The Shining Ones

‘That will do, Sir Knight,’ Vanion said.

‘Yes, my Lord.’

‘Were you able to identify whoever it was who raised that party?’ Khalad asked Sparhawk.

‘No. Rebal was there, but we didn’t see anybody else.’

‘How was the fight?’

‘You should have seen it, Khalad,’ Berit said enthusiastically. ‘Sir Kalten was absolutely stupendous!’

Kalten glared at him.

Sephrenia gave the two of them a shrewd look. ‘We can talk about all this after we get clear of the storm,’ she told them. ‘Are you ready, Sparhawk?’

‘In a moment,’ he replied. He reached inside his tunic, took out the box, and commanded it to open. He put on Ehlana’s ring and lifted the Bhelliom out.

‘Here,’ Sephrenia said. She lifted Flute, and Sparhawk took the little girl into his arms.

‘How do we go about this?’ he asked her.

‘Once we get started, I’ll be speaking through your lips,’ she replied. ‘You won’t understand what I’m saying because the language will be strange to you.’

‘Some obscure Styric dialect?’

‘No, Sparhawk, not Styric. It’s quite a bit older than that. Just relax. I’ll guide you through this. Give me the box. When Bhelliom moves from one place to another, everything sort of shivers. I don’t think our friend out there will be able to locate Bhelliom again immediately, so if you put it – and your wife’s ring – back in the box immediately and snap the cover down on your own ring, he won’t have any idea of where we’ve gone. Now, hold Bhelliom in both hands and let it know who you are.’

‘It should know already.’

‘Remind it, Sparhawk, and speak to it in Trollish. Let’s observe the formalities.’ She nestled back into the protective circle of his mailed arms.

Sparhawk lifted Bhelliom, making sure that the bands of both rings were firmly in contact with it. ‘Blue Rose,’ he said to it in Trollish. ‘I am Sparhawk-from-Elenia. Do you know me?’

The azure glow which had bathed his hands hardened, became like fresh-forged steel. Sparhawk’s relationship with the Bhelliom was ambiguous, and the flower-gem had no real reason to be fond of him.

‘Tell it who you really are, Sparhawk,’ Flute suggested. ‘Make certain that it knows you.’

‘Blue Rose,’ Sparhawk said again, once more in the hideous language of the Trolls, ‘I am Anakha, and I wear the rings. Do you know me?’

The Bhelliom gave a little lurch as he spoke the fatal name, and some of the steel went out of its petals.

‘It’s a start,’ he muttered. ‘What now?’

‘Now it’s my turn,’ she replied. ‘Relax, Sparhawk. Let me into your mind.’

It was a strange sort of process. Sparhawk felt almost as if his own will had been suspended as the Child Goddess gently, even lovingly, took his mind into her two small hands. The voice that came from his lips was strangely soft, and the language it spoke was hauntingly familiar, skirting the very outer edges of his understanding.

Then the world seemed to blur around him and faded momentarily into a kind of luminous twilight. Then the blur was gone, and the sun was shining. It was no longer raining, and the wind had dropped to a gentle breeze.

‘What an astonishing idea!’ Aphrael exclaimed. ‘I never even thought of that! Put the Bhelliom away, Sparhawk. Quickly.’

Sparhawk put the jewel and Ehlana’s ring back into the box and snapped down the cover on his own ring. Then he turned and looked toward the south. There was an intensely dark line of cloud low on the horizon. Then he looked north again and saw a fair-sized town at the bottom of the hill, a pleasant-looking town with red-tile roofs glowing in the autumn sunshine. ‘Is that Korvan?’ he asked tentatively.

‘Well, of course it is,’ Flute replied with an airy little toss of her head. ‘Isn’t that where you said you wanted to go?’

‘We made good time,’ Ulath observed blandly.

Sephrenia suddenly laughed. ‘We wanted to test our friend’s stamina,’ she said. ‘Now we’ll find out just how much endurance he has. If he wants to keep chasing us, he’s going to have to pick up his hurricane and run along behind us just as fast as he possibly can.’

‘Oh, this is going to be fun! Flute exclaimed, clapping her hands together delightedly. ‘I’d never have believed we could jump so far.’

Kalten squinted up toward the bright autumn sun. ‘I make it just a little before noon. Why don’t we ride on down into Korvan and have an early lunch? I worked up quite an appetite back there.’

‘It might not be a bad idea, Sparhawk,’ Vanion agreed. The situation’s changed now, so we might want to think our plans through and see if we want to modify them.’

Sparhawk nodded. He bumped Faran’s flanks with his heels, and they started down the hill toward Korvan. ‘You seemed surprised,’ he murmured into Flute’s ear.

‘Surprised? I was stunned.’

‘What did it do?’

‘You wouldn’t really understand, father. Do you remember how the Troll-God Ghnomb moved you across northern Pelosia?’

‘He sort of froze time, didn’t he?’

She nodded. ‘I’ve always done it a different way, but I’m more sophisticated than Ghnomb is. Bhelliom does it in still another way – much simpler, actually. Ghnomb and I are different, but we’re both part of this world, so the terrain’s very important to us. It gives us a sense of permanence and location. Bhelliom doesn’t appear to need reference points. It seems to just think of another place, and it’s there.’

‘Could you do it like that?’

She pursed her lips. ‘I don’t think so.’ She sighed. ‘It’s a little humiliating to admit it, but Bhelliom’s far wiser than I am.’

‘But not nearly as lovable.’

‘Thank you, kind sir.’

Sparhawk suddenly thought of something. ‘Is Danae at Matherion?’

‘Of course.’

‘How’s your mother?’

‘She’s well. She and the thieves are very busy trying to get their hands on some documents that are hidden somewhere in the Ministry of the Interior.’

‘Are things still under control there?’

‘For the moment, yes. I know I’ve teased you about it a few times, but it’s very hard to be in two places at the same time. Danae’s sleeping a great deal, so I’m missing a lot of what’s going on there. Mother’s a little worried. She thinks Danae might be sick.’

‘Don’t worry her too much.’