Toka watched Roya and his friends paddle away into that up-stream
cavern. Rok, Old Ledo and Elees glanced back and waved. Roya only
faced straight ahead. The canoe turned the bend and was gone.
Shrugging hopelessly, Toka turned away.
Thirteen ornate palanquins awaited. Toka joined Kolano in the double
one. The Old Ones sat into the others.
As the procession moved through Kosanna, Toka drilled his gaze into
Kolano's silvery eyes. "My vow is not binding unless your promise is
fulfilled."
"Toka has no cause for suspicion--as he shall see."
The great square was near now. Toka narrowly eyed Kolano. "Why didn't
Kosanna migrate to the Outer World to escape tribute to Ophid?"
"Kosannans," Kolano educated, "would perish instantly in the elements
of the Outer World."
"If you and the Old Ones are so capable," Toka mocked, "why wasn't a
spell cast over Ophid and his realm?"
"The present Old Ones are the greatest mentalities Kosanna ever
had--but they have their limitations."
The palanquins were born to the foot of the altar, and Kolano bid
softly, "I shall rejoin you soon, Toka." She led the Old Ones for the
door between the feet of the colossal statue.
Going down the Hall Of Life, Toka noted the scene of his marriage
to Kolano had been added to the continuity; his expedition to Ophid
and his deeds there; his return to Kosanna; and Roya and the others
departing for the Outer World. Yet a good length of the Hall remained
bare.
Alota did not lead to his rooms at the end of the Hall, but stopped
before a pair of unscened panels on the left. Caring little, Toka
sauntered in. There was this luxurious lounge room. Then, through a
door scened with entwined hearts and embracing lovers, there was a
teasingly scented boudoir.
V
_From out of the darkness, thirteen pairs of silvery eyes stared at the
Sphere Of All Time. The air was cold and sang with a thin thrumming.
The Sphere shone with a pale cold light--the scene was the pit of
Ophid...._
_From a crevice in a massive stalagmite, a giant Dragon Man was
emerging warily. He wore a spiked collar studded with flashing jewels.
Slipping away through the haze, he tugged the first door bracing loose
and his fellows poured forth in an angry stream...._
_In the court of the Sphere Of All Time, one pair of silvery eyes
departed._
* * * * *
Toka sauntered back to the lounge room of the bridal suite.
Another door on the right swung softly in and Kolano stepped from a dim
passage. "Great Prince Toka finds these rooms satisfactory?"
"So far."
"After we dine, Toka shall be more satisfied."
The scent of her touched into his nostrils.
The main portals were swinging in for a cortege bearing trays of food
and drink. The table serviced, Toka and Kolano were left alone. Slender
green tapers gave off a delicate odor and the menu was exotic. But
there was a platter of leaf-wrapped packs of Sandcliff's water berries,
no doubt part of the stores from the raft. Toka felt little appetite
but he tore open a pack's corner and spilled his hand full of the
black fruit. There was a magic in these berries, a magic to heal all
wounds--and to give renewed strength....
He met Kolano's silvery gaze. "You and the Old Ones--unlike the common
Kosannans--know I am not of divine origin."
Kolano shrugged. "For ages untold, your coming has been foreseen in the
Sphere Of All Time."
"And you and the Old Ones?"
"The Old Ones were born of palace princesses and selected to study
for the Council by the Old Ones of their time. I, too, am of a palace
princess--and was selected by the present Old Ones to be the mother of
your son."
Toka eyed her sardonically. "I don't know if the Sphere Of All Time
reported this, but in my part of the Outer World we believe people
should love each other first."
"I have loved you since first I saw you in the Sphere." Kolano's
silvery eyes were alight for him.