When Sarka opened her eyes again, she saw the brilliant light of day. A little girl's voice, still thick with tears over the treat she had been begging for, said, "Mama, she fell down."
Shaking, Sarka took her arms away from her face. She looked around, seeing no sign of Kogoren, nor of her army. But there was a ghostly figure crouched on the road.
"Tayo?" she whispered.
"Sarka!"
She looked back toward Atai's temple. In a few quick strides, Ro was at her side. He fell to his knees and seized her shoulders. His face was ashen with fear. "Are you alright?"
Sarka met his gaze without speaking. For some reason, his hands on her shoulders were all she could feel now, strong and sure. She turned her head. Tayo was still there, but he was not looking at her; he was looking down the street, toward where Kogoren had appeared.
"What happened? Did you feel it?" Ro asked.
"Feel it?" Sarka echoed. "I saw her."
"Her?"
"Kogoren." Impatience brought her back to herself, and she twisted free of his grasp. "Who else! Didn't you see her?"
Ro shook his head. "But I felt her. Everything went cold and dark, and I knew you were in danger."
"She's gone now." Sarka's body had begun to tremble as the shock faded and adrenaline mounted. She reached out to brace herself on Ro's shoulder to help herself to her feet.
He stood with her and took her arm. "We need to go inside."
Ro guided Sarka into Atai's temple, and Tayo trailed behind them. Sarka could not read the expression on the Beloved's face. No sooner had they crossed the threshold of the temple than the headless god appeared, first as a vague outline. The details of his form slowly clarified until he stood before them in the flesh, his head tucked under his arm. "Sarka. Ro. Tayo. Are you quite all right?"
Sarka blinked. Her vision was blurring. Tears? Confused, she stammered, "We're fine."
"Sarka, confound it! We aren't fine!" Ro addressed Atai in exasperation. "She just saw Kogoren."
"So I thought. I sensed her presence," said Atai. "I was...alarmed. She may be testing the ties that bind her to her land."
"I thought you said she couldn't come here!" cried Sarka. "You said you and the other gods stood against her and trapped her in her own realm!"
"We laid down a mandate, Sarka, but denizens of the Opal Realm have no true dominion over one another. We can sanction her, we can even fight her, but we cannot truly bind her. She knows that should she cross her borders, she risks the ire of the gods of Galdren. That would be enough to bring most of us to heel. What she sent just now was naught but a shade, a fragment of herself...but it portends ill."
"She must not fear you as much as you thought," said Ro.
"On the contrary, I think she does, which is why it has taken her this long to act. But there are two of you-three of you, counting Konn-and now that you have won the allegiance of so many of her Beloved, she must realize that you are not a force to be ignored." But Atai did not look proud, nor pleased; he looked grim. "Perhaps she senses that you want more than your own freedom. We must consider carefully the way forward from here."
The door opened, and Konn entered the room. He was pale, his brow beaded with sweat. "Tell me I've gone mad."
"Did you see her?" Sarka asked.
"No, but by my bones, I felt her." The priest staggered into the temple and slumped into a chair. He put his head in his hands.
"Konn?" Atai approached his priest and sat down beside him, letting his head fall carelessly into his lap and putting a hand on the old man's shoulder. "Take a deep breath, my son."
"I'm fine. I'll be fine." Konn did take a deep breath, then another. He looked at Atai's face, and the god reached down to set his head upright in order to meet Konn's gaze. "Matters have escalated."
"As if matters could escalate beyond genocide," Sarka said, falling back on anger-a comfortable emotion-in an effort to conceal her own panic. "Lord Atai said it was nothing but a shade."
"And I also said she may be testing us," said Atai, his clear blue gaze settling upon Sarka's face. "We are all of us in this together, Sarka; there is no need to lash out."
Sarka frowned, looking away from Atai, and as she did so, she caught Ro's eye; he had been looking at her, a strange expression on his face. It startled the frown off of her own. She decided to look at Tayo instead, but the expression on his face was no more reassuring. He looked sick. "Tayo, are you all right?"
Tayo faded from sight for an instant. When he came back, he was right at her side, crouched on the chair next to hers. He reached out and put a hand on her forearm, but still, he said nothing.
Atai continued. "Konn, what of Lady Deyna? Did you speak with her?"
"I did. She says she will grant us an audience. All of us. She was very clear about that. And she wishes to meet with us in her palace in the Opal Realm."
Atai frowned. "That is irregular."
"What do you mean, in the Opal Realm?" asked Ro. "The land of the gods?"
Sarka wondered what other Opal Realm Ro had heard about, but she bit back this snappish comment. Her own nature did not encourage her to be cool-headed at a time like this, but with Atai's gentle reprimand in mind, she had no wish to make matters worse. Besides, this was unexpected-not only that Deyna had requested to speak to all of them, not just her peer, Atai, but that she had requested they attend her in the realm of the gods.
"She would speak with us there, yes," said Konn.
"How-?" asked Sarka.
"I can open a portal for you," said Atai. "If you agree to go."
"Why wouldn't we? We need this goddess's allegiance...right?" Ro gestured with his abbreviated hand. "Go on. Open up."
"We should talk about this." Atai could not shake his head, but the stump of his neck quivered as if to attempt. "We must approach Deyna carefully and with great respect. She is the patroness of this city, but she is also perhaps the most powerful deity in Galdren and she carries significant clout in the realm of the gods. Most of the Galdrenite gods are her allies-including Lord Daros. I did not have time to speak to him before Kogoren's presence called me back. Deyna can intercede with him on our behalf. They are strong allies. And of all of us, Deyna has the most ties to the deities of other lands."
"Like the Annari gods? Can she intercede with Jalea on our behalf?" asked Ro.
Sarka glanced at him. As usual, he was two steps ahead. The shrewd expression on his face made her feel calmer.
A little.
"That is the hope," said Atai, "but we must all of us be careful." He turned his eyes toward Sarka, looking at her directly. "Sarka, you must not offend her."
Sarka had learned a lot about herself over the past many weeks. Atai's direct counsel revealed nothing she did not already know: she was the one most likely to get them into trouble with her sharp tongue or impulsiveness. But his cautionary words did impress upon her the stakes of what was to come, if she had not already realized them. She lowered her gaze and shrugged one shoulder. "I'm not going to start an argument."
Ro laughed. "Sarka, you could start an argument with a shoe."
"That's stupid," she muttered. "Shoes can't argue."
The ash-walker and the priest exchanged a knowing look that Sarka did not like at all, but she knew it was not the time to dispute. She got back to the matter at hand. "Fine. When are we going to go see this golden goddess?"
"As soon as may be-if you have no objections, Lord Atai," Konn said. "If Kogoren has breached the boundaries of our land and Deyna's city, it is likely to draw the attention of more gods than Deyna alone, and we know Jalea stands against us. Who knows what unrest he is creating? We must petition for Deyna's allegiance as soon as we can."
Tayo spoke for the first time. "I and the other Beloved cannot go with you, Sarka. Do you understand?"
"But-"
"We can walk in the Opal Realm, but we cannot cross Lady Deyna's threshold. And..."
"And you are banished from Kogoren's palace," Sarka finished for him. She put her hand over Tayo's. "I know."
"We can't protect you."
Sarka looked round at Konn, Atai, and Ro. "The other Beloved cannot cross Deyna's threshold either. And we will be with Lord Atai. We'll be safe."
Tayo looked at the headless god, nodding his head. "I will await you here. I and the others."
"All right, then: let us go." Atai stood and tucked his head under his arm, and the rest of them followed him to the front of the temple. Then, Atai raised a hand and, with two fingers, he traced a pattern in the air before him. At once, Sarka perceived a difference in the atmosphere, and when she looked, the space before the god seemed to shimmer.
"Konn, lead Sarka and Ro," said Atai. "I will follow behind and close the portal."
"Have you done this before?" Ro asked Konn.
"No," said the priest, bestowing a beatific smile upon the two heathens. Then, he stepped into the shimmering air before Atai and disappeared.