52 "You speak from gratitude for your freedom,"
argued Gray Goat, "not from love. Wait and be sure."
53 "Lord," argued the woman, "I have suffered at a man's hands, and
long, with all my heart, to know a man's gentleness. Will you again
make me wait in fear? I know with you I am safe. No other man would I
trust! Will you cast me out to uncertainty?"
54 The First Speaker laughed. "Give up, boy!" he suggested, "Her magic
isn't as strong as HERS, but it is magic. It is the strongest magic of
all, and you cannot defeat it. Accept an older man's wisdom. Take what
is yours!"
55 Gray Goat looked into the girl's pleading eyes. "She is but a child,
but a child who has long since learned a woman's ways, and cannot
return to innocence." He took her hand. "Tomorrow," he promised, "I
will do you honor, and mate with you. It will not be a grand ceremony, but it will be before The Lords. Now, go to your
bed. Sleep. We had best ALL get some sleep."
56 As everyone departed, The First Speaker spoke to the guards. "It
does not," he laughed, "take this one long to divide up the prizes of
battle! The
Oneness will regret this one's birth! "
57 And within a month The Speaker was proven true. Lo was taken, The
Oneness driven from the land, their fortress recaptured. The Oneness
was driven into the desert. The season was late, and they could not
follow.
58 "That is good enough," praised Gray Goat. "let us rest the summer. I
have many plans to make, and I wish to have some time with my mate. "
So that summer they gathered their strength.