"That altar!" The words tumbled out of Garth's mouth. "I couldn't
remember much. That damned Noctoli poison--I lost my memory. But I knew
I'd tried to knife you while you were stretched out on an altar--"
Sympathy showed in Willard's eyes. "Good Lord, Ed! And you could
remember only that? You must have gone through hell."
"I did. I didn't know what--"
"But we planned it. The whole thing. A fake ceremony, to impress the
Zarno and give us a chance to escape. They thought we _might_ be
messengers from their gods--the Ancients--and we told 'em so, after
we'd learned their language. The sacrifice--it was a fake, that's all.
And it went through as we planned. You pretended to stab me, and while
the Zarno were bowing and genuflecting, we got away. At least you did.
They recaptured me."