‘The poison Annias gave her made her barren. You have no idea how difficult it was for me to overcome that. Why do you think Sephrenia was so upset when she discovered that mother was pregnant? She knew about the effects of the poison, of course, and she was very put out with me for interfering – probably more because mother’s an Elene than for any other reason. Sephrenia’s very narrow-minded sometimes. Oh, do sit down, Sparhawk. You look ridiculous all stooped over like that. Either sit or stand. Don’t hover in between.’

Sparhawk sank back into his chair, his mind reeling. ‘But why?’ he demanded.

‘Because I love you and mother. She was destined to be childless, so I had to change her destiny just a bit.’

‘And did you change mine as well?’

‘How could I possibly do that? You’re Anakha, remember? Nobody knows what your destiny is. You’ve always been a problem for us. Many felt that we shouldn’t let you be born at all. I had to argue for centuries to persuade the others that we really needed you.’ She looked down at herself. ‘I’m going to have to pay attention to growing up, I suppose. I was Styric before, and Styrics can take these things in their stride. You Elenes are more excitable, and people might begin to talk if I were to remain a child for several centuries. I guess I’ll have to do it the right way this time.’

‘This time?’

‘Of course. I’ve been born dozens of times.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘It helps to keep me young.’ Her small face grew very serious. ‘Something terrible happened in the Temple of Azash, father, and I needed to hide from it for a while. Mother’s womb was the perfect place to hide. It was so safe and secure there.’

‘Then you knew what was going to happen in Zemoch,’ he accused.

‘I knew that something was going to happen, so I just covered all the possibilities.’ She pursed her pink little mouth thoughtfully. ‘This might be very interesting,’ she said. ‘I’ve never been a grown woman before – and certainly never a queen. I wish my sister were here. I’d like to talk with her about it.’

‘Your sister?’

‘Sephrenia.’ She said it almost absently. ‘She was the eldest daughter of my last parents. It’s very nice having an older sister, you know. She’s always been so very, very wise, and she always forgives me when I do something foolish.’

A thousand things suddenly clicked into place in Sparhawk’s mind, things that had never really been explained before. ‘How old is Sephrenia?’ he asked.

She sighed. ‘You know I’m not going to answer that, Sparhawk. Besides, I’m not really sure. The years don’t mean as much to us as they do to you. In a general way, though, Sephrenia’s hundreds of years old, maybe even a thousand – whatever that means.’

‘Where is she now?’

‘She and Vanion are off together. You knew how they felt about each other, didn’t you?’

‘Yes.’

‘Astonishing. You can use your eyes after all.’

‘What are they doing?’

‘They’re looking after things for me. I’m too busy to attend to business this time, and somebody has to mind the shop. Sephrenia can answer prayers as well as I can, and I don’t have all that many worshippers.’

‘Do you absolutely have to make all of this sound so commonplace?’ His tone was plaintive.

‘But it is, father. It’s your Elene God who takes Himself so seriously. I’ve never once seen Him laugh. My worshippers are much more sensible. They love me, so they’re tolerant of my mistakes.’ She laughed suddenly, climbed up into his lap and kissed him. ‘You’re the best father I’ve ever had, Sparhawk. I can actually talk with you about these things without making your eyes pop out of their sockets.’ She rested her head against his chest. ‘What’s really been going on, father? I know that things aren’t going well, but Mirtai keeps putting me down for naps when people come to make reports to you, so I can’t get very many details.’

‘It hasn’t been a good time for the world, Aphrael,’ he said gravely. ‘The weather’s been very bad, and there have been famine and pestilence. Nothing seems to be going the way it should. If I were at all superstitious, I’d say that the whole world’s been going through a long spell of very bad luck.’

‘That’s my family’s fault, Sparhawk,’ she admitted. ‘We started feeling very sorry for ourselves after what happened to Azash, so we haven’t been attending to business. I think that maybe it’s time for all of us to grow up. I’ll talk with the others and let you know what we decide.’

‘I’d appreciate that.’ Sparhawk could not actually believe this conversation was taking place.

‘We have a bit of a problem, though,’ she told him.

‘Only one?’

‘Stop that. I’m serious. What are we going to tell mother?’

‘Oh, my God!’ he said, his eyes suddenly going very wide. ‘I hadn’t thought of that.’

‘We’ll have to decide right now, you know, and I don’t like to make up my mind in a hurry. She’d have a great deal of trouble believing this, wouldn’t she? Particularly if it meant that she’d have to accept the fact that she’s really barren and that I’m here as a result of my own choice instead of her personal appetites and fertility. Will it break her heart if we tell her who I really am?’

He thought about it. He knew his wife better than anyone else in the world possibly could. He remembered with an icy chill that momentary look of anguish which had filled her grey eyes when he had suggested that his gift of the ring had been a mistake. ‘No,’ he said finally, ‘we can’t tell her.’

‘I didn’t think so either, but I wanted to be sure.’

Something occurred to Sparhawk. ‘Why did you include her in that dream? – the one about the island? And why did she dream about what happened in the temple? It was almost as if she’d been there.’

‘She was there, father. She had to be. I was hardly in a position to leave her behind and go places by myself, was I? Let me down, please.’

He unwrapped his arms from about her, and she went to the window. ‘Come here, Sparhawk,’ she said after a moment.

He joined her at the window. ‘What is it?’ he asked her.

‘Mother’s coming back. She’s down in the courtyard with Mirtai and Talen.’