‘My dear brother and sister of Atan,’ she began, ‘words cannot express my heartfelt joy at this meeting.’ Sparhawk knew his wife, and he knew that disclaimer to be fraudulent. Words could express her feelings, and she would tell everybody in the square all about them. ‘I come to this happy meeting from the world’s far end,’ she went on, ‘and my heart was filled with anxiety as I sailed across the wine-dark sea toward a foreign land peopled with strangers, but your gracious words of friendly – even affectionate – greeting have erased my childish fears, and I have learned here a lesson which I will carry all the days of my life. There are no strangers in this world, my dear brother and sister. There are only friends we have not yet met.’

‘She’s plagiarising,’ Stragen murmured to Sparhawk.

‘She does that now and then. When she finds a phrase she really likes, she sees no reason not to expropriate it.’

‘My journey to Atan has been, of course, for state reasons. We of the royal houses of the world are not free to do things for personal reasons as others are.’ She gave the Atan king and queen a rueful little smile. ‘We cannot even yawn without its being subjected to extensive diplomatic analysis. No one ever considers the possibility that we might just be sleepy.’

After Norkan translated that, King Androl actually smiled.

‘My visit to Atan, however, does have a personal reason as well as an official one,’ Ehlana continued. ‘I chanced some time ago upon a precious thing which belongs to the Atan people, and I have come half-round the world to return this treasure to you, though it is more dear to me than I can ever say. Many, many years ago, an Atan child was lost. That child is the treasure of which I spoke.’ She reached out and took Mirtai’s hand. ‘She is my dear, dear friend, and I love her. The journey I have made here is as nothing. Gladly would I have travelled twice as far – ten times as far – for the joy I now feel in re-uniting this precious Atan child with her people.’

Stragen wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. ‘She does it to me every time, Sparhawk,’ he laughed, ‘every single time. I think she could make rocks cry if she wanted to, and it always seems so simple.’

‘That’s part of her secret, Stragen.’

Ehlana was moving right along. ‘As many of you may know, the Elene people have some faults – many faults, though I blush to confess it. We have not treated your dear child well. An Elene bought her from the soulless Arjuni who had stolen her from you. The Elene bought her in order to satisfy his unwholesome desires. This child of ours – for she is now as much my child as she is yours – taught him that an Atana may not be used so. It was a hard lesson for him. He died in the learning of it.’

A rumble of approval greeted the translation of that.

‘Our child has passed through the hands of several Elenes – most with the worst of motives – and came at last to me. At first she frightened me.’ Ehlana smiled her most winsome smile. ‘You may have noticed that I am not a very tall person.’

A small chuckle ran through the crowd.

‘I thought you might have noticed that,’ she said, joining in their laughter. ‘It’s one of the failings of our culture that our menfolk are stubborn and short-sighted. I am not permitted to be trained in the use of weapons. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I’ve not even been allowed to kill my enemies personally. I was not accustomed to women who could see to their own defence, and so I was foolishly afraid of my Atan child. That has passed, however. I have found her to be steadfast and true, gentle and affectionate and very, very wise. We have come to Atan so that this dear child of ours may lay aside the silver of childhood and assume the gold that is her just due in the Rite of Passage. Let us join our hands and our hearts, Elene and Atan, Styric and Tamul, in the ceremony which will raise our child to adulthood, and in that ceremony, may our hearts be united, for in this child, we are all made as one.’

As Norkan translated, an approving murmur went through the crowd of Atans, a murmur that swelled to a roar, and Queen Betuana, her eyes filled with tears, stepped down from the dais and embraced the pale blonde queen of Elenia. Then she spoke very briefly to the crowd.

‘What did she say?’ Stragen asked Oscagne.

‘She advised her people that anyone who offered your queen any impertinence would answer to her personally. It’s no idle threat, either. Queen Betuana’s one of the finest warriors in all of Atan. I hope you appreciate your wife, Sparhawk. She’s just scored a diplomatic coup of the highest order. How the deuce did she learn that the Atans are sentimentalists? If she’d talked for another three minutes, the whole square would have been awash with tears.’

‘Our queen’s a perceptive young woman,’ Stragen said rather proudly. ‘A good speech is always drawn on a community of interest. Our Ehlana’s a genius when it comes to finding things she has in common with her audience.’

‘So it would seem. She’s ensured one thing, let me tell you.’

‘Oh?’

‘The Atans will give Atana Mirtai a Rite of Passage such as comes along only once or twice in a generation. She’ll be a national heroine after an introduction like that. The singing will be tumultuous.’

‘That’s probably more or less what my wife had in mind,’ Sparhawk told him. ‘She loves to do nice things for her friends.’

‘And not so nice things to her enemies,’ Stragen added. ‘I remember some of the plans she had for Primate Annias.’

‘That’s as it should be, Milord Stragen,’ Oscagne smiled. ‘The only real reason for accepting the inconveniences of power is to reward our friends and punish our enemies.’

‘I couldn’t agree more, your Excellency.’

Engessa conferred with King Androl, and Ehlana with Queen Betuana. No one was particularly surprised when Sephrenia served as translator for the queens. The small Styric woman, it appeared, spoke most of the languages in the known world. Norkan explained to Sparhawk and the others that the child’s parents were much involved in the Rite of Passage. Engessa would serve as Mirtai’s father, and Mirtai had rather shyly asked Ehlana to be her mother. The request had occasioned an emotional display of affection between the two of them. ‘It’s a rather touching ceremony, actually,’ Norkan told them. ‘The parents are obliged to assert that their child is fit and ready to assume the responsibilities of adulthood. They then offer to fight anyone who disagrees. Not to worry Sparhawk,’ he added with a chuckle. ‘It’s a formality. The challenge is almost never taken up.’