you this then. You Valari are as prideful as you ever were.' His eyes flicked toward Atara, and he added, 'And as bold.' 'It's boldness that wins battles, is it not?'

'We haven't heard of any notable battles you've won of late,' he said. 'It would seem that you're too busy fighting among yourselves over diamonds.'

'That might be true,' I said bitterly. 'But once we fought for other things.'

'Yes, for a golden cup that does not belong to you.' 'At least the cup was won,' I said, recalling the white stones I had found on the Hill of the Dead the day before.

'At the Sarburn – you will have heard of that battle.'

'Indeed we have,' the King said. 'Eighty-nine Narmada knights fell there that day.'

'Ten thousand Valari are buried there!' I said.. 'And their graves aren't even marked!'

'That is not right,' the King said with surprising softness. And then a note of bitterness crept back into his voice. 'But you can't blame my people for not wanting to honor outland warriors who invaded their land for plunder.' 'The Valari did not die for plunder,' I said.

'Nevertheless, Aramesh did take the Lightstone for his own. Just as he took for himself the crown of Alonia.' At mis, many grumbles of anger rolled through the room. 'He ruled, it is true, but for three years only until the Red Dragon's work was undone and he saw the kingship restored. It's nowhere recorded that he took the crown.'

'What right does any but an Alonian have to rule Alonia?'

'Some might say that if he hadn't ruled,' I said, looking around the hall and up at Kiritan's jewel-encrusted throne, 'there would have been nothing left for your sires to have ruled.'

'What was left of the Alonians' great sacrifice at the Sarburn,' King Kiritan asked,

'after Aramesh took, the Lightstone back to Mesh and kept it behind his mountains?'

'He did not keep it for himself,' I said. 'He invited all to come and behold it. And in the end, Julumesh surrendered the cup to Godavanni, even as you have told of here tonight.'

'We have told of how the cup was lost. By Valari selfishness and pride.'

'The cup was lost,' I said. 'Which is why some of us have vowed to regain it.

'We do not see many Valari here tonight,' the King said, looking out at the masses of people packed into the hall. 'And why is that?'

Because our hearts have been broken, I thought.

The King, answering his own question, said. 'Your land is long past its time of greatness. Now you Valari care for little more than your diamonds and your little wars. It's almost savage the way you glorify it: every man a warrior; your duels; meditating over your swords as if they were your souls. No, we're afraid that the Valari's day is done.'

Because I had nothing to say to this, I stared up through the dome at the stars. Then Atara touched my shoulder, and we looked at each other in a sudden, new understanding.

'Well, what's this, then?' the King said, glaring at us.

But neither Atara nor I answered him; we just stood there before three thousand people looking into each other's eyes.

'You' the King said to Atara, 'will remain here now that you've returned.'

'But, Sire,' Atara said, turning toward him, 'I've made vows to seek the Lightstone.

Would you have me break them?'

'You'll do your seeking in Alonia, then.'

Atara looked at me as she sadly shook her head. Then, to her father, she said, 'No, I'll go on the Quest with Val, if he'll have me.'

'If he'll have you!' the King thundered. 'Who is he to take you anywhere? To take you off to oblivion or death?'

'He has saved my life, Sire. Twice.'

'And who has given you life?' the King shouted. Quick as a cat, he turned to me and pointed his finger at my chest. 'Tell us the truth about what you want of our daughter!'

The first thing a Valari warrior is taught is always to tell the truth. And so I looked at King Kiritan and told him what my heart cried out even though I had never said the words to anyone, not even myself: 'To marry Atara.'

For a moment, King Kiritan didn't move. It seemed that no one in the hall dared breathe. And then he shouted, 'Marry our daughter?'

'If she'll have me,' I said, smiling,. 'And with your blessing.'

King Kiritan laughed at me then: a series of harsh, cutting sounds that issued from his throat almost like the barking of a dog. Then his face purpled and he began raging at me: 'Who are you to marry her? An adventurer who hides himself in a dirty cloak? A seventh son who has no hope of ever becoming a king? And a king of what? A savage little kingdom no bigger than many of my barons' domains! You think to marry our daughter?'

In that moment, as King Kiritan's outraged voice thundered from the stone walls of his hall, I pitied him. For I saw that he resented having had to marry beneath himself, as he surely thought of his union with Daryana. And now he hoped to ennoble his line more deeply by marrying Atara to the crown prince of Eanna or possibly Prince Jardan of the Elyssu. Even Maram, I supposed, as a prince of the strategically important Delu, would have been considered a more suitable match than I if not for his lustful ways and friendship with me.

I saw another thing, too: that the King, unlike lesser men, was not at the mercy of his terrible rages. Rather, he summoned them from some deep well inside him like a conjuror, and more, wielded his wrath precisely as he might a sword to terrify anyone who stood against him. But I had lived with swords all my life. And I had one of my own.

'I love Atara,' I said to him. My eyes were now wide open, and much else as well.

'Will you bless our marriage, King Kiritan?'

In answer, he laughed at me again. And then, as his eyes filled with malice, in a mocking voice, he said, 'Yes, you may marry our daughter – when you've found the Lightstone and have delivered it here to this room!'

I was sure he expected me to cringe like a beaten dog or perhaps protest that the Cup of Heaven might be found only by the One's grace. Instead, I grasped the hilt of my sword and rashly told him, 'This I vow then.'

While he stared at me in disbelief, I took Atara's hand and kissed it. I told him, 'If you won't yet bless our marriage, then will you at least give Atara your blessing as you have everyone else so that we may set out on the Quest?'

'You dare too much, Valari!' he snapped at me. 'Should we then give her our own dagger so that she can stab us in the back?'

'Please, King Kiritan – give her your blessing.'

From somewhere to our side, a woman called out, 'Your blessing, King Kiritan!'

Others picked up this cry so the hall rang with the sound of many voices, 'Give her your blessing!'

But the King was the King, and would not be so easily swayed. He stood before his jeweled throne, above the last chest of medallions, staring at both Atara and me as if we were rebellious barons who had dared enter his own hall to defy him.

How is it that we set out with so much love for our fathers, daughters or brothers, ready to make great sacrifices or even die for them – only to see this most sacred gift transmuted by an evil alchemy so that we caused them the greatest hurt and brought them its opposite instead?

As I stood there holding Aura's hand. I felt both her anguish and adoration for her father surging through her. It was strange, the sense I had that I could touch King Kiritan with either of these. In my dream, Morjin had told me that I would one day strike out at others with the black dagger of my hate; it hadn't occurred to me that I might also thrust the bright sword of another's love straight into their hearts.

'Don't look at me that way, Valari,' King Kiriun whispered to me. 'Damn your eyes – don't look at me!'

But I couldn't help looking at him. And he couldn't help turning toward Atara as a great tenderness softened his face. Few were close enough to see the tears welling in his eyes. And only Atara and Daryana – and I – could feel the great love pouring out of him.

'We were afraid you were dead,' he said to Atara.

'There have been many who tried to make me so,' Atara told him. 'But as you always said, Sire, we Narmadas are hard to kill.'

'Yes we are,' he said with a grateful smile. 'And by the grace of the One, as we set out on this Quest, may we continue to be.'

So saying, he nodded at Daryana, who reached into the chest to hand him a medallion. With a gentleness few would have suspected he possessed, he placed this over Atara's head and told her, 'Atara Ars Narmada, accept this with our blessing that you might be known and honored in all lands.'

To the cheers of almost everyone in the hall he clasped her to him, kissed her fiercely on the forehead and stood there weeping softly. But it look him only a few moments to compose himself and put the steel back into his countenance. And the anger, too. He glared at me darkly as he called out to the knights and nobles around us: 'All who have wished have made their vows and have received our blessing. Now please join us outside that you might help us celebrate this great occasion and our birthday as well.'

And then, with a last, cutting glance at me, he turned and stormed from the hall.