‘Then did Zalasta conclude that he had no choice but to approach Anakha as an enemy rather than a convert, and consulted he with Ogerajin and with Otha and went he even to Cimmura to seek allies to assist him. In furtherance of this did he pose as one of the numerous Zemoch Styrics Otha had sent into the Elene kingdoms to sow dissension and turmoil.’
‘There were plenty of those, all right,’ Ulath said. ‘Rumor had it that a Zemoch Styric could give an Elene anything he wanted – provided that the Elene wasn’t too attached to his soul.’
‘The blandishments such Styrics offered were many,’ Xanetia agreed, ‘but the understanding of Otha’s agents was limited.’
‘Profoundly limited,’ Vanion agreed.
‘Truly. Zalasta, however, was more subtle, and far more patient. He did find an apt pupil in the person of the young chaplain to the royal house of Elenia, a priest named Annias.’
‘Annias?’ Ehlana exclaimed. ‘I didn’t know that he was ever the royal chaplain.’
‘It was before you were born,’ Sparhawk told her.
‘That would explain why he had so much control over my father. Are you saying that Zalasta was behind all that, Anarae?’
Xanetia nodded.
‘It isn’t really all that easy to corrupt a young priest,’ Bevier objected. ‘They’re usually filled with zeal and idealism.’
‘And Annias was no exception,’ Xanetia replied. ‘He was ambitious, but in his youth was he ever true to the ideals of his Church. That idealism stood in Zalasta’s path until he found means to wear it away.’ She paused, flushing slightly. ‘I would not offend thee, Majesty,’ she apologized to Ehlana, ‘but thine aunt was ever lustful and wanton.’
‘It doesn’t offend me in the slightest, Anarae,’ Ehlana replied. ‘Arissa’s appetites were legendary in Cimmura, and I was never really all that fond of her in the first place.’
‘There was some connection, then?’ Melidere asked.
‘Indeed, Baroness,’ Xanetia replied. ‘Princess Arissa was the means whereby Zalasta recruited Annias to his cause. Well schooled by the voluptuary Ogerajin, did Zalasta introduce the wanton princess to…’ She broke off, blushing furiously.
‘You needn’t go into detail, Xanetia,’ Ehlana told her. ‘We all knew Arissa, and we knew that there was nothing she wouldn’t do.’
‘In truth was she an apt pupil,’ Xanetia agreed. ‘Now Zalasta concluded that Annias would be useful to him by reason of his position as advisor to thy father. Thus did he implant the firm belief in the mind of thy corrupt aunt that no act could be so vile as the seduction of a young priest, and that notion, once implanted, did obsess Arissa, and ‘ere long it bore fruit. In her twelfth year did Arissa steal away the dubious virtue of thy father’s chaplain.’
‘At the age of twelve?’ Melidere murmured. ‘She was precocious, wasn’t she?’
‘Then Annias was consumed with remorse,’ Xanetia continued.
‘Annias?’ Ehlana scoffed. ‘He didn’t know what the word meant.’
‘You may be wrong there, my Queen,’ Vanion disagreed. ‘I knew Annias when he was a young man. He was totally committed to the principles of the Church. It wasn’t until later that he began to change. Sparhawk’s father and I always wondered what had happened to him.’
‘Evidently Arissa happened,’ Ehlana said dryly. She pursed her lips. ‘Then Zalasta gained access to Annias by means of my aunt?’ she guessed.
Xanetia nodded. ‘The young priest, after much prayer and meditation, did resolve to renounce his vows and to wed the tarnished princess.’
‘A marriage made in heaven,’ Ulath noted sardonically.
‘Arissa, however, would have none of such union, for so insatiable was her nature that she soon grew tired of her ecclesiastical paramour and did taunt him by reason of his waning prowess and stamina. At Zalasta’s insinuating suggestion, however, did she bring her exhausted convert to a certain house in Cimmura, and there did Zalasta hint that he might restore the waning vigor of Annias by means of Styric enchantments. Thus did he secure a firm grip on the soul of him who would become Primate of Cimmura.’
‘We knew that Annias was getting help from one of Otha’s Styrics,’ Sparhawk said. ‘We had no idea it was Zalasta, though. He had a hand in virtually everything, didn’t he?’
‘He is most clever, Anakha. Patiently did he instruct his two ever more willing pupils in that depravity which he himself had learned under the tutelage of Ogerajin of Verel. The royal chaplain was central to his plan, but first was it necessary to corrupt him beyond all hope of redemption.’
‘He did that part of it well enough,’ Ehlana said bleakly.
‘Step by step did Arissa, guided by Zalasta, lead the chaplain down and down until all semblance of decency had been washed from him, and then it was that the Styric proposed the ultimate degeneracy – that the lustful princess, aided by her now equally foul paramour, should seduce thy father, her brother, and when he should be wholly in her thrall, should she broach the idea of incestuous marriage to him. Zalasta did well know that Anakha’s father would resist such abomination to the death, and hoped he thereby to separate the house of Sparhawk from the royal house of Elenia. Reckoned he not, however, upon the iron will of the Sparhawks nor the weakness of King Aldreas. The elder Sparhawk compelled thy father to wed another, but in truth had Zalasta’s goal been achieved. A breach had been opened between the two houses.’
‘But we’ve healed that breach, haven’t we, Sparhawk?’ Ehlana said with a warm smile.
‘Frequently,’ he replied.
‘What can I do?’ Sephrenia wailed, wringing her hands.
‘You can stop doing that, for one thing,’ Kalten told her, gently separating her hands. ‘I found out a little while ago just how sharp your fingernails are, and I don’t want you tearing off your skin.’
She looked guiltily at the fresh scratches on his face. ‘I hurt you, didn’t I, dear one?’
‘It’s nothing. I’m used to bleeding.’
‘I’ve treated Vanion so badly,’ she mourned. ‘He’ll never forgive me, and I love him.’
‘Then tell him so. That’s all you really have to do, you know. Just tell him how you feel about him, say you’re sorry, and everything will go back to being the way it was before.’
‘It won’t ever be the same.’
‘Of course it will. As soon as you two are back together, Vanion will forget it ever happened.’ He took her two small hands in his great ones, turned them over, and kissed her palms. ‘That’s what love’s all about, little mother. We all make mistakes. The people who love us forgive the mistakes. The people who won’t forgive don’t really matter, now, do they?’
‘Well, no, but…’
‘There aren’t any buts, Sephrenia. It’s so simple that even I can understand it. Alean and I trust our feelings, and it seems to work out fairly well. You don’t really need complicated logic when it comes to something as simple as love.’
‘You’re such a good man, Kalten.’
That embarrassed him a bit. ‘Hardly,’ he replied ruefully. ‘I drink too much, and I eat too much. I’m not very refined, and I usually can’t follow even a simple thought from one end to the other. God knows I’ve got faults, but Alean knows about them and forgives them. She knows that I’m just a soldier, so she doesn’t expect too much from me. Are you just about ready for that cup of tea?’
‘That would be nice,’ she smiled.
‘Now that comes as a real surprise,’ Vanion said, ‘but why Martel?’
‘Zalasta did perceive that of all the Pandions, Martel came closest to being a match for Anakha,’ Xanetia replied, ‘and Martel’s hunger for the forbidden secrets provided Zalasta with an opening. The Styric did pose as an unlettered and greedy Zemoch, and did accept Martel’s gold with seeming eagerness. Thus did he beguile the arrogant young Pandion until there was no turning back for him.’
‘And all this time he was posing as Otha’s emissary?’ Bevier asked her.
‘Yes, Sir Knight. He served Otha’s design so long as it suited him, but his heart and mind remained his own. Truly, he did corrupt Primate Annias and the Pandion Martel for his own ends, which did ever center upon that day when Anakha would lift Bhelliom from the place where it lay hidden.’
‘But it wasn’t Anakha who lifted it, Anarae. It was Aphrael, and none of Zalasta’s scheming could have taken that into account.’
They all turned quickly at the sound of the familiar voice. Sephrenia, her face still drawn, stood in the doorway with Kalten hovering behind her. ‘Zalasta might possibly have been able to take the stone from Sparhawk, but not Aphrael. That’s where everything fell apart on him. He couldn’t bring himself to believe that anyone – even a God – would willingly surrender Bhelliom to someone else. Maybe someday I’ll explain it to him.’
‘I have seen into the mind of Zalasta, Sephrenia of Ylara,’ Xanetia told her. ‘He could not comprehend such an act.’
‘I’ll make him understand, Anarae,’ Sephrenia replied in a bleak voice. ‘I have this group of big savage Elenes who love me – or so they say. I’m sure that if I ask them nicely enough, they’ll beat understanding into Zalasta.’ And she smiled a wan little smile.
Chapter 22
Ehlana rose from her chair, went to Sephrenia, and kissed her palms in greeting. Sparhawk often marveled at how his young wife instinctively knew the right thing to do. ‘We’ve missed you, little mother,’ she said simply. ‘Are you feeling better now?’
A faint smile touched Sephrenia’s lips. ‘Exactly how do you define “better”, Ehlana?’ She looked closely at the blonde queen. ‘You’re not getting enough sleep.’ Even now, Sephrenia automatically mothered everybody.
‘You look a bit drawn yourself,’ Ehlana replied. ‘I suppose we both have reason enough.’
‘Oh, yes.’ Sephrenia looked around at the slightly apprehensive faces of her friends. ‘Oh, stop that,’ she told them. ‘I’m not going to throw a fit. I behaved badly.’ She reached up and fondly touched Kalten’s cheek. ‘My overbearing friend here tells me that it doesn’t matter, but I’d still like to apologize.’
‘You had plenty of reason to be upset,’ Sparhawk told her. ‘We were very abrupt with you.’
‘That’s no excuse, dear one.’ She drew in a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and crossed the room to Xanetia with the air of one about to perform an unpleasant duty. ‘We don’t really have any reason to be fond of each other, Anarae,’ she said, ‘but we should at least be civil. I wasn’t. I’m sorry.’
‘Thy courage becomes thee, Sephrenia of Ylara. I do confess that I would be hard pressed thus to admit a fault to an enemy.’
‘Exactly what did Sir Kalten do to bring you around, Lady Sephrenia?’ Sarabian asked curiously. ‘You were in absolute despair, and Kalten wouldn’t have been my first choice as a comforter.’
‘That’s because you don’t know him, Sarabian. His heart is very large, and he demonstrates his affection in a very direct way. He kicked my door down and smothered me into submission.’ She thought about it for a moment. ‘About all he really did was wrap his arms around me and tell me that he loved me. He kept saying it over and over again, and every time he said it, it struck me right to the heart. Elenes are very good bullies. I screamed at him for a while, and he ignored me. Then I tried hitting him, but hitting Kalten is sort of like pounding on a brick. I even tried crying – I’ve always had good luck with crying – but all he did was offer to make me a cup of tea.’ She shrugged. ‘After a while, I realized that he was going to continue to love me no matter what I did and that all I was really doing was making a fool of myself, so here I am.’ She smiled at Alean. ‘I don’t know if you realize it, dear, but you may just be the luckiest woman in the world. Don’t let him get away.’
‘No fear of that, Lady Sephrenia,’ the soft-eyed girl responded with a rosy blush.
Sephrenia looked around, suddenly all business. ‘I’m sure we have more important things to discuss than my recent temper-tantrum. Have I missed much?’
‘Oh, not really, dear sister,’ Stragen drawled. ‘About all we’ve discovered so far is that Zalasta’s been responsible for nearly every catastrophe in human history since the fall of man. We don’t have quite enough evidence to implicate him in that yet.’
‘We’re a-workin’ on it, though,’ Caalador added.
Sparhawk briefly summarized what Xanetia had told them of the hidden side of Zalasta. Sephrenia was also startled to learn that it had been Zalasta who had corrupted Martel.
‘I’m not trying to be offensive, dear sister,’ Stragen said, ‘but it seems to me that the Younger Gods weren’t quite firm enough in dealing with these renegade Styrics. They seem to lend themselves to just about every bit of mischief that comes along. Something a bit more permanent than banishment might have been a better solution.’
‘The Younger Gods wouldn’t do that, Stragen.’
‘Pity,’ he murmured. ‘That sort of leaves it up to us, then, doesn’t it? We’ve got a group of people out there who are highly skilled at causing trouble.’ His expression grew sly. ‘Here’s a notion,’ he said. ‘Why don’t you have somebody draw up a list of names and give it to me. I’ll see to it that the Secret Government takes care of all the messy details. We wouldn’t even need to bother the Younger Gods or the rest of Styricum about it. You propose, and I’ll dispose. Call it a personal favor if you like.’
‘You’re a depraved man, Stragen.’
‘Yes. I thought you might have noticed that.’
‘What did Zalasta do after Sparhawk destroyed Azash?’ Talen asked Xanetia. ‘Didn’t that teach him that he’d be wiser to stay clear of our friend here?’
‘He was much chagrined, young master. Anakha had demolished decades of patient labor in a single night, and with Bhelliom firmly in his grasp, he was more dangerous than ever. Zalasta’s hopes of wresting the jewel from him were dashed, and he fled from Zemoch in rage and disappointment.’