“Carry these words with you as you carry your doubt, Sungui.”
Sungui’s eyes were wet. How could she ever dream of betraying such a noble dream? Zyung’s sacrifice was the light of the world. The hope for its future. What better cause to serve than this? There was none other, only the slumbering desire for the ancient freedom she had known in the days of Blood and Fire. Days when the Old Breed were dark Gods who toppled pre-human civilizations as children cast aside their toys. Zyung was among the first to tire of such sport, replacing it with his Great Idea. Yet Iardu had resisted him even at its birth, fleeing into realms where chaos persisted. What secret did Iardu know about mankind and its savage nature? Or was he simply selfish?
“What of Ianthe?” Sungui asked. “And Gammir? Do they serve you truly?”
Zyung frowned. The inner flames of his eyes grew brighter.
“Not yet,” he said. “They serve themselves and believe that I do not know it. The Panther has ruled in defiance of Iardu for so long, she wishes only to maintain her power. Gammir is little more than her lapdog. Yet in serving their own desires, these two will serve mine as well. Their enemies are also mine, so they will aid me to regain their lost kingdom. Yet once their desires are fulfilled, they would of course betray me. Before that time comes, I will sway them to our cause. I will teach them to love me, and to love mankind. Failing that, I will end them. But not yet. They are of use to me. To us.”
Sungui was still uncertain as to how much Zyung knew about her dalliances with the Wolf and Panther. Yet his words had moved her. His wisdom saw through the fawning words and false pledges of Ianthe, yet did his power see through the blinding screen of her own servitude? Perhaps he did not need to, for he already knew what to expect from Ianthe and Gammir.
“I will consider all that you have said,” Sungui told him. “As I continue to serve your Great Idea, and your Holy Will.” She bowed low.
“I know that you will,” said Zyung. “You may go.”
Sungui departed the council chamber heedless of the crewmen and warriors walking the upper decks. Her thoughts were cast inward, churning like the restless sea after the sinking of Moro-vanga. The High Lord Celestial was testing her–he had been testing her for ages. She suddenly realized how important her service was to him. This meant that her power was even greater than she had recognized. Yet still Zyung knew that he could obliterate her if she moved in open rebellion. That she had never done. There were none to join her in that endeavor, none who could overcome their fear of his matchless power.
That is, until the coming of Ianthe and Gammir. The Wolf and Panther feared nothing.
There was much to think about.
She went below decks to take her rest. The armada turned its prows westward once again. Tomorrow they would see the mainland, and the true battles would begin.
The seed of doubt continued to hum in her heart. It would grow, like any seed, according to the forces that shaped and directed its power.
She met Ianthe after midnight beneath the branches of the flag-ship’s Ethus Tree. The heart chamber was empty but for the tree and the six High Seraphim gathered between its curling root-walls. The ship was quiet save for the distant beating of its wings and the synchronized grunting of the night oarsmen. Sungui’s senses were always amplified this close to the tree; she did not know if the others could hear these sounds as she did.
The armada was speeding toward the mainland. It was only a matter of hours until they touched ground where the stones of Shar Dni lay gathering dust.
This latest assembly of conspirators might have taken place on some other ship, further from Zyung’s presence. Yet Ianthe and Gammir were restricted to the Daystar. The Almighty wished to keep them close, as he had kept her in his sight all these millennia. The Panther’s power might screen her actions and words from Zyung, but evidently she did not wish to risk being able to hide her physical absence from the ship. Perhaps her screening only worked when done right under the Almighty’s nose. It was a tactic Sungui herself had used in the past, although now she doubted that her own efforts at deceiving Zyung had ever worked. He had tolerated her ceremonies of remembrance instead of quashing them. Could he be tolerating Ianthe’s plot as well?
In the shadow of the golden tree the Panther and her Wolf waited for Sungui. She was not surprised to see fat Durangshara standing there; the cruel one had responded to Ianthe’s wickedness because it matched his own. As far as Sungui knew, Durangshara did not feed on the blood of slaves, but he enjoyed their torment. She was surprised, however, to find Bahlah the Young and Lochdan the Eye with Ianthe, for those two had never joined the ceremonies of Those Who Listen. Sungui had thought them hopelessly Diminished. Ianthe’s charms, it seemed, were formidable enough to sway even those who had never questioned their faith in Zyung. Sungui was once again impressed.