Da"s head flopped to one side.
"Da," Talen said, horror slithering itself about him.
The monster held its ink black arm aloft, then it punched it into the belly of the figure lying on the floor. It knelt there until Talen realized the blackness was leaching out of the monster"s arm and into the clay belly of the second monster.
Talen could barely whisper. "No," he said in a small voice. "No."
An eternity pa.s.sed, and then the monster withdrew its fist. The blackness was gone.
The earthen body upon the floor stirred. Its hideous mouth opened as if taking a breath. Then it turned its awful head to look Talen in the face.
Talen recoiled.
He could not breathe. Could not speak. What had they done to Da!
The woman turned, her escort shimmering about her, and Talen noticed her hands. They were smoky, flickering. Almost like that of a wraith. He had not noticed this before.
"Your former masters were lax to allow untamed elements into the populace. So I shall educate you. There is a great order of beings. This is the nature of creation. Humans have mastered many things, but not all. There are greater powers still. I will protect you from all takers. Serve me, and I will give you knowledge and power beyond what you can imagine. I shall raise you and crown you as Divines to your people. Think of all you could do with such power. Just bring me the master of the harvest."
Her words were as smooth as silver. She was so beautiful, so convincing. A sc.r.a.p of a memory came to him. And he realized that when he was a child, he"d dreamt of this woman, of the bands of living light. He remembered the joy of those dreams, but they were so long ago. Before mother had died.
Part of him wanted to bask in her radiance. But there was a part of Talen that resisted her, part of him roiling with revulsion. He looked at the crown in his hand. If he could use it, perhaps he could do something, but the power of the crown was beyond him.
"I ask you again," the woman said. She held up the wisterwife charm. "Where are you hiding the one that bore my might?" Her words caressed Talen like silk. If he had known the truth, he would have told her.
And then he stopped himself-he did know the truth.
The charm, the dreams, the words River and the Creek Widow had spoken to him-they all roiled in his mind. His mother had discovered, working in the fiber of his body, strange and intricate patterns of power. "Twisted," River had said. "Pruned and grafted for a great purpose," the Creek Widow had said. They had all suspected it was for some greater good. But none of them could have suspected this.
It"s me, he thought. I am the one she seeks. With a clarity that rang like a bell, Talen felt the truth of it. It sounded in his very bones. Talen"s world was gone, replaced by this nightmare.
But what was he? Was he even human? He felt the panic of standing next to a high precipice and knowing he was going to tumble over the edge. He felt the fear of being dragged by a treacherous current far out to the deep and rough waters of a cold sea.
The woman motioned at Da"s body. "He"s cooling even as we speak, but it"s not too late. I can reverse the quickening. Tell me where the master is, and you shall save your friend."
He could save Da. His mind told him this was true. But the crown in his hand whispered a warning.
He looked over at River. Her face was wracked with grief and fear.
"No," she shook her head.
She"d freed herself of the collar, which meant she was probably working her lore, multiplying her powers. Even so, what could she do that Da as a Victor could not? Her attack would be as futile as Ke"s had been.
"Don"t listen," said Uncle Argoth. "She means to put us up like so much smoked meat."
"That is true," the woman said. "But this is the order of things. You love and cherish your cattle, your sheep, your beasts. But in the end you feed off of them. Why should it be any different with us? Besides, you will fare better under my management than you ever could on your own. You people will grow old in peace. You yourself will live to the age of a tree doing much good, protecting those most dear to you, putting down injustice and squashing your enemies beneath your feet. You will heal sickness in children, cattle, and herbs. Peace and fatness will reign in these valleys and hills and sh.o.r.es until the end of your days. This is what I give you-the power to bless."
The joy of her vision overwhelmed Talen. Indeed, he thought, why should they fight her? Is this not what every man and woman desired? The good he could do was unimaginable. And how could he be so ungrateful when she was offering him the means to save Da?
Again, revulsion roiled in him. The vision faltered. Was she lying?
He looked at Da lying in the dust. He could save Da. He could do good. And if he didn"t pick up the reins she was offering to them, surely someone else would. Someone like Fabbis or Sabin or the Crab who would rule with cruelty.
Her words filled him with hope, and he made his decision.
"I am the one," he said. "It is me you seek."
"No, Talen!" Uncle Argoth shouted. "She twists life. She will steal your will."
"On the contrary," the woman said, turning toward him. "This is your will, is it not?"
His traitorous heart leapt to her. Yes, it was his will. And yet it was not.
"Those that fight the thrall do not endure," she said. "They are creatures destined for madness and wrath. And when a creature"s wrath is full, there is nothing left to do but cut it down for the devouring. But you see he comes to me without a collar. He was bred to rule. It is best that humans rule other humans. It"s a matter of trust."
"She lies," said Uncle Argoth. "You can fight her."
"Does not a dog glory in the praise of its master? Has it not been bred to do so? The world of men was domesticated ages ago. Your very nature makes you dependent on us. The only difference between you and your dogs is the genius of your masters." She turned to Talen. "You were woven to work with me without impediment. Your only task master will be my approbation."
The woman came to him in her beauty and shining light.
"Save him," Talen said and pointed at Da.
"All in good time," said the woman. "All in good time. First, we shall see if you are what you claim to be."
Yes, he thought. That was right. But underneath it all he knew it was not. Da was dying. Every second would count.
"Just as a crucible is made to hold heat other vessels cannot contain, you have been bred to wield power impossible to others. We will raise an army from the very earth," said the woman. "And you will command it."
She approached him, reaching out with her smoky hands. Her shining escort enveloped him.
He should have felt fear, but all he felt was the ease of the woman and her smiling eyes. The warning in the crown built. It vibrated in his feet and across his shoulders-an urgent call to step away. But why was he even holding the crown? He let it drop to the floor, and as he did the glory about her grew. She was so beautiful. Atra was nothing compared to this woman. And yet did this woman not look like Atra?
Something probed him. Talen held his doors closed, but he could feel her gnawing all along his essence with something as small and sharp as the teeth of rats.
The probing became stronger.
Reflexively, he shut himself tight as River had taught him.
The woman pulled away and appraised him. He felt her pleasure, and it almost sent him to his knees. "You are indeed mine. Mine from the moment you were conceived. The weave has been changed. But the flaw that"s been introduced is nothing that, with time, cannot be righted."
The flaw. Somehow that was significant, but he could not hold that thought. She spoke in Atra"s voice. Looked at him with Atra"s eyes. Except they weren"t Atra"s. They were at once more alien and more captivating than Atra"s could ever be.
Another wave of pleasure washed over him. He looked at Da"s body. It was not right to have such wondrous feelings. It was wicked. It was an abomination. And yet he could not deny the power of them.
"In time you will become as great as the Goat King himself."
Suddenly a music inside him swelled. It sang in his blood and bones. He thought it was the crown, but then remembered he"d dropped that. For a brief moment the fog in his mind cleared away. The woman"s voice fell flat.
Talen looked at her. Gone were the luminous eyes, the elegant neck and brow. Gone the alluring lips. In their place were black pits for eyes and a sucker mouth full of sharp teeth.
He recoiled.
An illusion-she was not one of the old G.o.ds. Not a benefactor. It was as if a huge blast of cold wind had just awakened him. His mind had been fuggy, but now was crystal sharp.
And yet the desire to serve her seeped back through him.
"Yes," said the woman. "He too was a master of the harvest that served my mother ages ago. For a time, the populace under his care yielded marvelous results. You will be his heir."
The Goat King"s heir . . .
The t.i.tle felt marvelous, and yet, underneath it ran a filth with a sickening taint.
The glorious woman was back. His heart longed to serve her. But in his blood and bones he knew the truth: he had been twisted to crave her.
That knowledge momentarily lessened her power, and he wondered: was this what his mother had seen in him and given her life to fix? Surely even the pox wouldn"t take a whole life to heal. No, more likely she"d recognized the enemy"s tool and given her life to engineer one small flaw so that his adoration wouldn"t be totally complete.
But if that were the case, it wasn"t much of a flaw because the woman"s joy rushed back to suffuse him.
"River!" roared Uncle Argoth. "Now!"
River rushed toward him. She moved with frightening speed. In an eye-blink she sped across the chamber and leapt into a flying kick.
He"d fought with River. He knew, at this speed, her kick would carry the force to break bones.
The woman dodged back, and as she did, Talen realized River was not directing the attack at the woman. She was directing it at him. At his head. Her blow, if it didn"t crack his skull, would, at the very least, snap his neck bones.
River"s face was twisted with fury and grief.
Talen had no time to react, but the monster did. It rushed forward in a lightning strike and caught her ankle, stopping River"s foot a breath away from his face.
The monster twisted her leg, sending her to the ground.
"So unruly a breed," the hideous woman said. "It looks like we shall raise our army a bit faster than expected. Put her next to the male."
The monster moved to carry River next to Da.
"Wait!" Talen said. "Wait."
The woman turned. "Will you serve me?"
"Boy," Uncle Argoth called. In his hand, close to his leg, he held a stone.
Talen knew what Uncle Argoth wanted to do. Knew he could take Talen out of the woman"s grasp, but he couldn"t move towards him. And he could not resist the woman"s question.
Talen looked back at her. "Yes, I will serve you," he said, even though down deep in his bones the answer was no.
Her pleasure rushed through him; it washed him from heel to crown, an ecstasy like he"d never experienced. How could he want to serve this wicked thing so desperately?
"You will have your heart"s desires," the woman said. But he knew she lied. She wasn"t going to save Da. She wasn"t going to spare River. He"d seen her for what she was. But he didn"t care.
"No!" shouted Argoth. "No good can come from this. You cannot lie with sheep and sire men."
"Hunger," the woman commanded.
The monster grabbed River. Her lovely eyes were full of grief and dismay.
"I love you, sister," he said. "I will see you in brightness."
Her face fell.
Talen wanted to resist, but he couldn"t.
"No," said Uncle Argoth, but the heat was gone from his voice.
The living light about the woman reached out to Talen to caress him. "In the end," she said, "they will see your wisdom and thank you. Now we must hollow you so that we may repair what was done. Hunger, come."
The monster took River back to the wall and chained her with double the chains. When it was finished, it turned to face Talen.
The Mother spoke into Hunger"s mind. "As soon as we have the one bred to be the overseer in our control, you will take the others and quicken your brethren."
"Yes," he said, and his heart fell. Hunger had done all she had commanded. He had kept his part of the bargain. But she had just lied to the boy. And if she lied to her overseer, why would she ever keep her word to him, a thing destined for the devouring?
But what could he do? He could not fight her.
In anger, he reached forward and took the boy by the throat.
Talen was not a monster. He was not! And yet his desires told another story. The monster"s rough and stony hand closed round his neck, and then something probed along the seams of Talen"s being.
Reflexively he closed himself, just as River had taught him.
The monster readjusted its grip and probed again, nipping and biting all about him.
Talen held himself tighter, felt the monster"s frustration.
"Open yourself," the woman crooned.
She sounded like River had that night when he"d almost died. Open yourself, close yourself. Open, close. A wave of desire washed over Talen, but he held tight to the thought of River.
The monster caught a snag.
The scene back at the house came to his mind. "A body," River had said, "can only accept so much Fire at once."
The words reverberated in him: a body could only accept so much Fire at once.