‘Just exactly what’s involved in this “Child of Light” business? I’m not too well-versed in theology.’

‘The Universe came into being with a Purpose, Brand.’

‘Yes, I understand that part. The Gods created it.’

‘No. You’ve got that part backwards. The Universe came first, and then the Gods.’

‘The priests of Belar don’t agree with that.’

‘Naturally not. UL might have come into existence at the same time as the Universe, but nothing pre-dated it.’ I paused. ‘That’s a personal belief of mine, Brand, so it’s open to argument. It’s beside the point, though.’

‘Who’s UL?’

The God of the Ulgos. He’s the father of the other Gods.’

Brand’s eyes grew wide, and he swallowed hard.

‘We’re getting away from the subject here. The Universe came into being with a Purpose. Then there was a cosmic accident – a star exploded in a place where it wasn’t supposed to – and the Purpose was divided. Those two Purposes have been fighting with each other ever since. That’s an oversimplification, of course, but you get the point, I’m sure.’

‘I’ve seen lots of family squabbles, Pol.’

‘I guess it is sort of like a family squabble at that. Anyway, these two Purposes can’t meet directly. The whole Universe would explode if they did, so they have to work through surrogates.’

‘The Child of Light and the Child of Dark?’

‘Exactly. Every now and then these two meet – usually for a very short period of time – about a half-second, actually.’

‘You can’t have much of a duel in a half-a-second, Pol.’

‘Stop thinking of it as a duel, Brand. That’s not what it is.’

‘That’s a relief. Torak’s the Child of Dark, isn’t he?’

‘Usually, yes.’

‘A man wouldn’t have much chance in a duel with a God, would he?’

“That depends on the man. Since this meeting’s going to take place during a war, there probably will be a duel – or at least the appearance of a duel. You and Torak will bang your swords off each other for a while, but the EVENT won’t have anything to do with that.’

‘EVENT?’

‘A word we use to describe these meetings. It’s sort of like an abbreviation. Don’t get carried away with the fact that Torak’s a God and you aren’t. That has nothing to do with what’s going to happen.’

‘What is going to happen, Pol?’

‘You’re going to make a choice.’

‘A choice? That’s all? What are the options?’

‘We don’t know. You will when the time comes, though. Father was the Child of Light once – when he and Bear-shoulders were on the way to Cthol Mishrak. Zedar was the Child of Dark that time, and when they met, father chose not to kill Zedar. As it turned out, that was the right choice.’

‘What if I choose wrong when the time comes?’

I shrugged. ‘We’ll lose.’

‘Pol!’ his protest was anguished.

I laid my hand on his. I liked this man. ‘Don’t worry, Brand. You won’t be permitted to make the wrong choice.’

Then we’ll win?’

‘That’s not certain either. Torak also has to choose. His choice may be better than yours. The two Purposes are very evenly matched. Sometimes one wins, and sometimes the other does.’

‘Then I’m not going to be anything but the voice of this Purpose? It makes the choice, and I announce it?’

‘No dear one. You make the choice.’

‘I wish I were dead,’ he said glumly.

That’s not one of the choices available to you, Brand. At this point, I don’t even think you could kill yourself. Like it or not, you are going to meet Torak in Arendia, and you are going to make a choice.’

‘What if I refuse to make a choice?’

‘That’s also a choice, Brand. You can’t get out of this. Now, stop worrying about the fact that Torak’s a God and you aren’t. That doesn’t make the slightest bit of difference. You’ll be equals when the two of you meet. That’s all the rank you need. Father and I’ll explain this to the others, so there won’t be any arguments. You will be in command.’ I paused. ‘We’ll put it to the other kings rather gently,’ I continued, ‘so I don’t think you’ll need to beat Eldrig over the head with it. A casual announcement that you’re the Purpose of the Universe might make him start questioning your sanity.’

‘I’m already questioning it, Pol,’ he admitted. ‘Is this conversation really happening, or am I just imagining it?’

I unfastened a brooch from the neck of my gown and quite deliberately stabbed him in the back of the hand with the pin.

He gave a startled exclamation and jerked his hand back. ‘Why did you do that?’ he demanded.

‘Let it bleed, Brand,’ I told him. Then I blotted the drop of blood from his hand with my handkerchief and handed the frilly little piece of cloth to him. ‘Keep this tucked away somewhere, dear one,’ I instructed. ‘You must never question your own sanity in this. Any time you start to have doubts, take this out and look at the blood spot. This conversation is really happening, and you really are the Child of Light – or you will be when the time comes. I’m a physician, Brand, so you can believe me when I tell that you’re not insane. Now, go wash that hand, and I’ll bandage it for you.’

We held our meetings in the traditional conference room high in one of the towers of Iron-grip’s Citadel. A lot of memories crowded in on me there, but I pushed them back to concentrate on the business at hand. Most of our discussions involved a guessing game. Torak had surprised us once, and we couldn’t really afford another surprise like that, so we argued at some length about his next probable move. King Rhodar of the lost nation of Drasnia didn’t say very much, but he didn’t have to. His face was careworn anyway, and his mournful, sorrowing presence was a constant rebuke to all of us and a constant reminder of the consequences of guessing wrong.

Since we couldn’t really respond until Torak made his next move, the conference didn’t produce anything very meaningful. My only real contribution was the suggestion that it might be the neighborly thing to do to advise the other western kingdoms that the end of the world was at hand.