A Fall of Princes by Judith Tarr

sucked in his breath. He had meant to put an end to
the old woman’s railings. Not to begin a new madness. “I see that I erred,” he
said with a twist of scorn. “I credited you with a modicum of sense.”
    “I have to go,” Sarevan said.
    “Send Azhuran’s young savages in your place, and follow when
you are stronger. Surely one of them can be trusted to carry your message.”
    “Not this.” Sarevan sighed and closed his eyes. “Let be,
cubling. I do what I must.”
    “You are a howling madman.”
    Sarevan smiled thinly. He let the silence stretch; Hirel
chose not to break it.
    It seemed that Sarevan had slid into sleep, until he said,
“I’ve included you in the bargain. We’ll go to Endros together.”
    Hirel went rigid. “We will not. I too can strike bargains; I
will find my way to Kundri’j. I am free of you now, as you are free of me.”
    Sarevan’s eyes opened. They were deep and quiet, and there
was regret in them, but iron also. “I’m sorry, cubling. I wanted to take you
home and have done with it. But now you know who I am, and you guess what I
must say to my father. I can’t chance your reaching Kundri’j Asan before I come
to Endros.”
    “And what,” asked Hirel softly, as a prince must, and above
all a prince betrayed, “gives you either right or power to constrain me?”
    “Necessity,” said Sarevan. “And the Zhil’ari.”
    “Potent powers,” Hirel said, soft still, but never in
submission. “But of right, you speak no word, as of honor you know nothing: you
who so long deceived me, and cozened me, and reveled in your lies.”
    Sarevan sighed with all the weariness in the world. “Maybe I
did take too much pleasure in it. It’s past; I’ve paid. Now need drives me, and
you must come perforce, because you are what you are. You won’t suffer for
riding with me. You’ll be treated with all honor; I’ll see that you have
occasion to speak for your empire.”
    “My father will come with an army to free me.”
    “More likely he’ll treat with us for your safe return.”
    “It comes down to that, does it not? You but played with me
while you spied in Asanion. Now you tell the truth. You always meant me to be
your hostage. Gods, that I had killed you when I had the chance!”
    Sarevan raised himself on an arm that trembled but held. “I
swear to you, Hirel Uverias, this is no betrayal. You will see your home and
your people again; you will stand again in Kundri’j Asan. But first I must
carry this message to my father.”
    “ Must ,” Hirel
echoed him. “Always must . And what
compels you? You were not your father’s only spy. Surely one at least will not
be caught as you were caught.”
    That stung: Sarevan tensed and nearly fell. But he said as
calmly as ever, “None of them has dreamed as I have dreamed. None of them is my
father’s son.”
    “Speak to him from afar. Wield the magic you are so proud
of.”
    “I have none.” Sarevan’s elbow buckled; he fell back, with a
gasp at the jarring of his shoulder. “I told you, it is gone. You will ride
with me. You need not try to escape. Azhuran’s warriors are instructed to guard
you.”
    o0o
    Not ostentatiously. But wherever Hirel went, there were a
few hulking tribesmen about, loitering, gaming, blocking every path of escape.
When he swam in the lake, half the Zhil’ari came to join him, men and women
alike, flaunting their nakedness.
    One slipped up behind him and tugged wickedly; he yelped
more in startlement than in pain. Zhiani’s merriment rippled in his ear.
    She wanted to play, there, in front of everyone. He
remembered that he was going to kill her. After he had killed Sarevan.
    Her fingers did something exquisite. He groaned aloud, and
no one even heard. Close by, between himself and the shore, two men locked in
passion, a great grizzle-bearded man and a downy-cheeked boy; little children
gamboled over and about them.
    It was unspeakable. It held him as firmly as any bars, and
Zhiani’s hands and