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"No For us a little point of light in the sky will brighten, then fade until at last it vanishes"

"You will be happy in Gaon, Rajan"

Oreb clucked unhappily

"No doubt I will Certainly I will try to be What about you, Hari Mau? Will you be happy, too?"

"Delighted, Rajan Elated" Hari Mau's tone left no rooht you to our town You will be our foremost citizen, and I will be second only to you We will be respected and admired, and all of us will live in peace and justice for the rest of our lives It is not a sreed, "it isn't Indeed, it hed He had a warh, full of joy "You would not talk like that, Rajan, if you could see the house we are building for you The work had begun before we left, and it will be finished by now We have been in Gaon only fourteen years Perhaps I told you?" He paused, counting on his fingers "Fifteen now It becan city"

"You mean Viron?"

"Yes We were there only eleven days Were we not fortunate to find you so quickly?"

The man he called Rajan looked mildly surprised "Why no"

"But ere, Rajan Not fortunate, to find you so quickly out of so reatly"

Oreb cocked his head "Good luck?"

"Certainly not, Oreb-or at least it wasn't lucky as luck is usually reckoned" Hishero beside him "First of all, you were not lucky because you did not find thefor I know you think I'm Silk;where your friends may overhear me, but I knoho I aesture

"Second, because it was carefully arranged that you should find me and take me away I believe Calde Bison nizance the Prolocutor did"

"Are you sure, Rajan? If you are, Gaon owes the, because they were not concerned to benefit it They wanteddecent men at base were happy to accoht I was Silk, you see, just as you do; and as Silk I was an embarrassment, an encroachuess, sent the merchant who conveniently offered ain price"

"Rajan?"

He sighed "I sincerely hope they carried through their ruse, and Hound actually got the candles to take back to Tansy and her mother in Endroad What is it?"

"Your teh the city to announce that you would offer ods there It cannot be that they were not proud of you"

"Did they? I hadn't heard about that It hile I was talking with His Cognizance and General Mint, I suppose In that case, Calde Bison's involvement-"

"Bad man!"

"Is quite certain The Chapter doesn't have trumpeters, but the Calde's Guard does No, he isn't, Oreb That's what I've been telling you A bad man would have had e it, and giggled over it afterward"

"If they wished you away, Rajan, why pay you such honors?"

"So they would not be blahed, and there was sohter "We plot and plan so very hard to do the Outsider's will, Hari Mau We think ourselves, oh, so wise! I understood at the end Have I told you?"

"No, Rajan" Hand together, Hari Mau made him a little seated bow "I would be pleased to learn"

"They took away Hound, you see Or at least Bison did, and it's even possible his wife helped, though I doubt it They lefthe would be easy for you to deal with Because he was blind, he would be no protection to me"

"Nor was he, Rajan"

"I didn't want protection, I wanted Pig's sight restored, and I knew that if the Fliers said it could be done at the West Pole, it could be Most people have never spoken to a Flier, but I knew one once They are Crew, and know a great deal we do not" He paused, chuckling "Patera Gulo came to Ermine's to warn me I'm sure I haven't told you about that"

Hari Mau shook his head

"I didn't think so Patera Gulo was o Pardon me-I misspoke He was Silk's acolyte I don't kno I came to make such a ive, Rajan"

"He was Silk's acolyte, but he's coadjutor now I supposed in nizance had sent hih-ranking prelate for a e with a note, or his prothonotary

"The truth of the matter, as I came to understand afterward, was that Gulo had coh position to his past association with Silk When His Cognizance learned of his little visit-as he surely did very soon-he saw to it that it wasn't repeated, and claimed credit for it He even went so far as to warn me about you and your Gaonese, as Bison did Neither, of course, took steps to prevent your takingme in the sacristy, Hari Mau?"

"One of your priests told us where you were, and pointed it out to us e told him we desired to speak to you But, Rajan, you would not think they had treated you ill if you could see your house It will be the biggest in Gaon A house, a garden, and a fountain, all beautiful Your wives will choose the furnishings"

"My wives?" He stared

"Only four e left, Rajan, but the ested to other towns that they send their daughters Most will That is what Rajya Mantri thinks, and he is wise in such matters Besides ould-"

"You irl?" Oreb inquired sleepily