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hands after its ser¬vice as part of the Great Power, the lids had ap¬peared
locked tightly in place over the three eyes. Now they showed slits as if about
to lift.
Kadiya shrank from touching the talisman even as she knew that she had no
choice. She stooped and closed hand about the blade just below the pommel. It
came loose easily from the earth, as if it leaped of its own will into her
grasp.
A burden she did not want, yet one she must bear. Kadiya held it up for a
closer sight. Yes, the eyes showed slits. Hurriedly she sheathed it, having no
desire to awaken the Power which lay within. There was no feeling of any
threat here; she could not believe that danger lurked now.
However, she was not rid of that geas-born burden.
Kadiya retraced her way as far as the steps. She sat there, watching mist
flow in the garden. Though near middle night, she was able to pick out bush,
tree, plant. Once more, longing a pain in her, she held out both hands to all
which grew there, all that might ever come . . .
"Tell me let me know what wills this? Binah set one geas upon me. Who would
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use me now?"
There was a rustle, a swaying of branches she could only half see. Spark
flyers shot toward each other as if they were frightened and would face the
danger in a body. Kadiya held her breath for a long second, sure that the one
she had met before would appear.
But all she could see was the passing of the wind in the branches, the
clustering of the sparks. Then those broke apart, whirled each on its own
chosen path as if what had disturbed them was gone.
Anger rose in her, that same anger which she had known in the past when she
had met with frustra-
tion. This was like standing before an open door and yet being barred
entrance.
Kadiya trailed back to the outer columns. Mist seemed to have thickened since
her previous pas¬sage. She could see the forms of the Guardian stat¬ues only
as shrouded figures. Yet as she descended the steps she faced one and then the
other even holding out the amulet, as if its still steady glow could reveal
more clearly those watchers. Once she went closer to a form at her right,
reaching out to lay fingers on the chill body.
There plucked at her the belief that these statues had a meaning, one which
she must master. If she were only not so ignorant! That inner dull anger was
turning against herself.
With the sword again in hand, Kadiya found her way back through the silent
city, once more as¬cended to the tower room. She had seen no Hassitti during
her travels and thought that perhaps they had some quarters of their own in
which they slum¬bered. Did they also dream?
As she once more took to the bed she drew the sword from its scabbard to rest
it beside her. The eyes had opened no farther; neither had they closed. The
Power might slumber, but it had not gone.
If any dreamed the rest of the night Kadiya was not among them. In spite of
her taking once more the sword, she was oddly more at peace with herself.
Jagun was on his feet again, sharing (to the unspo-
ken but nevertheless clear disapproval of Olla and Runna) her morning meal.
The treasure house, or more exactly, the room in which she had seen the many
books and reading rolls, was foremost in Kadiya's mind. If she knew more of
the past perhaps she could sift out better what was needful in the present.
"Our Speakers have their time weavings," Jagun remarked when she told him
where she would search. "Some of the villages possess very old rolls. But only
the Speakers can weave and thereafter translate those. Such knowledge seems to
come by birth for when a hatchling is of a proper age it is tested. What to
some remain a locked mystery is for others a storehouse of knowledge."
"What of you, hunter? These woven histories, are they clear to you?" Since
the Oddlings had their way of preserving the past, perhaps it was based on
some form of learning their mentors the Vanished Ones had used. If so, Jagun's
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help would be invaluable. Somehow she doubted she would find much aid among
the Hassitti, for Kadiya had the impression that they had relentlessly saved
much they could not understand.
"No, Farseer, my knowledge lies in other di¬rections the ways of the beasts,
of the swamp growth, of the seasons. I came to that knowledge, for, as a
hatchling, I was put to prenticeship with Rusloog who was one of the greatest
swamp travelers my village knew. Some other things I have learned from your
people since I dwelt in the Citadel and served the King. But of these ancient
mysteries
which have to do with memories and weaving do not expect much of me."
Kadiya pounced upon that. "You say 'much.' Then you have a fraction "
Jagun squirmed a little and reached hurriedly for a goblet, drinking down its
contents as if he needed time to consider.
"Farseer, the Speaker of my clan is one who wishes always to know more. When
I was a swamp runner and a hunter of old things, she showed me what to look
for among such finds. I can recognize some of the old signs. That is all."
"But that is something!" Kadiya put aside her emptied bowl of mush, licking
her spoon for the last particle. "There was much I could have learned. But I
did not like the hours spent in the mustiness of the library any more than I
relished those I was sup¬posed to spend in the ladies' bower seaming up pretty
cloth pictures. Haramis had the learning, Anigel the clever fingers; I had the
swamp."
The room of stored learning was daunting. Kadiya had merely glanced into it
from the doorway when the Hassitti had swept her through their store¬houses.
When she had asked to be brought here for a second time three of the small
people had formed an escort, two of them bearing lamps.
To search would be a massive task the worse because one would not know
exactly what to look for. The lamps from the doorway showed only a por¬tion of
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