Glenda Larke - The Heart of the mirage

'But it is beginning, isn't it, your rebellion?' I asked. 'Your aim is first to disrupt Tyranian society in Kardiastan. To make Tyranians uncertain, nervous.'

'Exactly. Temellin says it is important to free slaves for just that reason.'

Not to mention the murder of legionnaire officers, the terrorising of those who used the trade routes, the disappearance of caravans.

He continued, 'It brings the common folk to our side. After all, there is a whole generation of Kardis who have grown up having no first-hand knowledge of the people of the Magor. They had a right to feel abandoned by us. We have to dispel that feeling. Nothing Temellin does is without reason,' he added, and there was no mistaking his pride in his Mirager.

'But he hasn't done much towards ensuring the next Magoroth generation if he himself hasn't married,' I replied. 'Or has he been begetting bastards along the way?'

He laughed. 'Perhaps. But not Magoroth ones. Although, to be honest, I don't think that's likely, either. Temellin takes his duties as Mirager too seriously to flaunt himself like that. Anyway, he was married at eighteen, like many of us. His wife was Miasa, one of the original Ten. She was, um, barren for many years. Then, when she did conceive, she had a difficult time. She died, with the baby unborn, just last year. It was an awful time for Temellin, but now it seems he will marry Pinar once the mourning period is up.' Garis the romantic sighed, his eyes troubled. 'He doesn't have all that much choice. As Mirager, he should marry a Magoria and Pinar is the only one of

age who is not spoken for. I don't think he likes her that much, although she is his cousin. It is sad.'

'And the others all have children?'

'Oh yes. Korden and Gretha have ten! And another on the way.'

'All Magoroth.'

'Of course. And we have been lucky, too, in the number of such children born to Theuras and Illusas. Altogether there are forty-eight Magoroth children in the Mirage. And many more of the lower ranks. So now Temellin feels the time has come to move against the Tyranian presence in our land.' His tawny eyes danced at the prospect. 'Temellin says the break-up of the whole Exaltarchy will start here, in Kardiastan.'

Goddess, the man had the gall of a gnat biting a gorclak! He didn't really think it was possible to bring about the downfall of the greatest empire ever conceived, did he? The Exaltarchy stretched over half the known world… I decided to keep that thought to myself, and changed the subject. 'What is the Mirage like, Garis?'

He looked uncomfortable. 'Temellin says I shouldn't tell you that.'

I hid a sigh. I thought perhaps I was going to become quite tired of hearing Garis say, Temellin says…

He went on, 'He'll have time for you soon. The last of the other groups leaves us today. Then there will just be you and me and him and Brand. I think he wants to know you better before you see the secrets of the Shiver Barrens and the Mirage. We risk much to show you, if you are a traitor. Anyway, you'll see for yourself soon.'

I gave an involuntary look at Temellin where he sat on his shleth at the head of a group of Kardi ex-slaves. He was smiling and I felt my throat tighten just at the

thought of him turning that smile on me. I forced my attention back to Garis, who was asking, 'But won't you tell me a little about Tyr? Does water really travel from the mountains along bridges? Do they really have public games where everyone is naked? Is it true the Exaltarch has orgies every night and has an insatiable appetite for slave women?'

'Well, I know he has an appetite for women, yes,' I said gravely, answering the last. 'And wine too. But he made the Exaltarchy what it is; he extended it from a few tributary neighbours to all the nations bordering the Sea of Iss. He couldn't have done that if he spent his time indulging in drunken orgies. The Exaltarch is an ex-soldier and he has a soldier's discipline.'

He gave me a puzzled glance. 'You sound almost admiring.'

'I am. Only a fool would not respect what the Exaltarch has achieved. Approving of it is another matter.'

'She's right, Garis,' a voice behind me said. I turned in the saddle to see Korden had ridden up. 'But what we have to decide,' he continued, addressing me, 'is whether you are one of those who approves, as well as admires.'

'Slaves do not usually approve of those who run the system that makes them slaves in the first place.'

'One would think it illogical, wouldn't one?' Korden was nothing if not urbane. 'And yet I have seen it happen with slaves who were raised in slavery. They know no other life. They are brought up to believe it is a just state of affairs. They may even love those who enslave them, giving up their lives for their owners if the situation arises.' He considered me thoughtfully. 'Sometimes people are irrational beings. I do not

distrust you exactly, Derya, but you will have to prove

¦ j. ¦ -.if -

your loyalty before I give you my trust. I do not have Temellin's faith in the blood running in your veins. Temellin is our Mirager, but he is not an absolute monarch. He rules by covenant and must listen to others of his kind. Be warned: there will be those who watch you and who will turn the power of the Magor on you if you prove faithless.' With that, he switched his attention to Garis. 'I came to say goodbye. This is where I leave with my group; I will see you on the other side of the Barrens.' He stretched forth his left hand and Garis touched palms with him. He made no such gesture to me.

We slept at night wrapped in woollen blankets, under the shelter of waxed sheeting strung up on poles to keep the dew off. After Pinar had left on the second day, I kept wondering if Temellin would come to me at night, but he never did. During the day, if anything, he avoided me. He didn't have to try hard: there were always people claiming his attention, always problems to be solved concerning the ex-slaves. After Korden left on the fourth day, he didn't have that excuse. There were only four of us left – Brand and Garis being the other two – but he only came to me the next morning.

He woke me just at first light. 'Come,' he whispered, 'I have something to show you. A wild shleth.'

I rose and followed him, brushing the sleep from my eyes as I went. He led me out into the desert, using his sword for light, but keeping the glow of it subdued. 'I thought you might like to have a look at this,' he said, pointing to where a lone shleth was using its feeding arms and feet to excavate a deep hole in the sand. 'It's about to give birth.'

The beast finished its digging, and knelt down in the hole. Almost immediately it began to strain, and

within minutes it had passed a blood-streaked, leathery sac about the size of a cat, oval in shape, into

the hole. The shleth proceeded to cover up its newborn with sand.

"What is it doing?' I asked in astonishment.

'They bury the sac in sand and promptly forget about it. It's like a large, half-developed egg. When the young is fully developed, it uses its feeding arms to dig out to the surface where it can fend for itself.'

'Shleths don't feed their young?'

'Kardis speak of shleth's milk the same way Tyranians refer to hen's teeth or Assorians talk about snake feathers. The young will grow up on the edges of the lake here, feeding on the grasses.'

He turned towards me. 'We have tried to raise the young from the time they dig themselves out, but we've never had success. They survive best by themselves for a year or two. Which has a disadvantage for us – we have to catch and tame them later on.' He reached out and drew me to him, kissing me gently on the lips. It wasn't the kind of kiss I wanted from him. 'It has been hard not to…' he said, and made a vague gesture with his hand. T want you so badly. Yet I shouldn't be here with you now. It has no future.'