'Oh-ah, I'm a younger son of our king, and I thought I'd see a bit of the worldbefore settling down. Not that I packed any wealth along to speak of. But whatwith one thing and another, hiring out hither and yon for this or that, I getby.' Jamie paused. 'You, uh, you've far more to tell, milady. You're from thecrown city of the Empire, and you've got book learning, and at the same time youcome out to see for yourself what land and rocks and plants and animals arelike.'

Cappen decided he had better get into the conversation. Not that Jamie wouldundercut a friend, nor Danlis be unduly attracted by a wild highlander.Neverthless -

Jamie wasn't bad-looking in his fashion. He was huge, topping Cappen by a headand disproportionately wide in the shoulders. His loose-jointed appearance wasdeceptive, as the bard had learned when they sported in a public gymnasium;those were heavy bones and oak-hard muscles. A spectacular red mane drewattention from boyish face, mild blue eyes, and slightly diffident manner. Todayhe was plainly clad, in tunic and cross-gaitered breeks; but the knife at hisbelt and the axe at his saddlebow stood out.

As for Danlis, well, what could a poet do but struggle for words which mightembody a ghost of her glory? She was tall and slender, her features almost coldin their straight-lined perfection and alabaster hue - till you observed the biggrey eyes, golden hair piled on high, curve of lips whence came that huskyvoice. (How often he had lain awake yearning for her lips! He would consolehimself by remembering the strong, delicately blue-veined hand that she did lethim kiss.) Despite waxing warmth and dust puffed up from the horses' hoofs, hercowled riding habit remained immaculate and no least dew of sweat was on herskin.

By the time Cappen got his wits out of the blankets wherein they had still beensnoring, talk had turned to gods. Danlis was curious about those of Jamie'scountry, as she was about most things. (She did shun a few subjects as beingunwholesome.) Jamie in his turn was eager to have her explain what was going onin Sanctuary. 'I've heard but the one side of the matter, and Cappen'sindifferent to it,' he said. 'Folk grumble about your master - Molin, is thathis name -?'

'He is not my master,' Danlis made clear. 'I am a free woman who assists hiswife. He himself is a high priest in Ranke, also an engineer.'

'Why is the Emperor angering Sanctuary? Most places I've been, colonialgovernments know better. They leave the local gods be.'

Danlis grew pensive. 'Where shall I start? Doubtless you know that Sanctuary wasoriginally a city of the kingdom of Ilsig. Hence it has built temples to thegods of Ilsig - notably Ils, Lord of Lords, and his queen Shipri the All-Mother,but likewise others - Anen of the Harvests, Thufir the tutelary of pilgrims -'

'But none to Shalpa, patron of thieves,' Cappen put in, 'though these days hehas the most devotees of any.'

Danlis ignored his jape. 'Ranke was quite a different country, under quitedifferent gods,' she continued. 'Chief of these are Savankala the Thunderer, hisconsort Sabellia, Lady of Stars, their son Vashanka the Ten-Slayer, and hissister and consort Azyuna - gods of storm and war. According to Venafer, it wasthey who made Ranke supreme at last. Mattathan is more prosaic and opines thatthe martial spirit they inculcated was responsible for the Rankan Empire finallytaking Ilsig into itself.'

'Yes, milady, yes, I've heard this,' Jamie said, while Cappen reflected that ifhis beloved had a fault, it was her tendency to lecture.

'Sanctuary has changed from of yore,' she proceeded. Tt has become polyglot,turbulent, corrupt, a canker on the body politic. Among its most viciouselements are the proliferating alien cults, not to speak of necromancers,witches, charlatans, and similar predators on the people. The time is overpastto restore law here. Nothing less than the Imperium can do that. A necessarypreliminary is the establishment of the Imperial deities, the gods of Ranke, foreveryone to see: symbol, rallying point, and actual presence.'

'But they have their temples,' Jamie argued.

'Small, dingy, to accommodate Rankans, few of whom stay in the city for long,'Danlis retorted. 'What reverence does that inspire, for the pantheon and thestate? No, the Emperor has decided that Savankala and Sabellia must have thegreatest fane, the most richly endowed, in this entire province. MolinTorchholder will build and consecrate it. Then can the degenerates and warlocksbe scourged out of Sanctuary. Afterwards the Prince-Governor can handle commonfelons.'

Cappen didn't expect matters would be that simple. He got no chance to say so,for Jamie asked at once, 'Is this wise, milady? True, many a soul hereaboutsworships foreign gods, or none. But many still adore the old gods of Ilsig. Theylook on your, uh, Savankala as an intruder. I intend no offence, but they do.They're outraged that he's to have a bigger and grander house than Ils of theThousand Eyes. Some fear what Ils may do about it.'

'I know,' Danlis said. 'I regret any distress caused, and I'm sure Lord Molindoes too. Still, we must overcome the agents of darkness, before the diseasethat they are spreads throughout the Empire.'

'Oh, no,' Cappen managed to insert, 'I've lived here awhile, \ mostly down inthe Maze. I've had to do with a good many so-called magicians, of either sex orin between. They aren't that bad. Most I'd call pitiful. They just use theirlittle deceptions to scrabble out what living they can, in this crumbly townwhere life has trapped them.'

Danlis gave him a sharp glance. 'You've told me people think ill of sorcery inCaronne,' she said.

'They do,' he admitted. 'But that's because we incline to be rationalists, whoconsider nearly all magic a bag of tricks. Which is true. Why, I've learned afew sleights myself.'

'You have?' Jamie rumbled in surprise.

'For amusement,' Cappen said hastily, before Danlis could disapprove. 'Some arequite elegant, virtual exercises in three-dimensional geometry.' Seeing interestkindle in her, he added, 'I studied mathematics in boyhood; my father, before hedied, wanted me to have a gentleman's education. The main part has rusted awayin me, but I remember useful or picturesque details.'

'Well, give us a show, come luncheon time,' Jamie proposed.

Cappen did, when they halted. That was on a hillside above the White Foal River.It wound gleaming through farmlands whose intense green denied that desertlurked on the rim of sight. The noonday sun baked strong odours out of theearth: humus, resin, juice of wild plants. A solitary plane tree graciously gaveshade. Bees hummed.

After the meal, and after Danlis had scrambled off to get a closer look at akind of lizard new to her, Cappen demonstrated his skill. She was especiallytaken - enchanted - by his geometric artifices. Like any Rankan lady, shecarried a sewing kit in her gear; and being herself, she had writing materialsalong. Thus he could apply scissors and thread to paper. He showed how a singlering may be cut to produce two. that are interlocked, and how a strip may betwisted to have but one surface and one edge, and whatever else he knew. Jamiewatched with pleasure, if with less enthusiasm.

Observing how delight made her glow, Cappen was inspired to carry on the latestpoem he was composing for her. It had been slower work than usual. He had theconceit, the motif, a comparison of her to the dawn, but hitherto only the firstfew lines had emerged, and no proper structure. In this moment -