The Last of the Wilds

this.

Mirar shook his head.

:Some would prefer that, rather than an eternity chained to your side. I might not be able to preserve their souls, but I also cannot use that end as a reward or punishment. Perhaps I should show Auraya some of the things you have done—

:Things I did in the distant past. The Age of the Many ended long ago, Huan declared, her head high. The excesses of that time are forgotten. Even you must acknowledge that we, the Circle, have created a peaceful, prosperous world in the last century.

Mirar paused.

:You have, he admitted. But if your past can be forgotten, then why not mine?

Auraya felt a smile pulling at her lips. He had a point.

Then the glowing figure that was Huan suddenly flared brightly.

:Because you continue to work against us, immortal. See, Auraya, how he turns our words against us! She turned and walked toward Auraya. He has befuddled you with twisted truths and hidden lies. Give over your will to me.

Auraya’s heart stopped. Give over her will... Huan meant to possess her? She took a step back as the goddess drew close. Instead of colliding with her, the glowing figure passed through her. She found herself surrounded by light.

:Give over your will, Huan commanded.

Mirar was staring at her. Different expressions crossed his face: first horror, then fear, then resignation.

:I must do as she says, she told herself. I must.

It would be so easy to just give over the responsibility for Mirar’s death to the goddess. It wouldn’t matter that killing him was... was...

Unjust. Unfair. He had done things she did not approve of, but nothing deserving of death. Circlians did not execute people without good cause - at least not the law-abiding ones. There were alternative punishments for minor crimes. Imprisonment. Exile.

:Obey me, Auraya.

She put her hands to her face and groaned.

:I can’t. This goes against the laws that you laid down, and that you gave us the responsibility to uphold and refine. Killing without just cause is murder. I can’t kill Mirar. I can’t allow him to be murdered.

She waited for Huan’s reply, but none came.

“Auraya?”

Taking her hands from her face, she looked at the man standing before her. Whether Leiard or Mirar, he had brought her more trouble than anything else in the world. She wanted him gone. “Go,” she found herself saying. “Leave Northern Ithania before I change my mind - and never come back.”

:Auraya! Huan’s voice boomed. Do not defy me!

As Mirar hurried away, his boots splashing in the stream, she felt her knees weaken. She sank to the ground, feeling ill and desolate and yet also a bitter and disturbing satisfaction.

If I just made the right just choice, then why do I feel so bad? She shook her head. Because I just disobeyed one of the gods and for a moment there I was proud of it.

And Huan can’t have failed to notice.

38

The Drayli family had so much luggage with them that Emerahl suspected they’d brought every possession they owned apart from their home. They had been dismayed to learn they would have to sell or throw away at least half of it.

“My boat is small,” she had reminded them. “Not only will there be no room for you if we pack all this in, she’ll probably lie so low in the water that the slightest wave will flood the boat, and you’ll lose everything. Can you swim? I hadn’t thought to ask until now.”

Shalina had turned white, which told Emerahl her question had had the desired effect.

“They are only things,” Tarsheni said quietly to his wife. “Possessions. We can’t let mere objects get in the way of our search for the true deity.”

The sorting out of their belongings had taken a frustratingly long time, then Emerahl had to accompany the family to the market to watch over the selling of them. Their friendly innocence and generosity made up for their expectation that she would help them in all matters. When the afternoon grew old, Tarsheni had insisted he pay for a meal and a room for her at the boarding house. They did not want to search for the tunnel in the dark, concerned that their children would be frightened.

Now, as she watched them climb tentatively into her boat, she found herself worrying how they would cope with a sea journey. She sensed determination and excitement from both adults and curiosity from their son. The baby was blissfully unaware of the adventure his family was undertaking. They gazed at the other water craft as Emerahl guided her boat out of the docks.

Leaning forward, she gave Shalina a small bottle.

“What is this?” the woman asked.

“It is for seasickness,” Emerahl told her. “Take one capful each and a third for the boy. Give the babe a drop mixed with some water and let me know if she starts to redden.”

“I don’t feel sick at all,” Tarsheni said. “I don’t think I’ll need it.”

“You will when we get out into the waves. The cure takes some time to work and isn’t as effective after you get sick, so best take it now.”

They did as she said. Once free of the docks, Emerahl directed the boat in line with the Isthmus. The boy began asking his parents a flood of questions about sea-related matters. Emerahl resisted smiling at some of their answers.

“How are you moving us?” Tarsheni said suddenly. “The sail is down and you’re not rowing.”

“Magic,” Emerahl told him.

His eyebrows rose. “A useful Gift for a sailor.”

She laughed. “Yes. One tends to learn and practice what is useful to one’s trade. Do you have any Gifts?”

He shrugged. “A few. I am a scribe, as all my ancestors were. We pass down Gifts used for preparing parchment and ink, sharpening tools, and to defend ourselves.”

“Defend yourself?”

“Sometimes the letters we deliver are not well-received, even if we did not dictate them.”

Emerahl chuckled. “Yes, I imagine that would happen occasionally.”

“I hope to write down the words of the wise man of Karienne.”

“You seem to know a lot about him already,” she said. His quiet enthusiasm had impressed many at the boarding house the previous night. Emerahl had almost expected to find a string of boats following her to the tunnel today.

“Only what I have been told by others who have listened to him,” he admitted. “Sometimes what is said is contradictory. If his words are written down, none can alter his meaning.”

“In theory. Others might alter your work later.”

He sighed and nodded. “That is possible. If there were a Gift I could use to prevent it, I would dedicate my life to learning it.”

“You said last night that this god created the world, the gods, all creatures and every person. If it created humans, and they are capable of cruelty and murder, then it must either have intended that to be so, or made a