Now she was unsure, uncertain. She was starting to doubt. This morning she had been angry enough that she could have flayed the skin from the monk's bones and never felt a qualm. On reflection she wondered: Can I torture a man in cold blood? If I did, can I trust information gained by duress Can I torture a man in cold blood? If I did, can I trust information gained by duress?

Gaidar had always been dubious about torture as a means to elicit information.

"Men will say anything to stop the pain," he had once warned her.

Mina knew the truth of that. She was the one in torment, and she would do anything to stop her pain.

There was another way. The dead have no secrets. Not from the Lord of Death.

Putting her hand to the necklace of black pearls, Mina made up her mind. She would tell Chemosh everything. Lay her soul bare to him. He would help her drag the truth out of the monk.

Mina grasped the necklace and tore it from around her neck and tossed it into the sea. Her heart eased, she returned to the castle, dressed herself in something pretty, and went to seek out Chemosh.

She found the Lord of Death in his study, playing khas with Krell. Mina and the death knight exchanged looks that acknowledged their mutual loathing, then Krell went back to studying the board. Mina observed him more closely. He looked the same cruel, boorish brute he always looked, yet there was a sleek smugness about him that she found new and troubling. She also found it troubling that he and her lord seemed quite cozy together. Chemosh was actually laughing at something Krell had been saying as she entered the study.

Mina started to speak, but Chemosh forestalled her. He cast her a negligent glance.

"Did you enjoy your swim, Mistress?"

Her heart trembled. His tone was chill, his words an insult. Mistress! He might have been speaking to a stranger.

"Yes," Mina replied, and went on quickly before she lost her nerve. "My lord, I must talk with you." She flicked a glance at Krell. "In private."

"I am in the middle of a game," Chemosh returned languidly. "It appears as though Krell might beat me. What do you think, Krell?"

"I have you on the run, my lord," said the death knight without enthusiasm.

Mina swallowed. "After your game, then, my lord?"

"I am afraid not," said Chemosh. He reached out and moved a knight, sliding it across the board and using it to knock one of Krell's pawns to the floor. "I know all about your lover, Mina, so there is no need for you to keep lying to me."

"Lover?" Mina repeated, astonished. "I do not know what you are talking about, my lord. I have no lover."

"What about the man you have hidden away in the grotto?" Chemosh asked, and he twisted around in the chair to look her full in face.

Mina trembled. She could think often things to say in her defense, but none of them sounded plausible. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. The hot blood rushed to her cheeks, and she knew in an instant that her flush and her silence had just proclaimed her guilt.

"My lord," she said desperately, finding her voice. "I can explain-"

"I am not interested in explanations," Chemosh said coolly, and turned back to his game. "I would slay you for your betrayal, Mistress, but I would then be plagued for eternity by your pitiful ghost. Besides, your death would be a waste of a valuable commodity."

He did not look at her as he continued to speak, but pondered his next move on the board.

"You are to take command of the Beloved, Mistress. They listen to you, obey you. You have battlefield experience. You are the right commander, therefore, to mold them into an army and ready them to march on Nuitari's Tower. You will organize the Beloved and take them off to a camp I have established at a remote place far from here."

The room went dark. The floor tilted, the walls moved. Mina had to grasp hold of a table in order to remain standing.

"Are you banishing me from your presence, my lord?" she asked faintly, barely able to find breath enough to speak the question.

He did not deign to reply.

"I could train them here," she said.

"That would not be to my liking. I find that I grow weary of the sight of them. And you."

Mina moved numbly across a floor that lurched and shook beneath her feet. Coming to Chemosh, she sank to her knees at his side and caught hold of his arm.

"My lord, let me explain! I beg you!"

"I told you, Mina, I am in the middle of a game-"

"I threw away the pearls!" she cried. "I know I have displeased you. I need to tell you-"

Chemosh removed his arm from her grasp and rearranged the lace she had disturbed. "You will leave tomorrow. This day, you will remain locked in your chamber under guard. I plan to visit your lover this evening, and I do not want you to sneak off to try to warn him."

Mina was near collapse. Her legs trembled; her hands shook. She was covered in chill sweat. Then Krell made a noise. He chuckled, low and deep. She looked into the fiery, piggy eyes of the death knight, and she saw triumph. She knew then who had spied on her.

Her hatred of Krell gave her the strength to rise to her feet, burned away her tears, and lent her the courage to say, "As you will, my lord." Chemosh moved another piece. "You have leave to go." Mina walked out of that room; she had no idea how. She could not see anything. She could not feel anything. She had lost all sensation. She staggered on as far as she could and managed to reach her bedchamber before darkness overcame her and she sank to the floor and lay there like a dead thing.

After she had gone, Krell looked down at the board and realized, to his astonishment, he had won.

The death knight moved a pawn, snatched up the black queen, and carried her off.

"Your king is trapped, my lord," Krell stated exultantly. "Nowhere to go. The game is mine."

Chemosh looked at him.

Krell gulped. "Or maybe not. That last move... I made a mistake. That was an illegal move." He quickly slid the queen back onto her hex. "I apologize, my lord. I have no idea what I was thinking-"

Chemosh picked up the khas board and flung it in Krell's face.

"Should you need me, I will be in the Hall of the Souls Passing. Do not let Mina out of your sight! And pick up the pieces," Chemosh added, as he walked away.

"Yes, my lord," muttered Ausric Krell.

Chapter 7.

The cold of the stone floor roused Mina from her swoon. She was shivering so she could barely stand. Dragging herself to her feet, she wrapped herself in the blanket from her bed and went to stand by the window.

The breeze was moderate. The Blood Sea was quiet. Rolling swells washed over the rocks with barely a splash. Pelicans, flying in formation like a wing of blue dragons, searched for fish. A dolphin's glistening body broke the surface and glided back down.

She had to talk to Chemosh. She had to make him listen to her. This was a mistake or rather, mischief.

Mina walked to the door of her chamber and found it was not bolted as she had feared it might be. She flung it open.

Ausric Krell stood in front of her.

Mina cast him a scathing glance and started to walk around him.

Krell moved to block her.

Mina was forced to confront him. "Get out of my way."

"I have my orders," Krell said, gloating. "You are to remain in your chamber. If you need to occupy your time, I suggest you start packing for your journey. You might want to pack everything you own. You won't be coming back."

Mina regarded him with cold fury.

"You know that the man in the cave is not my lover."

"I know no such thing," Krell returned.

"A maiden does not usually chain her lover to a wall and threaten him with death," Mina said caustically. "What of the kender? Is he my lover, too?"

"People have their little quirks," Krell stated magnanimously. "When I was alive, I liked my women to put up a struggle, squeal a bit. I am not one to sit in judgment."

"My lord is no fool. When he goes to that cave this night and finds an emaciated monk and a sniveling little kender chained to a wall, he will know you lied to him."

"Maybe," said Krell stolidly. "Maybe not."

Mina clenched her fists in frustration. "Are you as stupid as you look, Krell? When Chemosh finds out you lied to him about me, he will be furious with you. He might well hand you over to Zeboim. But you can still save yourself. Go to Chemosh and tell him that you have thought this over and you were mistaken..."

Krell was not stupid. He had had thought it over. He knew just what he had to do to protect himself. thought it over. He knew just what he had to do to protect himself.

"My lord Chemosh has given orders he is not to be disturbed," said Krell, and he gave Mina a shove that propelled her backward into the room.

He slammed the door shut, bolted it from the outside, and resumed his stance before it.

Mina went back to the window. She knew what Krell plotted. All he had to do was go to the cave, dispose of the kender and the dog, kill the monk and remove his chains, and leave the body for Chemosh to find, along with evidence to prove the grotto had been her love nest.

Perhaps Krell had already done this. That would certainly account for his smugness. Mina didn't know how long she had been unconscious. Hours, at least. The castle faced east and its shadow lay dark on the blood-red waves. The sun was already sinking toward the end of day.

Mina stood at the window. I have to win back my lord's trust and affection. There must be a way to prove my love. If I could give him a gift. Something he yearns to possess.

But what is there a god cannot have if he wants it?

One thing. One thing Chemosh wanted and he could not get.

Nuitari's Tower.

"If I could give him that, I would do it," Mina said softly, "though it cost me my life..."

She closed her eyes, and she found herself beneath the sea. The Tower of High Sorcery stood before her. Its crystalline walls reflected the clear blue water, the red coral, and the green sea plants and multi-colored sea creatures-a constant panorama of sea life glided across its faceted surface.

She was inside the Tower, in her prison, talking with Nuitari. She was in the water of the globe, speaking with the dragon. She was in the Solio Febalas Solio Febalas, overcome by awe and wonder, surrounded by the sublime miracle that was the gods.

Mina held out her hands. Her longing intensified, welled up inside her. Her heart pounded, her muscles stiffened. She sank to her knees with a moan, and still she held out her hands to the Tower that was everywhere inside her.

The longing took control of her and swept her up. She could not stop. She did not want to stop. She gave herself to the longing, and it seemed her heart would tear itself apart. She gasped for breath. She tasted blood in her mouth. She shuddered and moaned again, and suddenly something snapped within her.

The longing, the desire, flowed out of her outstretched hands and she was calm and at peace...

Krell had figured a way out of his predicament, though not the way Mina had guessed. Her plan required that he leave the castle and he was terrified to do so, for fear Chemosh would return at any moment. Krell might have the brains of a rodent, but he had twice the low cunning to make up for it. His His plan was simple, and it was direct. plan was simple, and it was direct.

He didn't have to kill the kender, the monk, or the dog. All he had to do was kill Mina.

Once Mina was dead, end of story. Chemosh would have no reason to go to the cave to confront her lover, and Krell's problem would be solved.

Krell detested Mina, and he would have murdered her long ago, but he feared that Chemosh would have murdered him-not an easy thing to do, since Krell was already dead, but Krell was fairly certain the Lord of Death would find a way and it would not be pleasant.

Krell deemed it safe to kill Mina now. Chemosh despised her. He loathed her. He couldn't stand the sight of her.

"She tried to escape, my lord," Krell said, rehearsing his speech. "I didn't mean to kill her. I just don't know my own strength."

Having made up his mind to slay Mina, Krell had only to decide when. In this regard, he dithered. Chemosh had said he was going to the Hall of Souls Passing, but did he mean it? Had the god departed, or was he still lurking about the castle?

Every time Krell started to put his hand on the handle of the door, he had a vision of Chemosh entering the room in time to witness the death knight slitting his mistress's throat. Chemosh might well despise her, but such a gruesome sight could still come as a shock.

Krell dared not leave his post in order to go find out. At last, he snagged a passing spectral minion and ordered it to make inquiries. The minion was gone for some time, during which Krell paced the corridor and pictured his revenge on Mina, growing more and more excited at the thought.

The minion brought welcome news. Chemosh was in the Hall of the Souls Passing and apparently in no hurry to return.

Perfect. Chemosh would be there to witness Mina's soul arrive. He would have no reason to go to the cave. No reason at all.

Krell started to reach for the door handle then stopped. Amber light began to glow around the door frame. As he watched, frowning, the glowing light grew stronger and stronger.

Then Krell smiled. This was better than he'd hoped for. Mina had apparently set the place on fire.

He struck the door with his fist, drew his sword, and strode inside.

Chapter 8.

The grotto was redolent with the smell of salt pork. Atta licked her chops and stared longingly at Nightshade, who was dutifully, if dolefully, scrubbing the insides of his boots with a hunk of greasy meat. Rhys had reasoned it would be easier for the kender to slide his feet out of the boots rather than try to slide the boots out of the manacles.

"There, I've finished!" Nightshade announced. He fed what was left of the mangled pork to Atta, who swallowed it in a gulp and then began to sniff hungrily at his boots.

"Atta, leave it," Rhys ordered, and the dog obediently trotted over to lie down at his side.