in the presence of his ruler. He now had what he had never wanted, the full and undivided attention of the Son of the Sun. But more than that he stood before Solaris with a heavy knowledge in his heart that he had failed her; he had broken his promise to her by failing to keep Ulrich safe.
He trembled, and her gaze softened; for a moment he saw the woman beneath the High Priest. Her mask dropped altogether at that moment, she took several swift steps forward, and before he could bow to her, she caught his shoulders in her hands, then embraced him.
'I need not be the Sun's Son just yet,' she whispered into his ear as he forgot to breathe. 'And Karal—I know. I know what you feel. You did the best you could, and if you can be said to have failed at all, it is because I gave you tasks suited for a score of seasoned mages and priests, not for one young man alone. The trouble is, I did not have those seasoned mages and priests to send here. I had only you, and hope, and you have repaid that hope by accomplishing more than anyone had a right to expect.'
He felt caught in the silence and could not reply.
'Twice now, I have unthinkingly given you a task too great for you, and I am sorry. Can you forgive me?' She released him so that he could look into her anxious eyes. He nodded dumbly, and her eyes brightened with a suspicion of tears. 'Oh, Karal,' she breathed, 'I miss him too!'
That was too much for him; with a spasm of heart and throat, he lost all of his control and broke down, weeping. But she was doing the same, and the two of them wept together in silence.
She regained control of herself first, though she did not push him away. Instead, she held him while he wept himself out, while the pain of loss ebbed, and released him only when
'Here,' she said, handing him a handkerchief which she produced out of the capacious sleeves of her robes. 'I had the feeling this would happen, and I came prepared.' She managed a wan smile, for a moment more, no longer the Son of the Sun, but just a harried and weary woman. 'The one thing these robes are good for is being prepared. I could hide a donkey, a week's provisions, and a small tent in these sleeves.'
That made him laugh, as she must have known it would. He composed himself as she carefully removed the last damage from her tears and resumed her dignity. Karal blotted his own face, glad that the cold air would quickly restore him and that the redness of his eyes would be attributed to staring into the bright sun for too long. When he was ready, he nodded to her, and with Florian at her left and himself at her right, and a much-subdued and slightly shaky Altra bringing up the rear, they moved out of the Grove and toward the waiting delegation.
Selenay waited there, clearly visible among the rest in her white and gold, as impressive in her simplicity as Solaris was in her ornate robes. Beside her stood her Companion, as beaded and belled as Florian, but wearing full formal tack, including a saddle; behind her stood Talia and Prince Daren and their Companions, likewise bedecked, and the rest of the welcoming delegation behind them. Those who were not Heralds had dressed in sun colors as a tribute to Solaris; they made a bright and welcoming patch of warm color against the dead, gray-brown grass and barren branches.
It was an interesting moment; the first face-to-face meeting of two strong-willed, strong-minded women, both the rulers in their own lands, and each of them once the greatest enemy of the other. Karal felt the pressure of their gazes as Solaris approached with that graceful, gliding step he could never emulate. Neither of them had an iota of attention for anyone else.
Finally Solaris stopped, no more than a pace or two from her counterpart, both of them eyeing each other for a breathless moment of assessment.
Breathless, indeed; once again, Karal forgot to breathe. Would they hate each other? When they were so far distant from one another, personal feelings had meant nothing, but now that they were within touching distance, it was imperative that they at least be able to tolerate each other! What if they were instant enemies?
His heart pounded painfully in his ears as he waited for one or the other of them to speak—or
Finally, though, it was Selenay who broke the impasse, and she did it with a smile.
'Talia told me that we were much alike, Holiness,' she said, as Solaris answered that smile with a wary one of her own. 'I suspect that she was being tactful.'
'Very tactful, Majesty,' Solaris replied, in that peculiar, carrying voice that never seemed to rise above conversational level, yet could reach clearly to the back of the Temple, 'But I would expect that level of tact, knowing Our Priestess.'
Cleverly phrased; Karal marveled at how clever—in the same breath, by saying 'I' first, she had given Selenay notice that they were equals and she was claiming no special precedence for herself, even as Selenay had not. But by referring to Talia as 'Our' Priestess, she reminded Selenay that unlike the Valdemaran ruler, Solaris spoke with more voices than her own. Talia was a Priestess to Vkandis as well as Solaris, and where Solaris was, so, too, was her God.
'I suspect,' Solaris continued, reinforcing that status of equals with another 'I', 'that what she truly meant and would not say is that we are
She raised a long, thin, elegant eyebrow at Talia, for the first time taking her attention from the Valdemaran Queen. Talia had donned Karsite Sun-priest robes—but they were in white and silver, rather than black and gold, in
