Amber and Blood - Margaret Weis [9]
Majere nodded. “She felt the force of another god. I can only imagine her shock, her fury. She could not rest until she had found this god and determined what sort of threat the god posed to her. Since god-force within the child shone like a beacon, I doubt if Takhisis had much difficulty in her search. She found the god, and she must have been astonished.
“For she did not find another god who would challenge her. She found a child-god, innocent, unknowing, a god of light. And that gave her an idea …”
“Stupid bitch!” Chemosh swore bitterly. “Stupid, stupid woman! She should have foreseen what would happen!”
“Bah!” said Sargonnas. “The Dark Queen was never one to look past her own snout. She would have seen only that this child-god could be of use to her. She would keep Mina under her thumb and use her for her own ends.”
“And avenge herself one last time on the gods she had always hated,” said Kiri-Jolith, God of Just War. His aspect was that of a knight clad in shining silver armor.
“Takhisis very nearly succeeded,” Majere admitted. “She made one mistake and that grew out of her cruel desire for revenge. She decided to give this child-god to her enemy, to the mortal woman Takhisis had always blamed for her downfall during the War of the Lance—Goldmoon. The Dark Queen caused the child-god to be cast up on the shores of the Citadel of Light.
“Formerly a cleric of Mishakal, Goldmoon had brought the healing power of mysticism to Krynn. Now an old woman, she took the child-god, who had the aspect of a nine-year-old girl, to her heart. Goldmoon named her Mina. And Takhisis laughed.
“As Takhisis knew she would, Goldmoon taught Mina about the old gods, for Goldmoon grieved for the loss of the gods. Takhisis came to Mina, who loved Goldmoon dearly, and told her that she would give her the power to seek out the gods and restore them to the world. We all know what happened after that. Mina ran away from Goldmoon and ‘found’ Takhisis, who was waiting for her. What terrible tortures and torment Mina suffered at the hands of the Dark Queen—all in the name of ‘proving her loyalty’—I dare not speculate.
“When Mina was finally returned to the world, she had been shaped and molded in the image of the Dark Queen. Takhisis expected Mina to win victories in her name. All the miracles Mina performed she would think came from Takhisis. Too late, Takhisis realized her mistake. She saw her folly. As do others who tried the same.”
The other gods all looked accusingly at Chemosh.
“I did not know she was a god!” the Lord of Bones cried savagely. “Takhisis knew. Witness her final words: ‘The curse is among you. Destroy me and you destroy yourselves.’ ”
“Destroy us!” Sargonnas’s laughter boomed raucously through the heavens. “How does a chit of a girl-god pose a threat to us?”
“How does she not?” Mishakal asked sharply. The White Lady flamed, her beauty and her power daunting. “Even now, you are scheming how to win Mina to your side, to shift the balance in your favor.”
“And what about you, Mistress Sanctimonious?” Zeboim flared. “You are thinking the very same thing.”
Kiri-Jolith said coldly, “This god is lost to us. She is now a creature of darkness.”
Mishakal cast him a sorrowful glance. “There is such a thing as forgiveness … redemption.”
Kiri-Jolith looked stern and unrelenting. He said nothing, but he shook his head decisively.
“If she is so dangerous, what is to be done about her?” asked Chislev.
The gods looked to Gilean for judgment.
“She has free will,” he determined at last. “Her fate is in her own hands. She must decide on her destiny herself. She will be given time to think and consider. And during this time,” he added with cold emphasis, “she is not to be influenced by either Darkness or Light.”
Which wise judgment, of course, pleased no one.
he gods began talking at once. Kiri-Jolith insisted Mina should be banished as Takhisis had been banished. Zeboim protested that this was not fair to the poor child. She offered to take her to her home beneath