Sun in Glory and Other Tales of Valdemar

cream on the body, and piercing blue eyes. A Firecat-

:Indeed I am,: said a voice in his mind with a touch of satisfied purr behind it. :My name is Hansa, and this, of course, is Solaris. Welcome home, Herald Alberich.:

'I second that sentiment,' echoed the woman.

She had presence that entirely eclipsed her appearance. If Alberich had not already known that her eyes were a golden-brown subject to changing as her mood changed, and her hair a darker golden-brown, he would not have been able to tell anyone that if he turned around and took his eyes off her. Yes, the Firecat was impressive- any feline that came up to his knee would be impressive, much less one like Hansa. And the faint golden glow that surrounded each hair certainly didn't hurt.

But Solaris had that same golden glow about her. And a great deal more. Measuring by eye, she was certainly no taller than Selenay and much shorter than Alberich-but she somehow loomed larger than that.

'You, I do hope, Herald Talia are,' she said in slow and deliberate Valdemaran to Talia, who had dismounted. She held out her hand, and Talia stepped forward and took it.

And both of them smiled identical, warm smiles that managed to humanize Solaris without diminishing her impressiveness by a whit. 'And this the formidable Herald Dirk would be?'

she inquired with a slight lift of one eyebrow that somehow had the effect of making Dirk flush.

There were no servants, no lesser priests, there was no one but Solaris and Hansa-Hansa, who Solaris scooped up with an effort and held draped over her arms, for despite the Firecat's aplomb, he seemed exhausted. It was Solaris who escorted them to their rooms, indicating with a simple nod of her head that the Companions should come also. She brought them down quiet, white corridors lit from above by skylights and ornamented at intervals with great Sun-In-Glory Disks on walls and inlaid in the floors.

The rooms were simple, probably priests' quarters; Dirk and Talia shared one, with Alberich in the next-and most interesting, a kind of rough box-stall hock-deep in fresh straw took up about half of each of the rooms. Kantor went directly to his with a shake of his head; after a long and searching look at their Chosen, Rolan and Dirk's little mare went to theirs.

'And here my own suite is,' said Solaris, throwing open the next door, which differed not at all from theirs. 'Some changes I made when they were mine...'

Alberich could well imagine. Solaris' predecessor had been one of the worst in the long line of corrupt and venial leaders. He could see that the plain door was very new, and could only imagine the sort of gilded monstrosity that had once stood in its place.

Something had certainly been scoured and sanded from the wall now painted a plain pale wheat color. Furnishings were just as simple as those in the rooms he and the others had been given; two long couches, three lounging chairs, and a desk and working chair. Solaris put Hansa down on a low couch and straightened up again.

'We in the heart of our great Temple are,' Solaris said gravely. 'My hand-picked servants, a brace of trusted Priests, these all that know of your presence are. Come here, none else shall.'

'But-isn't there some preparation we should make?' Talia asked. 'What are we-am I-supposed to be doing?'

'That, I know not myself,' Solaris said ruefully, surprising all of them. 'The Sunlord has not told me. Here- come and sit, and tell you what I know, I shall.'

She took a seat on the couch beside Hansa, leaving them to choose seats for themselves. Now, no longer quite so dazzled by her presence, Alberich noted that her robes were as simple as her rooms...

And just as deceptive. For the chair he chose was carved of tigerwood, comfortably cushioned with soft doeskin tanned to a golden hue. And Solaris' robes might be simple in cut, but they were a heavy golden silk-twill, subtlety embroidered with the Sun In Glory in a slightly darker shade. No matter what else she was, Solaris was not ascetic.

'This much, I know,' Solaris told them, one hand on Hansa's back, stroking as she spoke. 'At the Solstice ceremony, some few chosen Novices made Priests are, here in the High Temple.' She made a face. 'Those with families of wealth and influence, most generally. Some times, of outstanding ability, one or two. Among them, you are to be. Last, you will be announced and made Priest. A simple ceremony, it is- repetition of vows, which I will show you, so that you know I do not bind you to more than I claim. More than that, I know not.'

'But there will be more than that,' Alberich stated, as Talia bit her lip.

Solaris traded a glance with Hansa. :Of a complete certainty there will be more, much more than that,: the Firecat said. :But the Sunlord does not choose to impart to us precisely what He has in mind.:

'Trust you must, to Him and to me,' Solaris said.

It could be a trap. It could be something really horrible. Alberich knew without bothering to try and read his expression that all manner of grim possibilities were running through Dirk's mind. Whether Talia suffered the same concerns he couldn't say, but he rather thought not. Talia couldn't read thoughts, but she could, as an Empath, read emotions, and those often spoke more clearly and unambiguously than thoughts. Her expression showed no sign of worry; on the contrary, she seemed as comfortable as she could be with the news that a God had decided to spring some sort of surprise, not only on His own people and chiefest Priest, but on her. Whatever she read from Solaris, it gave her no concerns on that score.

Solaris sighed. 'Inscrutable, the Sunlord is, and unknowable His mind...but a wish I have, in my weakness, that He be somewhat less so.'

Hansa made a sound between a purr and a cough that sounded like a laugh, and Solaris bent her golden gaze upon her Firecat. 'And you, also,' she added, with a touch, a bare touch, of sharpness.

:I am a cat,: Hansa reminded her with supreme dignity. :And a cat is nothing if not mysterious. It is our charm.:

To Alberich's surprise it was Dirk who chuckled weakly. 'Well, Radiance,' he said, having learned the proper forms of address from Alberich and Karchanek, 'we're used to this sort of behavior out of our Companions. They seem to have a proper mania about keeping secrets from us mere mortals.'

That relaxed Solaris; Alberich read it in the lessening of the tension of her shoulders.

'When divine intervention requested is, and received it is, then churlish is must be to cavil at how it comes, one supposes,' she offered.

Talia uttered a ladylike snort, and Solaris hid a smile behind her hand. 'If God understandable becomes, need Him we no longer should,' Solaris observed after a moment. 'For we would be as He...'

:An interesting observation, and an intelligent one,: Kantor said with approval, but no surprise.

Alberich could only wonder how this woman had managed to survive in the cutthroat world of Temple politics with a mind like that.

'Well, tell us about this ceremony,' Talia said after a moment of silence, in lieu of any other comments, and Solaris hastened to tell them what she could.

* * *

When Talia and Dirk retired, Solaris motioned to Alberich to stay. 'I would like to introduce you to my chief friends and supporters, aside from Karchanek,' she said, switching to Karsite with obvious relief.

'And I wish to learn to know you, Alberich, and through you, the land I wish to make our ally.'

He resumed his seat warily as she continued, after summoning a silent servant with a double clap of her hands and issuing orders for food and drink.

'You have been a Herald of Valdemar for longer now than you ever lived in Karse,' she observed shrewdly. 'Would you return to dwell here permanently-if you could?'

He shook his head. He had already considered this from the moment that he was convinced Karchanek could be trusted. 'No, Holiness,' he replied with all respect. 'Even if I were to be accepted by those who called me traitor. I am a Herald.'