Sûwikka Sikamôl desired age-long life. That the Valkari could bestow, and that is how they ensnared her. Ûthéa is like all other crafts: it may be used for good or ill. In seeking an ever more powerful good, many ûthégri have delved too far into the Deep, and few have escaped the pit. Of the great ones who descended into the Deep, Silûnakánti alone turned back.
Sûwikka dwelt in Dúmiel, in a house called Tarûig, between Tídris and the Greenmarch, and was well known to many Tîdrissamê, both high and low. By her arts she could perform sundry small favours for those who came to her, and in return she learnt many useful things about the affairs of the city and even of the Queen and Prince consort. This rendered her most valuable to the Power that sought the downfall of Dúmiel. But after the great pestilence and the crowning of the new queen, her visitors dwindled to a trickle and the flow of knowledge began to dry up. Some folk suspected her of causing the sickness, others of bewitching Prince Dabros into a woman; and they stayed away.
The Power whose servant she was, who dangled before her the prospect of agelong life, saw that the moment had come to pull the threads of the web together. After the death of Dîamána, and in spite of her expressed contempt for all ûthégri, Rauwenna began to confide in Sûwikka. The princess gave away little about the life of the palace, for she was fiercely loyal to her father. But she railed endlessly against her sister. Yet what she had to tell did not matter to Sûwikka. Inside knowledge was no longer what she needed. Instead it was Rauwenna herself. Sûwikka began to tell her:
Child, you can be a greater queen than your sister. The mighty prince of Fíbor has sadly lost his young wife, and greatly desires a new queen. But it can only be one of noble birth and great beauty.
Rauwenna asked:
But I do not know Fíbor. Is it not far away? And are not the people there quite unlike us? Why should I leave Dúmiel?
Sûwikka said:
O child, your ignorance can be excused, for all the falsehoods that you have been fed! And all the people of Dúmiel likewise, for none knows the truth about that great land! Yes, it is many days’ journey away, but it is worth the travel! In the midst of that land stands the great and wondrous city of Magéraz Urlan-fên —’
Rauwenna cried:
Oh, but everyone knows that is an evil place!
Sûwikka said:
My dear child, how do they know? Do they go there to find out? Nay! Centuries ago, you know, certain people who lived there were disaffected and came to us and were given homes here; and they spread an evil report of the place, which the folk of Dúmiel believed, as open-hearted as they were. And it has been handed down and embroidered with fanciful tales ever since. But I and my friends know better, and you — as one of my principal friends — shall also know!
Rauwenna said:
They say it is a vast city like an endless maze, such that they who go in cannot find a way out.
Sûwikka said:
They who go in, you know, never desire to come out again, for the living there is so good! And as for the streets, they are so pleasantly devised that no one ever tires of wandering about them.
Rauwenna said:
And are there not terrible guards, called the Hawkheaded Ones, whom all mortals fear?
Sûwikka said:
Yea, of course there must be guards, for they need to defend themselves from their enemies!
Rauwenna said:
What enemies have they?
Sûwikka said:
Why, us, of course, child! Perhaps it may not be so now, when all is peaceful, but in the olden days the Queens were very fierce against Fíbor, and would have destroyed it if they could.
Rauwenna said:
But in any case, this — person — is only a prince. I was going to be a queen, when my —
Sûwikka said:
Only a prince! Listen, child. When you and he are wed, you will unite the crowns of Fíbor and Dúmiel — after some changes are made here. Then you and he will be Empress and Emperor of all the inhabited Midworld! Apart from the miserable settlements of the puny Kabdath, of course.
Then Sûwikka began to tell her about Nagbith, the Prince of Fíbor, and his great power. How he was the son of the house of Melyúnas the great and beautiful, descended in right line from him, and almost as handsome as his forefather. How he dwelt in the lofty tower Guláz, overlooking the city and the plains of Arkallumis. And many other yarns she spun to entrap the desires of Rauwenna.
Now all this took place before the great crowning feast. And as has been told, at that feast, Rauwenna took the axe Ganting and smote her sister the Queen in the neck. This was at the prompting of Sûwikka. Then Rauwenna ran from the hall and took horse with Sûwikka. And as soon as they had ridden a good way from Tídris, Sûwikka asked about the blow. And when Rauwenna told her that Dâyamuna had received it full on the neck and fallen lifeless to the floor, Sûwikka laughed and praised her for her boldness.
Now if she is dead, you are the heir and the queen. But changes will be needed in Dúmiel before you can reign, for they will hold you for a murderer.
Now they rode until their horses were tired. And Rauwenna was disturbed, for there was no house or inn where they stopped. It was merely a glade in the woods, she knew not where. But Sûwikka told her not to fret, for it was a safe place for them to sleep.
Of course we cannot sleep at my house Tarûig, for that is the first place they will seek for you!
She gave her rugs and tucked her up under a tree. The Ûthéga herself did not sleep, but sat by and looked closely at the axe Ganting.
When Rauwenna awoke in the morning, there was nothing hot to eat or drink: just bread and water from the spring. And Sûwikka was angry.
I have read the blade of Ganting with my craft. He did not taste your sister’s blood. Nor, I think, did he break her bones. If I have any skill, your sister lives still; and you are not yet queen.
Rauwenna asked:
What does that mean? Can I still be Empress?
Sûwikka said sharply:
No doubt, girl, but it will take managing. Now if you have broken your fast, we shall go on our way. For we must get through the Greenmarch before nightfall.
Rauwenna wondered what that might mean. Sûwikka rode with Ganting slung on her back, and a staff in her left hand that Rauwenna had not seen before. One end of it seemed to glow very faintly, casting a ghastly light on Sûwikka’s face.
And so, in due course they came to the dark forest. Even at noon it was dark. Rauwenna was fearful. Mile after mile they went, and there was no sign of an end to the trees. And everywhere there were stealthy noises.
Rauwenna asked:
Are we lost?
Sûwikka cried out angrily:
Hold your peace, girl! But, should we meet with — anybody unfriendly — I will deal with them, and you will ride away, for all you are worth.
Hardly had she spoken, when the forest suddenly grew even darker.
Something like an avenue of spears rose silently on each side of the path. A deep roar as of many wrathful voices began, and shadowy figures moved up to meet them.
Sûwikka acted rapidly. With the staff in her left hand she smote Rauwenna’s mare so that she sprang away as if stung. With her right she swung Ganting from her back. Rauwenna’s horse ran so fast that when she looked back Sûwikka had already been swallowed up by the dark shadows.
The mare, which was one of Sûwikka’s, and not Rauwenna’s own pony, galloped as if possessed by a spirit of speed. Rauwenna was alone in the wild forest. She was being borne whither she did not know — to meet people she did not know. Her hatred for Dâyamuna had led to this. She was so unhappy and frightened that she wept.
Suddenly they emerged from the forest. To Rauwenna’s surpride, it was still day, though the sun was dipping towards the earth’s boundary on her left. In front stretched a vast plain. No houses or signs of habitation, no cultivated fields, just a dusty track. But by the track stood a wagon. And around it there was a knot of figures. They were like men, darkly clad, but with strange beaked helmets on their heads and staves in their hands. Rauwenna choked back a cry of fear. These must be the terrible Kûmi Netari, the hawkheaded ones, of which the tales told.
Her mare slackened her pace as if she had expected to meet somebody at the edge of the forest, and one of the dark figures stepped quickly up and took her bridle. From the hideous helmet, the voice spoke:
You are the Hyûvanka princess we were told to expect? Name of Rauwenna? To be taken to the Mighty One! You will dismount, if you please, my lady!
They walked her to the wagon and placed her firmly on some sacks within it. Now she noticed that the draught team were neither horses not oxen, but the most hideous animals she had ever seen, resembling bony deer with skull-like heads adorned with horns. Later she learnt that they were trankarellna, skulldeer, favoured by the Netári for speed and strength.
One of the Netári took charge of Sûwikka’s mare and two others leapt on to the backs of the leading skulldeer. The leader boarded the wagon and took the reins. They rattled off at astonishing speed along the rough track. Rauwenna wanted to know what would become of Sûwikka, her only friend in this terrifying world outside Dúmiel, but she was too afraid of the Netári to speak. And suddenly she fell asleep.
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