by Rick Shelley
Silvas followed those remarks with the greatest of interest.
There were only passing references to Silvas and Maria, the barest acknowledgment of their presence and of the gift that Carillia had chosen to bestow. There was nothing that might be construed as welcome in any of the remarks.
Although none of the gods spoke for long, there were lengthy silences between their addresses. Still, the unnaturally long afternoon seemed to pass quickly. By sunset, the room was virtually dark. But darkness was no barrier to any but the mortals in the assembly, and their comfort was far from the thoughts of Carillia's siblings. No torches or candles were lit.
When darkness was complete, outside as well as in, the vaulted ceiling of the room started to glow with a pale green luminescence, drawing the eyes of everyone below. The ceiling gradually turned into a transparent dome, allowing everyone to see the stars above. For a few minutes, there was only the peaceful view of a clear and starry night.
Then one star exploded, and the room became as light as day. One dying star eclipsed all of the rest of the stars. The glow spread outward while it seemed to race toward the watchers, ranging through all of the colors of the rainbow. When the initial glow of the supernova faded, Carillia's body was no longer in the room. It had been consumed in the distant explosion, carried off to wherever dead gods went.
This is Carillia's memorial, Silvas thought, ignoring the awareness in his mind that the dying star was equally to mark the deaths of all of the divines who had perished in the battle for Mecq.
As the glow continued to fade, servants finally brought torches to light the room.
"A banquet has been prepared," Mikel announced.
—|—
The banquet hall was a room on the west side of the palace that was virtually a mirror image of the room where Carillia had been honored. The cloth that covered the sixty-yard-long table was a single sheet of the finest linen, edged and decorated with embroidery of gold and silver. The tableware was gold and electrum. Precious stones decorated goblets and platters. The food was excellent and rare, the wines exquisite.
The table talk was animated, and occasionally heated, especially among the gods and goddesses near the head of the table. Silvas and Maria were seated at the "low" end of that group, as if only under protest. They were mostly excluded from the conversation. But they had each other, and fine food and wine, to keep them from feeling the full force of their exclusion. Silvas had expected no better treatment. Maria felt a certain relief: exclusion was better than open hostility.
Sweet fruits were served finally as dessert. Two hours and more had passed since the start of the feast. Near the head of the table, Barreth stood and pushed his chair back so forcefully that it tipped over. He had consumed prodigious quantities of wine. He swayed as he stood. Maentus reached out and tried to get Barreth to sit again, but Barreth shook off his brother's arm and growled a harsh reply. Slowly, he walked along the line of diners until he stood directly across from Silvas and Maria. He raised an accusing finger toward them.
"You two don't belong here among us. You are abominations, a bastardization of our noble race. We will not tolerate this cancer long." Then he stormed out of the room.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Barreth's outburst and departure scarcely caused a ripple in the table talk of his brothers and sisters. A few looked up, simply taking notice of the fact that it was Barreth who was leaving. Lower on the table, though, silence fell, and conversation was slow to return. Most of Barreth's dependents followed their master out of the room. Many of the remaining demigods and mortals watched as Barreth strode to the door. Then they turned to gaze, briefly or long, at Silvas and Maria, the focus of Barreth's anger, the cause of his abrupt departure. Even servants stopped what they had been doing to watch, and wonder.
As soon as Barreth turned to leave, Silvas casually lifted his goblet and took a leisurely sip of wine. Maria was almost as quick to do the same.
"This is almost a match for that spicy vintage you like so well," she said, showing not the slightest apprehension.
Silvas took another short sip, rolling the wine around in his mouth for a moment before he nodded. "Not far from it," he said, as if nothing more important than the quality of the wine had intruded on the banquet. On the inner level they shared, he projected, That was most beautifully done!
Maria smiled sweetly. But so transparent.
They do not look for such subtlety from us, Silvas assured her. It will annoy them no end.
But I have completely exhausted my ideas now.
Silvas took another bite of fruit. This was some sort of sweet melon, akin to the Persian variety he procured for the Glade. It may be enough, for the moment.
They did not have to worry about initiating a next step. Only a few minutes passed before Mikel stood, bowed formally to the others near him, and left the room. After that, the banquet broke up quickly. The departure of the host signaled its end.
Some of the departing deities looked at Silvas and Maria, or even nodded to them, before they left. Only Gioia bothered to stop and speak.
"You are an interesting pair," she said, looking from Silvas to Maria. "I am certain we shall meet again." She swept by then without waiting for either of them to respond.
"I think we should check on Bay and the others," Silvas said as he and Maria headed for the door themselves. All of Carillia's brothers and sisters had left the banquet hall. Silvas and Maria were given a wide berth by the demigods and mortals who remained. None of the lesser attendees at the banquet wanted to be seen anywhere near the outsiders, even though the two great cats had remained outside the doors to the banquet room.
"Yes, we should make sure they've been properly cared for," Maria said, matching Silvas's easy tones for the benefit of anyone who might be eavesdropping. "Can you find the way to them?"
"I think so."
Maria took his arm, and they strolled through rooms and along corridors. Silvas showed no hesitation, and he felt convinced that he was taking the most direct route possible. His easy familiarity with the layout of the palace was an almost offhand application of new power. Velvet and Satin ranged ahead and behind them, wandering, prowling, looking for any threat in these strange surroundings—and guaranteeing that their master and mistress would not be approached lightly by any mortal servants of the palace.
There seemed to be plenty of light throughout the palace, sometimes without visible source. A god had no real need of torches or candles for light. For that matter, he had no real need of light. When he wanted it, the ancient command, Fiat lux, was sufficient. But there were those in the palace without the faculties of a god. Occasionally, Silvas and Maria passed a servant or minor retainer of their host or one of the other gods and goddesses. Everyone gave the two large cats plenty of room. No one spoke to Silvas and Maria, though most acknowledged their presence with a polite nod.
"I wouldn't have to walk so far if I were going from my father's castle to the church in the village and back," Maria said after they had spent fifteen minutes weaving their way through the ground floor of the palace.
Silvas chuckled. "At least there is no mountain to scale."
By the time they did reach the stables, Silvas reckoned that they had walked a mile from the banquet hall, most of that inside the palace itself. They found Bosc and Braf with Bay. The cats seemed ecstatic over finding familiar faces. They went around to each of their friends, demanding that Bosc and Braf each stroke them, and rubbing against Bay's forelegs while they purred loudly.
"It is over?" Braf asked.
"Carillia is gone," Silvas said. He told them of the heavenly show that had transpired.
"We saw the starburst and the rainbow," Bay said.
"They told us we were not permitted to attend the service," Bosc said. "It troubled us all, Koshka most."
"I did not know," Silvas said. "In truth, though, you wouldn't have felt comfortable among that company."
"You did all eat properly, though, didn't yo
u?" Maria asked.
"Properly, perhaps, but not in comfort," Bosc said.
"I feel not easy, lord," Braf said. "I have the itch of danger close at hand."
"There is always danger here, Braf," Silvas assured him. "They would have excluded Maria and me as well, had they thought of a way."
"The sooner we get back between familiar walls, the better," Braf said. "I wish we had brought all of my lads and not just the handful."
"We can't leave yet, certainly not tonight," Silvas said. "Come the morning, we should know how long we'll be staying. We may even leave in the morning. I suppose that's as like as not."
"It's been an uncommon long day," Bosc said. "More like two days to my thinking."
"Yes, the days are much longer here," Silvas assured him. "Your thinking is accurate."
"There is much you're not saying," Bay observed. "You're troubled, and not hiding it as well as you normally do."
"There is hostility toward us here, more than I might have anticipated," Silvas said. "Even from those who benefited most from our help."
"You are a deicide," Bay said. "That might pass except that you are not one of the family. Worse, you were a mere mortal when you slew four of their brethren. That must be intolerable for many of them, even those whose lives you may have saved."
"The lack of gratitude grates hard, Bay," Maria said. "Even Mikel shows no appreciation for the centuries that Silvas gave him."
"You know better now, though," Bay said.
"Yes, I know better now," Silvas admitted. "Be on guard through the night. I doubt that anyone will take action so soon, but be on guard just the same."
"Aye, lord," Braf said. "I've already put my lads on watches, two at the time."
"A good idea," Silvas said. "Call on me at need. I will hear." Even before receiving Carillia's divinity, Silvas would have heard the call of one of his servants in danger. His concern for them was constant.
—|—
The way to their rooms was shorter than the way out from the banquet hall. A stairway in a corner tower took them to the second floor, and their suite was nearer the rear of the palace than the front. The cats made a hurried tour of the three rooms to assure themselves that no threat lurked in ambush within. Then they took up positions across the doorway to the corridor. Anyone coming in would have to go past Satin and Velvet to get at Silvas and Maria. It had been ages since the great cats had actually had to come to the defense of their master or mistress, but they remained ready to stand to once again.
"Do you really think it unlikely that we'll be attacked here?" Maria asked.
"Unlikely? Yes. Impossible? No." Silvas paced around the room, working out the tension he had felt compelled to hide before.
"We could leave now," Maria said. "If the night here is as long as the day, we might be back at the Glade before any of the gods knew we were gone."
Silvas stopped pacing for a moment. "No. If any of them has an interest in knowing where we are, he—or she—would know the instant we started to leave, even if no servants have been ordered to watch and report. In any case, we dare not let them see us run from the drunken threats of Barreth. That would be dangerous, perhaps fatal."
"How could we lose support we don't have?"
"As it stands now, perhaps most of them would stand aside in any quarrel. We might not be welcome, but I doubt that many of the others are as ready to return to bloodshed as Barreth shows himself. They will want time as badly as we do, time to forge new alliances or repair old ones, time to arm against whatever they may eventually decide to do. But if we run, they may see us as game for the hunting."
"Gioia?" Maria asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Any of them."
"Have you any feeling yet for which gods seem likely to stand aside, and which are likely to side with Barreth?"
Silvas shook his head. "I can't read their minds as I can yours." He smiled. "Or as you can read mine. The others are separate, not united as we are. They've had eons to perfect the gifts of secrecy."
"So what do we do?"
"We go to bed, get what sleep we may, and think through the morning when it comes. I think it will be proper for us to leave then, with as much show as we arrived. We will depart in broad daylight, with poise and dignity, as if we care not a whit for Barreth and his drunken threats."
"How will we respond to those threats?" Maria asked.
"This isn't the time to think on that. We will respond, somehow, in due course. That too seems essential. But unless there's action against us here, those thoughts can wait until we're home, where we're strongest. The Seven Towers offers safeguards that even a god might find difficult to overcome."
"But we take precautions, as you advised the others?"
Another smile. Silvas took Maria in his arms. "Precautions always. I have centuries of being cautious to draw on."
There was nothing lacking for their comfort in the suite. On a sideboard in the sitting room, there were carafes of several different wines as well as a platter of cheese and fruit, with a long loaf of fresh bread. And the bathroom was appointed better even than the one in their apartments in the Glade. There was even hot and cold running water.
Silvas and Maria took considerable time preparing themselves for bed. Neither was particularly sleepy, despite the unaccustomed length of the day. That was more than merely a reflection of their new divinity. The habit of sleep and sleepiness remained. But each had thoughts to keep a mind active as they moved about the suite. At times, their thoughts touched. When that happened, they would smile at each other, explore the question that had brought their minds together, and then each went on to whatever else came to mind.
"It will take some getting used to," Silvas said after the third or fourth such occurrence. "We remain separate, but still joined."
"The way Brother Paul used to explain the Trinity," Maria said. "Three separate beings, yet one God."
That gave Silvas pause. He had been apart from the open teachings of the Church for so long that the analogy had not occurred to him.
"Then perhaps this has happened before," he mused softly. "I had assumed that we were unique. Perhaps not."
Maria smiled. "Something else we may want to investigate when we have time. Think how much more confusing it would be if there were three of us."
"In a way, perhaps we are three," he suggested. "Something of Carillia does remain."
It's not the same, though, Maria thought, careful to shield that from Silvas. Not all of their thoughts were instantly shared.
—|—
"There may be a lot that these gods don't know about us, or don't reckon on in their appraisal of us," Silvas said when they were finally ready to climb into bed. The lights were out in the other rooms of the suite. Only a single candle remained burning in the bedroom. For comfort rather than need.
"They may not know how to deal with our... dual nature," Maria said.
"That's one of the things. Even we aren't sure how to deal with that yet," Silvas noted. "But I was thinking more of the fact that they may not know how to reckon my mastery of wizardry in the balance. When they needed a wizard, they had to look for a wizard. Mikel found Auroreus first, and then me. The gods of the Blue Rose also found a mortal wizard of their own. There is something of the craft of the Trimagister that must remain a mystery to these gods. There is also the way that Mikel infused me with so much of his knowledge before the final battle at Mecq. Here, knowledge is power, ultimate power, more real and deadly than sword or mace."
Maria chuckled. "Perhaps Barreth and the others should all be quaking with fear of us then," she said lightly.
Silvas gave her a pained look. He did not think it was a proper topic for levity. "Perhaps they at least realize that there are important unknowns. It may stay their hand a time."
"Or rush them so they strike before we learn how to use those advantages?"
They got into the huge bed from opposite sides and met in the middle, nestling against each other, m
olding themselves comfortably together. They kissed, but without immediate passion.
"Lock your mind to mine," Silvas whispered. "There's no time to give you a decade's apprenticeship in the craft. You'll have to take a more direct route to the skills of the Trimagister. Stay with me."
As soon as Silvas felt Maria's mind lock to his, he went into his routine spells of defense, the nightly safeguards he had been taking before sleep for centuries. They were somewhat different than they would have been if they had been home in the Seven Towers. In all his centuries as a wizard, there had been very few nights that Silvas had spent away from that castle. The magic of the Unseen Lord that had kept him no more than a spell away from the Glade had made nights in other beds quite rare, indeed.
Silvas completed the essential spells of defense first and went on to show Maria other defenses, other spells, such things as seemed appropriate at the moment. No one tour could convey every iota of the lore of the Trimagister, or the experience of so many hundreds of years spent applying, and improving, that lore. But Silvas led Maria to as much as he could, and she absorbed. The rest was there, ready for her to tap it, even if something should happen to Silvas and he were no longer present to complete her education.
