Time of the Twins

He left the room and it grew darker with his passing. Elsa stood looking after him in silence. Then, as the door shut to Crysania’s chamber, the elven woman turned to Quarath.

“Does he have the power?” Elsa asked her male counterpart as he stood staring thoughtfully at Crysania. “Does he truly intend to do... what he spoke of doing?”

“What?” Quarath’s thoughts had been far away. He glanced after the Kingpriest. “Oh, that? Of course he has the power. You saw how he healed this young woman. And the gods speak to him through the augury, or so he claims. When was the last time you healed someone, Revered Daughter?”

“Then you believe all that about Paladine taking her soul and letting her see the future?” Elsa appeared amazed. “You believe he truly healed her?”

“I believe there is something very strange about this young woman and about those two who came with her,” Quarath said gravely. “I will take care of them. You keep an eye on her. As for the Kingpriest”—Quarath shrugged—“let him call down the power of the gods. If they come down to fight for him, fine. If not, it doesn’t matter to us. We know who does the work of the gods on Krynn.”

“I wonder,” remarked Elsa, smoothing Crysania’s dark hair back from her slumbering face. “There was a young girl in our Order who had the power of true healing. That young girl who was seduced by the Solamnic knight. What was his name?”

“Soth,” said Quarath. “Lord Soth, of Dargaard Keep. Oh, I don’t doubt it. You occasionally find some, particularly among the very young or the very old, who have the power. Or think they do. Frankly, I am convinced most of it is simply a result of people wanting to believe in something so badly that they convince themselves it is true. Which doesn’t hurt any of us. Watch this young woman closely, Elsa. If she continues to talk about such things in the morning, after she is recovered, we may need to take drastic measures. But, for now—”

He fell silent. Elsa nodded. Knowing that the young woman would sleep soundly under the influence of the potion, the two of them left Crysania alone, asleep in a room in the great Temple of Istar.

Crysania woke the next morning feeling as if her head were stuffed with cotton. There was a bitter taste in her mouth and she was terribly thirsty. Dizzily, she sat up, trying to piece together her thoughts. Nothing made any sense. She had a vague, horrifying memory of a ghastly creature from beyond the grave approaching her. Then she had been with Raistlin in the Tower of High Sorcery, and then a dim memory of being surrounded by mages dressed in white, red, and black, an impression of singing stones, and a feeling of having taken a long journey.

She also had a memory of awakening and finding herself in the presence of a man whose beauty had been overpowering, whose voice filled her mind and her soul with peace. But he said he was the Kingpriest and that she was in the Temple of the Gods in Istar. That made no sense at all. She remembered calling for Elistan, but no one seemed to have heard of him. She told them about him—how he was healed by Goldmoon, cleric of Mishakal, how he led the fight against the evil dragons, and how he was telling the people about the return of the gods. But her words only made the clerics regard her with pity and alarm. Finally, they gave her an odd-tasting potion to drink, and she had fallen asleep.

Now she was still confused but determined to find out where she was and what was happening. Getting out of bed, she forced herself to wash as she did every morning, then she sat down at the strange-looking dressing table and calmly brushed and braided her long, dark hair. The familiar routine made her feel more relaxed.

She even took time to look around the bedroom, and she couldn’t help but admire its beauty and splendor. But she did think, however, that it seemed rather out of place in a Temple devoted to the gods, if that was truly where she was. Her bedroom in her parent’s home in Palanthas had not been half so splendid, and it had been furnished with every luxury money could buy.

Her mind went suddenly to what Raistlin had shown her—the poverty and want so near the Temple—and she flushed uncomfortably.

“Perhaps this is a guest room,” Crysania said to herself, speaking out loud, finding the familiar sound of her own voice comforting. “After all, the guest rooms in our new Temple are certainly designed to make our guests comfortable. Still”—she frowned, her gaze going to a costly golden statue of a dryad, holding a candle in her golden hands—“that is extravagant. It would feed a family for months.”

How thankful she was he couldn’t see this! She would speak to the Head of this Order, whoever he was. (Surely she must have been mistaken, thinking he said he was the Kingpriest!)

Having made up her mind to action, feeling her head clear, Crysania removed the night clothes she had been wearing and put on the white robes she found laid out neatly at the foot of her bed.