“Oh, but there is so much more!” the dwarf offered cheerfully. “The Miracle of the Faery Halls! The Miracle of the Hak’kaarin! The Miracle of the. .”
Elder Kintaro groaned.
“THANK YOU!” Shasa said too loudly.
It was late by the time RuuKag was led out of the lodge. As the manticore was led from the room, Urulani moved to one of the guttering torches at the side of the room.
“He is hiding something,” Kintaro said a few moments after the door closed behind RuuKag.
“He is afraid,” Shasa replied. “Fear can make anyone do foolish things.”
“He doesn’t believe in Drakis,” Kintaro said.
“He says he does not know, but, then, he doesn’t really believe in anything,” Harku observed. “Which is of no use to us.”
Urulani pulled the fluttering torch from its mount and snuffed it out in the pot filled with sand sitting on the floor below it. “You will not need the others.”
“How so?” Harku asked.
Urulani pulled a new torch from a second holding pot and lit it on one of the other torches. “Because one is a Lyric who no longer knows herself-or finds it too painful to be herself. In either case, examining her will not help you.”
“And the other?” asked Kintaro.
“The other is a chimerian,” Urulani answered as she placed the new torch in the wall bracket. “It has been rightly said that a chimerian once told the truth-and was executed on the spot for heresy.”
“I do not like your tone,” Shasa said, “but I agree that we cannot in this matter trust the word of a chimerian. They see the world through their own eyes. . and have no love or regard for us.”
“Then it is time we dealt with this prophecy directly,” Kintaro said.
“I agree,” Harku responded.
Shasa nodded. “Urulani?”
“Yes, Elder Shasa.”
“Bring us this man Drakis.”
“What is your name?”
“Drakis, my lords.”
“Of what clan?”