“She lies,” said Uncle Argoth. “You can fight her.”

“Does not a dog glory in the praise of its master? Has it not been bred to do so? The world of men was domesticated ages ago. Your very nature makes you dependent on us. The only difference between you and your dogs is the genius with which you were bred.” She turned to Talen. “You were woven to work with me without impediment. Your only taskmaster will be my approbation.”

The woman came to him in her beauty and shining light.

“Save him,” Talen said and pointed at Da.

“All in good time,” said the woman. “All in good time. First, we shall see if you are what you claim to be.”

Yes, he thought. That was right. But underneath it all he knew it was not. Da was dying. Every second would count.

“You have been bred to wield power impossible to others. We will raise an army from the very earth,” said the woman. “And you will command it.”

She approached him, reaching out with her smoky hands. Her shining escort enveloped him.

He should have felt fear, but all he felt was the ease of the woman and her smiling eyes. The music in the crown built. He could feel it vibrating in his feet and across his shoulders. But why was he even holding it? He let it drop to the floor. An odd thought came to him: Atra was nothing compared to this woman, yet this woman looked like Atra.

Something probed him. Talen held his doors closed, but he could feel her gnawing all along his essence with something as small and sharp as the teeth of rats.

The probing became stronger.

Reflexively, he shut himself tight as River had taught him.

The woman pulled away and appraised him. He felt her pleasure and it almost sent him to his knees. “You are indeed mine. Mine from the moment you were conceived. The weave has been changed. But it’s nothing that, with time, cannot be undone.”

She spoke in Atra’s voice. Looked at him with Atra’s eyes. Except they weren’t Atra’s. They were at once more alien and more captivating than Atra’s could ever be.

Another wave of pleasure washed over him. He looked at Da’s body. It was not right to have such wondrous feelings. It was wicked. It was an abomination. And yet he could not deny the power of them.

“In time you will become as great as the Goat King himself.”

Suddenly a music inside him swelled. It sang in his blood and bones. He thought it was the crown, but then he remembered he’d dropped that. For a brief moment the fog in his mind cleared away. The woman’s voice fell flat.

Talen looked at her. Gone were the luminous eyes, the elegant neck and brow. Gone the alluring lips. In their place were black pits for eyes and a sucker mouth full of sharp teeth.

He recoiled.

An illusion-she was not one of the old gods. Not a benefactor. It was as if a huge blast of cold wind had just awakened him. His mind had been foggy, but now was crystal sharp.

And yet the desire to serve her seeped back through him.

“Yes,” said the woman. “He too was a master of the harvest that served my mother ages ago. For a time, the populace under his care yielded marvelous results. You will be his heir.”

The Goat King’s heir…

The title felt marvelous, and yet, underneath it ran a filth with a sickening taint.

The glorious woman was back. His heart longed to serve her. But in his blood and bones he knew the truth-that longing was her doing.

He had been twisted-to crave her.

That knowledge momentarily lessened her power, and he wondered: Was this what his mother had seen in him and given her life to fix? Surely even the pox wouldn’t take a whole life to heal. No, more likely she’d recognized the enemy’s tool and given her life to engineer one small flaw so that his adoration wouldn’t be totally complete.

But if that were the case, it wasn’t much of a flaw because the woman’s joy rushed back to suffuse him.

“River!” roared Uncle Argoth. “Now!”

River rushed toward him. She moved with frightening speed. In an eyeblink she sped from across the chamber and leapt into a flying kick.

He’d fought with River. He knew, at this speed, her kick would carry the force to break bones.

The woman stepped back, and as she did, Talen realized River was not directing the attack at the woman. She was directing it at him. At his head. Her blow would crack his skull. At the very least it would snap his neck bones.

River’s face was twisted with fury and grief.

Talen had no time to react.

But the blow did not land.

The monster rushed forward and, in a lightning strike, caught her ankle. River’s foot stopped a breath away from his face.

The monster twisted her leg, and River fell to the ground.

“Another one,” the hideous woman said. “It looks like we shall raise our army a bit faster than expected. Put her next to the male.”

The monster moved to carry River next to Da.

“Wait!” Talen said. “Wait.”

The woman turned. “Will you serve me?”

“Boy,” said Uncle Argoth. He made a small movement with his hand indicating Talen should come close. In his hand, close to his leg, he held a stone.

Why did they want to kill him?

The answer came: they believed they couldn’t fight this creature. They didn’t have the power.

But he was something else. “A body,” River had said, “can only accept so much Fire at once.” He had poured forth Fire that would easily kill ten men. He could pour forth a flood. He had been bred to it. And he’d been given one tiny flaw.

No, they couldn’t fight the woman. But perhaps he could.

Yes, he could. He didn’t have much of a chance. But something was better than nothing at all.

Argoth beckoned. Talen looked again at the stone in his Uncle’s hand. Even if he could get close to Argoth, the monster would be watching. It would foil Uncle Argoth as it had River.

He knew what they wanted-they wanted the woman’s tool destroyed. But his plan could do that. He might not be a victor. But he could fight despite his limitations. And he would do it in a way that would put the woman on her heels.

The monster still held River’s ankle as if she were some child’s toy.

Talen stepped around them, toward the woman. “I choose to serve you.”

Her pleasure rushed through him; it washed him from heel to crown, an ecstasy like he’d never experienced. His resolve faltered. He wanted so desperately to serve.

“You will have your heart’s desires,” the woman said. But he knew she lied. She wasn’t going to save Da. She wasn’t going to spare River. He’d seen her for what she was. Of course, part of him didn’t care what she was. Most of him didn’t care.

“No!” shouted Argoth. “No good can come from this. You cannot lie with sheep and sire men.”

“Hunger,” the woman commanded.

“Trust me,” Talen said again. But he didn’t know if he could trust himself.

He turned to his sister and saw her dismay. He looked into her lovely, grief-stricken eyes. “I love you, sister,” he said. “I will see you in brightness.”

Her face fell.

“No,” said Uncle Argoth, but the heat was gone from his voice.

The living light about the woman reached out to him. “In the end,” she said, “they will see your wisdom and thank you. Now we must hollow you so that we may repair what was done. Hunger, come.”

The monster took River back to the wall and chained her with double the chains. It left her there and strode over to Talen.

Talen flexed his essence. River had told him to practice closing himself every moment he could. He had done this. He knew how to open and close himself. He only needed to fling himself wide at the right moment.

The Mother spoke into Hunger’s mind. As soon as we have the master in our control, you will take the others and quicken your brethren.

Yes, he said, and his heart fell. Hunger had done all she had commanded. He had kept his part of the bargain. But she had just lied to the boy. And if she lied to her overseer, why would she ever keep her word to him, a thing destined for the devouring?