(Chronicler's note: "Chlin's desire to take up an immediate offensive into the Halidem Mountains was thwarted for several reasons. Firstly, he was faced with having lost his hold over the priesthood of Thara by the escape of the Fromu Khyl from the held provinces. Secondly, the strict rationing of all grain and foodstuffs that eventually had to be established soon had the populace uneasy. For once, he was grateful to have the assistance of his aunt and her aides in the task of keeping a relative peace. Moreover, the armies that he would have preferred to send into the foothills were desperately needed to keep an armed peace in all the larger cities. Eventually small outposts were established throughout the entire Thaelu countryside to prevent pilfering grain from the fields even before they were ripe for harvesting.

"Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Shamira had conceived after half a year of marriage. An overjoyed Chlin hoped that birth of a boy-child would quiet the persistent rumors of the heir in exile. As the days before the birth became fewer, he grew more expansive toward the people and eased up his stranglehold on the economy and his rhetoric against the Halidu. It was to be the one truly bright and peaceful periods during the Dark Times and was as brief and beautiful as a lightstone's flash. Other "peaceful" periods would come, but they were far too few and tenuous to label them as anything but respites." HISTORY OF THAELIA, Vol. XI.)

Chlin paced the sittingroom of his apartment constantly, a goblet of mimosia held in a shaking hand and carried with him at all times. From time to time he would take large draughts, especially when one of Shamira's cries would filter through the closed door of the bedchamber. Shamira's health had not been good during the last days of her pregnancy, and the Healers had not bothered to mask their concern for the welfare of his unborn child. He stopped for the hundredth time before the closed door and sighed.

"Try to be calm," Hanu said soothingly as she looked up from her papers at the sound of the sigh. "All of your worries are not helping at all."

"That's not your son being born in there, aunt," he snapped with less than usual acidity. Actually, Hanu was a welcome companion in this nerve-wracking time. He had not invited her company, but there was nobody else in the Palace who would possibly understand what was going on in his mind. He nearly tripped over Mishik, who had decided it was time for Chlin to pick him up, and took a half-hearted kick at the little beast. Mishik yipped, then hissed and went scurrying back to its basket and cushion where it was safe.

"I hate to tell you this," Hanu said as she closed the folder of papers and focused her attention on her nephew and his pacing, "but there is a very good chance that your son may turn out to be a daughter."

"I need a son. It will be a son! What do I need a puny girl- child for? A boy would give me weapon to use when Karinna's brat is thrown in my face."

"I know," Hanu conceded as she stood and went to pour herself a scant goblet of the drink and refill Chlin's. "But Thara herself has made the choice for you and your needs. Here," she raised her glass and tapped Chlin's gently, "here's to a strong, healthy D'Ganech son and Prince for Thaelia."

A shout from the Healer and scream from Shamira through the closed door made Chlin toss the drink down without tasting it, and he resumed his pacing. "Z'f'thon! Who would ever guess it would take so long to have a baby!" he grumbled to himself.

Hanu shook her head in sympathy and was about to resume her seat and go back to studying the latest reports from Karem when the closed door opened and a very tired young Healer emerged, carrying a tiny, swaddled bundle of blankets. Chlin stood stock still and stared at her, afraid to ask the question. The Healer smiled grimly and uncovered the baby's head. "You have a son, Your Majesty, a very small and weak son. He will need much help if he is to grow strong enough to rule in his time."

Chlin stepped close and peered down into the tiny, red face of his new son with a triumphant smile. He looked across at Hanu. "You see, aunt, I told you it would be a boy! Now, just let me hear the slightest mention of the Halidu brat!"

The Healer seemed to disregard the outburst and continued with the news she had to deliver. "Queen Shamira is also very weak, but she is out of danger for the time being. However, you should know that it would be better if she did not try to have another child." Chlin finally heard what the young woman was saying and tore his eyes from his son to stare at her. "Her body was not built to bear children, and this small one nearly killed her. If she should try again, I cannot promise that the next will not succeed where this one failed."

Hanu stepped up and placed a cautionary hand on Chlin's arm before he could formulate any sort of reply. "We appreciate all of your efforts for the King and Queen, my dear. Do you need further assistance, or should we send for another Healer to take your place so that you can rest?"

"No," the Healer shook her head as she handed the bundled infant to Hanu. "I might suggest that you have one of the Queen's women sit with her for the rest of today and tomorrow, in case there should be complications later. You should also have someone in the nursery constantly to keep an eye on this little one as well until he becomes accustomed to his new world."

"If Your Majesty would permit," Hanu asked with open longing, "I will take care of the new Prince personally, as I did when you yourself were born." Chlin looked closely at his aunt, but could not find any reason to not allow her to take charge of his new son.

"Do so," he said impatiently, his curiosity in his child satisfied and wishing to distance himself quickly from the thin whining that rose from the blanketed bundle. "And send one of the guards to bring the Ladies Jarena and Seren to tend their mistress as you go." He turned to the Healer. "You will remain until the ladies arrive," he ordered, looking at the slim woman with renewed interest.

The Healer was far too exhausted to see the light in her monarch's eyes, but Hanu turned to him angrily as the young woman bowed her way back into Shamira's chamber. "Can't you put aside your hungers for one day, especially for that one?" she snapped, holding the baby close and trying to quiet its crying. "The girl is too young for you, and tired to the point of dropping from her work to give health to the son you wanted so badly just a few moments ago."

"My hungers, as you call them, have been put aside for far too long," he snapped back. "Besides, they are none of your affair. But you are right," he paused thoughtfully. "The girl does deserve something for doing her work so well." Chlin sighed, but continued to smile coldly. "Have no fear for the Healer, aunt; I will let her go unmolested."

Satisfied that she had managed to bring Chlin even somewhat back to reason, Hanu bowed and departed the room, not forgetting to give the word to the guard at the door to fetch the ladies Chlin had requested. She walked quickly down the corridor, not wishing to be anywhere near the apartment when Seren arrived. Chlin had long ago commented that the middle daughter of Fichiku would be a very pleasing substitute for Shamira, and there was little doubt that now that Shamira was off limits to Chlin's desires that the girl would find herself with more duties than she had ever imagined.

x

In the days that followed, Chlin showed more pride publicly in the birth of his son than he showed either to Shamira or the rest of the Palace. The newly-restored message bells carried the news to every corner of the provinces, as well as orders for each person to receive an extra portion of rations in celebration of the birth of the heir to the throne. Hanu had found it surprisingly easy to convince Chlin of the value of such a show of generosity, reminding him that the people would remember the feasting instead of hunger when they thought of their new Prince. The move would cost little and bring a sense of stability and contentment that the reign sorely needed. Chlin, magnanimous in light of having finally sired a son and found a new mistress to wile away the time when not busy with mundane matters of state, gave the order; and all of Thaelia under his rule enjoyed a day of celebration.

Fichiku privately railed at Hanu for Chlin's flagrant flaunting of his prettiest daughter; and although Hanu was forced to remind him that there was little she could do with he way Chlin ran his private life, she agreed that the move was unwise. The mood of the people was with the invalid Queen, and soon new, ugly rumors circulated through the cities and countryside of the King's disregard for the woman who had given him his highly-sought-after son. As the extra rations gave way, and once again the country was gripped with hunger, the incidents of stealing and vandalism against the monarchy increased.

Tiny Prince Jakon needed the constant attention of Healers for the first three months of his life, and it soon became apparent to everyone in the Palace that the child was not completely right. While his eyes followed his Healer-nurse around the nursery brightly, he did not make a sound nor react when a loud noise sounded outside which should have startled him into crying. Even Chlin finally grew concerned and called in the new Master-Healer of Tharea to examine the boy. There was nothing that could be done, the Healer pronounced. The boy lacked the necessary nerves in his ears, and was completely deaf.

In his despair and disappointment, Chlin buried himself in the bottom of a bottle of mimosia, coming up only rarely to shriek his anger at the bedridden Shamira for giving him a damaged son. With the boy's heritage sealed by an unhappy Thuth, Chlin found that there was no chance that he could merely get yet another annulment and marry again; Shamira had borne him an acknowledged son, and therefore would be ever considered his wife. Shamira bore with Chlin's tirades patiently at first, but as they grew more and more violent and vicious, she had her belongings removed to Karinna's old chamber. There she no longer had to contend with Chlin's disappointment nor with his obnoxious pet any longer. She quickly and happily settled into her new, solitary quarters and pointedly turned her back on her capricious husband.

x

"I want a squad of men to infiltrate the mountains and bring back a report on what is going on up there," Chlin waved a half-empty goblet at Fichiku, who fidgeted nervously. "I've delayed long enough. I want to give the people of Thaelia something to think about besides their empty stomachs."

"Majesty," Fichiku began nervously, for he and everyone else had learned to be cautious in their dealings with the King when he was so obviously drunk, "we are having trouble keeping the numbers of men in the outposts up. I don't know where we will get the squad you want."

Chlin exploded and threw the goblet into the hearth. Mishik roused from his well-fed torpor on Chlin's shoulder to hiss at the lieutenant in an echo of his master's ire. "I'm sick and tired of you, and Hanu, and everybody else always finding some good reason to not send men into the mountains! First it was so that the country could get organized again. Then it was the problem of food. Then it was... I've had enough of these reasons!

"From now on, the entire countryside is under a curfew. Nobody will be allowed out after dark under pain of death! I want the stealing to stop, or I will have all the men rounded up and killed. The harvest this year promises to be a good one, so the problem of food is almost at an end."

"Majesty, surely you heard the Lady Hanu's report that the wholesale famine will not ease until after next year's harvest? And if we kill all the men, who will work the fields?"

"What do I care if a few, spoiled peasants and beggars starve?! I feed the army well; they had better get about doing their jobs the way they are supposed to, or they will find themselves working those fields themselves!" Fichiku shuddered, knowing that there would be no reasoning with King on rational grounds. Chlin's insistence on invading the Halidem Mountains had become more and more a fixation since Prince Jakon's disability had been discovered.

"I will do what I can, Majesty," he responded finally, hopelessly. "But you will have to give me some time. The kind of men you will need to mount such an effort will have to be hand-picked for their skills and then..."

"You have seven weeks to locate your fifteen me," Chlin pronounces quietly, in the tone that never ailed to send shivers up Fichiku's spine. "You will leave Tharea immediately for Dabai; most of my best men are garrisoned there. If you can't find fifteen good men in the hundreds I have there, go on to Karenth. then," Chlin's eyes glittered with a new madness that had never before shown itself, "if you can't fill out the fifteen between the men here, in Dabai, and in Karenth, don't bother coming back. You will have nothing to come back to."

"Majesty..." Fichiku quaked at the threat.

"Have you ever wondered what happened to that young priest I had in the dungeon a year or so ago? Or what ever happened to your nosy friend Thal?" Chlin stood on unsteady feet and put his face nose to nose with the trembling lieutenant's. "If you fail me, your wife and daughters will find out for themselves."

Fichiku's face was utterly bloodless, and he stood wordlessly staring at the King he had given nearly everything to support in times past. Chlin blew his alcoholic breath in Fichiku's face and made the man back away a stop, and then the King waved his hand in dismissal.

Fichiku bowed shallowly and hurried from the room, his feet beating a rapid rhythm down the corridor to Hanu's office. He burst through the door, startling the old woman as she sat poring over the latest reports of vandalism in the city.

"Chan's bones, man! You look as if you have just come face to face with the old Grinder himself!"

"He's gone mad," Fichiku finally managed to say.

"Chlin?" Hanu was instantly alert.

Fichiku sat down heavily in a chair next to the window, put his head in his hands and quickly told Hanu of the conversation with the King. Hanu sat back, her expression getting darker and angrier at every word. When Fichiku finished, she stood and went to his side to pat his shoulder, giving him what little comfort she could under the circumstances.

"You had better get going, then," she said finally. "Leave it to me to make sure your family is safe while you're gone. Go and pack, and I'll get a list of the garrison commanders from Cham for you before you leave. There's a junket leaving downriver with a company of replacements for Dabai in two hours, and I'll get the list to you at the docks."

"Lady, what are we going to do? He wants to start another war!"

Hanu rubbed her eyes tiredly. "I've been expecting this sooner or later. With Jakon an unacceptable heir, he needs the son in the Halidem and the Glymm the boy wears. You know, and I know, he's always wanted to go his father one better by exterminating the Halidu people - he was planning this even while we were still in hiding in the caves on the riverbank."

"We can't even keep peace within our own borders. How can he possibly think that we can conquer the Halidu?"

Hanu sighed. "With Chlin, plans are not always logical or timely." She gave him a slight push. "Go on now. Let me get to work."

"The junket leaves in two hours?" Fichiku's mind was barely working, and he knew that if he didn't make sure of the time, it was possible he would miss the boat for Dabai.

"And I'll have that list waiting for you at the docks," Hanu nodded, glad that he had heard what she had said.

x

"He wants what?!" Cham was aghast.

"Just make a copy of that list quickly and get it down to Fichiku at the docks before that junket leaves," Hanu ordered quickly. "On your way back, stop at the main temple and ask for an appointment for me to talk with Lord Thuth."

"What do you want with the priest?"

"Don't ask so many questions!" Hanu retorted. "I haven't the time to explain now, I'm on my way to see Fichiku's wife and tell her what I have in mind. Meet me in the burri stables with Kor and Mylu an hour after dusk, and I'll tell all of you what's going on then."

"When do you want the appointment with Lord Thuth?" Cham asked as he found the necessary list and began writing quickly, knowing now that time was an enemy.

"This afternoon, if at all possible," Hanu responded, pacing as she waited for Cham to finish. "Tell him... tell him that it's a matter of life and death."

Cham handed her the finished list with an open mouth. "You're serious!" he breathed.

Hanu looked quickly about the tine office. "Thara be thanked that this one didn't have any secret passages behind the walls," she mused, then scanned the list quickly and muttered her thanks as she handed it back to him. "You take it to the docks, remember?"

"Oh, right. I forgot."

"Well, don't forget anything else," Hanu cautioned seriously, then turned and left.

x

"Your aide made your mission sound quite serious, Lady," Lord Thuth said as he ushered Hanu into a quiet corner of the rock garden, far from any who might be listening.

"It is, my Lord." Hanu eyed the black-robed priest as if measuring how much she dared trust him. She seated herself on the indicated bench with a sigh. "I need your help."

"My help, Lady? What kind of help could you need from me?" Thuth was shocked at the desperation, and his shock showed.

Hanu seemed to take no notice of his breach of priestly decorum. "The wife and daughters of Fichiku Kanjarel are in need of protection, and I could think of no one better equipped to help them than you and the brotherhood."

Thuth frowned. "Protection from what?" Then he added, "Or should I ask, from whom?"

"Chlin, who else?" Hanu sighed again, this time heavily. "I can't tell you any of the details, but they will need a place to hide from Chlin or, if the need arises, a way out of the city." She turned an honest look to Thuth and met his gaze evenly. "I know that there has to be some way out of this temple for the Fromu to have so handily gotten away when Chlin wanted him in the dungeon. Would you be willing to likewise aid a woman and her daughters?"

"Why in Thara's name would Chlin want to do them harm? Fichiku Kanjarel is one of Chlin's most trusted lieutenants, from what I hear."

"You know Chlin. Fichiku has been ordered to leave Tharea on a mission, and Chlin is holding the welfare of his wife and girls as security for a job done in a certain time limit."

Thuth stifled a brief stab of anger. "He seems to like that tactic. Strange that he has chosen to use it on someone other than the aristocracy this time."

Hanu's eyes narrowed. "I always suspected that the novice was taken as security to bring the Fromu here for that marriage. Am I right?" At Thuth's nod, for there was no longer a reason to keep it a secret, she continued, "Did you know that I tried to find out what happened to the boy, and that one of my aides, Thal, disappeared in the effort?" She stood up and paced briefly. "I nearly killed Chlin myself when I found out he had been spying on me, as if I were a traitor."

Thuth allowed a slight smile on his face. "I see," he said, understanding finally the reasons why she had chosen him to talk to. "You've decided not to give Chlin a chance to get at any more of your men."

"They're good men, my Lord," Hanu stressed. "They honestly believed in Chlin's cause during the rebellion, and have worked hard to bring peace and prosperity back since. But if we make a move that Chlin, in his infinite wisdom, takes a dislike to, we are treated as if we were chiva droppings." Hanu resumed her pacing. "I'm tired of fighting him on his own terms."

"Please calm yourself and sit down, Lady," Thuth urged, finding it more and more difficult to stifle a smile of triumph. "Your tale of betrayal and honorable efforts has convinced me. You can bring this woman and her daughters to the temple, and I will see to it that they disappear from Tharea." He finally allowed a small smile to crack through the seriousness of his expression. "It is very interesting to discover that we are in agreement for a change." The smile died as quickly as it had arisen. "But what then? Do you intend to continue to do Chlin's bidding, knowing that he would just as likely prefer to take your heads as let you keep your authority?"

Hanu shook her head in resignation. "Neither I nor the rest of my men have any choice. We are all that has stood between the people and Chlin, who has no idea of the obligations of the monarchy. He is a child with a toy that is no longer amusing, except for the power it gives him over the lives of others. Someone has to try to see that justice is done."

"You have changed much since you were a bitter old servant in the old King's household, Lady Hanu," Thuth observed approvingly. "King Hariki did you a great disservice by humiliating you."

Hanu blinked, unprepared for such positive reactions from the priest-Lord. "Thank you, my Lord. I..." She stood up unsteadily. "I will have the lady and her girls come to you on the morrow."

Thuth extended his hand, a gesture usually reserved for one man to another. Hanu took it hesitantly. "I promise you, Lady, Fichiku's wife and daughters will find safety. And if ever you find that you yourself are in need..." The offer was left incomplete as Hanu nodded hastily.

"I know, and I thank you for your offer, my Lord. Thara knows, I may need your help someday, the way things are going."

x

Cham's burri trotted to a halt at the docks just as the boatmen were about to lift the planking and cast off, and it took a stern order to the boat's skipper before Cham was able to board and hand the precious paper to Fichiku. "The Lady Hanu told me to tell you that she will be seeing to your wife's safety and make sure you received this." he said, out of breath.

Fichiku took the list in a shaking hand, folded it carefully and tucked it away beneath his tunic. He lifted a pale countenance to his friend and colleague. "If I were you, I would make sure your wife and children have a safe place to go too, Cham. Did Lady Hanu tell you?"

"Some of it," Cham admitted. "Kor, Mylu and I are meeting with her later tonight to hear the rest of it."

Fichiku shook his head again, something he had not been able to stop doing even since his confrontation with Chlin. "He's gone mad as a korlu, Cham. He'll destroy all that we've worked so hard to build back."

"Just find those fifteen men in Dabai and hurry back," Cham advised. "Don't be picky. You know and I know that this is not the time to start a war; perhaps a sound defeat will sober the King to that truth as well."

"He said to find the best..."

"Just find fifteen fairly good soldiers that will keep the King happy. Why waste our best men when it's a sure thing that they won't survive to return? Besides, you can claim that they will need extra training before leaving, so they can be a little more prepared than most." Cham grasped Fichiku's arm in farewell. "I'll see you when you get back."

Fichiku nodded wordlessly and returned the armshake. Cham turned and crossed the planking again so that the boat could start its trek down the Thea quickly. Fichiku wiped his forehead on his sleeve and turned his eyes to the river, praying to Thara that he could find the men quickly so he could come back and follow his wife into safety before Chlin had a chance to catch him at it.

x

Even in the summer evenings, the air was chilled enough that the burri's breath hung in the air like a mist. The stables smelled of fresh grasses and grain and droppings, and Hanu used her tiny lightstone to step carefully through the more obvious hazards to join the trio of men that stood waiting for her arrival at the far end of the stables. Cham nodded as she quickly inquired as to whether he had managed to carry out her order to get the list to their missing comrade in time.

"Alright," she aid finally, after she had caught her breath. "You all probably have some idea of what has happened. Fichiku has been sent to Dabai, and Karenth after that, in search of a squad of men to invade the Halidem to begin the war that we all have been avoiding. I've seen to it, however, that my dear nephew will not have a chance to get his filthy hands on Nalia and the girls; although whether it will be possible to get Seren out is uncertain. He even boasted of having done away with the novice priest and Thal." That made the men shuffle in the straw angrily. "We have done our best to make Thaelia well again after all that we did to upset things to gain Chlin his throne. We cannot stop," she cautioned strenuously, looking each angry man in the eye. "We are the ones who stand the best chance of keeping the kingdom together when Chlin realizes the folly of what he is trying."

"How could we have been fooled into thinking that he would make a better King than Hariki?" Kor muttered. "Life at least was bearable before."

"Stop it!" Hanu snapped. "That is all rain that fell last spring. It leaves Chlin still the King, and us as the ones to see to it that things continue to run smoothly despite any setbacks. It's up to us to see to it that the harvest comes in on time and is not pilfered to nothing, that the mobs don't tear down the new buildings - Thara only knows how sturdy that new masonry is."

Mylu snorted. "I don't know that my heart is in it anymore. By working for him, we are making ourselves just as bad as he."

Hanu sighed. "If we don't, then who will?"

For a long moment, there was no answer. Finally Cham spoke. "Fichiku warned me to find a way to get my family to safety. Perhaps it would be best if we all made some plans, just in case."

"Alright," Hanu could understand the uneasiness that had infected her aides, "but don't do anything obvious. If Chlin finds out that we all have made our arrangements, you can be sure that we won't get a chance to put them into action. We can afford no mistakes now."

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