«All right, Maz-father,» said the king, smiling. The smile made him look quite a bit younger than his twenty-five years. The smile faded. «Krimon spoke of your having captured the Looter war machine and learned its secrets. I–I won't ask if this was true. I can't imagine you lying, at least not to the people. But tell us more. Tell us-have you found some way we can defeat the Looters? Is there any hope for us?»

«I honestly do not know,» said Blade. «I myself need to learn much more. But let me tell you what I have learned already.» He poured himself more beer.

«To start with, I believe there is a chance to make the purple ray of the war machines harmless. If we face the Looters wearing only things that once lived-wood, teksin, leather, cloth-the ray may not kill. I have seen things that make me believe this is so. But I cannot yet be sure. We must test this further.»

King Rikard's eyes widened. Blade knew he now had his son's full attention, and would not lose it.

Hours passed. So did much more beer and a large meal of roast meat and steamed porridge. The light that crept in around the leather curtains in the window began to fade and turn red. Blade went on talking, answering his son's questions and getting answers to some of his own.

Eventually darkness came down. King Rikard rose and stretched out his long muscular arms until his hands seemed ready to punch through the ceiling.

«Father, I know that you have more to say. But in a single day I can only hear so much of things that I can hardly believe. You do understand?» Blade nodded. «Then we can finish tomorrow. And after we have finished, will you speak to the whole council? They must all hear what you have learned, and decide what must be done.»

«Isn't it obvious?»

«Father, it is obvious to me. I know it will be just as obvious to the council when they have heard it. But they must hear it. Otherwise it will be said in Tharn that the return of Mazda is making the king return to the old ways of ruling. None wish that.» Anyara and Krimon nodded.

Blade grinned again. «I see you haven't much to learn in statecraft.»

«Thank you, father. Now-there will be a chamber ready for you in a few minutes. Would you care to do us the honor of taking one of the women of the King's House to you this night?»

Blade hadn't expected this. Handing a woman over to a male guest for his amusement was a custom he hadn't expected to find among the people, who were trying so hard not to be barbarians. Had his son really become so much the barbarian warrior chieftain as that?

Except-

Blade shot a look at Anyara. She was nodding enthusiastically, and so was Krimon. There was something definitely odd here.

«What does the woman have to say in this?»

Anyara and King Rikard both laughed out loud. «I see. You think we have gone back to the habits of the Pethcines, handing our women about as though they were swords or boots. It is not so. Even if I wanted to make it so, the first seven women I met would claw out my eyes and cut off my manhood with dull knives if I tried.

«But the seed of Mazda is precious and powerful. Many women of the people who are of an age to bear children would most gladly take that seed into themselves, in the hope of bearing a child of Mazda. Girl or boy, they would be happy with either. They know it will be a strong child. We need strong children, father. We need all the strong children we can get, so that in time we will have all the strong men and women we need.»

«Even children of the seed of Mazda?» said Blade.

«I do not understand, father. Is-is there something wrong with your seed? Certainly I show no signs of it if there is.»

Blade laughed. «You do not. But consider that you are King in Tharn because you are the only one sprung from the seed of Mazda. What will happen to you when there are a dozen or a score of such?»

«Or even hundreds. Why not be hopeful?» put in Anyara.

King Rikard shook his head. «It will be good for Tharn, even so. I am indeed the first. I am the son begotten from the Beloved Zulekia by Mazda during his first appearance. I am set apart from all others by this, and I always will be set apart. Also, I have already ruled a good many years. With luck and long life I will have ruled many years more before the first of your new children is old enough to bear a child or swing a sword. I cannot see what they can do before then that I need fear. What they do after that is far in the future. We have things much closer at hand to worry about.»

Rikard rose. «It grows late.» He reached out and clasped Blade firmly by one hand and the other shoulder. «It is time for sleep. Anyara will show you to your chamber, then leave you. Krimon, there will be a chamber in this house for you also.» Rikard strode out, the neuter following him. Blade rose and followed the woman.

Blade's chamber was low and even more cramped than King Rikard's meeting hall. Smoke from the grease-soaked taper that was the only light hung in the air. The floor was covered with hide mattresses filled with straw and a spectacular array of furs. On the wall hung a magnificently jeweled set of armor and weapons, obviously from old Urcit.

Blade shook his head. It was going to take some getting used to, this mixture of crude living conditions, relics of one civilization, and hopes for another one. Here in Tharn it was hard not to live in three worlds at once.

The leather curtain swung aside and a young woman entered. She too was a mixture. She wore baggy trousers and a shapeless tunic of leather, and her feet were bare. But she was freshly scrubbed, and her dark hair flowed clean and glossy down her back.

The Pethcine blood in her showed in the olive complexion, the black hair, the slight tilt to her eyes. But she had a massive, almost jutting nose, plump round cheeks tanned from many hours in the sun and the wind, and an even rounder bosom and hips that showed through her baggy garments. Around her hips was a rawhide belt, and from it hung a sheathed dagger. She moved with a sturdy grace, her stride long and free, her pose showing no sign of submission or fear.

She stopped as she saw Blade.

«So you are Mazda.» Her voice was low and respectful, but she did not sound at all awestruck at being in Mazda's presence.

«I am Mazda,» said Blade.

«Do you find me fit and pleasing for coi, Mazda?» Again her voice was respectful, but not submissive. She looked at Blade as she spoke, as if defying him to say that she was not fit and pleasing.

«I think you are both fit and pleasing,» said Blade. She certainly seemed to be. Blade had been longer than he liked without a woman, but he hadn't lowered his standards. He never did, unless there was a sword pointed at his throat or some equally persuasive argument in favor of bedding a woman he would normally have ignored.

Blade rose, went over to the woman, and took her in his arms. She was taller than he had realized, at least five feet six. After a moment's hesitation her own arms went around him, and her hands began stroking the small of his back.

«What is your name?»

«Chara,» she said softly. «My father was-«Blade bent down and kissed her before she could finish. For a moment her lips were taut under his, then flowered open, warm, wet, and clinging. Her arms tightened around him. He reached down and grasped her tightly by the hips, pulling her hard against him. He was erect now, and her eyes flickered open as she felt his maleness-Mazda's maleness-thrusting up against her.

«It is-I must-«she murmured, gently disentangling herself from him. She unbuckled her belt and let it slide to the floor. Then swiftly she reached down and drew her tunic over her head. She wore nothing under it. Her skin had a coppery glint to it in the faint lamplight, and her full breasts swayed gently as she moved. Her nipples were large and dark, and Blade could see that they had already sprouted into hard little points. He reached out and stroked those points with thumb and forefinger. Chara swallowed hard several times and squeezed her eyes tightly shut.