grandfather who, through his wiles and great stature, had united the Ghebite tribes.
‘Thank you,’ Tulkhan said, turning to watch Imoshen, who was making the robust Ghebite dance a thing of precision and grace. How could he wait for their bonding?
‘T’Imoshen is very... beautiful isn’t the right word. The T’En are too dangerous to be beautiful. They have a kind of terrible beauty. You never met the rebel leader, T’Reothe?’ The Beatific paused, making it a question.
Tulkhan shifted in his seat, trying to appear only mildly interested. He neither denied nor admitted meeting Reothe.
Deep in the Keldon Highlands, Tulkhan had inadvertently called on the Ancients by spilling blood on one of their sacred sites. Attracted by the surge in power, Reothe had appeared before him. The rebel leader had laughed when he had realised who Tulkhan was and cursed him, saying, I am your death. You do not know it, but you are a dead man who walks and talks .’
His words had often returned to haunt Tulkhan’s darkest hours.
‘I was surprised when the Emperor and Empress approved Reothe’s betrothal to Imoshen,’ the Beatific said. ‘By custom she would have taken the vows of chastity at seventeen when she made her Vow of Expiation. Instead the Empress informed me I was to witness the historic bonding of the last two pure T’En. They were to be joined this spring, did you know?’ She did not pause for him to reply. ‘Reothe could have looked to almost any woman for his partner, any woman but a throwback. He went to the Emperor and Empress for special dispensation. By the time I learnt of it, they had already agreed. It was so unexpected. The custom has always been to marry out, T’En male to True-woman. Imoshen the First made it mandatory. Do you know much of the T’En history?’
Tulkhan no longer pretended only polite interest. He spoke slowly. ‘There are rumours of great powers.’
She nodded. ‘T’En gifts can also be a curse. The first Imoshen and her shipload of refugees fled their homeland to escape persecution. She ordered the ship burned.’
‘I was told Imoshen the First was an explorer.’
‘With small children and old people?’ The Beatific smiled. ‘No, she rewrote our history for her own purposes.’
Tulkhan met the woman’s eyes frankly. ‘How do you know this?’
‘I have access to the journals of our early church leaders. When the first Imoshen set out to take this land, she was utterly ruthless. She had about her a band of devoted T’En warriors – the legendary Paragian Guard. They’d sworn a gift-enforced oath to serve her. Those who died in her service were destined to serve beyond death. They became the Parakletos.’ She made a furtive sign before resuming. ‘It was only through the dedication of this Paragian Guard that Imoshen the First was able to subdue the people. But once the island was taken, she disbanded the guard and ordered her own kind to mingle with the locals.
‘She took a vow of celibacy and all pure T’En females since have followed her example. Her only surviving daughter became Beatific. Imoshen the First bonded her pure T’En son to the old royalty, just as you are doing. But she did it for an even stronger reason.’
Tulkhan contained his impatience, very aware that this woman enjoyed playing him like a fish on a line.
‘Pure T’En are unstable. Even amongst Imoshen the First’s people there were not many pure T’En. Throwbacks like Imoshen and Reothe can inherit great gifts, but they are also cursed.’
‘Explain.’
The Beatific smiled. ‘Well, even the royal family were wary of Reothe. They were happy when he absented himself on long sea voyages of exploration and trade.’
‘Piracy, you mean. I have heard about his exploits.’
The Beatific held his eyes. ‘Reothe was acting under a charter from the Empress herself. His task was to harry the trade of Fair Isle’s enemies on the high seas. A small wealthy island such as Fair Isle must