Diamond Warriors

to be losing my power of speech altogether.

'Lil… jana,' I gasped.

I tried to make her understand that she should use her blue crystal to take the words off the top of my mind and speak them for me — but to delve no deeper into my more private thoughts. She nodded her head in agreement with this. Then she positioned her little whale figurine near my temple. We waited for her to speak.

'Val says,' she told everyone, 'that he must not slay Lord Tomavar.'

At this, Daj looked at me, amazed, and then turned to Estrella, who smiled as she nodded her head in agreement. But Master Juwain only seemed puzzled, even as Kane scowled and Maram took hold of my arm.

'You have to kill him,' he told me. 'It's a barbaric thing, and I agree with Lord Avijan, but that's the way of you Valari and your damned duels.' -

'So, Val — so,' Kane said.

I looked at Liljana, who had closed her eyes. And then she told my other friends: 'Val must not come to the kingship over Lord Tomavar's dead body. Meshians must not slay Meshians. And Valari must not slay Valari!'

'But you Valari have always slain Valari!' Maram called out to me. 'Ever since the Star People came to earth and Aryu slew Elahad!'

'Never again,' Liljana said. 'The Valari must be as brothers, and sisters — or else Morjin will destroy us all.'

'As Val has said,' Atara intoned, nodding her head, 'so it must be.'

Although she seemed almost icy cool in her manner, I could sense her terrible fear for me.

'But Val,' Maram said, squeezing my arm more tightly, 'what will you do? You can't just walk back out on that field and cross swords with Lord Tomavar in the hope that he will apologize, or just give up. If you do, he'll destroy you!'

I swallowed hard against the burning dryness in my throat, and I heard Liljana speak my words: 'There must be a way — there is always a way.'

At this, Kane picked up my scabbarded sword where I had set it on the council table. He pressed it into my hand as he growled at me, 'There is a way! Strike this into Tomavar's damn heart!'

'No,' Liljana told him, as I shook my head.

'Do it, damn you! Do what must be done!'

'No, I must not kill him,' I heard myself say — and Liljana, too.

Then Daj, afraid for me, stepped up to Kane and said, 'But Val has advantages. He is younger than Lord Tomavar, and quicker.'

'So what if he is?' Kane snapped. 'Tomavar is older and more experienced.'

'But Val has the better sword!'

'And Tomavar the longer reach.'

'But Val was Champion! I saw King Waray put the gold medal around his neck.'

'Did you see Val fight Lord Tomavar at that tournament?' Kane asked, looking down at Daj. 'When men cross swords, who lives or dies can turn on a glint of the sun off of cold steel.'

'But Val can't die!' Daj said. ''He can't! He's the best swordsman on all of Ea, and no one has ever stood up to him.'

Kane, of course, had stood up to me, and more, but Daj did not need to comment upon this, as Kane had no vainglory that must be fed.

'Val has faced many in battle,' Kane agreed, 'and most of them no longer move. But none of his enemies, save Salmelu, has been Valari. As most of the men Tomavar has killed have been.'

'But I know Val can kill Lord Tomavar!'

'And I know it, too,' Kane told him. 'But he must fight to kill. If he only defends against Tomavar's attack, trying to tire him, he'll throw away all his advantages. So, his life, too. Sooner or later, Tomavar's sword will cut its way through. Then he'll kill Val, and that is that.'

The tent grew quiet then, for it seemed that Kane had pronounced a sentence of death. I could only shake my head at this, and whisper, 'There … must… be … a … way.'

As I clasped my hand to my throat, I prayed that this might be so.

Chapter 8

After that, I swept up my sword and led the way back out into the square. When we reached its center, the various knights and lords gathered there had already formed themselves into a great circle. Lord Harsha stood there waiting for me, and Lord Sharad, Lord Manthanu and my other counselors. Sar Jonavar and Sar Shivalad took their places there, too, as with the rest of my guardians. They joined Lord Vishand and those who followed Lord Tomavar. At the edge of the circle, I bowed my head to Lord Eldru, Lord Ramjay, Sar Shagarth, and Lord Manamar, who had accompanied Lord Tanu. Lord Tanu himself had agreed to oversee the duel. He stood inside the ring of honor with Lord Tomavar, and his seconds: Sar Jalval and Lord Arajay Solval. Lord Avijan would act as my second, as would Maram, who bitterly regretted this honor, saying to me, 'I had to stand by once in this capacity as Salmelu nearly cut your head off. Don't make me watch Lord Tomavar put his sword into you!'

Despite his protests, he stayed close to me as Lord Sharad and Lord Noldashan stepped aside for us to enter the circle. My other companions — Kane and Atara excepted — had to stand outside it since they were not warriors. Although Daj objected to this, citing his deeds in battle, Lord Tanu directed him to wait farther out on the grass with Liljana, Master Juwain and Estrella. No child, he said, could be part of the ring of honor, and I breathed deeply in relief to see him walk over to Estrella and take her hand as they waited for the duel to begin. 'A challenge has been made!' Lord Tanu called out in his crabby high-pitched voice.

Maram and I, with Lord Avijan, stood facing him on his left, while beside us to his right gathered Lord Tomavar, Sar Jalval and Lord Arajay Solval. Lord Tomavar had already drawn his kalama, which he passed on to Maram. It took Mararn only a few moments to wipe down the long, shining blade with a brandy-soaked cloth. Then I unsheathed Alkaladur, whose shimmering length of silus-tria needed no cleansing. Even so, I handed it to Lord Avijan, who gave it to Lord Arajay so that the rituals could be completed.

When our swords had been returned to us, Lord Tanu directed us to close our eyes for a few moments of meditation. Then he called out to the ring of knights surrounding us: 'Are the witnesses ready?'

I watched as many grim-faced men nodded their heads,

'Are the combatants ready?'

Lord Tomavar's eyes grew as fold as balls of obsidian. 'I am ready to live or die.'

'And I, too,' I said, looking at him.

Lord Tanu now motioned for Maram and the other seconds to rejoin everyone else in the circle, and he did so as well. And then he called out: 'A challenge has been made and accepted. You must now fight to defend your honor. In the name of the One and all of our ancestors who have stood on this earth before us, you may begin.'

As Lord Tomavar drew back his sword and faced me across twenty feet of crushed grass, the thousands of warriors and others gathered around the square grew so quiet that I could almost hear their breathing. My breath came hard and heavy, forced through the painful chute of my throat. I drew back my bright blade behind my head, waiting. I felt my heart driving at my chest like a great, mailed fist. The kirax burning along my blood sent shoots of fire into every part of my body. I did not know which I feared more: Lord Tomavar killing me or me killing him.

For a while we circled each other, measuring distances and feeling each other out. Lord Tomavar moved with a practiced grace that chilled me. Though he might be a complicated man, with his willingness to sacrifice himself for his warriors in battle at odds with his overweening conceit, none of this conflict or any other showed in the easy, natural way that he stepped right or left, or shifted his sword about. Indeed, even his torment over his missing wife seemed to have melted from his mind. I had rarely seen anyone so relaxed, as if he didn't care if he lived or died.