not even to accept the mantle of exaltation.
Heddderrrick. I orrrder you to rrrise.
'I will die,' Hederick whispered.
I hhhave plans for you. Yyyou mmmust be my priessst, Hed-dderrrick. I hhhave need of you. Rrrise.
Hederick inhaled, then let out the breath slowly, trying to expel his fear. The gods were calling him, or were they? Was this what Venessi had felt when she experienced visions of Tiolanthe? It could not be the same; his mother was insane, prey to fertile imaginings.
This was certainly real.
He drew himself together, then stood in the circle of brightness.
Opennn your eyyyes.
Hederick obeyed.
At first the boy could make out only a rough shape before him. Then he saw a muscular torso that appeared to flow right from the prairie soil. Corded shoulders, draped with a gauze shirt, bore a proud head with flow shy;ing yellow hair. The jaw was broad, the mouth severe. A braided circlet of iridescent threads banded the god's fore shy;head. Tiny bolts of gold and purple lightning radiated from the crown. Sparks rained down on Hederick, but still he felt only coldness.
Below the glittering crown, the eyes beamed fire. They looked straight at him.
Heddderrrick.
'My lord?' Hederick forced his voice low and steady. This being would not tolerate weakness; Hederick must not show any.
Yyyou knnnow mmme, thennn? That is good. Sssay mmmy nnname, Heddderrrick ofGarlund. Greet me as I deservwe.
Warmth coursed through the boy. This magnificent being approved of him! 'I honor and welcome you. You are Sauvay, supreme god of power and vengeance and Father-lord of all the Lesser Pantheons.'
Annnd…?
'Once consort to Omalthea, Motherlord of the Pantheons.
And father of the goddess Ferae.'
Annnd nnnow demmmoted beneath mmmy own daughterrr, Heddderrrick. The fire in the heartless eyes burned brighter.
Hederick measured his words. 'That is so.'
Yyyou wwwill be my chief mmminion, Heddderrrick. You will ssserve me. For I ammm Sauvay, God of Vwengeance, and yyyou have mmmuch to avenge, young Heddderrrick of Gar-lund.
'I?'
Mmmuch evvvil hhhas been done here in the nnname of fffalse rrrighteousness, Heddderrrick. Yyyou have begunnn to might those wrongs. I sssee and approve. You must continue. Escalate this hhholy wwwar. Dessstroy all sinners, if it takes until yyyour dying day.
'I will do as you order.'
Yyyou mmmust destroy the witch in the treesss.
Hederick nodded readily. 'And Tarscenian?'
The stench of molten metal thickened. Hederick's eyes watered. The wind sighed.
Hhhe wwwas a Seeker priessst, Heddderrrick. He hasss sinned the greatest sin. If Tarscenian were ssstrong in faith, Heddderrrick, magic wwxvould have no hold on himmm. He hasss made hhhis choice. Know, Heddderrrick, that if yyyou are faithful, I will be at yyyour side alwaysss.
Hederick bowed. 'I will do what you ask, my lord.'
The being vanished.
Hederick plunged through the grass like an antelope, and within moments he was crouched by the copse. Birds chirped sleepily, though sunrise was still hours away. The boy's clothes grew uncomfortably damp with dew as he waited.
Hederick knew Sauvay was watching. He knew that when the time came to annihilate his sister and her traitorous lover, Sauvay would show himself in all his brilliance, and for a few moments, Sauvay's power would be Heder-ick's power.
Ancilla and Tarscenian would die.
There was no need for stealth. Hederick had Sauvay's protection.
'Ancilla! Tarscenian!' Hederick shouted into the leafy blackness.
Silence swallowed his words. No magical carnivorous being, no emissary of the undead, reached for him. Had the witch and the blasphemer sense enough to be fright shy;ened? Were they hiding? Hederick longed to stalk them as the lynx had pursued him months before, when he was only a boy of twelve. Now he was thirteen, practically a man, and a servant of the Seeker god of vengeance.
Something sparked before his eyes. A globe, scarlet and silver, the size of a forest puffball, hovered and sputtered, moving away, then back. It repeated the motion, the mes shy;sage clear: Hederick was to follow.
Either Sauvay or Ancilla could have sent the globe, but to Hederick it didn't matter. One was on his side, the other helpless before him.
Within moments, Hederick stood before a stone cot shy;tage-magically created, for there had been no building in the copse before-and the globe disappeared. The door stood open beneath the thatched roof, and lights gleamed within. 'Ancilla!' Hederick shouted. 'Tarscenian! Your wards are powerless before me!'
Ancilla's warm voice flowed from the doorway. 'Did you think I would set wards against my little brother? After I worked so long to come back to free him?' She appeared in the doorway, silhouetted in the orange light from the fireplace. 'The wards were for the people of the village.'
'But not Tarscenian?' Hederick's voice filled with con shy;tempt.
'Tarscenian did not come to the copse to do me harm. He came to learn.' She stood aside. The firelight glinted on the embroidery of her white robe and on her curly cas shy;cades of pale hair. 'Come inside, Brother. We have much to discuss, the three of us.'
Tarscenian sat cross-legged on the floor before the fire shy;place. He didn't look up as Hederick entered. Instead, the priest's gaze seemed riveted on a tiny, glittering object. Hed shy;erick thought at first that it was a smaller version of the sparkling globe that had led him here, but as he drew nearer he recognized the steel and diamond dragon that Ancilla had displayed in her palm in the village. It had appeared to move then; now it was still once again, only a statue.
It was pretty, but Hederick could see no reason for it to fascinate Tarscenian so-none but witchcraft. That Ancilla had the priest in her power was painfully clear.
Hederick remained standing before the fire, while Ancilla arranged herself in a comfortable sitting position on the floor. 'Hederick is here,' Ancilla said soothingly to Tarscenian.
The priest lifted his head slowly, as if the Diamond Dragon released him from its spell grudgingly. Recogni shy;tion dawned in the gray eyes. 'You have come at last,' he said, his voice hoarse. 'I have done great wrong, son. I am grateful that you are here. We must atone, you and I.'
Ancilla spoke gently. 'I've been instructing Tarscenian in the ways of the Old Gods.'
'The betrayers,' Hederick spat out.
Tarscenian quickly shook his head. 'No, Hederick,' he said. 'I was wrong. The Seekers are wrong. The Old Gods did not betray us with the Cataclysm. We humans brought it on ourselves. We sought to become gods, nearly three centuries ago.' His voice grew more excited, and he reached out to clasp the boy's small hands in his. 'There are no Seeker gods, Hederick,' he said. 'Omalthea, Sauvay, and the rest-they are illusions, no more real than Venessi's god, Tiolanthe. Believe me, lad!'
He tugged, and Hederick knelt down next to him. Ancilla wordlessly watched the two. The fire crackled in the background.
'No!' the boy denied vehemently, pulling back. 'The Seeker gods are the true gods. I have proof.'
'What kind of proof can you have that the nonexistent exists?' Tarscenian asked.
Triumph rose within Hederick. 'Sauvay showed him shy;self to me tonight,' he declared. Excitement choked his voice. 'He spoke to me, Tarscenian! Sauvay, god of power and vengeance! To me! He has been waiting for me to fol shy;low the Seekers. It is my lot to punish the sinners! I have been especially chosen.'
