to go.

"I hope you know what you are doing," Parker said, saw that Rozeno was
not looking at him. The old priest was watching Mercedes.

"You may stay here, with us," Rozeno added.

Mercedes' face mirrored gratitude. "Thank you."

Rozeno turned his attention to Parker. "You are new to our island, are
you not, my son?"

"Yes."

"How did you arrive here? Was your ship wrecked?"

"Yes. Actually, however, we were looking for this island." Swiftly
Parker explained what had happened.

"Retch went away, he hired you to bring him back in a ship that flies?"
Rozeno seemed a little perturbed.

For the first time, Ulnar spoke, a single grunted sound. Rozeno answered
with a swift flow of gutturals that Parker did not understand. Ulnar
grunted again, a hot light appeared in his eyes. "Kill him!" His fist
came down upon the table.

Again Rozeno looked pained. "I have worked so long and so hard with him,
trying to show him the Way, trying to explain to him that killing is not
a part of the Way. But the old savagery is still in his heart. Sometimes
I despair of him." He shook his head very gently. The light flowing in
from behind him made a halo of his long white hair. His eyes searched
Parker. They were the kindest and at the same time the keenest eyes the
pilot had ever met. They looked at him and through him; they probed deep
down inside of him; they seemed to search down to the bottom of his
soul. Parker had the feeling he was being weighed, measured, probed.

"It is not often that I offer a choice to those who come here," Rozeno
spoke. "Usually they prefer to live in the village at the base of the
cliff. You may live here with us, if you wish." The smile on Rozeno's
face was a living thing.

Deep down inside of him, Parker felt his soul come to sudden life. "I'll
stay here, Father, if I may."

The smile on Rozeno's face became even brighter. "Good, my son. You have
made a very wise choice."

Parker was silent, perturbed, suddenly uneasy. Here in this place two
old men lived in rooms near the top of a cliff. Down below was a village
where brawling men lived, men who could walk on water. In the night, in
this place something called a Jezbro went on the wings of a harp. There
was magic here, mysteries that went beyond his understanding. What else
was here?

"Tell me about this place, Father?"

Rozeno nodded. "Gladly, my son, gladly. I will show you and tell you as
I show you. There are things here that even I d