The Gods Awaken

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Blind as he was, Safar made a striking first appearance before Queen Yorlain and her court.

Dressed in his best ceremonial robes, he rode Khysmet across the sands to where the island queen waited in a portable throne made of rare fragrant wood, decorated with exotic flowers.

Leiria and Jooli walked on either side of Khysmet, their mail burnished to a high gloss. Palimak, dressed in a princely costume, led the way-walking several paces before the snow-white stallion.

Marching behind them was the entire Kyranian contingent. More than a hundred soldiers were spread out in ceremonial procession with Coralean at their head. Mounted on a tall horse, the caravan master was bedecked in flowing robes. Beside him, riding a dainty bay, was Eeda, who was also dressed in her finest. Despite her advanced pregnancy, Eeda looked lovely in her bejeweled gown, her face shining with excitement.

Overhead, the airship circled the beach, stirring music from Elgy and Rabix floating down to enthrall one and all.

Safar held Khysmet's reins loosely, trusting the horse to be his eyes. Once again he marveled at the mystical communication between horse and man. He only had to focus on a thing and Khysmet seemed to flow with his thoughts, anticipating his every need.

Although Safar couldn't see, Iraj's ethereal presence in his body made his senses doubly acute. Every sound was magnified, but not painfully so. Every scent was sharp and clear. The slight breeze fanned his face, making his flesh tingle with increased awareness of his surroundings. He also felt extremely strong and fast, his muscles throbbing with Iraj's added power.

As they approached the queen, Safar heard the murmurs of amazement from her courtiers. Deep inside, Iraj chortled in delight. He said, They know a king when they see one, brother. But what they don'tknow is that there are two of us!

Safar didn't need a signal from his friends to know when he was close enough to stop. The knowledge just suddenly came to him-and at the same time to Khysmet-and the stallion came to a halt, tail lashing, flanks quivering in anticipation.

He allowed a moment for drama before he spoke, turning his face this way and that as if his eyes were sweeping the scene. At the same time he soaked up the sensations, building a picture in his mind.

It was all too familiar. The sound of the palms stirring in the breeze, the hiss of the seas. The feel of the warm sun beating down. The smell of ripening palm fruit-and the distant, acrid odor of the volcano, mixed with the heady scent of the queen's exotic perfume.

Inside Safar, Iraj shuddered as he too recognized their surroundings, as well as the identity of the woman before them. He felt the quickening beat of Safar's heart and whispered a warning: Steady, brother! Itwas a warning meant as much for himself as for the man whose body he shared.

Safar nodded, then lifted his head to speak-centering his eyes on the place where the queen's sweet scent was the strongest.

"Greetings, Majesty," he said. "My people and myself will be forever indebted to you for your gracious welcome to your shores."

He heard a surprised gasp, then graceful movement as the queen rose from her throne.

"But why wouldn't I welcome you, King Safar?" came a puzzled voice. "Don't you know me? Am I not your sister in misfortune? Have we not danced together in the Vision of the World's End countless times in the past?"

Safar gave a long sigh as answers to questions he hadn't even known existed came rushing in.

"Yes, I know you, Queen Yorlain," he said. "But what I didn't know was that you shared the vision that has been tormenting me since I was a boy."

There was a pause as the queen considered his answer. Then she asked, "You mean, you have sailed from the other side of the world without truly understanding what was happening and what you must do to intervene?"

"What knowledge I have," Safar replied, "comes only from visions, oracles and the Book of Asper." He smiled ruefully. "Wondrous events and learned objects to be sure. But you must admit, none of them are noted for their clarity."

"And yet you came," Yorlain said, voice tinged with awe. "Although you were blind to the world's true needs."

For a moment, Safar thought she'd seen through his ruse. That she knew he was blind, although he'd pretended otherwise. Instinctively, this worried him. He didn't know why, but he felt it was important that he keep his disability from her. But her next words made him realize she was speaking about blindness figuratively and that his secret was still intact.

"Please forgive my ramblings, Majesty," she said. "I'm only happy that you've come at all. That we can look upon one another as ordinary mortals, instead of as slaves of that awful vision."

For an answer, Safar only smiled and bowed low in the saddle. The next question, however, brought him up sharply.

"But where is your brother king?" she asked. "The Holy Lady Felakia was quite clear that two kings would come to Hadin to awaken the gods. Two royal brothers and a child born of human and demon parentage."

Thinking quickly, Safar said, "The child you spoke of is now a grown man. And he stands there before you." He gestured at the place he was certain Palimak stood. "His name is Palimak, my adopted son."

"And the other?" Queen Yorlain pressed.

Safar tapped his breast. "My brother is with us in spirit, Majesty. And at the right moment he will make his physical presence known to you as well."

Inside him, Iraj murmured, Excellent answer, Safar. But you always were good at turning a lie on itshead and making it the truth. Hmm?

Safar ignored this. Evidently the truce he and Iraj had agreed upon didn't include insults. He still had no idea how he was going to deal with his old enemy, much less present him to Yorlain when the time came.

More worrisome-on a personal level-was how Palimak and especially Leiria would react when he told them about Iraj. Worse still, he hadn't allowed himself to dwell on the living horror inside him. At the moment, the only course of action he could think of was to delay the inevitable as long as possible.

Queen Yorlain said, "I pray your brother doesn't wait too long, Majesty. The time is near when we must act."

"I promise you, Highness," Safar replied, "that we'll both be ready. There's nothing to concern yourself about as far as my brother's appearance is concerned."

"Very well, then, King Safar," Yorlain replied. "Let us lead you to your castle. All has been prepared for the work you must do there."

Safar was puzzled. "What castle?" he asked.

"Why, the Castle of the Two Kings," she said, mildly surprised. "Didn't Lord Asper mention that in his writings?"

Safar remembered the line: " … Know that Asper knocked at the Castle Keep/ But the gates werebarred, the Gods asleep…"

He smiled. "Asper only commented on it indirectly," he said. "But I think I understand now what he was getting at. At least in part, that is."

"Will you come with us then, Majesty?" Yorlain asked.

Safar hesitated. "What of my friends and soldiers?" he asked.

"There's ample room, Majesty," Yorlain said. "Actually, it is a castle without inhabitants. A ghost castle, so to speak. No one has lived there since the days of Asper, although it has been kept in good repair."

Once again, Safar bowed low in his saddle. "Lead the way, then, O gracious queen," he said.

There was a rumble of wheels as attendants led a light, two-wheeled chariot across the sands. It was drawn by a matched pair of magnificent ostriches, standing over seven feet high. Safar heard Leiria and Jooli murmur in amazement and wondered what they were seeing.

Then the queen mounted her chariot. She gave the signal and to the sound of blaring shell horns and rolling drums the ostriches started off, drawing the chariot after them.

"This way, father," Palimak called.

But Khysmet was already moving, following the strange procession. Coralean bellowed orders and the Kyranian soldiers stepped out smartly.

"Do you see the castle?" Safar asked Leiria. He didn't remember one being here.

"All I see," Leiria replied, "is a big damned volcano. Which just happens to be the way we're going!"

Not far away, in the shadow of a small uninhabited island, King Rhodes and his three ships were drawn up in a little bay protected on three sides by high cliffs.

The ships looked different than before. Their hulls and sails had been painted or dyed a grayish blue to match the seas. The figureheads had been removed from the prows and all bright metal objects had been daubed with tar so that they wouldn't glitter.

In short, Rhodesa€™ pirate captains had ransacked their brains for all the tricks of their criminal trade to obscure the ships from casual view.

Even more effective, however, was the spell Queen Clayre had cast with the powerful support of the Lady Lottyr. The spell made the ships completely invisible to prying eyes, such as those of the crew of the airship that had searched for them during the whole long voyage from Aroborus.

The goddess of the Hells had also aided them in other important ways, such as ferreting out the intended route of the Kyranians. And so it was, that when the Timura fleet drew up at the main island a few short sea miles away, King Rhodes and his ships were already hidden in the little bay.

Even now, the king's troops were camped on shore getting ready for the coming surprise attack. Grizzled sergeants strode among them as they cleaned and repaired their weapons and armor. Although their rations were necessarily cold so campfires wouldn't give away the army's presence, the food was plentiful and Rhodes encouraged them to eat their fill and build up their strength.

He'd also captured a native fishing vessel and had tortured the crew until they'd been emptied of every scrap of knowledge about Hadin that they contained. The four men had then been turned over to Clayre to feed her spellfires and keep Lottyr satiated.

Now, as the Kyranians marched in procession toward the mysterious Castle of the Two Kings, it was Rhodes who saw the edifice first.

In Clayre's cabin, the king leaned forward to study the living diorama of the main island that shimmered on his mother's spelltable. He could see the small figure of Queen Yorlain in her chariot, leading Safar and his people up off the beach toward the volcano.

A road began just beyond a thick grove of palm trees. It shot straight toward the volcano, then wound up its terraced sides-moving past tiny people working in the fields. The road continued through a series of small peaks, then dipped down into a wide, green valley cupped in the volcano's lap. A shallow blue lake filled one side, rippling along a rocky shore.

In the center of the valley-set on a peninsula that jutted into the lake-was a great golden castle surrounded by enormous walls. Within were several domed palaces, surrounding a massive keep that towered over all.

A second, lower wall ringed the castle's outer perimeter and Rhodes could clearly see the six gates that allowed traffic to pass to and from the castle. And a wide road leading past the domed palaces to the keep, where he knew Safar would take residence, since it was the greatest stronghold in the entire castle.

Looking through the king's eyes, Kalasariz examined the diorama with equal interest. Except for the castle, the valley reminded him slightly of Kyrania, which also featured a lake. The plant life was also different and Kyrania was set high in snowy mountains, instead of in the lap of a volcano. But those things aside, the number of similarities were surprising.

Clayre frowned at the scene. "That castle is going to be troublesome," she said. "It may even make our job near impossible."

"Why is that, mother?" Rhodes asked, mildly amused at Clayre's foray into his world-the world of tactics and strategy and fortifications.

She snorted in disgust at her son's imagined stupidity. "Isn't it obvious?" she said. "Once the Kyranians get inside those walls there'll be no getting them out!"

Rhodes chuckled. "That's one way of looking at it, mother," he replied.

"What other way is there of seeing it?" she demanded.

Another kingly chuckle. "That once the Kyranians enter the castle," he said, "they'll have a hells of a time getting out."

He pointed at several places, saying, "We just have to put troops here … and here … and maybe a few siege engines over there … and we'll have them thoroughly trapped."

Rhodes made a fist. "Then all we have to do is squeeze."

Clayre nodded, even smiling a little-pleased at his explanation. "But what about the Queen and her people?" she asked. "They certainly seem to be on Safar Timura's side. Surely she has more soldiers at her command then we possess."

It was Rhodesa€™ turn to snort. "They won't be any match for my boys," he said. "We'll swallow them up and spit them out in no time."

Then he saw the tiny image of the airship rising toward the valley. He jabbed a finger at it.

"That's my main worry," he said. "That damned airship again! It can bombard the hells out of us during the siege while we're sitting helplessly in the open."

Clayre turned to her son, smile broadening. "I've been thinking about the airship," she said. "I even discussed the situation with our patroness, the Lady Lottyr."

"What was the result, mother?" Rhodes asked, hopes growing.

"That we won't have to worry about the airship much longer," Clayre replied.

"That's good news, indeed," Rhodes said.

"I'll need a few days to get things set up," Clayre cautioned. "So don't move too swiftly and give yourself away before it's time to act."

Rhodes shrugged. "No bother there, mother," he said. "I need a few more days myself before I'm ready."

Clayre nodded understanding. "You're waiting on Tabusir?" she asked.

"The very one," Rhodes replied.