‘An honest shaman at last.’ replied Aquitain.
‘Alright you are all guilty but if I kill you all no one willlearn from this wicked scheme. So I am going to teach you a song.When one of your kind suitably atones to me for your deeds then andonly then will you be able to stop singing the song. You will singwith me and on your return you will sing this song to your peopleand you will sing it every time there is a meeting among yourpeople where you sing songs.’
He sang thesong several times and they all sang it with him until he was happythey knew it. It told the story of how Lithgala corrupted them tosteal the seed of Aquitain, the spirit bear, Son of K’wala and howthey were doomed to only tell the truth from now on. The song was acunning construct chastising them for being so stupid but the stingwas in the form of a magical aversion which embedded itself intheir minds.
‘I warn you, from this moment onwards you and your kin mayonly tell the truth. If you lie you will feel pain in your heads.If you continually lie the pain will increase until it kills you.The curse will get worse much quicker if you have any dealings withLithgala or any of her followers. You may go now.’
‘That’s a bit cruel.’ said Granddad. ‘You’ll be punishingeveryone for the mistakes of a few.’
‘Don’t you talk about cruel Granddad! You set me up for animpossible mission and kept me in the dark about it. You’vedeceived me all my life.’
‘You heard what the shaman said. They had a meeting before wearrived and purposely set a trap for me. They all knew. They areall guilty and so are you. They will all have to suffer thepunishment of having to tell the truth for a while. It may do themsome good. It would certainly do you some good!’ hereplied.
‘Okay you’ve got a right to be really annoyed with me. I’vebeen arrogant and bone headed. I’ve deceived you and everyonearound me but I’ve been deceived too. We’re all toys of the godsbut I’m asking you please don’t blame Miranlla. She’s been deceivedas well. Please don’t make her choose between you and theLady!’
‘It’s a bad idea.’ he pleaded, ‘Think about it but don’t acton impulse. You could lose her and that would leave you on your ownwhich is much more dangerous than having her around.’
Aquitainstrolled around thinking for a few minutes deciding on what hisbest course of action was then woke Miranlla.
‘What have you done?’ she said immediately. ‘I had a dreamthat the Lady is worried about us. She is concerned that your powermight be going to your head and that you may not be thinkingstraight.’
‘Did you tell her that you must decide whether to keepfollowing her or me.’ he asked.
‘Yes.’ she replied.
‘What did she say.’ He asked curiously.
‘Nothing.’ replied Miranlla.
‘The lady doesn’t talk to me directly. She doesn’t tell mewhat to do. Her wisdom only guides my decisions. My decisions aremine alone. Before I became a druid I had a dream that I would dosomething important in my life but I never knew what it would be.Our trials together have been both a dream and a nightmare. I feellike I’ve been blessed and cursed at the same time. I want to bewith you and a sometimes I’m so afraid that I want toleave.’
‘I love you more than life and I fear that the Lady knows thatand thinks that Tigerlilly will make me side with you against herif it comes to a choice. She is forcing me to make that decisionright now by doing what she has done to you.’
‘Don’t ask me to choose that way she will never know theanswer until the moment that it really counts. If I betray you thenI will betray life and our love itself and there will be nothingleft that is good in this world for me anymore.’
‘If you don’t trust me absolutely then blind me so that myeyes cannot betray you and send me away to be the most malignTempest that ever existed.’
‘I will readily leave and never blame you for it will be herthat forced this decision upon us and her that tore us asunder andit will be her that I will vent my wrath upon for all to know.Don’t ask me to choose let the doubt linger and fester in her mindnot yours.’
Aquitainreplied.
‘You once before said you placed your life my hands. I believeyou absolutely but I find it very hard to place my life in thehands of a god when all gods are so fickle.’
‘I won’t ask you to decide between her or me as I do trust inyou and accept your argument that she is forcing you to decide.Look me in the eyes Miranlla.’
‘Hello Goddess, I hope that you are enjoying your game withMiranlla and myself. On the day of Judgement and I am called beforethe Maker to explain my part in the Time of Troubles I will not bepainting your part in any good light. Think very carefully beforeyou have Miranlla betray me. It may not play out to yourliking.’
Miranlla lookedrelieved and walked over and kissed him then said
‘Thank you my love. Let’s go back and capture our gate world.’and they teleported away.
Chapter 46 Plans WithinPlans
Miranlla, Granddad andAquitain arrived back at the entrance to Astaria and after passingthrough the gateway teleported to the control room.
Aquitain askedthe Astarian group mind what had been happening but got noanswer.
‘That’s curious.’ he said ‘There’s somethingwrong.’
‘What’s happened? ‘ asked both Miranlla andGranddad.
‘I don’t know yet.’ Then he heard the dragon’s voice comingfrom the control panel.
‘Hello up there in the control room. I found out how you weremanipulating the scenery and I’ve stopped it. You see you’re just apathetic abomination that thinks he is smart. You’re a childcompared to a dragon like me. You’re a powerless fake trickster.I’m going to enjoy
