Tashi swayed as if he had struck her: this was the last thing she had been expecting. A demand

for a ransom or treaty, threats and bargains: she had been prepared for all these, but an order

that she recant was startling and offensive. Seeing her surprise, Fergox smiled and beckoned the

priests.

They moved in behind Tashi, pacing forward to the beat of a solemn low chant. Unnerved, she

turned to find the icon elevated in front of her, the frowning god with his spear and axe looking

down on her like Fergox's angry twin. The chief priest struck his staff on the ground.

"Pay homage to Holin!"

Tashi faced Fergox and clasped her hands in an appeal. "Lord Fergox, I am a ruler of my country

and should be treated with the respect due to my rank. I stand here as a helpless prisoner. You

should not abuse your power over me with insults to my faith."

113

Fergox descended the step and took her shoulders. He pulled her round to face the priests

again.

"Come now, my little princess, all you need do is kneel and this will all be over," he said in her ear.

111

Tashi shook her head. "I cannot do what you ask, sir."

He frowned. "I feared as much." He nodded to the priest and raised his voice. "The delusion remains. The girl must be cleansed before she can accept the truth. I entrust her to you and your

brethren." He gave Tashi a little shove between the shoulder blades.

"But, sir!" Tashi cried. "I am a state prisoner! You cannot treat me like this!"

Fergox continued to walk back to the throne, not even paying her the courtesy of looking at her

as he spoke. "You are an infidel in need of salvation. I can treat you as I see fit." He sat down.

"It's for your own good."

Two acolytes seized Tashi's arms. The chanting grew louder, swelling around her so that her

protests could no longer be heard. The chief priest snatched off her veil and orange sash and

cast them into the fireplace. He then ripped off her dragonfly gown and orange tunic, tearing the

priceless fabric as he did so. When Tashi was clad only in white, he put round her shoulders a

long black robe.

"The mark of the penitent," intoned the chief priest to his audience.

114

He held up a cloth to be blessed by sacred water sprinkled from a gold cup.

"The falsehoods of the demon goddess will be wiped from your heart as we wipe the mark of

her from your face." Tashi tried to duck but the two acolytes pinned her arms to her sides. With

rough movements of the cloth, the chief priest removed the white paint from

112

her face. "You return to us as a humble petitioner for the mercy of the all-powerful

Warmonger."

"No!" Tashi shouted. She wanted everyone to hear that she resisted this and would until her last breath. "No, no! I am the Mother's servant. I am--"

The chanting grew louder.

"You will come to our temple to seek enlightenment," announced the chief priest. "You will dwell there to be schooled out of your errors until you are ready to avow publicly your

repentance."

"I won't!" Tashi sobbed. "I won't! You can't make me!"

The body of priests bowed to Fergox and filed out of the chamber, forcing Tashi along in their

midst. Silence fell as the doors closed on them.

"Well," said Fergox, jumping to his feet and rubbing his hands as the dragonfly robe smoldered in the fire, "I thought that went very well." He clapped Ramil on the back. "She'll make an excellent penitent. I am looking forward to forgiving her."

115

The priests placed Tashi in a cell in the temple crypt. It was freezing cold but they appeared to

think that earthly comforts would impede her conversion.

She curled up in the corner, hiding her face under the sleeve of the robe, aware that many

people were coming and going by the grating in her cell door to stare at the foreigner. Her heart

was filled with bitterness and shame.

She realized now that she had only been allowed her robes so she could be ceremonially

stripped of them before

113

the eyes of Fergox's court. She had unwittingly played into his hands by coming dressed as the

Fourth Crown Princess.

I should have gone as barefoot Tashi in rags, then perhaps they would have spared me, she

thought miserably.

But no, that seemed unlikely. Fergox was set on defeating her, forcing her to submit to his

bloodthirsty god. There was no question of sparing her.

And would she bow to this god eventually? The Mother seemed to have abandoned her; did it

matter whom she worshipped now?

She groaned softly, then bit her lip to stop any further betraying noises. Yes, it did matter. Not

for the Fourth Crown Princess, not even for the Blue Crescent Islands, but for Tashi. Fergox had

taken away everything she'd had since she was twelve--respect, power, position--but she would

not let him take away the girl who had said her prayers to the sun each morning, accompanied

116

only by her goats.

Tashi shivered, hearing sniggering at the door. It was easy to make such proud statements; so

much harder to live by them. She rubbed her cold feet, trying to bolster her resolve.

I have known a mother's love and so surely the great Mother of us all is worth serving even

when she appears to have turned her favor away?

That wasn't enough, not nearly enough against the humiliation she was suffering. What else

could she use to protect herself against despair?

A true believer goes on believing even when all else is lost.

114

It's the last thing I have to hold on to. If I let go of that, then I have lost my soul. I've killed Tashi.

But grim determination didn't stop her feeling wretched. Nor did it stop her tears. She did not

care what the onlookers thought. She was still, after everything, only a young girl. Only human.

She hoped they would remember that.

Alone in his chamber, Ramil fumed, pacing up and down. He had watched that whole sorry farce

unwillingly--a naked sword poked in his back by the guard behind him. It had been made very

clear to him that if he spoke, or even tried to leave, the guard would run him through on

Fergox's orders.

Ramil thumped the wall. The poor Princess had walked to her doom without any idea what lay in

store. She had been humiliated before everyone, but at least she had not gone quietly. He

mentally applauded her defiance. Under that Blue Crescent reserve there was a fine, spirited

117

girl. He wondered how he had not noticed back in Gerfal. But what must she be thinking and

feeling now, holed up somewhere with those priests? He was desperate to do something for

her, to let her know that she had a friend in the castle. It would do no harm to his own pride to

explain that he had been forced to watch her ritual shaming. He could not bear her thinking he

collaborated in it with Fergox.

Ramil looked around his room for inspiration and

115

noticed the desk under the window. A sheet of paper lay ready for any letters he cared to write.

Pushing the inkpot aside, he picked up the paper and set to work.

"Princess, Princess!"

Tashi raised her head to the door. It was getting dark and even colder. She felt as if her feet and

hands had turned to ice. But no one all day had called her "Princess." "Witch," "demon" and other even worse names, but not that.

"Who is it?" she asked tentatively.