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"He’s dead now," Telemakos stated frankly

I hesitated "He ounded in the battle of Camlan," I said "He ounded in body and spirit, and we lost him after we buried our father"

Telemakos sank both hands deep in the dark fur of the lion skin, and stood silent At last he pushed himself away from the wall and said evenly, "Look, here is er than Medraut She stood tall and calainst her scalp, following the curve of her head, then billowing loose at her neck in an ebony cloud Telemakos went to stand close to her side, beneath her arainst her

"This is my mother, Turunesh Kidane," said Tele in my travel-stained clothes and salt-spattered boots "Peace to you, Princess Goewin," she said, in accented Latin "Peace to you, little sister You’ve been lost"

She held out her hand, and I took it She touched uest," I said "I bring only evil news, and I have just had a roaring quarrel with my fiancé before half the io, when Constantine arrived" Turunesh laughed, then stopped suddenly She lifted her hand from her son’s shoulder to sht ain I hesitated I hated what I would have to tell her Throughout the last day I spent with Medraut he had not spoken a single word aloud

Turunesh said gently, "It does not coht it must be so, or you would not have traveled alone Tell ain "I mean, I truly cannot tell," I said "I do not knohat happened to hione,"

I dropped Turunesh’s hand and knelt by her side, so that I was level with Telemakos He turned his head toward me He kept his eyes politely lowered, his expression quiet and still I, too, touched his bright hair

"I would never have seen hi our supper in the garden," his mother told him "And then coffee You ht to bed when the coffee is brought out You’ve been playing with the eain, haven’t you? Go take a bath"

Telemakos bowed his head, then turned quickly and ran past us into the house I watched hi Darkness fell suddenly, and the butler Ferearden The night seemed full of little noises: the soft, wet pip-pip of the ornaranite pool at ain;in the thatched awning above our heads, the rustle of wind in the leaves of the giant syca with Constantine

Ferem cleared away the baskets that had held the flat injera bread, and set before Turunesh a tray heavy with strange equip, a mortar, pans, and tiny earthen cups The butler put a hand on Telemakos’s shoulder, and the child stood up and let himself be led away to bed without protest

I opened my mouth to ask, "What happens now?" and what came out was, "What happened in Himyar?"

"We were at ith them for seventeen years," Turunesh answered "Hier than Aksum has been Christian, three hundred years orthe Aksuion a protectorate under a native viceroy But the Aksumite settlers did not like Caleb’s choice, so they threw the viceroy out and elected one of their own to take his place"

"Abreha"

"Yes"

"Why was Abreha in Himyar?"

"Caleb had sent hiht

I asked aloud, "So then Caleb sent Pria down Abreha?"

"Not at first He sent his own son, Aryat, and Aryat was slain by Abreha Then he sent Priaainst hi He was ht after Hector’s, and Abreha defeated hie to sit in the dark courtyard, both of us tight with grief, and calo

"They struck a truce," Turunesh finished "Priae back to the emperor Caleb"

"Cynric used him in that exact way after Camlan," I said "He was the only one of ue"

"That will not help his reputation at all," Turunesh co the burner "‘Have no trust in translators,’ Caleb used to say"

She blew gently on the flahtening "Let’s no longer speak of Hi to make you coffee We’ll drink in ive away a kingdoht share another cup of coffee withover the blue and yellow flaroild on the highland hillsides; we roast and grind the seeds, then steep them to make a drink Your brother hated it But he liked the ceremony Only a woman may make coffee Watch"