Evarin snorted. "Except where Karamy is concerned, you never were. What
is that to me? I have everything I need. The Dreamer gives me good
hunting and slaves enough to do my bidding. For the rest, I am the
Toymaker. I need little. But you--" his voice leaped with contempt,
"you ride time at Karamy's bidding--and your Dreamer walks--waiting the
coming of his power that he may destroy us all one day!"
I stared somberly at Evarin, standing still near the door. The words
seemed to wake an almost personal shame in me. The boy watched and his
face lost some of his bitterness. He said more quietly, "The falcon
flown cannot be recalled. I came only to tell you that you are free."
He turned, shrugging his thin shoulders, and walked to the window. "As
I say, if you call that freedom."
I followed him to the window. The clouds were clearing; the two suns
shone with a blinding brilliance. By looking far to the left I could
see a line of rainbow-tinted towers that rose into the sky, tall and
capped with slender spires. I could distinguish five clearly; one, the
nearest, seemed made of a jewelled blue; one, clear emerald green;
golden, flame-colored, violet. There were more beyond, but the colors
were blurred and dim. They made a semicircle about a wooded park;
beyond them the familiar skyline of the mountains tugged old memories
in my brain. The suns swung high in a sky that held no tint of blue,
that was as clear and colorless as ice. Abruptly I turned my back on it
all. Evarin murmured, "Narabedla. Last of the Rainbow Cities. Adric--how
long now?"