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.When he saw these innocent children at play, when he thought of all the blameless families on this island, Vorduthe wondered if he would in fact have the heart to let the entity in the lake proceed, squeezing the habitable area of the island smaller and smaller.Yet the Eye of Peldain held him to his bargain.Every day he dived into its turbid, tepid depths, and it was as if he dived straight into a secret land below the lake; he no longer encountered the entity at all.The seeming hours he spent with his wife Kirekenawe meant far more to him than the remaining day here in Lakeside, which paradoxically took on the aspect of a drab dream in comparison.They sailed and swam, they dived in the shallow coral reefs abounding in the Hundred Islands.Sometimes they found themselves somewhere in Arelia, even in Arcaiss—but never again did they meet in their villa: neither of them wanted to come upon the helpless form of Kirekenawe in her quarters.The favorite venue, whether selected by the lake or unconsciously by themselves, was an idyllic little island Vorduthe had never in fact seen, and which he was fairly sure did not really exist: a paradisiacal setting complete with lawn-like meadows, perfumed trees and leaping deer.Only when pressed did Kirekenawe give him news of the rebellion that King Krassos was fighting to contain.The sea battle, apparently, had been inconclusive.Early on Vorduthe had caught a brief glimpse of damaged and partly burned ships in the harbor.He gathered, however, that there was no immediate danger, and he felt confident that Arelians, as always, would prevail.Today’s would be the sixtieth sojourn, in the dream life, in the distant Hundred Islands.Vorduthe stopped walking.He looked at the troop leaders one after the other.“You are forgetting that with Octrago’s accession to the throne the situation will be changed.He will be in a position to redeem his oath of allegiance.He promised to engineer a way through the forest so as to give regular communication with Arelia, and he should be given a chance to prove his word.”“The project is impossible,” Kana-Kem said flatly.“In any case, only a fool would trust him.”These words were close to insubordination.“Enough!” Vorduthe snapped.“I, and I alone, will decide on any action.”Dismissing them, he strode toward the lake.All Vorduthe’s misgivings vanished as the lake’s surface closed over his head.A poignant feeling assailed him.Then his consciousness was drawn inward, into sleeplike trance.He “awoke” on their dream island.He was standing under a water-fruit tree, near a patch of silky tassel-fern.A young leaping-deer with a dappled fawn-colored coat nibbled the moss.He did not see Kirekenawe at first.But suddenly there she was, gazing at him from the edge of a small grove.Her smile, as he caught sight of her, was wistful, almost pained.She wore nothing but a short kilt of blue-and-purple grass, whose strands moved sensuously as she came toward him.“Quickly!” she said breathlessly.“Quickly!”He let her draw him into the silver tassel fern and they sank down in its softness.It was a perfect bed for love-making, and she gripped him with a desperate ardor, more intense than she had ever shown him.Usually she liked to prolong the pleasure but now she worked her body with impatient eagerness to satisfy them both as soon as possible.Then, her skin filmed with perspiration, she lay back gasping, gazing at him with soft, sad eyes.When she had caught her breath she sat up.“Husband, there is little time,” she said.“This is our last meeting.”“What are you saying?” he growled in alarm.Sorrowfully she sighed, shaking her head.“It is not fitting that I should hide the truth from you now, at the very end.I have been less than honest with you—I did not want our newfound happiness to be marred by something we could do nothing to change.”While he stared at her aghast she went on: “The sea battle against the rebels went worse than I told you.It broke Arelia’s naval strength
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