'I have no idea,' she said, glancing out the window. 'It's night. It was mid-day when I left the a.s.sembly about five minutes ago, so I'm not sleeping any time soon. While your father and everyone else is out saving the world, there are mundane matters to be addressed.'

'I know,' said Caleb, then he yawned. 'I've been tallying the revenues from Father's estates and holdings and reviewing some of the projects that have been waiting for weeks. And we've got to start deciding when we're taking new students again, and... just so many things.' He pointed to a large stack of papers and parchments, and said, 'But at least all that business is done.' He picked up a sheaf of doc.u.ments and said, 'And these can wait.' Pointing to the pile he had rested his head on when he was asleep, he said, 'But these last few items need to be seen to at once.'

'Good. I'll finish and you can get back to being a hunter or whatever you want tomorrow morning. Now go.'

Caleb kissed his mother's cheek and left the room. Miranda sat in her husband's chair, still warm from her son occupying it, and wished as much as she ever had that Pug was back. She hid it deeply, but she was frightened, and what frightened her the most was the thought she'd never see her husband again.

Pug sat quietly, letting the drama before him unfold. He recognized that something momentous was taking place and was intent on understanding what he was seeing. Magnus stood behind his father, equally focused on the discussion. The three older Bloodwitches who had come to greet them were arrayed in a semi-circle of chairs. They all wore identical robes of black with orange shawl collars and broad orange belts, while the younger members of their order wore robes of white and orange.

Macros sat in a similar chair distant from them. He looked fatigued to the point of exhaustion and leaned on his staff for additional support. The centremost Bloodwitch said, 'I am Audarun, the most senior sister of our order. To my left is Sabilla, and to my right Maurin, and we three form the Triarch, who ultimately rule the Sisterhood. We are also the keepers of knowledge and defenders of life.' She looked at Macros and said, 'How did you come to be the Gardener?'

Macros was silent. He looked from face to face and then finally said, 'I don't know. One day I was walking home from my place of business and I had a... seizure of some sort. I got dizzy and fell down behind a wall so as to not reveal weakness to anyone. Then I had memories of my last life and... I knew I was...' His voice faltered. 'I went home and felt... ill. I had dreams. I had a family. They were frightened. When I awoke my mate begged me to be strong, not to be taken and killed, but to return to work and keep them safe.' He lowered his head. 'I left that home and have never seen them again.'

'Go on,' said Audarun. 'Where did you go?'

'I walked a very long way. I don't remember very much, save that I hid some times, and other times I merely walked down very busy streets as if I were on an errand. I stole food when no one was looking, and..." He closed his eyes, as if it would help him remember. 'I came to a place.'

'What place?'

'I don't remember.' Macros opened his eyes. 'It was like the Grove of Delmat-Ama, but it wasn't there. It was another place.'

'What happened?' asked Audarun, in a gently rea.s.suring tone.

'I met someone.'

'Who?'

'He said his name was...' Again Macros closed his eyes. 'He said his name was Dathamay.'

The three women exchanged glances.

'You know that name.'

'Yes,' said Audarun. 'It is a false name, from a very old fable. What did he say to you?'

Macros kept his eyes closed. 'He said he had expected me... no, he said I was expected. Then he...' He opened his eyes. 'He put his hands on my head, almost like a benediction, and... my pain was gone, my memory... clear. I remembered much of my previous life and my current life, in proper order.'

'As I thought,' said Audarun. 'What sort of man was this? A Lesser? A Deathpriest?'

'I can't remember...' said Macros. He slumped down in his chair.

The attending Bloodwitches looked disturbed, but rather than the sort of conflicted self-control Pug had witnessed by members of the White when evidence of weakness was apparent, this was a genuine concern.

'What is the matter with him?' asked Audarun, rising from her chair.

Pug stood as well. 'He told me he is gravely ill, dying.'

She looked puzzled. 'I should have heard of this.' She went to Macros's side and knelt down. She examined him and then gave instructions to one of the younger Bloodwitches. The woman left the room to retrieve the items requested. 'Bring him with us,' she said to Pug and Magnus.

They picked Macros up between them and carried him out of the room, down a series of halls, and into a sleeping room, barely more than a cell. Pug had seen many such in temples throughout Midkemia and Kelewan. A pallet, a small table and a chair were the only furniture. A simple burning wick in a bowl of oil on the table was the sole source of light.

They put Macros on the pallet and Audarun continued to examine him. The young Bloodwitch arrived with a large basket with vials, jars, and waxed paper packages and a second young woman followed bearing a steaming pot of water. Audarun quickly prepared a strongly-scented drink and when it was ready, motioned for Pug and Magnus to prop up Macros and put the draught to his lips.

Macros revived enough to sip the drink and after a few minutes he regained a semblance of alertness. 'Did I faint?' he asked.

'Yes,' said Audarun. 'Or, rather, you lost the ability to remain conscious.'

'I'm dying,' said Macros.

'Who told you this?' asked Audarun. She pulled the small chair next to the pallet and sat down.

'An Attender. A healer...' He looked confused. 'I don't remember where. My memories are fading. I have more difficulty with every pa.s.sing day recalling things that I knew without pause just weeks ago.' He glanced at Pug. 'I knew much of what I remembered from my human life was lost, but now I'm losing my memories of this life as well.' He looked at her. 'I fear I have little time left.'

She stared down at him. 'You have no time left, whoever you were. For you are not dying, my friend; you are already dead.'

Pug and Magnus stood motionless and stunned. Finally, Macros softly said, 'Yes, that would make perfect sense.'

Pug said, 'It makes no sense to me.'

Audarun looked at Pug. 'For you to be here, in that guise, so perfectly achieved and maintained, I can only a.s.sume you to be a magician or priest of most puissant ability. Illusion is not something we do well, we Dasati. There is no need. We are a people who prize strength and force above all else.

'But while the Deathpriests may understand necromancy in all its subtle and dark aspects, we of the Bloodwitch Sisterhood understand life in all its subtle and bright aspects.' She paused, then said, 'This vessel does not contain true life.' Looking Macros in the eyes, she said, 'You are a simulacrum, false life resembling the living.'

She looked over her shoulder at the young attendant and asked for a few more items, and the young woman left. Returning her gaze to Pug, Magnus, then Macros again, she said, 'The magic used to create you is vast, alien to me, and of a design I can barely begin to understand. No mortal being could fashion such as you, and that leaves only one alternative.'

'A G.o.d,' said Pug.

'Of your world,' she added quickly. 'Some agency in your universe judged it vital to pierce the barrier between our realms, in antic.i.p.ation of some act by the Dark One, in order to aid the White. I am no theologian, but the Sisterhood has more untainted lore than anywhere else in this realm; for the Dark One's Hierophants have destroyed everything except approved doctrine everywhere else. I shall see if I can find any reference to any such act before, but this much I know: rules have been violated, rules as binding upon the higher power as the need for air and water are upon we mortals. Whoever did this thing, whoever sent this... creature here, did so knowing that the consequences of such an act could be as disastrous as that which he was trying to prevent.'

'"Desperate times call for desperate measures" is an old saying among our people,' said Magnus.

'Perhaps,' said the old Bloodwitch. 'But while it is sometimes wise to set a backfire to stop a wildfire from spreading, if the backfire gets out of control-'

'It becomes a bigger wildfire,' said Pug. He fell silent.

After a moment the creature called Macros said, 'If I am not who or what I think I am, why am I here?'

'I cannot tell you,' said Audarun. 'When we received word that someone calling himself the Gardener had appeared, more than ten years ago, we waited and watched. We knew there were powerful forces behind you, for you merely had to appear before our followers and they would do your bidding, as if you had been leading the White for years. Martuch is one of our oldest, most loyal allies, and he was asked by Lady Narueen to seek out this Gardener and ascertain his purpose.

'We were certain it was a ploy by His Darkness's servants, but there were too many... oddities. Martuch not only did not discover anything nefarious in this Gardener, but like so many others he fell easily into taking instructions from him, and a.s.signing to him the role of leadership in the White that he claimed. So we kept watching.

'After many months, it was clear that this creature had a mission, and as far as we could discern, that mission was in concert with our own. Moreover, he provided a strong focus and a clear mission we had lacked. Until then, the White had been little more than an a.s.sociation of Bloodwitches and a few sympathizers who shared information and occasionally saved bands of women and children from marauding Deathknights. We had enclaves, such as this one, scattered throughout the Dasati realm. The presence of this leader, this Gardener, provided a much-needed focus for our activities. We've recruited powerful allies, like young Valko, and we've established a far more effective presence throughout the Empire, and so we are stronger.

'Thus, we have benefited from his appearance, but since the start we've known something about all this to be false, to be fabricated, for in the Dasati it is unheard-of for a humble Lesser suddenly to rise up and become a leader of power. And using magic unknown in the history of the Sisterhood? Impossible.' She stared for a long moment at Macros. 'What is your purpose, strange creature? That is what we wish to know.'

The thing that was Macros stared back weakly at the old woman. 'I... only know I have been driven to lead the White, to get it ready.'

'Ready for what?' asked Audarun.

'I don't know.'

Suddenly Pug said, 'I know.'

All eyes turned to the magician. Pug looked at Macros. 'You have a message, somewhere in your memory, that someone was desperate to relay to us, but not until we had been here a while and seen with our own eyes the circ.u.mstances we are confronting.'

Macros said, 'But nothing stirs. Nothing is apparent.'

Magnus looked at the creature who had claimed to be his grandfather's spirit in a Dasati body and with a detached interest said, 'How do you feel?'

'The potion has restored some of my strength and I feel... otherwise, I feel empty.'

'The false life given you is draining away,' said Audarun. 'Your remaining time is short. At some point you will close your eyes and cease to be. There will be no pain.'

Macros lay back and stared at the ceiling. He said, 'I feel I should be angry, or frightened, or something. Instead I am merely concerned that I fulfil whatever mission I was created for, to bring you that message, Pug, if that's what I am to do.' He fell silent and then took a deep breath. 'It's so very strange to have these memories, yet to be told they are not my own.'

'What about this Dasati body?' Magnus asked Audarun.

'I suspect it was meant to die at that moment of faintness, when those false memories came, perhaps from a weakness of the heart or some other malady. But something someone seized that instant to instil the false human memories and keep the Dasati mind intact.' She shook her head slightly. 'It is an admirable feat, as subtle a magic as any I've encountered, yet at the same time it's extremely powerful necromancy.' She let out an audible sigh. 'I wish I knew who did this.'

'Ban-ath,' Pug said.

'Who?' asked the old witch.

'Ban-ath,'

Magnus said, 'The G.o.d of Thieves?'

Macros nodded. 'Kalkin.'

'Who is this being?' asked Audarun.

Pug said, 'In our realm we have many G.o.ds, though from what I have learned, not as many as you had before the rise of the Dark One.'

She smiled. 'How can one realm have more G.o.ds than another?'

Pug said, 'I'll leave theology to the clerics, but it may be that we merely find convenient labels for common elements so that we can better understand them; in short, fifty of your G.o.ds may in reality be only fifty aspects of a single G.o.d we worship under a single name.'

'Tell us of this Ban-ath.'

'Ban-ath, also called Kalkin, Aderios, Jashamish, and many other names by people of other nations. His simple soubriquet is "The Trickster", but he is more than this. He is the G.o.d of Thieves, but also the G.o.d of Lost Causes and Hopeless Quests, a rule-breaker and a master of misdirection.'

She laughed bitterly. 'Olapangi! Also known as the Deceiver to our people. I have long been a student of the old lore, and among the ten thousand G.o.ds he was always a favourite of mine. There are many old stories of the Deceiver, how he played pranks on the other G.o.ds and mortals alike. The name Dathamay, the man who this creature said came to him and made all things clear, that name is from an ancient myth: Dathamay was a tool of Olapangi, a dupe who went among the people telling them one thing, while Olapangi did another. The Deceiver was our most colourful, and often most dangerous G.o.d.

'He could be gentle or vicious, compa.s.sionate or ruthless, often at whim, but always with a purpose. We have an old saying, though few among the Dasati would recognize it as originating with the stories of Olapangi: "by whatever means necessary.'"

'The ends justify the means,' said Magnus.

'Ah, you have similar wisdom,' she acknowledged..

'I don't know how much wisdom there is in absolutes, but it is often the case that if the ends are vital enough, means that would otherwise be unthinkable...'Pug's eyes widened. 'I am such a fool,' he said softly.

'Father?' said Magnus.

'I... we, have all been used.'

'By Ban-ath?'

'Yes,' answered Pug. He went over to Macros, leaned down and looked him in the eyes, as if trying to see something within. 'You have been most ill-used of all, for whoever you were in this world, your time came prematurely and you were not even granted the dignity of being found at the roadside and given the rites of your people.'

Macros said, 'Now I remember.'

'What?' asked Pug.

The Dasati with Macros's features look up and smiled. 'I have a memory of you, Pug. When you and Tomas and the dragon Ryath came for me in the Garden...' He laughed. 'The Gardener! Kalkin's an evil b.a.s.t.a.r.d at times, but he does have a sense of humour.' He paused and Pug could see he was now in pain. With shining eyes, Macros said, 'We stood in the Garden that hovers at the edge of the City Forever and spoke of the dangers we thought we faced, the return of the Dragon Lords to Midkemia. You asked, "Then, why haven't the G.o.ds acted?" Do you remember how I answered?'

Pug nodded. 'Yes. You said, "They have. What do you think we're doing here? That is the game. And we are the pieces.'"

'Nothing has changed, Pug. That's the message. This is still a Game of G.o.ds, and we are the p.a.w.ns they use to win or lose. Kalkin can break rules like no other, for it is his nature, but even he has limits to what he does directly. And there is more. It is not Kalkin acting alone. He could not affect this realm without the consent of other G.o.ds.' His voice grew weak. 'I... Macros... was always the G.o.d's creature and he prepared the way. You are their creature, too, but you have a destiny beyond mine... his.' He closed his eyes, and Pug could see that the end was fast approaching. 'You must find Nakor. He has the answers.'

Pug nodded. 'I will.' He put his hand over Macros's eyes and said, 'We have no more need of you.'

The Dasati who had the memories of the ancient human magician slumped down. To the Bloodwitches, Pug said, 'Do with this empty vessel as you see fit.'

Audarun said, 'There were more questions -'

'And this creature had no answers,' finished Pug. 'It had accomplished its task.'

'And was that?' asked the old matriarch.

'We must return to the heart of the city, for somewhere there is a being of incredible danger, and a little gambler who is my friend, who is trying to control that being. And my friend, I have just been told, has the answers.'

'What being does your friend control?' asked Audarun, motioning for her attendant to take away the dead body that had been host to Macros's memories.

'A strange young man who is far more than merely a man. His name is Ralan Bek and he is here to save two universes. Your prophecies name him the G.o.dkiller.'

The three old Bloodwitches sat in silence, weighing Pug's words. 'How do you know of the Prophecy?' asked Audarun after a time.

'Martuch,' Pug replied. 'He has said things in pa.s.sing, and I have pieced together some sense of them. I do not yet fully understand our role in this matter, but it is as this lifeless creature said what Macros the Black, my wife's father, said to me lifetimes ago that this is a Game of G.o.ds and we are only pieces on the board.

'But we are also beings of will and intelligence and I will not see any of us squandered in a foolish gambit.' Pug turned to look at Magnus. 'We have a long journey.'