Storm Warning - Mercedes Lackey [55]
Rubrik made a sour face. “Not a chance you could counterfeit a Companion—” he began.
“Ah, but this is what is interesting,” Ulrich interrupted eagerly. “There was, traditionally, another manifestation that was impossible to counterfeit—and it was one that had not been seen in so long that it had fallen almost into myth. Until recently, that is. And it seems to me that the Firecats are very like your Companions.”
“Firecats?” Rubrik shook his head. “I’ve never heard of them.”
“Not likely anyone has, outside of Karse,” Karal put in. “In fact, until one showed up with Solaris, I’d say most of the Priests didn’t believe in them anymore, either!”
“A cat?” Rubrik’s skepticism was quite clear. “How could an ordinary cat—”
“No more an ordinary cat than your Laylan is an ordinary horse, my friend,” Ulrich told him gleefully. “First of all, there is the color—Firecats are unique. They are a pale cream in color, with red ears, facial mask, paws, and tail. And like your Companions, they have blue eyes. Then there is the size—they are as tall as mastiffs. And they talk.”
“Talk?” Rubrik was incredulous for just a split second. “Wait—you mean, in Mindspeech?”
“Mind-to-mind, yes,” Ulrich agreed. “They can, and do, speak to whomever they choose, however, and I believe your Companions speak only to their selected Heralds?”
Rubrik nodded, and Ulrich went on.
“Firecats historically appeared at significant times to offer advice, not only to the Son of the Sun, but often to anyone else who was of crucial importance. In ancient times, the Son of the Sun was always accompanied by at least one, and often two Cats.” Ulrich shrugged. “Now, the Cats stopped appearing, I believe, about the time that the Fires of Cleansing were begun; I also believe that there has not been a genuine manifestation of the Voice since that same period, at least not among the Priests in the capital and the larger cities. Until recently.”
Rubrik sat as bolt upright in his saddle as his infirmity would allow. “Are you telling me that—”
“I, myself, have seen Her Holiness speak with what I believe to be the genuine Voice,” Ulrich told him. “But far more important, Solaris has a Firecat. He calls himself ‘Hansa’—and that is the name of one of the most ancient Sons of the Sun, a name not even a demon would claim with impunity—he is not only seen sitting beside her, but he actually appeared shortly after Vkandis struck down the False Son.” He nodded as Rubrik’s eyes narrowed in speculation. “His appearance served to further confirm her in the eyes and minds of the populace. But if you have any doubt, I have heard it from her own lips—and from Hansa’s mind—that he is the one who advised her to make Herald Talia an honorary Sun-priest to cement our alliance.”
Rubrik’s mouth formed into a silent “o”, but Ulrich wasn’t quite finished yet.
“All the Firecats have traditionally referred to themselves by names of former Sons of the Sun. We have always believed that they are the spirits of former Sons who have taken on a material form in order to guide and advise us.” He cast a significant glance down at Laylan, who looked up at him blandly and actually batted his eyelashes at him. “Obviously, they are exactly like your Companions, except that there are fewer of them. I assume that is because there are fewer deceased Sons than there are deceased Heralds.”
Now it was Rubrik’s turn to look as if someone had hit him in the back of the head with a board. And there was a whicker from Laylan that sounded suspiciously like a snicker.
“Of course—” Rubrik replied weakly. “Obviously.” As if it wasn’t obvious at all, and the thought had never once crossed his mind.
Rubrik’s astonishment was so total, and so blatant, that Karal came very near to disgracing himself completely by blurting out the question, “Do you mean that hadn’t ever occurred to you?” He stopped himself just in time.
In the first place, such a question would be twenty leagues beyond