'What do you know of that?' Kane said sharply. He took a step closer to her; I was afraid he was about to draw his dagger and hold it to her throat. 'How did you know the wine was poisoned?'
Liljana folded her hands together as she stood there considering her answer. Her round face, I thought, was given to sternness as easily as kindness, and she seemed a thoughtful, unhurried and even relentless woman. She looked at Kane with her wise old eyes, and told him, 'I smelled it.' You smelled it?' he said. 'You must have the nose of a hound.' 'It was poisoned with wenrock,' she said. 'Its scent is almost like that of poppy. I've heen trained to detect such things.' 'Trained by whom?'
'By my mother and grandmother,' the said. 'They were master tasters to King Kiritan's father and grandfather.'
'Then are you King Kiritan's taster?'
'Not any more,' she said. 'You see, I disobeyed him.'
As trumpets sounded and new guards took their places about the lawns, she told us a little of her past. Having studied very hard with her mother and grandmother, as a young woman she had entered King Kiritan's service in the very year he had ascended the throne. So devoted had she been to protecting him that she had forsaken marriage, as King Kiritan had demanded of her. But in the eighth year of her service, she had fallen in love with Count Kinnan Marshan and had married him against the King's wishes.
'He banished me from his court just before you were born,' Liljana said to Atara. 'He told me that love would cloud my senses and leave me unable to protect his family from his enemies. But I told him that love was like an elixir that sharpened all the senses. Unfortunately, he never believed me.'
And so Liljana had lived many unhappy years in the Count's house. Her three children had each died in infancy, while her husband had been called away almost constantly to fight in the King's many wars. One of these had ruined his leg while another had crippled his manhood. He had died soon after this, leaving Liljana a widow.
'When King Kiritan called the quest,' she said, 'I decided it was time for me to leave Tria and all its plots and poisons behind me.'
As she turned into the light of the moon, the medallion that she wore glowed with a soft golden light. And all the while, Kane's black eyes bored into her as if drilling for the truth.
'What I don't understand,' Maram said, stroking his beard 'is why Baron Narcavage was willing to drink the wine if it was poisoned?'
'That should be dear enough,' Kane snapped. He nodded at Liljana and said, 'Tell him.'
Liljana nodded back at him, then explained, 'Certain men and women who use poisons such as wenrock take minute quantities of it over a period of years to build an invulnerability to it.' 'And who are these and women?' Kane demanded.
'They're priests of the Kallimun,' Liljana said.'The Kallimun uses such poisons.'
At the mention of this dreadful name, Alphanderry shuddered and said, 'Before Galda fell to the Kallimun, they poisoned many. And crucified many more. My friends. My brothers.'
Kane seemed to forget himself for a moment and laid his hand gently upon Alphanderry's head. 'So, the Baron was certainly Kallimun.'
'A priest, then?' I said. 'But when he served the wine, I was sure he wanted to celebrate with me.'
'The priest hide well, don't they? Especially beneath their own emotions. Celebrate, ha! He wanted to celebrate your death.'
As if troubled by his own tenderness. Kane suddenly snapped his hand away from Alphanderry's head and stared at me.
'And now,' I said to him, 'you celebrate his.' 'That I do,' Kane said savagely; He looked about the grass where only a short while before the bodies of Baron Narcavage and his men had lain. 'The Baron's plot must have been hastily planned – evenso it nearly succeeded.'
'But were they plotting to kill the King and Queen or me?'
'Both,' he said. 'It's obvious that your death was to be the signal to attack them.'
He went on to say that all the Baron's men obviously belonged to the Kaliimun, as did some of King Kiritan's guards.
'In Galda,' Alphanderry said, 'there were many such plots before the King was brought down.'
He rubbed the side of his head where Baron Narcavage had bludgeoned him with his fist. He looked at me and asked, 'But why would the priests want to kill you?'
Kane flashed me a warning glance then, Liljana, who was staring at my forehead, said softly, 'Because he has the mark.'
At this, Kane whirled upon her and demanded, 'What do you know of that?'
We were all waiting to hear what she would say, but she would not be hurried. She carefully drew in a breath, then said, 'Earlier, I overheard the Baron whispering to one of his knights that Val had the mark. I didn't know what he meant.'
'He meant that Val was marked out for death,' Kane said 'Nothing more.'
But Liljana clearly did not believe him. Her eyes fell upon my face as if searching for the truth.
'You saved my life,' I said to her. 'Is there anything you would ask in return?'
My question seemed almost to offend her. 'Do you think I told you about the wine in hope of gain?'
'No, of course not,' I said. 'But in so doing, you've gained much, even so. My gratitude – my trust.'
She smiled, revealing her small, even teeth. She said, 'I've been looking for a company to join on the quest, it's not easy for a woman to take to the roads alone.'
Alphanderry smiled at me as well. 'I've been looking for companions myself. Would you consider adding two more to your company?'
'As you've seen tonight,' I said softly, looking first at Alphanderry and then at Liljana, 'there are those who would hunt me. If you joined us, you'd be hunted, too.'
Because I trusted them both – and because they needed to know -I told them how Morjin had sent assassins to kill me in Mesh; I told them of the Grays and of our battle in the woods; lastly, I gathered in all my faith and told them the full prophecy of Ayondela Kirriland.
'You do have the mark, then,' Liljana said, looking at me in wonder. 'I'd be sorry for you if I didn't feel so much hope. But hope or not, if what you say is true – and I'm sure it is – you need more companions to help you.'
Alphanderry, as well, looked happy, as if he were setting out on a great epic that he would one day sing about. All that he said to me was, 'Please, take me with you.'
And then Maram said, 'The prophecy told of the seven brothers and sisters of the earth. We've need of two more to make seven.' 'Yes – two more warriors,' Kane said.
'Warriors we already have,' I said, looking at Atara and Kane. 'Ours are not the only skills we might need on a long journey.'
'The seven brothers and sisters,' Master Juwain said. He smiled at Alphanderry and Liljana. 'It seems that this was meant to be.'
We all stood looking at each other. And then Atara whispered, 'Val -I can see them with us. On the road. In the forest by the sea.'
'Ah, I can see them, too,' Maram said, not quite understanding what she was talking about. I turned to Kane and asked, 'Will you have them join us?' 'Is this what you truly want?' 'Yes,' I said, 'it is.'
Kane touched his sword and told me, 'I pledged this to your service in seeking the Lightstone. And that your enemies would be my enemies. Well I suppose I should pledge that your friends will be mine as well.'
So saying, he held his hand out and laid it on top of mine. Then Atara covered his hand with hers, and so with Master Juwain and Maram. Then Liljana carefully placed her hand on top of Maram's, while Alphanderry laughed happily as he slapped his hand down upon all of ours.
Soon after that, King Kiritan and Queen Daryana, accompanied by many guards, strode from the palace and rejoined the celebration. The guards from the garrison stood about with their shields and spears to provide a sense of enforced safety at odds with the gaiety that the King wished to encourage. After all, this was still the night of his fiftieth birthday and the calling of the quest, and he wasn't about to let a little poison and death spoil it for him.
The King and Queen walked straight toward us across the lawn. The glowstones around the fountains cast
