"I don't think it will come to that, my lord. In fact, you may find the G.o.ddess is watching over your people far better than you imagine."

Claudio shrugged, his expression resigned. Obviously, he thought Madalan's first order as Lady of the Suns would be the destruction of what remained of the Sundancers. He also seemed to be of the opinion his Sundancers would (quite understandably) object, and the result would be a bloodbath.

There was no way to a.s.sure him he was wrong. No way to tell Varell that the Lord of the Suns'

successor was a lot more sympathetic to the Sundancers' cause than he imagined.

Like everybody else gathered in the temple to hear the will read, Lord Varell would just have to wait and see.

The first part of Paige Halyn's will dealt with the personal bequests he wished to make to friends and family. He freed the debtor slaves who had been in his service and bestowed modest endowments on a number of other faithful retainers. He bequeathed his personal belongings to his niece, and his journals to the Sundancers' archives in Bollow. The list was long and comprehensive, and it bored everyone to tears.

When Claudio Varell came to the next part, however, the entire temple suddenly seemed to be holding its breath. The hall was packed with every Shadowdancer who had been within traveling distance of Avacas, as well as a number of Sundancers additional to those Varell had brought from Bollow. The numbers were not as uneven as Dirk thought they might be. The Sundancers were a dying breed, he thought, but they were a long way from being extinct.

"As to my successor," Lord Varell read in a voice noticeably shaking, "this is a matter to which I have given a great deal of thought. In my time as Lord of the Suns, I have witnessed many changes. I have seen the Age of Shadows come and go. I have watched the rise of the Shadowdancers and the perversion of our beliefs, and have been powerless to stop them..."

A murmur of uneasiness rippled through the hall, mostly from the Shadowdancers.

"I cannot, however, alter the winds of change," Lord Varell continued reading. "If I believe everything happens as the G.o.ddess wills it, then I must believe the changes that have come upon ussince the second sun returned are also her doing. I must therefore bow to the inevitable, and appoint a successor who can guide both the Sundancers and the Shadowdancers through the turbulent times ahead."

Lord Varell hesitated for a moment. Dirk didn't think he was doing it for dramatic effect. He had probably read on a little further and was disturbed by what he saw. Madalan was smiling, unable to contain her glee. Marqel looked resplendent in her red robes and what Dirk was sure must have been every piece of jewelry Belagren had owned, but she had a bored look on her face. This was a show where she was not the main attraction, so she wasn't terribly interested in it. The only pleasure she took from the proceedings was probably the thought that very soon she would no longer have to put up with Madalan Tirov dictating her every move.

"I name my successor as the one who stands at the right hand of the High Priestess of the Shadowdancers," Varell read.

"Let the man or woman who occupies this position at the time of my death become the Lord or Lady of the Suns. Let this person do his or her utmost to do what I have failed to do and restore Ranadon to the G.o.ddess."

The Hall erupted as Madalan stepped forward. She had composed her expression into one of humble acceptance. The Shadowdancers were cheering. The Sundancers were muttering among themselves unhappily.

Varell looked up from the doc.u.ment as Madalan approached.

"My lady?" he asked, sounding a little puzzled. "Do you wish to challenge the will?"

"Of course not, my lord. I am honored to accept the position."

"Accept it? But the will doesn't name you, my lady. It names the right hand of the High Priestess..."

As the truth dawned on her, Madalan's pious smile turned to a snarl of helpless fury as she looked across the podium to where the High Priestess stood with Dirk and a number of other senior Shadowdancers.

Dirk smiled at her serenely and stepped forward.

"That would be me," he said.

Dirk had a bad habit of running scenarios through his mind in advance, trying to imagine what people would do and say, trying to think up ways to counter them, even before they knew themselves what they would do. As he turned to face the Shadowdancers and the Sundancers gathered to witness the appointment of the next Lord of the Suns, he promised himself he would stop doing it.

Nothing was ever the way he imagined it, and it just complicated things hoping they would be.

"The will is invalid!" somebody called, probably a Sundancer. "The Lord of the Suns was a.s.sa.s.sinated!"

"There must be an election!" somebody else shouted angrily.

The gathering seemed in total agreement in their disapproval.

Probably for the first time in history, the two sects of the Church of the Suns were united.

"The will is legal," Lord Varell responded unhappily. "The Lord of the Suns died sixty-one days after being wounded. By law, he died of an infection. There is nothing we can do."

Dirk let the hubbub wash over him, wishing there had been a way to do this without having toaddress several hundred angry members of the Church, who at that moment were probably imagining how much better he would look with his throat slit.

"I will not accept this honor," he shouted over the ruckus, which brought the entire hall to a standstill.

If his shout had gotten their attention, his words stunned them into silence, when he added, in a much more reasonable tone, "Unless you agree to my terms."

He waited, but n.o.body said a word.

"I will not preside over a divided Church," he announced. "Nor will I tolerate those who would elevate one arm of the Church over the other." He cast his eyes over the crowd, unaware of how indomitable his gaze appeared. "I will be Lord of the Suns only if you believe me when I say I will not abide dishonesty. I will not stand for any behavior that might bring the G.o.ddess or her Church into disrepute. If I accept this role, I will expel any member of the Church, Sundancer or Shadowdancer, who thinks they are here for any other reason than to bring the truth to the people of Ranadon!" He hesitated for a moment, letting his words sink in. "Is there anybody here who objects to my terms? Is there anyone among you who takes issue with the Sundancers and Shadowdancers being free of corruption?"

As Dirk was expecting, n.o.body uttered a word in protest. There was not a man or woman in the hall prepared to stand up and declare themselves opposed to being ethical or just.

"Then I accept the position of Lord of the Suns," he declared into the shocked silence. "And I will begin my reign with an announcement of great importance!"

Dirk turned and held out his hand, beckoning Marqel forward. She complied hesitantly, looking confused. It would take a little time before the full implications of Dirk's new position truly sank in to her rather self-absorbed consciousness.

"Out of respect for my predecessor, the High Priestess begged me not to mention this today, but last night, the G.o.ddess spoke to her again."

Another murmur rippled through the crowd, but this one was more curious than angry. Dirk noticed the slight shift in the mood of the gathering and knew he had judged their reaction well. They would get over their shock soon enough. He was going to give them something else to worry about, more important even than the appointment of a new Lord of the Suns whose nickname was the Butcher of Elcast.

"The G.o.ddess told the High Priestess of a miraculous event! There will be an eclipse. The G.o.ddess is sending us a moment of darkness all the world will witness!"

Marqel stared at him in bewilderment. He had said nothing to her about the eclipse since he returned from the Baenlands.

"It is a sign!" he yelled over the panicked murmuring of the crowd. "A sign of both her bounty and her wrath! The High Priestess has a.s.sured me the G.o.ddess will speak to all of us! I charge you now to go forth and bring this wondrous news to your people. Let everyone from the Sidorian wastes to the Galina islands witness the power of the G.o.ddess and remove once and for all any doubt that the High Priestess of the Shadowdancers is the Voice of the G.o.ddess!"

In the chaos that followed his announcement, Dirk turned to face the others standing on the podium.

Madalan looked set to murder him. Claudio Varell wore a look of quiet horror. Marqel appeared to be rather put out that she'd been upstaged.

"We need to talk," he said to them.

And so began the reign of the new Lord of the Suns.

Chapter 36

Dirk was the last to enter the anteroom off the main temple where they gathered to object to his sudden and unexpected ascension to the position of Lord of the Suns. Marqel still appeared a little bemused by the whole thing, but neither Claudio nor Madalan were under any illusions about what it meant.

What none of them could figure out was how he had managed it.

"You can't possibly mean to do this," Madalan cried as soon as he closed the door behind him.

"Why not?"

"Paige Halyn never meant for you to be his successor. He named me! He told me he did!"

"I believe, when you spoke to him, my lady, you were the right hand of the High Priestess. It was the holder of that position he nominated, not you. It was reasonable to a.s.sume it was you who would succeed him, but I don't believe he ever said he named you specifically."

She glared at him suspiciously. "How did you know what was in his will?"

"I didn't know. Lord Varell can confirm that. n.o.body knew for certain but Paige Halyn."

Claudio nodded unhappily. "The will was sealed in my presence, Lady Madalan. Dirk Provin could not possibly have known its contents."

"Then you must refuse the position," she insisted. "You must go out there and announce you've changed your mind."

"I don't think so."

Madalan turned to Claudio for support. "Are you going to let him get away with this?"

"Of course he's going to let me get away with it," Dirk told her with quiet confidence. "The alternative is to let you have the job, Madalan, and he would rather disband the Sundancers himself than see that happen."

Claudio stared at them for a moment, and then looked across at Marqel, who had sat herself down on the small settee and was staring at the three of them with cautious eyes. Marqel might not be the smartest person in the room, but she had a natural sort of animal cunning that served her well when she was faced with uncertainty.

"The High Priestess is remarkably silent on the affair."

"That's because she has nothing to do with this," Madalan snapped. "You cannot allow this to happen, Claudio!"

"Why should I object? The lad is right. If he refuses the position, then you'll find a way to take it for yourself, or we go to an election. The only way you can win an election is if my Sundancers start meeting with unfortunate accidents. Either way, the Sundancers are doomed. You have a Shadowdancer as Lord of the Suns, my lady. Be thankful for it!" He turned to Dirk then, but his anger was just as firmly directed at him. "As for you, young man. Have you any notion of what you've unleashed by announcing that eclipse?"

"I know exactly what I've unleashed," Dirk a.s.sured him.

"I seriously doubt that! You have signed the death warrant for the Sundancers. Another episode asdramatic and miraculous as the return of the second sun will see the end of the only shred of decency left in the Church. There will be no more Sundancers. There will be nothing but the barbaric practices of a wicked, self-serving cult founded on drugs and lies."

"I have a responsibility to the Shadowdancers, too, my lord. I just announced how I intend to rule-without fear or favor. I'm sorry you don't like it, but I won't pretend the G.o.ddess didn't speak to the High Priestess just to keep your Sundancers happy."

"The G.o.ddess never spoke to anyone," he scoffed. "Who is it, Madalan? What poor fool with more brains than sense have you found to browbeat into submission this time? Or did you find Neris Veran in the Baenlands and torture the information out of him?"

"Neris Veran is dead," Dirk told him.

"But his legacy of lies lives on," Claudio snorted. "And what is to become of my people? You have made them redundant."

"Oh, I don't know." Dirk shrugged. "Perhaps we can find something else for them to do."

"What are you talking about?"

"Have you considered education?"

"What?"

"Schools, my lord. I understand it was Paige Halyn's fondest wish to establish schools in every village in Senet. I intend to honor that wish and establish a legacy in his name. We'll make them free, which should encourage attendance. And it'll give your Sundancers something to do. As you say, once the eclipse has happened, there won't be much of a role for your lot in the pastoral side of things."

"It's a stupid idea," Madalan snapped at him. "Even if the Sundancers could afford it, aren't you aware of the dangers of educating people above their station? That path leads to social collapse."

"It's ignorance that leads to people standing around cheering a man being burned alive, Madalan,"

Claudio retorted. He was clearly surprised and wary of Dirk's suggestion, but seemed cautiously willing to go along with it. For that matter, he would have been cautiously willing to go along with anything that did not involve the disbanding of the Sundancers entirely.

"But Madalan has a point. How will we fund such a ma.s.sive project?" Claudio asked. "The reason Paige Halyn was never able to do anything about setting up schools was the lack of resources. All our funds were drained by the establishment of the Shadowdancers."

"Then it's about time the Shadowdancers returned the favor." Dirk walked across the room to where Marqel was reclining on the couch, watching him warily. He reached down to the diamond choker she wore, s.n.a.t.c.hed it from her throat and tossed it to Claudio.

"Hey! That's mine!"

"That should cover the first year's expenses," he said, as Claudio fumbled to catch it. "I'll arrange to have an inventory taken in the Hall of Shadows. There's a vase in the High Priestess's suite that should pay for the second year. You will have the resources, my lord, I a.s.sure you of that."

"I won't let you bankrupt the Shadowdancers to keep a bunch of whining old men and women happy," Marqel declared, jumping to her feet. She might not care about the morality of Dirk's plans, but she was d.a.m.n sure who the Shadowdancers' wealth belonged to. "You can't touch the Hall of Shadows or anything in it."

"Actually, I can. It's in the charter of the Shadowdancers. Clause three hundred and twenty-something. I checked."

"That was remarkably foresighted of you, my lord," Claudio observed. He was still angry, but hewas enjoying seeing Marqel even angrier than he was at this unexpected turn of events.

"I'm a remarkably foresighted person," Dirk told him. "It would pay to remember that, my lord."

"This is intolerable!"

Dirk turned on Madalan impatiently. "Shut up, Madalan. I just handed your Shadowdancers a chance to consolidate their power for an eternity. After the eclipse, there won't be a soul on Ranadon who doubts the High Priestess speaks for the G.o.ddess. You'll be able to burn whole villages down at Landfall if that's what you want. If I choose to throw a bone to the Sundancers to keep them happy, then that's my concern, not yours. Be grateful for what I've given you, or when I finish going through those notes from Omaxin and I work out when the next Age of Shadows is due, the first person I tell about it will be a Sundancer."

"It was you?" Claudio gasped, as he realized what Dirk was implying. "You're the one who worked out when the eclipse was due?"

"One of my many talents, my lord," Dirk agreed.

"But why tell them?" he asked indicating Madalan and Marqel. "If you'd only come to us..."

"You would have ignored my advice, the same way Paige Halyn ignored Neris when he told him what Belagren was up to during the Age of Shadows until it was too late."

"So rather than expose the truth, you'd perpetrate the lies?" he concluded bitterly. "You'll actively aid this conspiracy of evil?"

"Gladly," Dirk told him, without a hint of remorse. He turned back to Madalan. "If it's any consolation, my lady, you can have your old job back. You are once again the right hand of the High Priestess. I suggest you keep it firmly around her throat."

"You can't do that," Marqel objected. "If you're leaving, I want to pick my own right hand."

"You'll do exactly what you're told, Marqel," he ordered. "Or would you prefer it if I went to Antonov and told him about some of your other... misdemeanors?"

Marqel took the hint and crossed her arms sulkily. She wasn't going to endanger her newfound power by letting Dirk tell Antonov about what she'd done to Alenor.

Madalan looked at the two of them with a suspicious frown. "What was all that about? What have you got on her?"