The Season Of Passage Part 31

'For reasons that will become clear to you soon.'

'Where is Tier? Did you kill him, too?'

Kratine stepped behind her back. She could feel his eyes on her body. 'You are my captive. Is it fair that I have to answer all your questions? Don't you want to hear the conditions of the truce 1 am proposing?'

Janier stood straight. 'I am listening.'

Kratine touched her hair. His fingers felt like claws, as indeed they actually were. 'You are like your sister, Janier, very beautiful.'

'List your conditions.'

Kratine took a step away from her back. 'Of course. First, Chaneen must swear an oath never to invade my land.'

'You know she would never do that, 'Janier said.

'Then it is a simple request.'

'You try to deceive me. You said your people could not survive in Asure. Now you say you are content with what you have?'

'You twist my words. I did not say I am content.' Kratine walked back to his throne. On the right side of the black seat were three huge brown oval eggs. He selected one and returned to her side. 'Do you know what this is?' he asked.

'Yes. The chamber in which your unborn grow.'

'Very good, Janier. I hold an Asurian child on the verge of birth. Unfortunately, this infant can't survive in this land, as you have pointed out. Indeed, this child is about to die.' Kratine cracked the top off the egg, and a horrible stench a.s.sailed Janier's nose. The Asurian King dug inside the sh.e.l.l and removed a squirming miniature of the monsters that watched from the stands. Careful not to spill the fluid inside the sh.e.l.l, Kratine set down the egg and carried the struggling infant to the edge of the lava pool.

'What are you doing?' she cried.

'I'm making a small sacrifice to emphasize my point.' He lowered the kicking infant slowly into the mud. There came a shrill scream as the creature's feet were seared off. Kratine, however, was patient. He took his time killing the creature. Finally he returned to her side. 'You see now how willing I am to sacrifice my own in order to reach a truce?' he said.

Janier saw nothing of the kind from his act, only that she didn't want to be lowered into the boiling mud. For the first time in her life, fear dominated her thoughts. She decided to feign cooperation in the hope of escape.

I will carry your message to my sister,' she said. 'What are your other conditions?'

Kratine nodded. 'Ah, a change of heart. That is good. But what I have to say next is difficult. I admire you, Janier. You have spirit. You are a great warrior. None could doubt your abilities. But you have brought great misery to my people. Even Rankar did not inflict the fire so often and so mercilessly. You had my warriors on the run. They were clearly defeated. Only a small number escaped across my bridge. You knew there were too few of my warriors left to harm your people. Yet you pushed forward and crossed my bridge with the intention of killing the last of the Asurians. That was not necessary. That was evil.' Janier held her wrath in check. 'You attacked us first.'

'We attacked out of need, so we could live. We have little water here, and what little we do have, we are forced to h.o.a.rd underground. Naturally we tried to invade your Garden. But you came here to kill for the sake of killing. Again, I say to you, that was evil.'

Anger overshadowed Janier's caution. 'I have seen the way your people fight. They torture their captives. They drink their blood.'

'They drink because they are thirsty from lack of water.'

'In our mountains, there was muck water, 'Janier said.

Kratine ran a sharp finger over the top of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. 'Does it make us evil, to enjoy our duty?' Janier could think of nothing to say. Kratine continued. 'Did Chaneen tell you to cross over into my land?'

'You were telling me of your conditions.'

'She told you not to go,' Kratine said. 'Is that not so? Speak! Admit that you were wrong. Admit that you violated your own Queen's orders.'

'Of what use is such an admission to you?'

Kratines voice softened. 'I merely wish for you to be able to return to your sister with a clear conscience.'

'What are the conditions of your truce?' she repeated.

'Just the one I mentioned. Chaneen must promise not to invade my lands. She has a good heart. I will believe her if she promises. I respect sincerity, Janier. That is the only other condition that 1 have. You must return to your home and sincerely express my views. Do you understand?'

'Yes.'

'Very good. I am pleased that you do. If you didn't, I would send another emissary, and then I would have no reason to keep you alive. Still, I do have plenty of reason to put you to death, don't I? Answer me truthfully.'

Janier was becoming confused. He held out freedom one moment, and then took it away. He made her feel worse than him. He was evil, there was no question of that, but had she also been at fault? His blank eyes taunted her, the scream of the dying Asurian plagued her.

'You have another of my people?' she asked warily.

'But of course,' Kratine said. 'Should I send for him? He could go in your stead, and you could stay here with me. Do you think that would be best, Janier?'

'Who is this one?'

Kratine spoke with pride. 'A great warrior. The leader of your forces.'

'Tier?'

' 'Yes. That is his name. Oh, I had forgotten. He is your husband. I understand your excitement. That is good. Should I send for him? He could be my emissary, I'm sure. He is very devoted.'

'Devoted?' she began.

Kratine leaned close and smiled. 'You were about to say that your husband could not be devoted to me. Is that not so, Princess?'

'Yes,' she whispered.

'Well, you are wrong!' His wrath hit her like a physical blow and she cringed. 'You see, he is mine now. Mine!' Kratine grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her to the edge of the boiling mud. He held her face close to the lava and she had to close her eyes to keep from going blind. The heat was unbearable. 'I broke his will, Janier! I tortured him. You humans can only take so much pain, and I gave him a great deal.'

'Stop it!'

'Stop? I'm just beginning. Would you like to see him?'

She nodded weakly. Kratine pulled back her head and spoke with sudden gentleness in her ear. 'Do you love him?' he asked.

'Yes.'

Kratine was sympathetic. 'He was your lover. A fortunate man. I will bring him to you. Oh, look, Janier, he is already here. He is descending from above.'

Suspended from two metal chains, Tier was being lowered toward the pool of lava. They brought him to a halt only a dozen feet from where she stood, and she could see how his battered head hung unmoving on his lacerated chest. Both his arms had been cruelly broken; his jagged bones sliced through the skin at the elbows. His entire body was caked with dried blood. Janier could see no sigh of breathing, and she began to weep.

'He's dead,' she said.

Kratine sighed. 'It is sad. Yet such is the fate of many courageous warriors.'

Janier bowed her head. 'We did not want to hurt anyone. We only wanted to be left alone.' She glanced up again. Her husband's eyes were half open; the sockets had rolled back into his head. 'Oh, Tier!'

Kratine led her to where she had been standing before. 'It is a hard universe,' he said. 'Survival is earned at a price. We of Asure know this. We are much older than the Sastra, and have greater experience and wisdom in these matters. I sympathize with your sorrow. Why not return him to Chaneen and let her mend his injuries with the power of her touch? You could stay in his place, as payment for the sins committed against Asure.'

Janier shook her head, trying not to look at her husband. 'Chaneen can't bring back the dead.'

'A pity. But perhaps he could still go as my messenger. I could record the conditions of my truce on a scroll, and attach it to his body, and return him to your Garden. At least then he would have a decent burial. Come, I have asked you before. Should I send you or him as my emissary?'

The thought of leaving Tier's body with Kratine was repulsive to Janier. Yet she knew she had to escape. She had to return to Chaneen and tell her of this atrocity. Perhaps then her sister would summon all her powers and lay waste to Asure.

I will present your wishes to my Queen,' she said.

'Excellent. You are a spirited young woman. You can present my position forcefully. You will do that, won't you? This is important to me, that you are sincere, that you have an open heart. You have opened your heart to me, haven't you?'

Janier nodded, giving any answer that would lead to freedom. I will explain everything to my sister that you have said.'

'You are a good child.' Kratine stepped behind her once more and began to loosen the metal cords that bound her wrists. 'Now I will set you free and you can be on your way. Yes, soon you will be home, and walking in your fair Garden. Oh! What is this? A ring. Is this Chaneen's ring?'

'Yes, 'Janier said.

'How is it that you are wearing your sister's ring?'

'She gave it to me before I went into battle.'

'Why?'

I don't know why.'

'How touching,' Kratine said, finishing with her cords. Blood flowed back into her hands and she was able to move her fingers. 'How beautiful. But you understand, of course, that you must remove it now. Now that you are mine.'

I don't understand,' she stuttered. Standing before her tormentor, the ring seemed the only link she had left to her sister. She desperately wanted to hold on to it. Kratine slid his big head around the side of her cheek.

'What did you say?' he asked quietly.

'I prefer to keep the ring.' She shrugged. 'It is only a small thing.'

'A small thing,' he repeated, with satisfaction in his voice. 'That is true. But you are my emissary now, and it is the small things that matter the most to me. You did agree to represent me, am I correct?'

'Yes.'

'Then remove the ring. Throw it in the mud. Be rid of this small thing.'

Janier shook her head faintly. Kratine moved his ear close to her mouth.

I didn't quite hear that,' he said. When she didn't respond, he took her chin and forced her to look in his eyes. They shone like flat black mirrors, and in them it seemed she saw her own soul; she saw it as empty as his eyes. 'Tell me again,' he said.

'Chaneen gave the ring to me,' she whispered.

'So?'

'She is my Queen, my sister.'

'Then you think to deceive me!' He shoved her to the floor where she struck her head for the second time. Once more the crowd jeered. Blood trickled from her head onto her gown. Kratine stepped forward and towered over her. He was furious. 'You try to trick me. You have not opened your heart.' Janier trembled. 'No.'

The crowd began to applaud. Kratine spoke harshly. 'Your lover was like you in the beginning. He thought he could take advantage of me. He had to be taught the error of his ways. In the end, after much torture, he learned. Do I need to repeat the lessons for you, Janier?'

She moaned. 'No.'

He knelt by her side and his cruel manner vanished as quickly as it had come. 'Are you afraid ? You can tell me if you are. I will understand.'

'Yes, 'Janier said.

'You want to go home, don't you?'

'Yes.'

'As my emissary?'

'Yes.'

He stroked her hair and now his touch was gentle. I can be merciful. But surely you realize I have to choose an emissary I can trust?'

'Yes.'

'Can I trust you?'

'Yes.'

'Do you want me to send you instead of your husband?'

She coughed. It was hard to breath in Asure. I don't know what you mean.'

'Do you want me to send you?'

'Yes.'

Kratine helped her to her feet. 'At last I sense sincerity in your words,' he said. 'It is good. Now I know you don't mind abandoning your husband. Now there can be no doubt.' He smiled. 'Since the choice has been made, there's no need to keep him hanging around.' Kratine gestured with his hand to his aides. 'Lower our brave warrior into his bath. Excellent.'

Janier averted her eyes. Yet suddenly there was an agonizing scream, and her head snapped up. Tier was writhing on the sinking metal chains as his feet turned to black stumps on the surface of the boiling pool.

'Stop!' she screamed. She appealed to Kratine. 'Stop it! Please!'

He regarded her with puzzlement. 'What do you want?'

Tier's face twisted into a mask of agony. Blood dripped from his cindered feet into the lava. Faint red clouds of steam spurted over what was left of his calves. The audience cheered loudly as his cries rent the chamber.

'You can't do this!' Janier cried.

Kratine spoke calmly. 'But isn't this what you wanted? To go in his place as my emissary?'