Faces of Deception

CHAPTER 15

By the time Seema arrived at the Turquoise Cliffs, all the streams in the basin had turned the color of blood. The stain was creeping down into the main valley, lacing its way through the trees as though some huge spider was spinning a scarlet web over Langdarma itself. Atreus could see by the alarm in Seema's eyes that such a thing had never before happened, and that she blamed herself for this horror. Had she known what would come of bringing strangers into paradise, he wondered if she would still have saved his life.

As Seema came up beside him, Atreus gestured down into the hollow, where Yago still held the axe over Tarch's neck.

"He's pretty beaten up, but we didn't kill him," Atreus said, glancing out over the red-laced basin. "I don't know if that will mean anything for Langdarma."

"Who can say?" Seema sounded drained and numb. "It is good you spared him. A second murder does not undo the first. What of the girls? Are they injured?"

Atreus shook his head, then pointed toward the base of the cliff and said, "Rishi has them up in a cave. They're not hurt physically, but they're not saying much." He looked down at Tarch's mangled form. "They saw a pretty bloody fight"

When Seema glanced at the devil, her eyes grew hard and surprisingly ugly. "At least they did not see a vengeance murder," she said. "They will heal better for it, but I am not sure I will. I wanted him dead. I still do."

Atreus looked away, not knowing what to say. Had she expressed such sentiments in Rivenshield he would have handed her Yago's axe and told her to take as many swings as she liked. But they were not in Rivenshield, and Atreus was as lost with his emotions as she was with hers. He had spared Tarch's life only because he did not want to corrupt the innocence of the two girls watching. Now that Seema had lost hers, he had no idea how to give it back.

Instead, he said, "Maybe you should check the girls. You'll be more comfort to them than Rishi."

The suggestion seemed to lighten Seema's burden. Her eyes grew brighter and she said, nodding, "Of course. They will need to know their mother is well, and perhaps I can explain to them how this happened." She squeezed his shoulder. "Thank you."

Seema started up the slope. Not long after, Atreus noticed a silver comet over the main valley. For a moment, it seemed to hang motionless near the far end, then it gradually began to swell and brighten. A faint sizzling echoed up the canyon, growing louder as the comet enlarged, and at last it became apparent that the shiny ball was actually moving, streaking through the air toward the Turquoise Cliffs.

The sizzle built to a roar, and the silver ball became a platinum blur arcing down toward the talus slope. Tarch's bloodshot eyes grew large and angry. He tried to roll to his feet, but Yago hammered his head with the flat of the axe blade and beat him back into submission.

The platinum blur resolved itself into a milky white oval supported by two shimmering wings. Seema and Rishi came down from the cave with the two sisters and stood next to Atreus. Together, they all waited respectfully as the figure slowed and took on the more humanlike form of the Sannyasi, then circled overhead, creating a pearly halo over the hollow where Tarch lay trapped.

After this brief inspection, the Sannyasi alighted on the boulder next to Atreus. He turned at once to the girls.

"Have no fear," he said, and touched his palms to their faces. "The devil will harm you no more."

"We are not afraid for ourselves," said the oldest sister. "We are thinking of our father."

"The devil bit him!" gasped the younger.

"I know," the Sannyasi said grimacing. He continued to touch them, but even he could not erase their pain or explain to them why Tarch had done such a terrible thing. He merely nodded and said, "He is from Outside, and there are things Outside we can never understand. Do not worry on your father's account He is with the Serene Ones now, and it makes no difference to them how he died. You were a blessing to him in life, and I have it on good authority that his only wish is for you live in peace and forget what you have seen today."

This drew some of the pain from the girls faces, and only then did the Sannyasi spread his feathery wings and glide down into the hollow. Tarch's scorched and battered body began to tremble and exude vile-smelling fumes, and he glared at the winged guardian in red-eyed hatred.

The Sannyasi took the axe from Yago and motioned him out of the hollow. He looked down at Tarch.

"How dare you bring your evil into this place." The Sannyasi's voice was filled with controlled fury. "Did you not see my wards?"

"Pike it… bubber!" Tarch barely managed to moan the words. "How long you think you can hold this little corner? This world's ours. We'll be coming for you soon enough-"

"If that is so, you will not see it"

The Sannyasi stepped on his prisoner's chest. A glowing white halo appeared beneath his foot and started to spread outward, slowly turning the devil's scaly hide pale and translucent. Tarch howled in pain and began to flail around, his thrashing fists pounding stones to powder. He struck at his captor time and again, clawed his leg, tried to drag himself free, but he was no match for the Sannyasi's strength. The white radiance continued to spread over the devil's body, turning him as clear as glass from head to toe, and when he became nothing more than a crystal ghost, he finally let out an agonized howl and stopped writhing.

The Sannyasi glared down at the devil's still form, then brought the axe down. Tarch's body shattered like ice, and began to melt away and stream off in all directions.

"Water turns the wheel, the wheel turns time," said the Sannyasi. "When the wheel brings your spirit around again, I pray you find a happier life."

Yago arched his bushy brows. "You killed him," he said. "After all we went through not to?"

"I did not kill him. I sent his spirit back to the endless river," the Sannyasi said, then returned the axe to Yago. "You were right to spare his life. It will help you find happiness Outside."

"Outside?" Seema asked.

The Sannyasi nodded. "It is not easy to subdue such a fiend without killing him," he said. "If your friends are strong enough to do this, they are strong enough to leave Langdarma."

Atreus's heart sank.

"How soon?"

The Sannyasi looked from Seema to Atreus. "Three days," he said. "The fall storms are coming soon."

"And if we don't care about the storms?" Atreus asked. He glanced at the scowl on Yago's face, then added, "What if / don't care about the storms. What if I don't want to leave… ever?"

The Sannyasi's eyes softened. "This is not your home," he said softly.

"I have never been happier in my home than I am here." Atreus took Seema's hand, then added, "I have found here what is forbidden me in Rivenshield."

"Perhaps that is so. But you are a child of Rivenshield. You have a violent heart, and we have already seen what comes of violent hearts in Langdarma." The Sannyasi gestured at the web of scarlet streams spreading over the valley and said, "It cannot be."

"Violent hearts?" Rishi scoffed. "Did we not risk our own lives to spare Tarch's?"

"Tarch was here only because of you, and you are here only because of him." The Sannyasi glanced up at the two young sisters, who were observing the exchange with blank, faraway eyes, and continued, "Violence clings to you like an aura. You carry it with you wherever you go. You may stay for three days… no more."

"Ungrateful squab!" Rishi hissed. "After all we have done for Langdarma, you dare insult us like this? You do not know who you are talking to."

"I do not need to," said the Sannyasi. "You have proven my point with your own words."

"And if they don't leave?" Yago's tone was stubborn and menacing, but it did not escape Atreus's notice that the ogre had not included himself. He, at least, knew where he belonged, and it wasn't Langdarma. "You think you can force them?"

Seema gasped at the ogre's brazenness, but the Sannyasi's silvery eyes remained calm and patient

"They will leave. That is the only possible outcome." He looked away from the ogre and asked Atreus, "What of the other two missing women?"

It took Atreus a moment to swallow his disappointment and answer, for his stomach had grown so bitter and tight that he could barely speak.

"I imagine they're still alive," he said, gesturing at the cave mouth toward which Tarch had been climbing. "We'll find them somewhere in there."

"I will find them," said the Sannyasi. "You must rest and prepare yourself for your journey."

With that, he spread his wings and flew up to the cave, leaving Atreus and his companions alone with the two girls. Atreus watched the Sannyasi disappear into the dark cavern and turned to stare out over Langdarma. The red web already stretched over as much of the valley as he could see.

"Maybe the Sannyasi is right," Atreus said, shaking his head sadly. "I only hope we haven't destroyed this little world already."

"Us?" Rishi snorted. "This is not our fault It was Tarch who killed, not us."

"Tarch wouldn't have found Langdarma if we hadn't been looking for it," said Atreus.

"And Seema would've been some devil's bed slave by now," Yago said, and smothered Atreus's shoulder beneath his heavy hand. "Don't go playing What if. This is a big valley. If you want to stay, we can hide out until after the storms start. The Sannyasi won't send us off till next summer, and maybe he'll change his mind by then."

"Thanks. I know what a sacrifice that would be for you," said Atreus, "but no good can come of defying the Sannyasi. It would only harm Langdarma, and we'd still have to leave."

Seema raised her brow, then her eyes grew glassy. She turned to the girls Tarch had kidnapped and asked them, "Will it be okay for Rishi and Yago to take you back to your mother? They helped rescue you, and I believe you know you can trust them."

The oldest girl nodded, and the younger one said, "Rishi is nice."

"So is Yago," said Seema, "and very brave."

"And where will you be taking the good sir?" asked Rishi.

Seema turned to Atreus and said, "There is something I would like to show him before he leaves."

"And this is something we are not permitted to see?" Rishi leered, then gestured at himself and Yago.

"I fear not," Seema blushed. "Besides, you saw much of Langdarma while Atreus was recuperating. I think it only fair that he gets to see something special."

Atreus bit his Up, torn between his desire to spend his last few days with Seema and to continue his search for the Fountain of Infinite Grace. "How long will this take? Perhaps we could meet Rishi and Yago after they return the girls."

Seema winced, clearly stung by Atreus's suggestion.

"You do not wish to spend your remaining time with me?"

"Of course I do!" Atreus exclaimed, realizing what a mistake he had made. "It's just that… we all had our plans, and I didn't want to let the Sannyasi's decision change them."

"Oh, you must not concern yourself with Yago and me," said Rishi, patting Atreus's side. "We will see to the girls and continue on as before, but I think you should go with Seema and see this special sight"

Atreus felt something small and light drop into his cloak pocket Guessing that it was probably the empty vial Rishi had taken from Seema's kitchen, Atreus realized the Mar was right. Perhaps Seema had decided to show him the Fountain of Infinite Grace after all. Atreus turned to Seema and took her hands.

"I would enjoy nothing more than spending all my remaining time with you." Though he was speaking the absolute truth, he could not escape the hollow feeling in his stomach as he added, "I hope you'll forgive me for being as foolish as I am ugly."

There is nothing to forgive." Seema smiled. "I am glad you find my company inviting. Besides, in the weeks to come, I am sure you will be seeing more of your friends than you like."

Too much of us? He's the ugly one!" joked Yago. The ogre took the youngest girl's hand and turned down the mountain. "Well see you back at the hut?"

"Yes." Seema smiled mischievously. "Sometime."

She led Atreus along the base of the Turquoise Cliff toward the brink of the upper basin. Soon, they drew close enough to the edge to see down to the mottled floor of the main valley. Along the crimson web of streams and rivers stood scattered clusters of tiny figures, gesturing excitedly and peering toward the upper basin. Only a single stream, cascading down from someplace hidden around the shoulder of the Turquoise Cliff, retained its natural silver.

Atreus stopped and looked down the length of the immense valley, his eyes silently tracing a dozen scarlet waterfalls into the mouths of a dozen hanging basins like this one.

"Will the stain ever fade?" Atreus asked. "Or now that Langdarma has seen bloodshed, will its waters run red forever?"

"There is bloodshed in many lands, and their streams are not red. I think it will not take long for the beauty of Langdarma to wash the stain away."

Seema guided Atreus to an immense fir growing along the cliff face. Beneath the crisp smell of sap hung the odor of musty stone, and there was a dampness to the air that suggested the cool breath of a cave. Seema ducked under the tree's low-hanging boughs and disappeared on her hands and knees. Atreus followed, his huge shoulders and humped back scraping the branch thickets somewhat clumsily. Soon, he found himself sliding down a muddy chute into the mouth of a small cavern.

Seema took his hand and led him into the dank-smelling darkness. The floor was sometimes soft and level and other times hard and steep, but it was always slick. Several times Atreus slipped and nearly fell, and once the ground completely disappeared beneath his boot. Seema always seemed to know exactly where she was, cautioning him to duck when the ceiling grew low, or warning him not to trip over some unseen boulder lying in the path. He was beginning to wonder if this was another mystical Passing when they finally rounded a corner and he saw a faint circle of light fifty paces ahead. When the passage grew bright enough to see clearly, Seema released his hand and led the way out onto a narrow ledge.

Atreus found himself standing many thousands of feet above the valley floor, staring down the length of the broad canyon at a hazy blue cloud he took to be the mountains at the far end. The tiny figures he had seen standing along the river banks earlier were mere specks, discernible from the boulders and trees around them only because they moved. The streams and creeks had become a mesh of red threads, and the main river was a scarlet rope snaking back and forth across the valley floor.

"You are not afraid of heights, are you?" asked Seema.

Atreus glanced down and found himself looking at a mot-tied carpet of green woods. He could discern nothing about the forest except its color-not the shape of the individual trees, nor whether their crowns were pointed or billowing, nor even whether they were conifers or deciduous.

"It's too far down to be afraid."

"Good," Seema laughed. "I would not like having to blindfold you on this trail."

She started along the rocky shelf. Atreus followed as quickly as he could, keeping one hand on the cliff and his eyes on his feet. The ledge had a disconcerting downward slope and an alarmingly smooth texture, and he had the constant feeling his boots were about to slide out from beneath him. If Seema felt the same way, she showed no sign, walking along as comfortably as on the balcony of her own stone hut At length, Atreus grew relaxed enough to tear his gaze away from his feet He saw that they were curving along the valley wall toward the head of the canyon, where a glistening tail of water fell to the valley floor in a series of step-like cascades, plummeting from one pool to the next until it finally plunged into a small, gleaming lake. It was the outflow of this lake that Atreus had glimpsed earlier, a single silver stream in the web of scarlet

"That stream is the source of Langdarma's beauty," said Seema. "It will wash away the stain of Tarch's murderous heart."

"But those are the sparkling waters," Atreus said, pointing at the cascades. "I thought it was forbidden to bring me here."

"It is. Of all the forbidden things I have done, this is most forbidden. But I cannot let you leave without bringing you here. It is the reason you came to Langdarma."

She took his hand and led him along the curving wall to the end of the ledge, where a small slot canyon cut up through the cliff to a hanging meadow. Here, overlooking the entirety of the valley's beauty, sat an alabaster palace flanked on both sides by lotus ponds. The building had an ancient, guileless beauty, with the lower story painted in bright horizontal stripes and the upper decorated in swirling relief's. A second-story balcony room commanded one end, while the other was dominated by an elaborate open rotunda skirted by two domed gazebos. Connecting the two was a long gallery of scalloped arches and slender columns, with two streams of twinkling silver water joining halfway down a Y-shaped staircase, then draining into a large oval reflecting pond.

"I've seen something like this before," Atreus gasped, "after the avalanche!"

Seema nodded and said, "Of course. Did you not say you had found Langdarma?"

"I did, but after-when I forgot-I thought it was a dream."

"Langdarma is a dream."

Seema took his hand and led the way across the meadow to the reflecting pool and knelt in the soft grass. Even with the tiny stream flowing into the upper end and draining out the lower, the edges of the pool were as still as glass. Its silvery surface reflected Atreus's hideous face in perfect detail-every lump, every blotch, every gruesome deformity. He turned his head aside.

"No, do not look away," said Seema. "Close your eyes and drink."

"Drink?" Atreus avoided his reflection as he swung his gaze back in her direction. "That is permitted?"

"Why not? Do you think we will run out?" Seema giggled. "Drink as much as you like."

Atreus closed his eyes and cupped his hands in the pool. The water was as cold as a glacier, but he could feel its sparkling magic in his hands. It was a sweet effervescence that tingled down to the bone. A smile crept across his face, then he heard himself chortle in delight.

Seema's palm touched his elbow, urging his hands toward his face. "What are you waiting for?"

Atreus saw the radiance of the water through his eyelids, silvery scintillations that popped inside his mind like bursting stars. He lowered his lips to his palms and drank, gulping the icy water down so fast it made his throat ache. The water filled him with an airy giddiness similar to the first time Seema kissed him, and he felt as if he would float into the air.

"Atreus, look," Seema whispered as she pulled his hands down.

The face in the water was as unbalanced and misshapen as his own, with the same beetling brow and sunken eyes, the same enormous nose and twisted mouth, but it was not him. All of the disparate parts of this face fit together in a natural way that was sincere and unpretentious, noble in its casual warmth. This face was handsome, rugged, happy, and utterly at peace with its own uncommon character.

Seema peered into the pool beside Atreus, her reflection a likeness of her customary loveliness. "This is the way I see you. It has always been the way I see you."

She turned to look at him, reached up behind his head, and drew his face down to hers. Her lips were warm and sweet and intoxicating, and now that she had given him freely what he had come to steal, he found it impossible not to respond. He slipped his hands under her cloak, felt the heavy softness of her breasts, and lifted the cloth over her head. She raised her arms, letting her silky hair cascade free as he undressed her, and pressed her nakedness to him, undoing his clothes as he had undone hers. She touched every part of him, running her warm hands over his burly shoulders and down his broad back, feeling the solidness of his stomach, the sinewy strength in his hips, the pent-up ardor of his loins, and Atreus thought he would explode.

What happened then became a blur. Seema pulled him on top and they melted together. They lay writhing in the meadow for an eternity, skin-to-skin, oblivious to the chill breeze or the gurgling water or the passing day, sometimes locked in embraces so tight Atreus could not tell where his body ended and Seema's began, sometimes merely resting in each other's arms, exhausted and content, their bodies drained and their hearts full. They lost themselves in each other, forgot the morning bloodshed and Tarch's evil and the Sannyasi's verdict, and they became one. If only for a few hours, Atreus learned what it was to be beautiful.

At last, the afternoon light began to fade, and their strength with it. Seema curled into the crook of Atreus's arm and started to breathe in a deep, steady rhythm. He pulled her cloak over her and lay holding her until his arm fell asleep and his back ached from lying so still. Using his free hand, he folded her clothes into a pillow and gently slipped them under her head and withdrew his numb arm. She curled into a tighter ball and continued to sleep but otherwise did not stir.

Atreus stood and pulled on his own cloak, then looked out over Langdarma. Long curtains of afternoon drizzle were beginning to fall from the icy sky, cloaking most of the valley in haze as gray as the canyon walls. Through the mist, Atreus could see little more than a sweeping swath of mottled green with the outline of a broad river snaking down its center. With Seema sleeping behind him, it seemed the most beautiful landscape he had ever seen.

Atreus stood breathing in Langdarma's peace and serenity for a long time. Then he closed his eyes and kneeled beside the reflecting pool. At that moment, he was strong enough to accept whatever he saw, but he had to see it alone. If the image in the water was ugly, he wanted some time to swallow his disappointment, to put on a happy face so Seema would not think him ungrateful. Atreus leaned forward until he saw the water's radiance twinkling inside his eyelids and opened his eyes.

The reflection was as handsome as before.

Atreus breathed a sigh of relief, then glanced over his shoulder. Seema was still sleeping, her lips curled into a dreamy smile. Atreus reached into his cloak pocket and found the vial Rishi had slipped him earlier. He began to feel guilty and disloyal, though he could not understand why. Seema had told him he could drink as much as he liked, and the whole flask would not amount to a single gulp. Whatever Sune wanted with the twinkling water, he did not see how taking such a small amount could harm Langdarma.

Atreus plunged the vial into the icy water and watched the air bubble rise to the surface of the pool, then inserted the cork while it was still underwater. When he lifted the flask from the basin, it was gleaming and twinkling just like the one Kumara had used to calm Timin's delirious father. He checked his reflection one more time, just to be certain he had not broken the pond's magic, then slipped the flask into his cloak pocket.

A low hissing sounded from the alabaster palace. Atreus glanced toward the sound and saw-or thought he saw-a trio of dark eyes peering out from within the second-floor gallery. A ring of black tentacles seemed to be writhing around the three eyes, and between the eyes was something that looked vaguely like an ebony beak. Atreus gasped and rose.

"There is nothing to fear," said Seema.

Atreus glanced back to see her slipping her cloak over her shoulders. She pulled her silky black hair out of the collar and let it cascade down her back, then came to his side.

"It cannot escape the palace," she said.

"What is it?"

Seema shrugged. "Only the Sannyasi knows," she replied, "and perhaps not even him."

"Every beauty hides a greater ugliness," Atreus said, recalling what Seema had said to him not so long ago.

Seema nodded.

"Every adage has its source."

Atreus gave an involuntary shiver and asked, "How long has it been watching?"

Seema blushed. "Not that long, I am sure," she said. "It has no interest in Devotions." Despite her assurance, she glanced up at the sky and grasped Atreus's hand. "Come along, now. It would not do for us to be on the ledge after dark."

They returned to Seema's house to find their friends fast asleep downstairs. Yago woke up long enough to mumble something about staying up half the night worrying, then rolled over and began to shake the entire hut with his snores. Seema giggled, then took Atreus's hand and led the way upstairs, where he discovered he was not quite as tired as he thought.

The next morning, Atreus awoke at the crack of dawn, roused from a sound sleep by an alarming hollow in the pit of his stomach. At first, he credited his anxiety to the loss of waking from a blissful dream, but when he felt Seema's warm body curled against his and looked over to find her smiling in her sleep, he knew this particular dream was not yet over.

Atreus lay there without moving for several minutes, trying to recover the peace he had experienced at the Fountain of Infinite Grace. Finally he realized that what he felt was guilt As of yet, he had said nothing to Seema about the vial in his cloak, and he did not see how he could. To admit filling it was to admit that he had planned to deceive her all along. Even more than he wanted to be handsome, he did not want to lose her love. He slipped out from beneath the heavy blanket, collected his clothes, and crept downstairs to dress. Part of him wanted to empty the vial and return it to the cabinet, but another part whispered that Seema need never know what he had done, that if he could keep the vial hidden for just two days, he would have both Seema's love and Sune's gratitude.

On the bottom floor of the hut, his friends were already up, brewing a pot of the greasy buttered tea that Yago loved more than anything in Langdarma. Atreus stopped on the stairs to pull on his tunic, drawing a sly grin from Rishi.

"Yago, look at our master. Does he not look content this morning?"

Atreus could not help beaming, but his joy was quickly spoiled by the thought of what he had done to win the compliment. The smile vanished from his lips, and he said, "I wish I felt as content as I look."

Rishi frowned. "She did not take you to the Fountain of Infinite Grace?" the Mar asked.

"She took me." Atreus tied his trousers, then added, "I filled the vial."

"Then what's your grumbling about?" Yago continued to stir his tea. "That's what Sune sent you for."

"I didn't tell Seema about it"

Rishi's eyes widened in alarm. "And why would you want to do such a foolish thing?" he asked. "If she knew-"

"Seema would only object if it endangered Langdarma," Atreus said. He hung his cloak on a wall peg. "And if it endangers Langdarma, then I shouldn't do it. That would be the worst kind of betrayal."

Yago looked up from his stirring and said, "So you'd betray your goddess instead and go home empty-handed? After coming all this way, you expect me to believe that?"

Atreus hesitated, unsure of his answer and hating himself for it "Maybe it won't come to that," he said.

"I do not think that is a chance you wish to take," said Rishi. "You saw the Sannyasi's power. Now, are you going to let us look at this marvelous water? I did not see it when Kumara used it on Timin's father, and I am most curious about its glow."

Atreus withdrew the vial from his cloak pocket, then scowled. The only thing sparkling in the flask was the reflection of the flames under Yago's tea pot

The ogre squinted at the glass. "Sure," he said, "I can see something sparkling in there."

"But not the way it should, I fear," said Rishi. He eyed Atreus nervously. This is not how it looked when you filled it?"

Atreus shook his head. "No." He stared at the vial for several moments, then noticed his knuckles turning white from squeezing it so hard. He placed it on the table and said, "The sparkle is gone."

Yago frowned. "Did Sune say it-"

"The water must be sparkling," Atreus said. "She even reminded me."

Rishi picked up the vial and held it to his eye.

"Then there is clearly more to the task than we thought"

"Why doesn't that surprise me? This whole trip…" A terrible thought occurred to Atreus, and he turned to Yago. "What do I look like?"

"Same as usual. Like the loser of a bad fight," Yago said. He used his bare hands to lift the tea pot off the fire, then placed it in on the table to cool. "Why?"

Atreus turned to Rishi and asked, "What do you think? Am I handsome?"

The Mar's eyes shifted away.

"Certainly, Seema must think so "

Atreus's heart sank at the word "certainly."

"It's a simple question, Rishi. I look no better than before?"

The Mar dropped his gaze and said, "No."

"By Sune's red hair!" Atreus cursed.

He plucked the vial from Rishi's hand and hurled it against the wall, then heard a small gasp. He turned to see Seema standing on the stairs behind him, her hands to her face, her gaze fixed on the shattered remains of the vial.

Atreus's fury was instantly replaced by shame and remorse. "Seema! This isn't what you think." Realizing how insincere and deceitful that particular lie sounded, he began again, "Well, I can't imagine what you must think."

Seema pointed at the corked neck of the broken flask and said, "I think that you broke one of my vials."

Atreus nodded.

"What was in it?" she asked.

Atreus started to answer, but found his throat so dry he could not choke out the words.

"It was my doing," said Yago, ever the loyal guard. "I took one of your vials-"

Atreus waved the ogre off, then said, "But I am the one who filled it… from the pool of sparkling waters."

Seema frowned and said nothing.

"It's what we've been looking for all along," Atreus explained. "My goddess, Sune Firehair, promised to make me handsome if I brought her a vial of sparkling waters from the Fountain of Infinite Grace."

Seema studied him for a long time, her eyes growing harder and more angry as each moment passed. Finally, she came down the stairs and began to pick up the pieces of her shattered vial.

"I do not know this Sune Firehair of yours, but I think you are a fool for worshiping her. To ask such a thing, she must be a heartless witch."

"Fickle as a game of knucklebones," agreed Yago.

"Fickle is not cruel," said Seema. She continued to avoid Atreus's gaze. "What Sune Firehair asks is impossible."

"I was afraid of that," Atreus sighed. "The last thing I want to do is harm Langdarma, but-"

Seema whirled on him and shouted, "Do not lie to me!" Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears. "If you feared for Langdarma, then you would have asked first."

"You said it was forbidden for anyone but healers to see the shining waters," Atreus explained. "We were-I was- afraid you wouldn't do it."

"I would do anything for you," Seema answered bitterly. She tossed the broken glass shards into the hut's fireplace. "Have I not proven that already?"

"You would not help him find Langdarma," Rishi reminded her.

Seema cringed, and her expression grew more sad than angry. She looked up at Atreus. "It seems we have both agonized over the wishes of our goddesses. I will fetch you all the sparkling water you wish, but that will change nothing. What your goddess asks is impossible. The pool's magic lasts only a few hours. By the time you return to her, the water in your vial will be as plain as the water from your own well."

Atreus was too stunned to reply. "What do you mean?" he finally asked. "It stops sparkling?"

Seema nodded. "Did you not see that for yourself?" She ran her fingers along the rough skin of his cheek. "I am sorry, but your goddess sent you for nothing."

"No!" Atreus collapsed onto a chair, shaking his head numbly. "All this way… why?"

Seema sat beside him and said, "I do not know. If she is not a cruel goddess, then perhaps she sent you looking for one thing knowing you would find something else."

"What?" Atreus demanded. "The knowledge that I'll always be a monster?"

"Perhaps it was me."

"You?" Atreus took a deep breath, reminding himself that he was not the only person who had been deceived here. He took Seema's hand and shook his head. "Perhaps Sune is fickle, but she is not cruel, not when it comes to love. She would never have sent me to find you, knowing I would only lose you a few weeks later."

"Perhaps you do not have to lose me," said Seema.

"Then you can convince the Sannyasi to let us stay?" asked Rishi.

"That is not what I was thinking," said Seema. "The san-nyasi never changes his mind, because nothing he decrees can ever be wrong."

"He is wrong this time!" snapped Rishi. "We are not going to bring any harm to Langdarma."

"Your anger is harming it now," said Seema. "And there is no sense in it. The Sannyasi's will cannot be challenged."

"Then he is an ungrateful fool," Rishi said, his eyes burning with indignation. "I would not live in a place ruled by such a buffoon! But if he thinks we are leaving without our reward…"

"Reward?" asked Atreus. "What reward?"

"Our reward for saving the daughters of Langdarma," Rishi said. "I did not risk my life battling Tarch for free."

Atreus started to chastise the Mar for his greedy attitude, but Seema spoke first. "What is it you want, Rishi? You are welcome to take anything you like, but we have no gold or jewels in Langdarma, and yaks will not survive the Passing."

Seema's offer calmed Rishi as no argument of Atreus's could have. The Mar glanced around the hut with an appraising eye, then simply shook his head and muttered, "How can a people so poor be so happy?"

"Perhaps we are happy because we are poor." Seema smiled at the Mar's bewilderment, then turned to Atreus and said, "But as I wanted to say, I would be happy with you wherever we were. Could that be the reason Sune sent you here?"

"Not likely," scoffed Yago. "Seeing a beauty like you with a beast like him would only insult that prissy hag. He'd be lucky if she didn't strike him dead on the spot"

Atreus barely heard the ogre's appraisal of the situation, so astonished was he by Seema's offer.

"You would leave Langdarma for me?" he gasped.

"If that would make you happy."

"It would… it does." Atreus's heart was suddenly as light as a bird. He took her hands and said, "Just knowing that you would come with me makes me happier than I have ever been in my life."

"Would?" Seema echoed. "You do not want me to?"

"I want you to…"

Atreus paused to gather his strength, imagining what Seema's life would be like in Erlkazar. Court ladies whispering that she loved Atreus's gold more than him, freshly slaughtered meat at every banquet, jousts, bloodbaths, and wars that sprang up on the whim of an angry king.

"I can't ask you to leave Langdarma," he continued. "My world would poison you, just as surely as Tarch poisoned Langdarma."

Seema squeezed his hand. "You are not asking me to leave," she countered. "I am asking you to let me come."

Atreus did not even hesitate in saying, "I can't The Sannyasi is right about the Outside. It ruins everything it touches, and I would hate myself for allowing that to happen to you."

"I am strong," Seema insisted. "You cannot know-"

"He's right" Yago came around the table and laid a big hand on Seema's shoulder. "I'd like nothing more than for you to come with us-for Atreus's sake-but it wouldn't be right Sooner or later, you'd start missing this place more than you love him, and then you'd hate him for it."

Seema furrowed her brow and said, "I could never hate-"

"In Erlkazar, you could," said Atreus. "The Outside is full of hate. I love you more than my own life, but you are not the reason Sune sent me here."

"Then Sune is a cruel goddess," said Seema, "because I am going to miss you, and there was never any hope of finding what you came for."

"I found it for a time, and I will never forget that."

Atreus grew thoughtful, recalling how he looked in the reflecting pool, then thought of the beast he had glimpsed watching them.

"Perhaps she is not so cruel after all."

Seema scowled. "What are you saying?" she asked.

"That she told me to fill the vial from the fountain of infinite Grace, not the pool-"

Seema looked more concerned than ever. "There are no fountains at the Palace of Serenity," she said.

"Not outside," said Atreus, "but that water must be coming from somewhere."