As Garin opened his mouth to demand a stating of the charge against him,
Dandtan spoke again:
"What say you, Lords?"
For a long moment they sat in silence and then they bobbed their lizard
heads in assent. "Do as you desire, Dweller in the Light."
Dandtan smiled without mirth. "Look, outlander." He passed his hand over
the glass of the seeing mirror set in the table top. "This is the fate
of him who rebels--"
In the shining surface Garin saw pictured a break in Tav's wall. At its
foot stood a group of men of the Ancient Ones, and in their midst
struggled a prisoner. They were forcing him to climb the crater wall.
Garin watched him reach the lip and crawl over, to stagger across the
steaming rock, dodging the scalding vapor of hot springs, until he
pitched face down in the slimy mud.
"Such was his ending, and so will you end--"
The calm brutality of that statement aroused Garin's anger. "Rather
would I die that way than linger in this den," he cried hotly. "You, who
owe your life to me, would send me to such a death without even telling
me of what I am accused. Little is there to choose between you and
Kepta, after all--except that he was an open enemy!"
Dandtan sprang to his feet, but Trar caught his arm.
"He speaks fairly. Ask him why he will not fulfill the summoning."
While Dandtan hesitated, Garin leaned across the table, flinging his
words, weapon-like, straight into that cold face.
"I'll admit that I love Thrala--have loved her since that moment when I
saw her on the steps of the morgel pit in the caves. Since when has it
become a crime to love that which may not be yours--if you do not try to
take it?"
Trar released Dandtan, his golden eyes gleaming.
"If you love her, claim her. It is your right."
"Do I not know," Garin turned to him, "that she is Dandtan's. Thran had
no idea of Dandtan's survival when he laid his will upon her. Shall I
stoop to holding her to an unwelcome bargain? Let her go to the one she
loves...."
Dandtan's face was livid, and his hands, resting on the table, trembled.
One by one the lords of the Folk slipped away, leaving the two
face-to-face.
"And I thought to order you to your death." Dandtan's whisper was husky
as it emerged between dry lips. "Garin, we thought you knew--and,
knowing, had refused her."
"Knew what?"
* * * * *
"That I am Thran's son--and Thrala's brother."
The floor swung beneath Garin's unsteady feet. Dandtan's hands were warm
on his shoulders.
"I am a fool," said the American slowly.
Dandtan smiled. "A very honorable fool! Now get you to Thrala, who
deserves to hear the full of this tangle."
So it was that, with Dandtan by his side, Garin walked for the second
time down that hallway, to pass the golden curtains and stand in the
presence of the Daughter. She came straight from her cushions into his
arms when she read what was in his face. They needed no words.
And in that hour began Garin's life in Tav.
Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from _Fantasy Book_ Vol. 1 number 1 (1947).
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.
copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and
typographical errors have been corrected without note.