on, and Vulcan next handed him a pair
of golden cylinders indented to fit his curved fingers.

"You hold these very tightly," Vulcan said. "During the Investiture, you
must grip them as hard as you can." He peered closely at them and
pointed to one. "This one goes in the left hand. The other goes in the
right. Squeeze them as if--as if you were trying to crush them. All
right?"

"All right," Forrester said.

Vulcan nodded. "Good. From this moment on, do exactly as you are told.
Answer questions truthfully. Keep nothing secret. Remember my
instructions."

"Right," Forrester said doubtfully.

"Come on," Vulcan said, heading for the wall. The inevitable Veil of
Heaven appeared, and Forrester followed through it as before.

The room they entered was not, he thought, the same one they had been in
before. Or, if it was, it had changed a great deal. It was difficult to
tell anything for sure; the shifting walls looked the same, but they
also looked like the shifting walls in Venus' apartments.

At any rate, there were now no couches on the floor. The room seemed
even bigger than before, and when the walls settled down to a steady
golden glow, Forrester felt lost in the immensity of the place. In the
center of the room was a raised golden dais. It was about five feet
across and nearly three feet high.

The Gods were ranged around it in a semicircle, facing him. Vulcan
slipped into an empty space in the line, and Forrester stood perfectly
alone, holding the cylinders.

Zeus cleared his throat. "Step up on the dais," he said.

Stumbling slightly, Forrester managed to do so without losing his grip
on the cylinders.

In the center of the raised platform, with the Gods staring at him, he
felt like something under a microscope.

"William Forrester," Zeus said, and he shuddered. The All-Father's voice
had never been more powerful. "William Forrester, from this moment
onward you will renounce your present name. You will be known as
Dionysus the Lesser until and unless it shall please us to confer
another name on you. Henceforth, you will be, in part, a recipient of
the worship due to Dionysus, and you will hold the rank of demi-God. Do
you accept these judgments and this honor?"

Forrester gulped. A long time seemed to pass. At last he found his
voice. "I do," he said.

"Very well," Zeus said.

The Gods joined hands and closed the circle around Forrester,
surrounding him completely. The golden auras that shone about