“We're listening,” Riverwind asked.

“These warriors,” Mors waved a hand at the body of armed Hestites, “have agreed to serve the order of Hest.”

“Will you take the crown?” Catchflea asked, surprised.

“No, I'm too old and too blunt to rule. I want there to be a new kind of rulership in Hest, where no one person has power over all the others. Something like a guild, or a warriors' council.”

“Very interesting, but what has it to do with us?” Riverwind said.

“The end of our path has always been a return to the surface world,” said Mors. “We cannot simply migrate the whole population at once. I want to know what conditions are like on the surface. I want to know if the sons of Sithas still bear ill will to the people of Hest. Therefore,” Mors drew himself up straight in his iron chair, “I want you, Riverwind, to go back to the Empty World as an emissary of Hest.”

The plainsman was speechless. He had not expected to be given such an easy path that led exactly where he wanted to go. He suspected a trick. “How can I?” he said unevenly. Tm no diplomat.”

“I do not expect you to be. I will send one of the Blue Sky People with you to speak on my behalf. You will be their guide and protector in the upper world.”

“Perhaps I could speak for you, yes?” Catchflea suggested.

“No.”

“No?”

“You will not be going,” Mors replied firmly. “You, old giant, will remain in Hest to advise me on the creation of a new state of Hest.” Riverwind and Di An stared at Mors in surprise. Catchflea simply looked down at the worn stone floor, a frown gathering on his face.

“Suppose he doesn't want to stay?” Riverwind said.

“He must,” said the elf leader. The implication of the armed warriors was now clear. Riverwind was about to make a more belligerent demand for Catchflea's freedom when the old soothsayer caught his arm.

Riverwind asked softly, “Do you want to stay?”

“I am tempted.”

“But why?” exclaimed the tall plainsman, turning to stare at Catchflea. “These are not your people.”

“It is a good thing to be needed, tall man. No one in Que-Shu ever needed Catchflea the Fool for anything, save the butt of a joke. If Mors wants me to be his counselor, it is a tempting thing.”

Riverwind regarded his friend a long moment, trying to decide if he were serious or not. “What about the augury, old man? You're supposed to go with me wherever I go, remember?”

“I remember,” Catchflea said tiredly. “I think-”

“How is Riverwind to get back to the surface?” asked Di An. “With both Vvelz and Li El gone, there is no magic to send him. He will have to climb all the way.”

“I will find him a guide,” Mors answered simply.

“I will do it!” Di An said eagerly.

The blind elf shook his head. “No, An Di. You are my eyes. I can't spare you. There are many among the Blue Sky People who have been to the surface. One of them will guide him.”

Sullenly Riverwind said, “When do I go?”

“As soon as provisions can be gathered for you. Tomorrow at this hour.” Mors stood abruptly. The warriors snapped their metal-shod heels together in attention. Mors held out his hand and Di An took it. As she led him away, the elf girl turned and regarded the frustrated Que-Shu men. Her look was troubled.

“Ihave decided to go with you,” Catchflea whispered.

“Are you sure?” Riverwind said, similarly hushed. They were in the barracks of the Hall of Arms. Hestite warriors were all around them.

The old soothsayer said, “Being compelled to stay is not good, yes. And, as you said, the augury of the acorns cannot be dismissed.” He gripped Riverwind's arm. “My place is with you, tall man.”

“Good!” Even more softly, Riverwind said, “How will we escape?”

“I don't know… if we run, we would be lost in the tunnels. And I would not care to trust Mors's mercy if we run and are caught again.”

“He has a hard heart,” Riverwind agreed. “If I leave you here, he will never let you go, I believe. So we must escape.”

“But how? The Hestites know these caves far better than we do, yes.”

They went back and forth in low tones until a warrior and a Blue Sky digger came to take Catchflea. Mors wanted to arrange the distribution of stored grain, and he needed the old man's advice.

“I will see you again,” Riverwind said significantly.

“I am sure of it, tall man.” The old soothsayer cut a strange figure in his ragged clothes, flanked on one side by a warrior in lion-embossed armor and a male digger in black copper mesh on the other. Riverwind watched them go with many misgivings.

Riverwind walked the empty corridors of the palace. They were filled with wreckage left by the Blue Sky People after they despoiled the place. The plainsman stepped over bits of furniture, wall hangings, and other things he could not recognize. The Blue Sky People had a great deal of rage. Li El had been a manipulative tyrant, but Riverwind found he could not hate her. Mors, on the other hand, was an iron-fisted dreamer, and Riverwind disliked him completely. As he walked the halls, the plainsman tried to sort out why he felt that way. Some residual effect of Li El's impersonation of Goldmoon, perhaps?

He stopped suddenly as a dim figure popped out of a side corridor. The stranger stepped into a slim band of light from an open skylight.

“Hello, Di An,” said Riverwind.

“Did I startle you, giant?”

“A bit. You're not sleeping now?”

“I couldn't.” She came closer. “I have bad dreams.”

He smiled at the girl. “I have them, too, sometimes. When that happens, I go out of the village into the forest and sleep under the stars.”

Di An wrinkled her forehead in thought. “I have seen stars. Those are the little coals that glow in the dark sky?”

He nodded. It was easy to forget that Di An had been to the surface.

Di An had been to the surface!

Riverwind knelt and grasped the elf girl by the shoulders. She stiffened. “Are we friends?” he asked. “Do you trust Catchflea and me?”

In the low light, her eyes had an almost reddish cast. “I do. You saved me from Karn, back in the tunnel.”

“Catchflea and I need your help. We want to go home.”

“Mors wants the old giant to stay.”

“He wants you to stay, too. If the three of us went, we'd all get what we want.”

“Mors would be very angry,” she said. “Who would be his ambassador?”

Riverwind shook his head. “I don't have to be the one. You could do it, Di An. Your people have enough gold and gems to buy anything they need from the upper world. Catchflea and I have our own lives to lead.”

She moved out of his grasp and considered what he had said. Finally, she asked, “Is there a giant woman for you?”

He had to chuckle. Goldmoon, a giant! “Well, yes. I want to get back to Goldmoon.”

Di An looked away, a mask of frustration coming across her small, sharp face. “Our fight against Li El is finally over, and more and more I wish to have a say in what happens. No one here listens to me. I'm only a barren child. Mors doesn't really need me; any child could lead him. He doesn't listen to me either.”

Riverwind phrased his next sentence carefully. “Di An, there are many wise people in the upper world,” he said. “One of them might be able to help you.”

“Do you think so?” Her voice was loud with excitement.

“Shh. I would not say it if I didn't think so.”

Di An glanced furtively left and right. “I do know ways to the surface that no one else knows. It could be done.” Her countenance darkened. “Mors would never forgive me if I left.”

Riverwind stood. “I won't ask you to do anything you don't wish to do. But you can help yourself and your people. Time is short. I'm being sent tomorrow.”