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was unreadable; Blade could not tell if he was being summoned for execution or
to be crowned king of the Rutari. Until the Wise One spoke for herself, the
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best he could do was keep his eyes and ears open, his mouth shut, and his back
to a good solid wall.
"Enter, Blade," said the voice from inside the hut.
Blade recognized the Wise One's voice. Neither he nor Cheeky had made a sound
except for his footsteps; Blade wondered if she read his mind or just made a
lucky guess that it was him outside the hut, hoping to frighten him if she was
right. Blade pushed through the hide that covered the door and strode in.
Without waiting for the Wise One's permission, he picked a corner of the hut
and sat down cross-legged. Cheeky jumped down from his shoulder but stayed
close by. From his corner Blade could see the whole hut by the glow of the
fire on the hearth in the middle, but he himself was in a shadow. And just as
important, nobody could get behind him.
The Wise One and her acolyte, also cross-legged, sat by the hearth. Both wore
leather skirts and necklaces of what looked like gold nuggets strung on
leather thongs; the Wise One also wore a fur thrown loosely over her
shoulders. Their gourds and sacks of potions and herbs were piled nearby, and
their smooth skin shone in the firelight as if they'd been rubbed with oil.
The Wise One smiled as Blade took his place in the corner, but said nothing
until he'd made himself comfortable. Then her smile widened. It looked almost
friendly, as if she really felt no ill will toward him.
The acolyte's smile was even wider, but of course Blade knew what she felt
toward him.
"Welcome, Blade, to the other part of your cleansing, which is to partake of
the kerush. May you do as well tonight as you did the day you faced the Great
Hunter. And you need not sit there as if I might call up Those Who Went Before
to snatch away your spirit. I can do you no harm with the kerush-magor-the
wizard work-unless you call evil up yourself by trying to fight me."
Blade frowned. She might be telling the truth. Even if she weren't, this might
be a good time for plain speaking. He caught a brief mental message from
Cheeky: The feather-monkey feared a quarrel between his master and Moyla's
mistress. Blade replied with a weary hope that Cheeky would get over his case
of the hots for Moyla, then turned to the woman.
"That is easy for you to say, Wise One and-do you have a name, most lovely
lady?" to the acolyte.
"You may call me Ellspa."
"Thank you. As I said, it is easy enough for you to tell me that you will do
me no harm with the kerush-magor in this, the other part of my cleansing. But
do I hear the truth?"
"Yes."
"I know nothing to make me sure of that, Wise One."
"What do you know to make you doubt it?"
"Little enough. But I have lived as long as I have only by not putting myself
into the power of those I do not know. To submit to taking the kerush would go
against all I have ever learned."
"You cannot live among us uncleansed," said the Wise One. She sounded more
sorry than angry about this.
"You seem very sure that I want to live among the Rutari," said Blade. He
raised a hand for silence as both women seemed about to speak at once. "That
does not mean I wish to live among the Uchendi tribe, your rivals. It does not
even mean I wish the Rutari harm. It only means what I have said-that I may
not wish to live among the Rutari enough to give myself up to the kerush."
Blade shifted his position slightly, ready to move fast if the Wise One's next
words were a call to the guards outside.
The two women looked at each other for a long time in silence. Then the Wise
One sighed. "Blade, it seems we have no power over you to make you do as we
wish without our telling you the truth." He nodded agreement. "I thought so.
But-to tell you the truth is to give you knowledge that might do the
Rutari much harm in the wrong hands. It is knowledge that only those who have
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been cleansed-and not even all of those-are permitted to have. Can we at least
have your oath, by whatever you hold sacred, that you will do the Rutari no
harm with what you learn?"
"I can swear that I will tell none of it to any known enemy of the Rutari,
certainly. I have been a guest among you, and in honor I owe you this much. I
cannot swear more, because how can I know all of those who may be enemies to
the Rutari? I cannot see the future, Wise One."
Ellspa grinned, but the Wise One looked embarrassed. "I am sorry. I spoke
unwisely, asking more than the gods allow. I did not do this to trap you. Will
you believe me, and forgive my unwise words?" She sounded genuinely
apologetic.
"Certainly I will forgive you. If you will forgive me for
Cheeky's-behavior-the day of my first cleansing?"
Blade thought the Wise One was blushing. Certainly Ellspa was holding her
breath and biting her lower lip to keep from giggling. Then the Wise One
nodded.
"Blade, no harm was done to me. I forgive you. And no harm will be done to you
tonight. Now-will you hear me tell you why this is so?"
Blade settled himself more comfortably, and Cheeky hopped up on his lap. "We
will."
Chapter 8
The Wise One's explanation was simple, compared to what Blade expected. In a
nutshell, the Wise One suspected that Blade had the potential of high-grade
telepathic powers, such as most of the Uchendi had.
Very few of the Rutari had such powers, usually only the Wise One and a few
others of each generation.
This was true no matter how much kerush they took.
"More than a few of our people have died, seeking to become as the Uchendi
through too much
kerush," Ellspa added. "Even a Wise One has been known to go too far." The
Wise One gave her acolyte a sour look and continued her story.
"Apart from their greater mind powers, the Uchendi are less than we are in all
things pleasing to the gods. That is why we took the Idol from them. It cannot
have been the wish of the gods that such weaklings find favor in the eyes of
the Idol Makers, who were surely the chosen of the gods."
Another bloody tantalizing hint about the Idol Makers! Blade gritted his teeth
against the temptation to ask about them. One broken taboo an evening was
enough.
"Because the Uchendi are unworthy," the Wise One went on, "we must wage war
against them until they are no more. Then the Idol will be forever safely in
the place where the gods wished it to be. When the
Idol Makers return, they will come straight to the Rutari and bless us."
Blade gritted his teeth harder. Aloud, he said, "And you think that my powers
of mind are something I
can teach you, so all the Rutari will be as strong as the Uchendi?"
"Yes. You are the first man who is neither Rutari nor Uchendi to give any hint
of such powers. If you have them, and can teach them . . ." The Wise One's
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