Interlude
The prince sat at the foot of the sage and said, “Give me a word, Master.”
The sage stood still as a tree for three days and three nights. The fourth morning, he spoke.
“A time will come,” he said, “when the bearer of the secret will empty himself to utter humiliation. The one who rose to the heights will descend into the waters.
“And there he will trample upon the heads of the dragons.”
“The Tale of the Serpent and Gamayun”
Old Tales, Book II
Fifteen years ago . . .
Rogned, prince of Karila, struck the surface of the tarn, and it was like hammering a sheet of metal with his body. The initial shock dulled his mind, but with the enveloping cold of the tarn’s icy water, the rush of the impact flashed like lightning. He screamed. The water flowed into his mouth, and he choke
