1 —The Messenger
The traveller was exhausted. It had been many days and nights since he had eaten or had rested. His clothes were torn, his body filthy and his eyes wild and red. He knew that if he followed the ancient customs it might be a long time before he received an audience with the High Priest. There was no time left for such formality.
He had heard good reports of the dark stranger from over the sea and knew that his wife, the Lady Kyra, was noted not only for her exceptional powers as priest and Lord of the Sun, but for her sympathy and understanding of all who came to her in trouble. He knew also that she was of his own land, and no stranger to its problems.
It was not easy to find his way within the maze of wooden priest-houses and long student huts that clustered closely around the great Temple of the Sun, but he was desperate to deliver his message and his desperation gave him courage to dodge and hide. He came at last to the High Priest's home, set back among trees and separated from the others, but otherwise hardly distinguishable from them, and not of the grandeur he would have expected.
There was no marker of crossed feathers above the skins that hung over the doorway to indicate that entry was not permitted, and indeed they were drawn aside and fastened so that the cool air and the light could pass into the interior.
He crossed the threshold swiftly before he could be seen or stopped.
'My lord, I must speak with you,' he cried in a voice breaking with weariness and urgency, and then almost stumbled and fell at the contrast between the vibrancy of the light in the outside world and the inner, still, darkness of the chamber.
He could see nothing.
Watching him in some alarm stood Deva, now thirteen summers old, alone in her mother's chamber, dressed in her mother's robes, her face painted with ceremonial paint, the crown of the priestess upon her head. She knew that she was not allowed to wear this even in play, but there had been no one to see her and the temptation to try it on had been too great.
Frightened, she stared at the rough, uncouth intruder. Was he human robber or demon drawn to her from the hidden realms by the sacrilege she had just committed?
To the man standing in the doorway, his eyes gradually adjusting to the dim light within the house, she was a priestess in full regalia, standing impassively and calmly, waiting for him to deliver his message.
'My lady,' he said softly, stumbling forward a few steps to fall on his knees before her.
'I beseech you...' he continued in a low voice. He found himself trembling and the words catching in his throat.
He had thought about this meeting many, many times as he had travelled the long, weary way from his home in the west country, but never had he imagined he would feel such awe in the presence of another human being. This must be the great Kyra, the Lady who had repelled an army with power from her slender hand. She was looking at him now with dark eyes, eyes as bright as jet, and the words he had rehearsed so many times would not come to his tongue.
She did not move.
'My lady,' he tried again at last. 'Forgive me that I break in upon your home ... that I come to you with no preparation, no ceremony ... forgive me ... my appearance ... I would not have had it so, but the matters that I would bring to your attention are urgent beyond all ceremony, all appearance...'
His voice trailed away. She was so beautiful and there was a scent so strong and so holy about her that he could hardly bear it.
He dropped his eyes from her black gaze and stared helplessly at the point where her long cloak of white and blue touched the ground.
It would be easier to talk to the High Priest, her husband. He had never been at ease with beautiful women, and this one was beautiful beyond any he had ever seen.
Meanwhile Deva, in her borrowed robes, was puzzling what to do. She knew she should acquaint the man at once with his mistake and lead him to her mother, but ... and here the little thread of mischief in her gave a tug ... she was enjoying the role of priestess and she saw no harm in playing it a moment or two longer.
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