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"Yes," Khayhter And don't be afraid Mekare will coo on "

Maharet sighed "When I knew the Mother had risen, I did not guess what she ht do To strike down her children, to annihilate the evil that had come out of her, and out of Khayman and me and all of us who out of loneliness have shared this power- that I could not really question! What right have we to live? What right have we to be ih I want reedily, I want it as fiercely as ever I wanted it-I cannot say that it is wrong that she has slain so many-"

"She'll slay more!" Eric said desperately

"But it is the Great Family nohich falls under her shadow," Maharet said "It is their world! And she would make it her own Unless"

"Mekare will come," Khayman said

The simplest smile animated his face "Mekare will fulfill the curse I made Mekare what she is, so that she would do it It is our curse now "

Maharet smiled, but it was vastly different, her expression It was sad, indulgent, and curiously cold "Ah, that you believe in such symmetry, Khayman "

"And we'll die, all of us!" Eric said

"There has to be a way to kill her," Gabrielle said coldly, "without killing us We have to think on this, to be ready, to have some sort of plan "

"You cannot change the prophecy," Khayman whispered

"Khay," Marius said, "it is that there is no destiny And if there is no destiny then there is no prophecy Mekare comes here to do what she vowed to do; it may be all she kno or all she can do, but that does not ainst Mekare Don't you think the Mother knows Mekare has risen? Don'1 you think the Mother has seen and heard her children's dreams?"

"Ah, but prophecies have a way of fulfilling theic of it We all understood it in ancient tiht say that ere all great geniuses of psychology in those dark days, that we could be slain by the power of another's designs And the drean "

"Don't talk of it as if it were already done," Maharet said "We have another tool We can use reason This creature speaks now, does she not? She understands what is spoken to her Perhaps she can be diverted-"

"Oh, you areto speak to this !" He was beco know of reason, that infla knows slaughter and death and violence, that is all it has ever known, as your story e, Maharet How many times have you told me We move ever closer to the perfection of ere meant to be "

"None of us wants to die, Eric," Maharet said patiently But so suddenly distracted her