"Even if you tell that lie," continued the First Wife haughtily, "we are caught in a living death as it is. What do we care? Anyway, your people would not dare execute us on your word."
That is probably true, thought Tashi, not that she sought anyone's death. The diplomatic consequences would be huge: the new ruler of Holt, whoever that was, had sent the women here for safety. It would be easier to disregard the testimony of an oath breaker.
But she deserved better than this. Tashi straightened her spine and dropped her hands by her sides. She had been punished enough for her real faults and should not now be made to answer for the sins of another. Enough of submission and apologies.
Tashi faced the First Wife and took a step closer. "I am not your enemy. I did not seek marriage with Fergox, but fled at the first opportunity. You avenge yourselves upon the wrong person. He was to blame for his own downfall, and therefore yours."
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The First Wife's eyes narrowed, her face ugly with rage. "Don't you think I know this, witch? But he is gone and you are left: the favored one--the wife with whom he was going to replace me! You must have bewitched him--
everyone said so."
Tashi felt her anger rising. "When did I do that? And how? Do you mean I did so as a child when, thanks to your late husband, I was chosen as Fourth Crown Princess? Or perhaps when I was being beaten by the priests of Holin? When exactly did I have a chance to do this? If I had enchantments, I would have chosen an easier path, believe me."
The First Wife met Tashi's stare and held it. "I was right. You are not like the other Islanders," she announced with a curl of her lip.
"I think you mean that as an insult," Tashi said proudly, tilting her chin up,
"but I take it as a compliment. This is the way the Goddess has made me. It is what I am."
There was a rustle at the doorway and Korbin swept into the room, showing no sign that she had just been roused from her bed: her hair veiled, her robes smooth.
"Devotee Taoshira, what of your vow of silence?" the Third Crown Princess asked.
As if that was the most important crime of this night!
"I'm afraid, Crown Princess, that my vow shattered when I was dragged from my bed by my unexpected
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callers." Tashi knew her tone was mocking but she felt so angry with them all.
"Ladies, perhaps you did not understand, but this part of the palace is out of bounds to all but the devotees," Korbin said sternly.
The First Wife smiled. "Then why not lock the doors?"
"Because all remain here voluntarily and no one else dare disturb the Goddess's worshippers." No one else but rude Holtish heathens was the implication.
"Then I apologize for our intrusion. We will retreat." The First Wife made as if to leave.
"Wait! What were you doing here? And why did you bind the devotee?"
The First Wife looked at Tashi, daring her to tell the truth. Korbin turned to her as well.
"Devotee Taoshira, do you have an explanation?"
Tashi kept her mouth closed. If she accused the wives she would be giving her nation a diplomatic headache, perhaps even risking war with the new authorities in Holt about whom next to nothing was known. How would they react?
"You may speak," snapped Korbin, showing more emotion than usual.
"Oh, heavens, girl, you can tell her," interrupted the First Wife, riled by the dignity of her rival. She had expected the girl to blab and weep; instead she stood there like a little queen, above the insults offered her. "We came to cut off her hair and mark her face, is that clear enough for you?"
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Korbin took a shocked breath. This confession plunged them all into a nightmare of consequences.
Tashi knew she had to do something. "My dear friend," she said with an'
attempt at warmth in her tone as she smiled at the First Wife, "you take the jest too far. Your Highness, we were merely ..." She struggled for an explanation. "I boasted to my friends that I was scared of nothing, so we made a wager that they could not frighten me. I must admit they won; I was sincerely terrified when they swooped in on me."
All four wives stared at Tashi with undisguised amazement but Korbin frowned.
"You pass your time in the Enclosure playing games, Taoshira? Have you no respect for this place?"
"It seems not, Your Highness. I'm sure you can believe that of me as you know what I'm capable of. Perhaps it is these ladies who are acting out of character? Maybe if they were given a home that was less of a prison and a place for their own worship, they would not fall prey to the temptation to pass their time with such frivolous bets."
"Are you telling me what to do, devotee?" Korbin said with a frigid tone.
"No. I was only reflecting that on my ill-fortuned embassy to Gerfal, the host nation allowed me the freedom to worship in our way even though it was an abomination to them. I was wondering why we were less generous and forced strangers into the heart of a temple they despise, with people they do not trust. It is almost as if we are driving them to cause trouble."
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Tashi turned her back on them all. "If you do not mind, I'm tired and wish to sleep."
Bending gracefully, she scooped the knife from under her mattress and passed it to the First Wife.
This gesture revealed what everyone suspected: that she had lied about the reason the wives had come to her and had done so to protect them from punishment. But there was nothing more to be said if she did not change her story now. The four exiles retreated under guard.
Korbin lingered for a moment, fingering the door handle.
"Why?" she asked simply. "Why lie for them?"
"You never understood me, Korbin," Tashi said. "Think what you like, but having just escaped one war, I do not want to provoke another."
The next week, a villa was found for the wives, complete with a place for a temple where worshippers of Holin could gather as long as no human sacrifices were made. Peace returned to the Goddess's Enclosure.
Two months after the incident in Tashi's room, the new ruler of Holt sent word to the Blue Crescent court that he was coming to conclude negotiations on a marriage alliance with the Fourth Crown Princess. He apologized for being unable to come any earlier as he had a kingdom to subdue after the tumultuous fall of Fergox. He wanted to be confident that it would remain peaceful in his absence while he left it in the hands of his
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viceroy, Zaradan of the Horse Followers, for a few weeks. He signed himself Ramil ac Burinholt.
The Crown Princesses, including the newly elected Fourth Crown Princess who had replaced Tashi, met in closed session. The first decision they took was to agree to see the young man on the terms he himself had proposed.
"Though the Fourth Crown Princess is too young to marry, we can agree to the betrothal," said Marisa, nodding to the shy twelve-year-old of impeccable matriarchal lineage from Kai. "She can marry him in a few years."
"I do not think that is what the Prince has in mind," warned Safilen. "He thinks he is marrying Taoshira."
Korbin stroked her blue robes as if to soothe herself. They all knew they were taking a risk allowing him to set foot on Rama, but for peace with Holt this was a price worth paying.
"The Prince is a ruler. He wants a political alliance with us to consolidate his fragile hold on the crumbling Empire. He will compromise," she declared.
"He will want to repay the favor we did him by taking the exiles off his hands."
"You underestimate the strength of his bond with Taoshira," Safilen objected, her patience with her censorious sister worn to the bone.
"But she is beyond his reach, dedicated to the Goddess," Marisa pointed out.
"The priests are very pleased with her devotion and say she is much quieter since the Holtish exiles left. I think we can safely say
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that the episode in her life with the Gerfalian prince is closed."
"With love, nothing is safe," muttered
Safilen, wondering if Marisa had ever really loved anyone in her long life of selfless service to the nation. If she had, she would not be so complacent. "But let us see him and find out which of us is right."
Ramil found the journey in the royal barge a torture. He wanted to run along the banks, vaulting the fences until he burst in upon Tashi and swept her up in his arms.
But I'm in her territory now, he reminded himself. / mustn't upset my hosts.
Instead he behaved himself, sitting in the chair provided for him, waving to the crowds on the bank who had gathered to see the Dark Prince, killer of Fergox, new ruler of the Holtish Empire.
The Etiquette Mistress, whom he remembered from Gerfal, met him at the door. Ramil greeted her like an old friend, completely forgetting she disliked him.
"This way, Prince," the woman said with a low bow. "The Princesses are waiting in the Hall of the Floating Lily."
Ramil followed her down the corridor, barely taking in the beauty of his surroundings with its delicate tracery, silk hangings, and hidden gardens. He entered the hushed chamber, seeing the four Princesses ahead of him, seated on their thrones, resplendent in robes of
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blue, green, white, and orange. All had the same white faces and veiled hair he remembered Tashi wearing. He was a little surprised that the smallest of the four, on the Throne of Nature, had not turned to show him some sign of recognition, but then maybe Tashi was also trying to behave. The thought made him smile.
Ramil reached the edge of the circle of thrones and swept a low bow, feeling his moment of triumph had arrived.
"I come, Your Highnesses, to claim the hand of the Fourth Crown Princess."
He turned to Tashi, expecting to see an answering glitter of joy in her eyes, and found himself staring at a stranger. "But where is the Fourth Crown Princess?" he asked, suddenly realizing that something was very wrong.
"This is the Fourth Crown Princess," Korbin said steadily.
"Then what has happened to Tashi--to Princess Taoshira?" He could feel his heart pounding.
"Taoshira was obliged to join the devotees of the Goddess in the Silent Court," replied Marisa. "She is no longer a crown princess."
Ramil's brain struggled to catch up with this news.
"Her election was discovered to have been flawed and her behavior unworthy of her office," added Korbin.
Ramil took a step towards her. "Are you telling me that you threw her out?
After all she did for you and for my people?" His rage hummed in his ears, his diplomatic skills deserting him. "She was beaten and
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tortured by Fergox's priests for defending your Goddess, all the while behaving with dignity and courage, and yet you say she is not worthy!"
"She denied her faith," Korbin said firmly.
"She had a moment of doubt. Do you have hearts beating under those robes of yours? I would like to have seen any one of you do better in her shoes--
oh, but I forget, she wasn't allowed any! She stood barefoot in front of the Inkar of Kandar as that woman tried to kill her and Tashi still refused to fight for Holin--that was the strength of her faith!"
Silence fell in the chamber as Ramil struggled to control himself.
"Where is she?" he hissed.
"You cannot see her," said Marisa, frowning at this outrageous display of emotion. "She is in the Goddess's Enclosure."
"I'm seeing her if it's the last thing I do. Send your guards to cut me down if you wish, but I didn't come all this way for nothing." Ramil moved towards the door.
"What you propose is sacrilege!" Marisa objected. "We refuse to allow any more invasions of the Enclosure."
"Then bring her here to me. One way or another, I'm seeing her." Ramil clenched his hand on his sword hilt and stared down the eldest Princess.
"I say we should let him see her," Safilen said gently. "Let the Goddess punish him if it is wrong to do
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so. Far better that than to start a war with a man who killed Fergox Spearthrower."
Reluctantly, the First Princess nodded and summoned a priest. "Bring the Devotee Taoshira here at once," she ordered.
Ramil paced between the thrones of Nature and Justice, making both occupants very nervous. The newest Princess could not hide her fear as the man they said was to be her husband fumed beside her. Then a door
opened at the far end of the chamber and a little procession of priestesses entered, a fair-haired girl in their midst. Ramil held his breath: it was her. He could hardly believe it.
The devotee looked up and saw him standing in the middle of the chamber.
"Ram!" Tashi cried. Breaking with all conventions, she pushed through the priestesses and sprinted the length of the hall. Reaching him she wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his neck. He hugged her tight, stroking her hair and kissing it.
"Excuse me, ladies, your devotee and I have some catching up to do," Ramil announced, lifting her up and carrying her out of the chamber. He blundered through the corridors until he found a quiet garden and ducked into an arbor, hidden away from anyone pursuing them. He lowered Tashi onto the bench and sat opposite her, just staring. He reached out and brushed her cheek.
"I thought you were dead," he said.
"I have been," she replied, marvelling to see how well
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he looked. "Slavery becomes you."
He laughed. "Actually I'm not a slave. I've come to offer you Holt as a wedding present. They've made me their king and the position is vacant for a queen. So, what do you think?"
Tashi shook her head in amazement. "Is this one of your jokes, Ram?"
"No, my love, I'm deadly serious." He looked at her more closely and saw that she was wearing one of his shirts and robes of the Horse Followers. "I can see that you have as many tales to tell as I do, but mercifully we have the rest of our lives to hear them. Just say that you'll be mine--that'll do for now."
Tashi felt the huge weight of despair settle on her. What he was asking was impossible for so many reasons. It was like being at the bottom of a pit, able to glimpse freedom above but with no hope of escape. "But I can't, Ram. I'm a devotee now, not a princess."
"I don't want a princess--I want you." He put his arm around her and pulled her to him. "And what's all this devotee nonsense?"
"It's not nonsense. I've been sentenced for my failings. I have to make up for my broken vows with a lifetime of maiden service to the Goddess."
Ramil wrinkled his nose. "I don't like the sound of that--and I'm sure your Goddess doesn't either. You are not destined to be a maiden, Tashi." He kissed her brow but she drew away.
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"I have no choice."
"Of course you have a choice. Your vow to me came first, remember? I'm not letting you break that." He stood up. "What do you have to do round here to get married?"
Tashi gave a weary laugh. He did not understand how impossible it was to break the Blue Crescent laws as if they were no more than cobwebs. "You find a priest, then the woman declares she wants the man as her husband, and he says if he agrees."
"Excellent!" Ramil rubbed his hands. "I was afraid there was some terrible ritual thing that would take hours."
Tashi shook her head. "No, marriage is regarded as a private matter and nothing to do with the state. But I'm in even less favor since I tussled with the First Wife." Ramil raised a curious eyebrow. "I'll explain later. What I'm trying to say is that you won't find anyone who'll dare marry us, if that's what you had in mind."
"I don't know much about your country, but the one thing I do know is that its priests are corruptible. I'll go and catch us one. You stay here."
His footsteps faded as he ran off back the way they had come. Tashi sat watching the dragonflies skimming over the pond in the garden, not daring to think, not daring to hope. Her life for the past weeks had been a desert. The only time she had felt even slightly alive was when she'd had to fight off Fergox's vengeful
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wives and that had only been temporary. Now Ramil had burst in upon her like a sudden storm. He was mad to think they could marry. He needed a political alliance to consolidate his new position; she was under a lifelong sentence.
But I prefer his madness to the sanity of my people, she admitted. What did the Goddess think?
The dragonflies twisted over the pool in a blur of flashing wings. The Mother would prefer their offering of love to each other than the desert of dry duty, Tashi realized.
"Here she is!" said Ramil, bringing a woman in a green robe into the garden.
Tashi fell to her knees in consternation. "Second Princess!" she gasped.
"Get up, child," Safilen said, making a beckoning gesture with her ringed fingers. "I've told this young man that I will hear your vows. Not a usual part of my duties, I know, but I understand from Korbin it is quite legal."
"Does she know too?" Tashi asked, aghast.
"Of course not. But I thought I'd better check before annoying her like this.
We don't have long, so if you don't mind?" Safilen took Tashi's hand, smiling at the bewildered girl. "Do you, Taoshira of Kai, take Ramil ac Burinholt as your husband?"
"Yes, I take him," Tashi replied faintly, wondering what on earth she was doing.
"And you, Ramil ac Burinholt, agree?" The Second Princess grasped his wrist.
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"Yes, I do," Ramil said firmly.
She placed his hand in Tashi's. "As the Goddess wills," Safilen proclaimed.
"Well, that covers it, I think, though I apologize for not doing the full speech: I don't know it and it's rather boring."
"That's it?" asked Ramil, holding on to Tashi's fingers as if he feared she would slip away from him.
"Yes," said the Second Princess as she departed, "that's it."
Ramil ac Burinholt, King of Holt and heir to the throne of Gerfal, strode back into the throne room, bringing with him his dazed new wife. He bowed to the Crown Princesses.
"I apologize for leaving you so abruptly an hour ago," he said.
"It is forgiven," said the First Princess. "Now that you have spoken with the devotee, she will return to the Enclosure and we will return to our discussion of our alliance."
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