sed him. "What we do is less different from your earlier
work than you can yet realize. And you have time to ease your mind
before you absorb the knowledge and powers you are heir to. Sit and
drink, Ruhar."

When a tall, cold glass of green liquid appeared in his hand, Tarlac
accepted it and sipped. The taste of authentic mint julep recalled the
only Kentucky Derby he'd seen in person, shortly before the war; a
magnificent chestnut filly named Lady Jess had won.

He let himself enjoy the drink in peace, relaxing his mind as Carle had
suggested. If she was right, and he had no reason to think otherwise,
he'd know everything soon. He sat crosslegged on the grass, thinking.
Now he knew what the First Speaker had meant when she called him "child
of two worlds"--and he remembered that before his adoption, Arjen had
accepted that Daria's telling Yarra about him had been no breach of
security. The Lords, as Traiti clearly knew, told their Speakers far
more than the Speakers passed on. But it seemed odd--

"No," Kranath interrupted the forming thought, "neither bodies nor
refreshment are truly necessary. They are pleasant, though, and we
often create them." He smiled again, and Tarlac could feel his
amusement. "Those who went before left us Godhome, which gave us
awesome power, but we remain, if you will excuse the expression, human.
We see no reason to deny ourselves such things. Since mind is the
architect of reality, we construct what pleases us."

"Mind is the architect of reality." Tarlac took another sip of his
julep, then thought about it becoming a mug of coffee. It responded to
his will, and he drank; it was the best coffee he'd ever tasted.

"You see?" Sepol said gently. "You are one of us, Lord Esteban, and
that fact no longer disturbs you."

Tarlac started to contradict him, then he realized Sepol was right. He
did accept what he was--and what he was to become. He still wished
they'd explain a few things, though. Why they'd taught him Language,
why he'd really had to take the Ordeal, why he'd been rushed through
it, and most importantly, why he had been called to the Circle.

"To complete it," Kranath said, sitting beside him and materializing a
mug of chovas. "I ended the clan wars, to begin the current cycle of
history; a human must end this war, with our help, to begin the next."

The rest of the Lords, except for Sepol and Carle, vanished. "It all
ties together, Steve," Carle said. "