Three Names of the Hidden God Read Free

with the entrances decorated by a serpent and the eye.
    “ In the name of all the great gods of this world, cease and desist!” the Qalif cried, his voice cracking in outrage. “No one is to approach the entrances again until we learn what has been attempted!” And then he pointed his finger to the prostrate head scribe. “You! What exactly was done before the divine punishment came?”
    “ My father, I can tell you exactly what came to pass,” said a bright young voice. And Ruogo recognized the intense noble-clad youth who carried a sword.
    “ Ah! It is the Qali!” someone hissed.
    But the youth stepped forward and removed his head covering. Long raven-black hair spilled around the shoulders and covered the sword and the bac k, down to the youth’s ankles.
    “ Not the Qali, but the young brash Qalia, the lord’s daughter!” retorted someone else in the crowd near Ruogo.
    Ruogo stared in curiosity, for he had never seen a woman in the clothes of a man before, nor one with such fierce manners or with such glorious long hair.
    “ What are you doing here, Lealla, my child?” said the Qalif, his voice growing soft and befuddled—for he was a doting father.
    “ The same thing all the rest of these people are doing,” she replied. “I am here to solve the mysteries of this ancient place.”
    “ But—” the Qalif said. “This is no place for my daughter.”
    In the bright sun the maiden suddenly inclined her head so that her mane of hair which caught and swallowed all light falling upon it, rained to the mud at th eir feet. She remained bowed, heedless of its ends lying in the dirt.
    “ My sweet lord, father,” she said. “My place is ever at your side.”
    “ And what of Khoiram? Where is my son while his sister takes his place?” continued the Qalif with reproach which was quickly dissipating.
    Lealla raised her face and swept her hair behind her and out of her way, while her eyes took on a living brightness. “ Khoiram walks in the gardens, deep in esoteric thought. But he will come to you soon enough with the true answer to this mystery. There is no other, and you know it. None can match the brightness of thought of your son.”
    “ That remains to be seen . . .” the Qalif muttered. “Very well,” he continued. “Join me, my daughter, for I can use your fair company. But take care. This is a deceptive and dangerous place, and I will not have you fall into any harm. Therefore, touch nothing here without my consent!”
    And then the Qalif returned his attention to the man wallowing in the dirt before him, the head scribe.
    But the indomitable Qalia was not to be put aside. “As I was saying, my lord father,” the maiden continued, resuming her willful tone, “I can tell you exactly what happened. These fool overseers of your men gave the command to force open the doors all at once, so that men who were struck by the god had no time to exclaim, much less warn the others. They touched the doors near the sealed edges. I saw them all move to it, heedless of your own wise warning, and—”
    “ How did you see them all,” Ruogo interrupted suddenly, “when they were all on different sides of this structure?”
    The Qalia turned to him and there was icy cold in her expression, ice over anger. “ What?”
    But Ruogo was undaunted. Wind swept tendrils of his equally dark hair into his face and he squinted against the sun, but not against the sudden inexplicable hatred he saw in her expression.
    “ You dare speak back to me, birdcatcher?”
    Ruogo watched her and did not blink. “ With respect, I simply ask a reasonable question. How could you, standing only steps away from me, see what happened on the opposite side of these walls?”
    “ It is not of your concern.” If her words could cut him, they would have used dull lingering blades to cause additional torment.
    “ What?” the Qalif interrupted.
    “ My lord . . .” On the muddy ground, the head scribe continued to grovel. “I can