They reached the grove of trees, and Althalus dismounted. "All right, gentlemen," he said to his captives, "I want you to sit down and listen. You're right on the verge of making some hasty decisions, and I think there's something you should know first." He took the key to their chains and freed the young man at the end of the line. "Come out here in front of the others," he told him. "You and I are going to demonstrate something for your friends."

"You're going to kill me, aren't you?" the boy asked in a trembling voice.

"After what I just paid for you? Don't be silly." Althalus led the boy out to the center of the clearing. "Watch very closely," he instructed the others. Then he held his hand out, palm up, toward the shaking boy. "Dheu," he said, raising his hand slowly upward.

The slave gave a startled cry as he rose up off the ground. He continued to rise, going higher and higher into the air as Althalus rather overdramatically continued to lift his hand. After a few moments the boy appeared to be only a tiny speck high above them.

"Now then," Althalus said to his gaping slaves, "what lesson have we just learned? What do you suppose would happen to our friend up there if let go of him?"

"He'd fall?" Eliar asked in a choked voice.

"Very good, Eliar. You've got a quick mind. And what'd happen to him when he came back down to earth?"

"It'd probably kill him, wouldn't it?"

"It goes a long way past 'probably,' Eliar. He'd splatter like a dropped melon. That's our lesson for today, gentlemen. You don't want to cross me. You want to go a long way to avoid crossing me. Does anybody need any further clarification?"

They all shook their heads violently.

"Good. Since you all understand just exactly how things stand, I suppose we can bring your friend down again." Althalus said "dhreu," slowly lowering his hand as he said it.

The boy descended to the ground and collapsed, blubbering incoherently.

"Oh, stop that," Althalus told him. "I didn't hurt you." Then he went down the chain, unlocking each slave's iron collar, leaving only Eliar still chained up. Then he pointed north. "Arum's off in that direction, gentlemen. Pick up your distracted friend there and go home. Oh, when you get back, tell Chief Albron that I've found the knife I was looking for and that Eliar's going to be coming with me. Albron and I can settle accounts on that somewhere on down the line."

"What's that all about?" Eliar demanded.

"Your Chief and I have a sort of agreement. You'll be working for me for a while." Althalus glanced at the others. "I told you to go home," he said. "Why haven't you left yet?"

They were running the last time he saw them.

"Aren't you going to unchain me?" Eliar asked.

"Let's hold off on that for a little while."

"If you've got an agreement with my Chief, you don't have to keep me chained up like this. I'll honor his word."

"The chain makes it easier for you, Eliar. As long as you're chained up, you won't have to struggle with any difficult moral decisions. Do you want something to eat?"

"No," the boy answered sullenly. Eliar appeared to be very good at sullen. Aside from his pouty expression, he was a fairly handsome young man, tall and blond haired. Despite his youth, he had fairly bulky shoulders, and his kilt revealed powerful legs. It was easy to see why the other young Arums in Sergeant Khalor's detachment had accepted this young fellow as their leader.

Althalus looped the boy's chain around an oak tree, locked it securely, and then stretched out on the leafy ground. "You might as well catch a few winks," he advised. "I expect we'll have a long way to go and not much time, so we'll be a little short on sleep in the not-too-distant future."

"Where are we going?" Eliar asked as curiosity evidently won out over sullenness.

"I haven't got the foggiest idea," Althalus admitted. "I'm sure Emmy will tell us when she gets here, though."

"Your cat?"

"Things aren't always what they appear to be, Eliar. Go to sleep."

"Can I have some bread or something?"

"I thought you said you weren't hungry."

"I changed my mind. I really could eat something."

Althalus called up a loaf of bread and tossed it to his captive.

"How did you do that?" Eliar exclaimed.

"It's just a little trick I picked up a few years back. It's no great thing."

"That's the first time I've ever seen anybody do it. You're not exactly like other people, are you?"

"Not very rnuch, no. Eat your supper and go to sleep, Eliar." Then Althalus settled back and drifted off to sleep.

Emmy ghosted silently into the oak grove not long after midnight and found Althalus just waking up. 'Aren't we being a bit irresponsible, pet?' she chided him.

"About what?"

'I sort of thought you'd be keeping an eye on Eliar.'

"He's not going anyplace, Em-not unless he plans to take that tree with him."

'Did you have any trouble persuading his friends to leave?'

"No, not really. They were scheming a bit on our way here, but then I showed them that it wasn't a good idea."

'Oh? How?'

"I picked one at random and did the same thing to him that we did to Pekhal a few weeks ago. They got my point almost immediately. Then I unchained them and told them all to go home. They left in quite a hurry."

'Show-off.'

"I know the way Arums think, Em. They're intensely loyal, so I had to do something spectacular enough to dispel that loyalty. I didn't think we'd want them lurking back in the bushes watching for a chance to ambush us. I managed to get my point across to them."

'Have you got the Knife?'

He patted the hilt protruding from his belt. "Right here," he replied.

'Come out into the moonlight,' she told him, leading the way out of the grove.

"What are we doing?"

'You're going to read the Knife.'

"I take my orders from you, Em, not from this antique."

'Just a precaution, Althalus. The Knife'll make sure you don't lose interest along the way.'

"What's the matter? Don't you trust me?"

'Trust you?' Her laugh was sardonic.

"That wasn't very nice, Em."

'Just take the Knife out and read it, Althalus. Let's get on with this.'

He drew the Knife out from under his belt and held it out in the moonlight. The inscription engraved on the blade was complex and very formal, with interlocking lines that twined around each other. The writing was not the distinctly separated pictographs Althalus had seen in the Book, but seemed somehow to flow together. He had no difficulty picking out one single word, however, since it glowed with a pale light.

'What does it say?' Emmy asked intently.

"Seek," he answered promptly.

There was a soft, musical sound that seemed to soar higher and higher, enclosing, enveloping, almost caressing him. It was so beautiful that it brought sudden tears to his eyes.

'And now you are mine,' Emmy gloated.

"I already was, Em. Is the Knife really singing?"

'Oh, yes.'

"What for?"

'To let me know that you've been chosen. And, of course, that you'll do exactly as I tell you to do.' She gave him a sly look. 'Sit,' Althalus, she said.

He immediately sat down.

'Stand up.'

He scrambled to his feet. "Stop this, Emmy!" he said sharply.

'Dance.'

He began hopping around. "I'm going to get you for this, Em!" he threatened.

'No, you won't. You can stop dancing now. I just wanted to show you what the Knife can do. You'll be able to do the same sort of thing with it just in case Eliar or any of the others we'll pick up later start getting out of hand.'

"That could come in handy." He looked even more closely at the Knife's blade. "That one word is all I can make out. It jumps right out of the middle of those other squiggles."

'The other "squiggles" are intended for others.'

"Why can't I read them?"

'Nobody can read it all, Althalus. Some of those words were intended for people who lived thousands of years ago, and others are there to be read by people who won't even be born for several thousand more. Our current crisis isn't the only one in the history of the world, you know.'

"It's enough to get my attention. Did it tell you where we go next?"

'That'll come after Eliar reads his instructions. Everything in its proper time and place.'

"Anything you say, dear." He frowned slightly. "Let's see if I've got this straight. Nobody except certain people can read the Knife, right?"

'Exactly.'

"Everybody else just sees those squiggles that look like some meaningless decoration?"

'Didn't I already say that?'

"What would happen if I showed it to Ghend-or Pekhal, or Khnom?"

'The screams would probably be very loud. The sight of the Knife causes unbearable pain to the agents of Daeva.'

"Well, now," he said, grinning. "Maybe I'd better not use the Knife to cut bacon with, then."

'You wouldn't!'

"Only teasing, Em. That Knife's going to be very useful, I think. I believe I'll keep it very close."

'Sorry, pet. You aren't the one who's supposed to carry it.'

"Who is?"

'Probably Eliar.'

"Are you absolutely sure I can control him? He is a professional killer, Em, so the first thing he's likely to do if I hand him the Knife is stab me in the belly with it."

'There aren't really any absolutes in life, Althalus.'

"Oh, thanks, Em," he said sarcastically.

'It's a safe wager. The chance that he'll kill you is about the same as the one for the sun coming up in the west this morning.'

"I suppose I'd risk a little money on that one. Why don't we wake him up and have him read to us?"

'Let him sleep. After he reads the Knife, we'll find out where we're supposed to go next, and we'll have to leave immediately. Let's not start wandering around in the dark.'

He shrugged. "You're the one in charge, Em." Then he looked at her curiously. "What did you do to Andine to bring her around? She didn't really want to sell Eliar to me."

'I persuaded her to love me more than she hated him.'

"I thought you couldn't do that sort of thing out here."

'I didn't create her love, pet. All I did was encourage it. Andine's very young and very passionate. She loves-and hates-with her blood and bones, and she loves even more intensely than she hates. All I had to do to unleash her love was to be adorable. I'm an expert at that, if you'll recall.'

"I still think you're cheating, Em."