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I am a strong woman, Etjole. Confident in my abilities, secure in my knowledge. But I would never,
never consider challenging a power like this that I see here. Because its body is hidden from me and
impenetrable to my arts, I can discern only its effects. There are many methodologies of evil, and this one
exceeds my comprehension. It frightens me even to apperceive it. I don t think I want to look into it any
deeper. I might come to understand how it works.
If you continue onward and manage to confront this Hymneth person-creature, you will be utterly
destroyed. Try as I might, I can foresee no other outcome. She sat back from the cube and closed her
eyes. With her sigh, the air in the room seemed to surge around him and then relax, like a wave rushing
onshore only to lose all its substance and energy to the thirsty sand.
I would have hoped, he told her in a small masterpiece of understatement, for more encouraging
words.
Her eyes opened. They were blue again. I like you, Etjole Ehomba. Simple or not, smelly or not, it
would trouble me to see you come to harm. But I can t stop you, nor would I if I could. Each of us
chooses our own adjectives, our own modifiers. I choose to sit here, in this comfortable, sunny place,
and parcel out my learning to those who will listen and pay. It s a good life. For the second time he saw
the twinkle in her eyes. I don t suppose I could convince you to stay with me a while. Given enough
time, I might be able to talk you into saving your life.
Her body manifested itself in quiet ways that could not be ignored, not even when she was revealing
matters of great import. He had been aware of it ever since she had entered the room. Now her gaze
metamorphosed from penetrating to inviting, and the way she shifted in her chair produced sounds he
could only hear with organs other than his ears. They were loud, and forceful, and they threatened to
drown out his own inner voice.
I can think of nothing that would please me more, he told her frankly, if only I was not committed to
fulfilling this obligation, and if I did not have a woman waiting for me in my house.
Your house is a long way from Kora Keri, Etjole. Who is to say what your woman does to keep
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boredom from her door when you are not there?
I cannot worry about that. He rose. I prefer not to create pain without foundation.
Smiling insidiously, she fondled the crystal cube. The inclusions within seemed to torque slightly in her
direction. I could look and try to learn the answer to that question for you.
He turned away from her. I would rather not know.
The seer Rael sniffed, unable to mask her derision completely. So you choose blissful ignorance. It
strikes me a poor way to go into battle.
Who said anything about bliss? And is this a battle I am fighting here? If so, whom am I battling? There
is no one present except you and I, and I do not want to think that I am fighting with you.
Her lips, which in another time and place he would gladly have stilled with his own, tightened. What a
maddening man you are, Etjole Ehomba! You must pardon my forwardness. In my profession I am not
used to dealing with men or women of principle. So I am having difficulty deciding what you are, and
how to deal with you.
I told you, he explained patiently, I am
A simple herdsman; yes, yes! Rising abruptly from her chair, she turned away from him and stalked
toward the rear portal. A simple herdsman with an answer for everything. Worse, you are right.
Whirling around, violet eyes blazing, she wagged a warning finger at him. If you insist on pursuing the
course you have chosen and succeed in following it to its end, you are going to die, Etjole Ehomba! Do
you hear what I am saying; do you understand my words? You are going to die! What, finally, do you
have to say to that?
His voice was as calm and controlled as ever. You have a very pretty finger.
Dropping her arm, she inhaled sharply. I think you re right, and that I was wrong to ever think
otherwise. Youare a simple herdsman, uncomplicated and disingenuous. You re too naïve to be
frightened. That or you are the most subtle of sorcerers I have ever met. Her tone thawed. Many are
the men who have pursued me for months, years even, without success, but you have ensorcelled me in a
matter of moments, and with me doing most of the talking at that. She shook her head slowly as she
regarded him, a baffled look on her face.
Who are you, Etjole Ehomba? What are you?
Before he could reply yet again that he was but a simple herdsman from the south, she had spun on the
heel of her slipper and vanished through the rear-facing beaded portal. The meeting was over. For an
instant, he considered following her, to try to explain further, to do his best to assuage her upset and
unease. But it might very well be dark in whatever back room she had vanished into, and the walls would
certainly be closer to one another, his options for flight narrower. Nor was he entirely sure he would fight
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