(Chronicler's note: "Even as the Tyrant-King sought to tighten his hold on the Thaelu people, the beginnings of the resistance were already starting to form. Word spread quickly, from temple to farmhouse, of the news from the mountains. At first, of course, the fact that there was another claimant to the throne was unimportant as the commoners sought to bring order back into their torn lives. But the effects of rationing and lack of the old, comfortable order soon made many secretly yearn to rid themselves of the monster that they, in their ignorance, had put on the throne." HISTORY OF THAELIA, Vol. X.)

Chlin watched as the Priest-Lord of Tithede stalked into the formal presence-chamber with a regal air. Thuth had been in Tharea already a whole day and had but that morning requested an audience, a fact that irritated Chlin greatly. Surely this self-assured priest knew by now that the acolyte Lanji had been pried from his hole in the inner temple and now resided in a small, dank corner of the Palace dungeon, but Thuth's manner showed no concern. Chlin bit back a scathing remark and waited for the priest to stop before his raised dais and give a curt bow before asking with raised eyebrows, "Well, and is the Fromu Khyl on his way to save his nephew?"

Thuth eyed the young King with distaste. Chlin had taken to draping himself with heavy silver chains and medallions in an ostentatious display of wealth and power while still persisting in carrying the odious morynch as a decoration around his shoulders. After seeing the many gaunt and hollow cheeks of the people in the city streets and countryside, the sleek and well-fed appearance of the ruler and his pampered pet made Thuth's stomach turn. He gave Chlin a withering glare and said in a flat, emotionless voice, "He will be here, as you requested."

Chlin's eyes narrowed, and he shot the priest an equally cold glare. "Let us hope that he keeps his appointment. There is not too much time left." He smiled wickedly. "I'm afraid his young nephew must be chafing at his uncle's delay. The accommodations downstairs, I'm sure, are less than he is used to."

The Priest-Lord had to bite his tongue to hold back a remark that was sure to do neither Lanji nor himself anything but harm. With a great effort to hold back his temper that only one who knew priests well would have seen, Thuth forced his tone of voice to be merely cold and impersonal. "I may assume, under the circumstances, that there will be no objections to my visiting the acolyte and seeing to his welfare in his uncle's absence?"

"On the contrary," Chlin sneered, enjoying a chance to turn the dagger in the priest's shield of calm, "we must make sure he has no chance to pass any messages to his fellow traitors. You may take my word that I am personally seeing to his welfare." His words had the desired effect, for Thuth's face mirrored the fragility of his hold on his temper. But Chlin's satisfied smirk only made the task of keeping calm more impossible, and without a word or bow Thuth turned on his heel and stalked toward the door.

"Wait," Chlin called in a mocking tone, "we have not yet given you our leave to depart our presence, and we would like to know why the Fromu Khyl did not accompany you back to Tharea, as we had expected."

Thuth stopped in his tracks, gave a searching look at the stony-faced guards that flanked the door and, taking a deep breath, turned back to Chlin. "It was my understanding that he had some pressing business before he could leave Tithede. He sent me ahead to bring you his message that he would be here on or before the date you specified. That message is now delivered," the priest added coldly.

"Just what is this pressing business that is more important than the life of his nephew?" Chlin demanded suspiciously.

"I have no idea, Highness," Thuth 's temper stretched even thinner. "I am not in the habit of questioning my superiors about their business when it is none of mine." He drew himself up and demanded, "Will that be all?"

Chlin's green eyes glittered maliciously, and then he waved impatiently at Thuth. "It is, for the time being. Leave us, but," and he wagged a warning finger in the priest's direction, "you will remain in Tharea until your superior has presented himself. And no disappearing acts either," he warned.

Thuth's frozen expression betrayed nothing of the turbulent thoughts in his mind, and he gave another curt bow and stalked from the chamber. Chlin waved the guards out and waited for the double doors to click closed before throwing his head back and beginning to laugh loudly. He laughed long and hard, until his sides ached and the tears trickled down his face.

x

Shamira turned quickly as the door to the bedchamber opened to admit Chlin, and she yelped as one of the basting-pins in the bodice of the new, luxuriant gown scratched her breast painfully. She swore softly and glared at the seamstress, who set about helping her mistress out of the gown as quickly as she could. Chlin paced back and forth in front of the windows as his mistress was disencumbered of the heavy drapings and the terrified seamstress bowed her way from the chamber.

Shamira could tell from the way Chlin was pacing that he was bursting with news, but she had learned that he would tell her only when he was ready. She seated herself at the dressing-table and began brushing her hair into some semblance of order before pulling her dressing gown about her shoulders. Over by the windows, Chlin began chuckling again, and finally came up behind Shamira and put his hands on both shoulders. She met his gaze in the mirror and asked perkily, "Well, what is it now? Or are you going to keep all that happiness to yourself?"

"We've got them, Love," Chlin chuckled and shook Shamira's shoulders gently in his mirth. "Thuth is back,and the Fromu Khyl is not far behind."

The raven-haired woman took one of Chlin's hands in hers and dropped a kiss on the back of it. "I never doubted your scheme would work, my darling King," she purred.

"You should have seen the man's face; he was positively beside himself!" Chlin chortled as he remembered the brief crack in the priest's demeanor and moved from Shamira to the sideboard to pour himself a liberal portion of mimosia. "And when I refused to let him see the boy, I could tell he was just fuming!"

Shamira rose from her seat and went over to Chlin, took the goblet from his grasp with a seductive look and drank from it. "You couldn't very well let him see the boy, could you?"

"All the better to make that high and mighty hierarchy know they have met someone who is not afraid to challenge them," Chlin snorted and retrieved his goblet from Shamira. "The Fromu will see the error of his delay when he does get here. The boy isn't a very pretty sight."

"That was the only part of this whole thing that I didn't approve of, you know," Shamira reached for a goblet of her own and filled it. "Taking hostages is one thing; what your guards did is another thing altogether. A clean kill would have been more merciful."

"You're a fine one to be talking about mercy!" Chlin derided her. "I seem to remember when you once thought about..."

"What I wanted to happen to my father is my business, and it has nothing at all in common with what happened to that boy. What I wanted would have been revenge against him personally, with him not being an innocent victim with no stake in the outcome. That boy is just that - innocent. You may just..." she stopped, mesmerized by the calculating look Chlin was giving her.

"Go on," he urged ominously, "say it."

Shamira tossed back a swallow of mimosia for courage. "Alright. Someone has to say it sometime. You may just have overplayed your advantage by torturing the boy that way. Do you think the Fromu will do as you wish once he finds out what you had done to his nephew?" Shamira flinched in anticipation of an explosion from Chlin, then opened her eyes wide in amazement as he but chuckled yet again and went to refill his goblet.

"Perhaps you would be right, if that were how I was going to play out this little game of wits." He took a long, careful drink and then raised his eyes with a cold glare. "I'm not that stupid, woman! The Fromu will not be allowed to see his nephew until he has finished with that I want from him - if ever. One way or the other, it makes no difference in the end."

Shamira began to smile. "You will let the boy go when this is all over, won't you?"

Chlin only looked at her over the rim of his goblet. "Will I?"

Shamira shook her head. "Remember, I told you once before that compromising the priesthood isn't going to be easy. Make sure of yourself before you do anything drastic." She drained her goblet and set it back on the sideboard. "Don't get me wrong. Whether the boy lives or dies makes no difference to me as long as he makes it possible for us to be together as man and wife."

"King and Queen, you mean," Chlin corrected with a knowing nod. "Then why the sudden attack of morality, if you don't care one way or the other?"

"Because I prefer my kills quick and clean, with no messes afterwards," she answered, drawing her arms around Chlin's waist. "Whether it be chiva or man, long and drawn-out torture goes against my nature."

"Ah, at last I find a weakness," Chlin murmured as he put his goblet down next to hers. He reached up and removed Mishik from his comfortable perch, dropped the little beast to the floor and wrapped his arms around Shamira. "Trust me. When this business is done, there will be no messes to be cleaned up. We will have won, and the priesthood will have lost some of its sense of security.

x

Thuth found himself gazing at the blue silhouettes of the mountains rising over temple walls as he waited for the acolyte-master Chydo to join him in the enclosed garden. He wondered if the Fromu had any idea of what was going on in the city. Since his audience with Chlin, he had been making discreet inquiries of any who might have news of Lanji or his fate, knowing that Chydo probably knew less than anyone else. Those inquiries had provided no information at all, and Thuth would have to be satisfied with a report on events leading up Lanji's capture.

A discreet cough at his elbow brought him out of his reverie, and he turned to the older adept. Chydo's face wore a new, sad expression that troubled Thuth. Even the old man's demeanor was subdued somehow, and his voice quavered even more feebly than before. "You asked for me, Pra Thuth?"

"I know that you haven't been able to find out anything about Lanji before I returned, and you should know that I've not had any better luck than you," Thuth began gently. "I was hoping that you could tell me of the days between my departure and his being taken."

The old priest ran his hand over his shaven head and down over rheumy eyes. "What is there to tell? I followed your instructions exactly. The lad was a quick study. He took little time to learn deep meditation and was working on establishing objectivity in his approach to the world when the soldiers came."

Thuth frowned. "How did they find him? Did he not retreat into the inner temple and seem to vanish?"

"Just so," Chydo replied, "and evidently his disappearance made those who kept him under surveillance nervous. For three weeks they watched and waited; I know - I watched them as did most of the rest of us. Then, that night, they came rushing in with swords and daggers bare, threatening the entire temple population and - well - you've seen some of what they did to the main sanctuary."

"I know you did what was best for the brotherhood," Thuth said comfortingly. "You had no choice. What I want to know is if you or any of the other brothers heard or saw HOW they took him."

"They were a very rough and irreligious lot - they bound him tightly and pushed him around from one to another like a ball before taking him away," the old man choked, losing his hold on his emotions. "Lanji bore their abuse silently, and it seemed to make the soldiers angrier. Pra Timot heard them laugh once and say that they would get a cry from him sooner or later, so Thara herself only knows what the boy has borne since." Tears rolled freely down the old master's cheeks. "He chose his lot long before," he choked out, "and one must accept such a choice without question or emotion. But this is hard for me to deal with in all objectivity."

"I won't repeat scriptures that you know better than I," Thuth sighed in understanding and sympathy. "WE in our turn chose to bear this burden of witnessing Lanji's destiny working itself out, but even knowing this sometimes doesn't make the bearing any easier. Had he truly progressed as far in his studies as you say, then we can take some comfort in knowing that we did as much as was humanly possible to prepare him to bear what he must. Neither you nor I should feel any guilt at failing him; instead we should be thankful that we were allowed enough time to prepare him as well as we did, and to witness the success of his training in the face of ill treatment."

The old acolyte-master nodded brokenly and pressed his gnarled fingers together in the palms-together bow, the silent leave-taking gesture telling Thuth that, although well-meant, the words of comfort would take a long time to take effect. "Thank you for understanding and allowing me to express my doubts, Pra Thuth." The old man sighed again. "In Oneness may we all continue." Then he shuffled slowly off across the flags of the rock garden's path to where he could be alone with his grief and doubts.

x

Hanu stalked into the presence-chamber to the base of Chlin's raised dais and bowed. Chlin avoided looking at Shamira as she gave a soft chuckle, knowing that his aunt's obeisance pleased his mate-to-be's sense of irony. But he was unwilling to allow her mood infect him as well to the point of ruining any semblance of decorum and seriousness. His resolve was further strengthened by the sight of Hanu's snapping, angry eyes and firm-set mouth. "Well, Aunt. What brings you to our presence-chamber in such a mood?" he asked dryly.

"There is a rumor going around the city that you have imprisoned a young priest - the nephew of the Fromu Khyl." Hanu blurted, daring Chlin to deny the charge.

"I don't make it my business to listen to the cacklings of those with nothing better to do than to cause trouble," Chlin shrugged, adding, "I had no idea you had so much free time to do so, Aunt."

"Is it true?!" Hanu insisted, keeping an iron grip on her temper.

"What if it were? What would it matter to you?"

Hanu shook her head in angry exasperation. "Don't you realize that keeping the populace in their places quietly and obediently is absolutely essential to any hopes of reorganization? Now this - this has everybody from priests on down wondering if you are fit to..."

"Don't say it," Chlin rumbled a warning.

"Why?" Hanu challenged, unafraid. "Would you throw me in the dungeon as well for telling you that you have undone everything we have built as far as your subjects' trust is concerned?"

"Don't you think he isn't tempted," Shamira smirked from her seat at Chlin's side.

Hanu's eyes narrowed into furious slits. "I was not speaking to my nephew's whore; although he would like to imagine her his Queen."

"Enough!" Chlin roared at both women, half-rising from the throne. Shamira slouched back in her seat, fuming at the old woman's insults.

Hanu threw up her hands in the air. "I agree. Arguing over such as she is was not my purpose." She looked at Chlin with determination. "Just tell me why you took that priest - give me something I can tell my lieutenants to help squelch any riots or other violence before it happens. Surely you must have had a reason..."

"My reasons are none of your affair. You will know them soon enough." Chlin's voice had gained the low, ominous tone that fortold an explosion in the making. "Tell your lieutenants that - that the boy was implicated in a conspiracy with traitors. After all, that's the charge he's being held on. And this had better be the very last time you come to me and beride me for my actions. You just keep to your little politics and let me run my own affairs." He rose and moved to the edge of the dais to shake a finger right under Hanu's nose. "You presume too much on familiarity and kinship for your own good. I will not tolerate this behavior again, do you understand?"

Eyes smoldering, Hanu nodded. "I take it there will be a trial?" she asked in a more civil tone of voice.

Chlin's light tone of voice had the cutting edge of a razor. "Why, Aunt! Wherever did you get an idea like that?" He threw her a warning glare that cut off any further comment. "That will be all; you may leave us."

The smirk on Shamira's face did nothing to improve Hanu's frame of mind, but she lowered her head and stalked again from the chamber. As the doors closed behind her, she heard the tinkling of female laughter. Her steps slowed as an idea occurred to her. Stopping, she turned and went back to one of the rigid guards at the door of the chamber she had just left.

"Have there been any priests calling for an audience?" she demanded.

"Only Lord Thuth yesterday, on his return from Tithede, Lady," the guard answered without inflection.

"On his return . . . but he returned weeks ago," she said in confusion.

"Aye, Lady. But he has been there and back again since," came the guard's explanation.

Hanu raised her finger to shake it at the guard, stopped, and placed it on her cheek as yet another thought struck her. She spun on her heel without a word and walked away quickly.

x

Shamira straightened up in her seat, frowning. "I don't like it," she tugged on Chlin's sleeve to get his attention.

"What?" he asked, pulled from his thoughts.

"I told you we might have trouble with Hanu if she ever found out about the boy."

"If she knows what's good for her, she'll keep out of it," Chlin answered distractedly.

"What about the others, the people? I told you..."

"I know what you told me," he snapped. "You needn't throw it up in my face just now. I have other things on my mind."

"Perhaps you had better let the boy go back to his temple and claim his injuries due to over-zealous guards. The priests would believe that." Shamira waited for a reply and tugged on Chlin's sleeve again when none was forthcoming. "Chlin?"

"The boy's dead," he stated flatly.

"What?!"

"Last night, all alone. No torture, no nothing. He just died on us."

"Thara!" she breathed, eyes wide.

"The question now is," Chlin scratched his arm absently, "how we handle this latest, unexpected problem to our best advantage." x

Thuth stared at the diminutive woman standing haughtily in front of his desk. "You are the last person I'd ever imagine coming to see me," he said at last, emotionlessly.

"You are the last person I'd ever imagine coming to see," Hanu replied evenly. "But I need to know the nature of your latest visit to Tithede."

The priest's eyes showed no visible clue to his thoughts. "Why don't you ask Chlin? It was at his "request" that I went."

Hanu shrugged noncommittally. "Let us just say that the information would be less... antagonizing coming from you. Besides, Chlin and I no longer seem to see eye to eye on most things."

"That still gives me no reason to disclose the mission I carried out, Kari Hanu," Thuth commented adamantly.

Hanu indicated the stuffed chair to one side of the huge desk and asked, "May I?" At Thuth's slight nod, she seated herself and leaned forward. "Let me explain my position to you so you can understand how vital it is that I find out these things. It is my responsibility to try to maintain peace in Thaelia. Any threat to that peace must be eliminated. It has come to my attention that one of your brotherhood was taken to the Palace dungeon," Hanu paused to see if her words would have any effect and saw only a slight flickering in the man's eyes. "May I assume your mission had something to do with that?"

"Possibly," Thuth replied, still noncommittal.

Hanu studied the priest in front of her, and then came to a decision. "Look, I don't approve of Chlin's actions in this case; but I must have something to work with or else..."

"I do understand, Kari Hanu, and appreciate your position. However, I do not feel that I can divulge the nature of my mission except to say that I delivered a message to the Fromu, and that part of that message dealt with Lanji."

"The Fromu?" Hanu's mind spun as she began to see relationships she had previously ignored. "A political prisoner... a hostage held to do... what?"

"That I cannot tell you," Thuth said with finality, "perhaps for your own good as much as anything else if you truly are already having problems with your nephew."

Hanu nodded thoughtfully. "You have been a great help, Lord Thuth. Thank you." She bowed her head and left the room and then the temple complex. She looked over the square still teeming with venders and customers; not seeing them, but wrapped in her own thoughts. What, she wondered silently to herself, would Chlin want from the Fromu so badly that he felt a hostage was needed? x

"Now listen to me, all of you," Hanu began as the murmuring of her five lieutenants died away and they all gave her their attention, "for whatever reasons, the King has not seen fit to explain why the young priest was taken into custody - at least, not his true reasons. WE will, therefore, have to make do with the explanation that the boy was conspiring with a traitor unbeknownst to his superiors in the temple."

"That makes no sense," Mylu barked. "Who would ever believe a story like that? I certainly don't!"

"Whether we believe it or not is immaterial." Hanu glared at Mylu, and then at each of the others. "In the interests of keeping the people pacified, we will have to make them believe it."

"How, may I ask?" Kor retorted. "The priests of the temples are doing their best to let everyone know of the ridiculous nature of the charges and the innocence of the boy Lanji. How do we counteract such an organized method of rabble-rousing?"

Hanu shook her head. "Much as I hate to use such tactics on the priesthood, we may have to borrow some of Chlin's scare-tactics and let the priests know that further incendiary remarks on their part will be viewed as treasonable."

"What?!" Cham gaped. "Would we imprison and execute priests then? Wouldn't that be worse than just dealing with rumors?"

"The people wouldn't be happy to see their priests hauled off to prison," Thal reasoned anxiously. "Cham's right; it would only make the problem worse that it already is."

"Alright," Hanu seated herself and spread her hands out on the table in front of her. "You tell me a better way to handle this. I'm open to any reasonable suggestions."

The five men fell silent and looked at each other, hoping the other would come up with something. "Come now," Hanu chided as she sat back and folded her arms across her chest, "surely one of you has some ideas."

"Well," Narik began, then paused and looked at his fellow aides for support, "suppose we proved that the charges were true. That would put an end to the priests' arguments of innocence."

"Not bad, Narik," Hanu nodded as she digested the suggestion. "Not bad. One question: where would we find such proof, seeing as how it probably doesn't exist in the first place?"

Cham rubbed the stubble on his chin where he was beginning to grow a beard. "Chlin has no problem inventing evidence. Surely we can do no worse than he?"

Hanu chuckled mirthlessly. "You do have a way with words, Cham. Very well, you and Narik see to it; and you'd better make it good. In the meanwhile, Thal, you see what you can do to get into the dungeon to see this priest and find out all you can. And you might spread it around that the proof will be soon brought to light. That should quiet things down for a while. If there is nothing else, let us adjourn and get to work."

As Hanu and her lieutenants filed from the room, none noticed the slight movement behind the tapestry that betrayed the closing of the secret door that was hidden behind it. x Chlin stared openmouthed at the cloaked figure in front of him, and then the corners of his mouth turned up into a smile as he began to laugh. His hearty guffaws brought a sharp, questioning look from Shamira as she sat in the windowseat writing in her diary. Finally, sides aching and wiping the tears of hilarity from his cheeks, Chlin motioned the man to leave the room and chortled his way to Shamira's side.

"You know, I'm glad I haven't let you convince me to get rid of my aunt quite yet," he said, still chuckling. "She may not be completely an ally in all I do anymore, but she certainly has her uses."

Shamira closed the diary on the quill and capped the little vial of ink. "Well," she remarked dryly, "I can tell you can't wait to tell me her latest action, so go on."

"Much as she hates to, she's covering our backs in the matter of the dead acolyte. Of course she doesn't know yet that he's dead, and that is working in our favor. Our dear Hanu has turned two of her henchmen loose to find proof of the charge against him in order to put an end to the rumors and threats of riots. She said," Chlin snorted, trying to keep from laughing until he was finished, "that she can surely do no worse at manufacturing proof than I." At last he let his control slip and the laughter to ring out.

Shamira looked unconvinced. "She was far too outraged yesterday to let it simply lie."

"I know," Chlin said, a little more soberly. "She also ordered Thal to try and get in to see the boy and find out as much as he can."

"Not good," she responded, rising. "You don't know what she'll do if she should discover..."

"Don't you worry your head about that. She will never discover anything. And what's more," Chlin grinned and rubbed his hands together in anticipation and glee, "she's given us an opportunity to demonstrate the consequences of tampering too deeply in matters that don't concern her."

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