reveal my true colors and stab someone in the back.'
The rain made a gentle patter now and Safar smiled. 'No one thinks that of you, Jooli,' he said. 'It's apparent to us all that when we found you, we found a friend. Although I must admit that I'm mystified how we came to be so fortunate. Until you came here to live, you knew nothing about us.'
'That's not quite true,' Jooli said. 'You see, Safar Timura, I've been waiting for your arrival ever since I was a girl.'
There was a long silence as everyone in the room wondered at this startling remark. A sudden wind blew up, crashing against the shutters.
Palimak's eyes jerked toward the mural, then toward Jooli. His demon senses prickling with awareness.
He muttered, 'Yes, it makes sense.'
Safar said, 'Apparently my son is much more astute than I am, Jooli. Which doesn't surprise me. In not too many years our roles are sure to be reversed. And he will be the teacher and I his willing student. But please enlighten me. So I'll possess the same knowledge as my son.'
'I'm only guessing, father,' Palimak said, blushing. Safar was his hero and he didn't want to discover any chinks in his armor, much less think of himself as superior in any way.
Once again, the storm's fury lessened. The pounding at the shutters became a faint, tap, tap, tap.
Safar chuckled. 'Let's see how good a guess it was, son,' he said. 'Go on, Jooli. Please explain.'
Jooli nodded. 'Gladly. I've been waiting for the right moment and it's finally here. However, first I need to tell you a little about myself. So, if you'll forgive a rather lengthy approach…'
'We have all the time in the world, Jooli,' Safar said. Then he grimaced, rueful. 'Although that might not be as long as we wished.'
'I know something about that, too,' Jooli said. 'The gods asleep. The Demon Moon. Hadin. The end of the world.'
As if on cue one of the shutters came loose, crashing back and forth with the wind. Palimak jumped up to fix it back into place.
Safar acted as if nothing had happened to disturb them. 'This is getting more and more interesting,' he said mildly. 'Go on.'
Without preamble, Jooli said, 'I am the oldest of my father's children. I am also the best warrior in Hunan. This is no boast, merely a statement of what is so. I have natural abilities, plus I've trained long and hard at the art of warfare. As you've no doubt noticed, in Syrapis a leader must be a noteworthy warrior, or she wouldn't be able to hold her kingdom much past the coronation.
'Regardless, in my view I am the rightful successor to the throne of Hunan. There is no law in our land forbidding a woman ruler, so my claim to the crown is certainly not without merit.'
The wind took on a sighing note, whispering many sad things. And Leiria murmured, 'But your father is reluctant.'
Jooli laughed, not without bitterness. 'When it comes to my father,' she said, '
Imagining, I suppose, that I might take him up on it. Anyway, he's done his best over the years to marry me off to one prince or another. Hoping to get me out of the way and make a key alliance to boot.
'He's also tossed me a royal bone by giving me the title of a€?Queen,a€™ and a few hundred acres of farmland to rule so I can have an independent income and satisfy my cravings for leadership by ordering the cows and harvest crews about.'
Outside, there was a lull in the storm and everything became very quiet.
Safar frowned, then said, 'You don't seem the sort of person to be ruled by overweening ambition. Do you really want the crown of Hunan so badly you'd take up with your father's enemies? Or is there another, much deeper reason?'
Jooli gave him a long look. Then she hoisted her wine cup, drained it, hooked the jug and refilled her cup.
She gave a long sigh.
'Yes, Safar Timura,' she said, 'I do have a deeper reason. And as it so happens, I'm driven by the same foolish desires as you. In short, I want to wake up the gods and save the world!'
Safar nodded, then said, 'Good. Now, tell us about the mural.'
Palimak gaped in surprise. Leiria stifled laughter when she saw his expression. The poor boy had really believed he had guessed something his father was too slow to realize. She didn't say anything to him, but she thought, It's time you understood, little one, that Safar always knows! Then a sad caveat came to her: Except when it's a personal matter. When it came to love, Safar was as ignorant as a splay-footed plowboy.
Jooli said, 'Yes, the mural. I've just about reached that point in my story. But one moment more, please.'
'You can have as many moments as you desire,' Safar said.
'You can't fully understand,' Jooli said, 'until I tell you about my grandmother-Queen Clayre. Queen Mother Clayre, to be more exact.'
The lull ended with a loud crash of lightning, followed by a torrent of rain that slammed into the old stone fortress, shaking it.
Jooli glanced at the trembling shutters, then back at Safar. She said, 'My grandmother's a witch, as I told Leiria before-rather alarmingly when all those damned rats appeared. And I've made no secret that I'm a witch as well.'
She smiled first at Safar, then at Palimak. 'As if I could keep such a thing from two such powerful wizards.'
Palimak blushed. Safar's face remained a bland, albeit friendly shield. Leiria's eyes narrowed. The flattery wasn't called for. Then her features relaxed as she realized that Jooli was nervous. The female artifice was only reflexive. She thought, As if you haven't foolishly reacted that way yourself upon occasion!
Then she saw Jooli's eyes darken as she realized her error and gave herself a mental kick. It made her like the woman even more.
The slip seemed to make Jooli concentrate more on her tale. She bowed her head, speaking so low her words could barely be heard over the storm.
She said, 'At one time my grandmother was training me to take her place as Queen Witch of Hunan. I was about five years old when she first brought me into her chamber. It was shortly after my mother died.'
Jooli stopped speaking for a moment. Then she shook her head, saying, 'I've often thought she poisoned my mother. But that's another tale that has nothing to do with what has occurred since.'
Safar gently picked up her wine cup and gave it to Jooli to drink. She sipped the wine, nodded her thanks, and continued.
'My grandmother introduced me to all the mysteries over the next few years,' she said. 'I was a good little girl who never gave her elders cause for concern. I did what I was told, when I was told. And then one day I saw the mural.'
She gestured, indicating the painting on the wall. 'Oh, I'd seen it before, of course. Even wondered about it. It's such a romantic scene. A noble king. Warrior daughters at his side. Marching off to do battle against what you instinctively knew was a very powerful and evil enemy. I was especially struck by the dark-skinned princess who led the procession. She was so beautiful, so brave, on that great black mare!
'I made up heroic little stories about her in my mind, substituting myself in her place. Once I asked grandmother about the mural, but she became very angry and said I was asking too many stupid questions. That it was just a painting, nothing more.
'But on this particular day I was alone in her chambers. She was off about some sort of business, I don't recall what. And as I gazed at the mural I started thinking that it couldn't be just a painting. It had to have some special meaning. I got up and went into the hallway, where there were other murals. They're still there, as a matter of fact. And they are frightening things! Ugly things! You've never seen them, but if you had you'd know what I mean when I say they look like they were created by some devil from the hells.
'I learned later that this description wasn't so far off the mark. The originals were done long ago by a great artist-a wizard-in the employ of that ancient king.' She motioned at the golden-mailed king in the mural.
