David Gemmell - Dark Prince

'You could stay,' Thena whispered.

'No. My destiny is beyond this world. I must remain with Alexander. What will you do?'

'Return to my Temple. I am a Healer and there are those who need my skills.'

'You sound sad, lady. You should not be,' he told her, reaching out to take her hand.

'Life is full of sorrow,' she replied, 'and yet it is still life. You are a good man. I hope you find happiness.' She rose and walked away down the hillside and into the trees.

Aristotle's voice whispered into her mind, echoing as if from a vast distance: 'Have the creatures passed the Gateway?'

'Yes.'

'All of them? Every one?'

'Yes, all of them. Including your twin.'

'Then help me come through to where you are.'

'How?'

'Hold to my voice. Picture me. The Sipstrassi will do the rest.'

Derae felt a pull on her spirit and was almost torn from her body. Crying out she resisted the force, but pain ripped through her and she cried out again. As suddenly as it had come it vanished and a misty figure formed before her, slowly becoming Aristotle. The magus staggered and fell to his knees, his fingers convulsively digging into the solid earth beneath him.

'That was a hard journey,' he said. 'You did well, Derae.'

'Send me back,' she said softly, 'and in my own form.'

'But you wish to keep your youth, surely?' he asked, rising.

'No,' answered Thena-Derae, 'I wish to be as I was.'

He shook his head in disbelief but raised his hand hi which a golden stone shone brightly. Her dark hair became again silver, shot with fading red, the skin of her face sagging into middle age, her eyes clouded and once more blind. 'How could you want this?' whispered Aristotle.

'It is who I am,' she answered. 'Now send me back.'

'You have said your farewells?'

'I have said all that can be said.'

Aristotle lifted his hand. The golden stone gleamed and soft light covered the priestess. When it faded, she was gone.

He made his way up the hillside to where the others waited.

'Chiron!' shouted Alexander. 'You came back!'

'Yes, I did,' answered the magus . 'I have come to take you home.'

'Which one is this?' asked Philip stonily.

'This, I believe, is Aristotle,' said Parmenion with a grin.

'Are you sure?'

'What do you think, Attalus?'

'I agree. This is Aristotle, sire.'

'Good,' said Philip. He took a deep breath. 'You whoreson!' he roared, advancing on the magus .

Aristotle leapt back in sudden surprise and fear. 'It had to be done, sire!' he said.

'Why did you take my memory?'

'That is hard to explain but, if you will give me the chance, I will tell all.'

'I for one would like to hear it,' said Parmenion softly.

Philip folded his hands across his chest. 'Come then, magus , for I like a good tale,' he hissed, his eyes still angry.

Aristotle settled himself down with the others before him in a semicircle. 'I am called Aristotle. .' he began.

'We know that, damn you! Get on with it,' stormed Philip and the magus raised a hand for silence.

'In my own way, my lord, if you please. I am now Aristotle — but once I was Chiron and I lived here with the people of the Enchantment. This is where I first met Parmenion, and Helm, the warrior with no memory, and Attalus the swordsman. Here in this world I also saw, for the first time, the Golden Child Iskander. And — as you have just seen — I passed through this Gateway with the exodus of the children of the Titans. For you it is but moments. But for me it is four centuries since I left this realm.'

'What happened to you then?' asked Parmenion.

'I explored many lands, through many centuries. I found other gates, paths between worlds. I journeyed far. But I longed for human company and so, at last, I came to Asia and then Greece — and heard once more of Parmenion. And I realized I had travelled a great circle in Time: I had arrived at a point before he passed through to Achaea. This was a great problem for me. Could I interfere? Had I already interfered? Of course I had, for when Parmenion first came to Achaea he told Chiron that a sorcerer in another world had sent him. That man, he said, looked just like me. And I realized too that I was caught in a dangerous web. I had to recreate everything as it was, or else risk changing the past — and perhaps destroying myself. Such a paradox, my friends. I sent Parmenion and Attalus through; then I sought you out, sire. I could not know what adventures would befall you all, for my memories of this time were blurred by my existence as Camiron. You see my dilemma? I could tell you nothing — for you knew nothing when first I met you. I longed to come with you, to help you, but I could not. Some laws are immutable. It is not possible to pass through a Gateway into a time, or a place, where you already exist. No man can meet himself. So all I could do was wait, and hope and pray that events would fashion themselves as they had before.'

'For a while there,' said Philip, 'I almost had a grip on what you were saying. But understanding you is like trying to catch a trout with your fingers.'

'I appreciate your difficulty,' Aristotle told him. 'For you these adventures were new, but for me they were part of my history. They had already happened. I had to rely on what I knew as Chiron. All he knew was that a warrior called Helm appeared on the battlefield and killed Philippos, and that this man was the King of Makedon in another world.

Chiron… I… also knew that this King had been robbed of his memory. So when faced with the problem from the other end of Time, I merely recreated the circumstances.'

That's what I mean!' snorted Philip. 'Just as I begin to understand, it all slips away. But answer me this, whose idea was it — originally — to take away my memories and abduct me?'

'It is a circle, sire. Therefore it has no beginning and no end. There is no one to blame.'

'No one to… Listen to me, magus , I am a King, and there is always someone for a King to blame. That is the way of the world. You came into my palace and — without a by-your-leave, sire — abducted me. Give me one good reason why I should not strike your head from your shoulders.'

Aristotle spread his hands and smiled. 'The only answer I can think of, sire, is that were you to try it I would turn you into a lizard and tread on you.'

Philip was silent for a moment, then he turned to Parmenion. ‘I’d say that sounds like a good reason.'

'I agree, sire.'

'I like you, magus ,' said the King, 'but you owe me a debt. How will you pay it?'

'How would you like it paid, sire?'

'Come with us to Pella, as tutor to my son.'

Aristotle laughed. 'I would have asked for that as a gift,' he said, 'and willingly accept it as a penance.'

'Good! Now take us home.'

'Parmenion has not yet said farewell to his Queen,' pointed out Aristotle, his smile fading. 'And she is waiting at the foot of the hill.'

Parmenion sighed, pushed himself to his feet and walked down towards the trees. He found Derae sitting on a fallen tree and she stood as he approached.

'You would have left without seeing me, without saying goodbye?'

'Yes. It was the coward's way, I know, but I felt I could not bear to say the words. You have spoken with Leonidas?'

'He told me everything. Am I like her?'

He nodded. 'In every way.'

'So it was not me you loved,' she said sadly.

'It was you,' he assured her. 'At first it was an image, a memory. But the woman I made love to was you. The woman I love is you.'

'Yet you cannot stay?'

'No. I must look after Alexander. It is my duty and my life. Will you forgive me?'

She nodded and stepped into his embrace. Kissing him once on the cheek, she pushed him gently from her. 'Go then,'