He knew the Hall from many past times, but he studied it now as if he were a stranger. The great building was one huge room; its rafters high, high above the men who surged and chattered below. From those rafters hung the ancient banners of the Dalesmen—that ragged flag had been carried by Valthor the Victorious, that dusty standard had lifted over the stricken field of Seven Rivers. The glories of the past stirred and rustled in their dreams. The walls were paneled in carved wood, gods and heroes and animals caught in a rich glow of polished oak. The wooden pillars that marched down the length of the Hall on either side were graven with leaves and fruits from the Tree of Life. Tapestries of the finest weave draped the windows, through which sunlight and air came streaming to the shadowy cavern of the chamber. From the stage to the door, the Hall was filled with benches, and now they were packed and crowded with men, the overflow standing in the aisles and beyond the entrance. Each man was armed, since there might be an alarm at any moment, and the sheen of metal was fierce in that hot, restless half-light.
Sweeping his eyes over the Hall, Carl saw that he was not without supporters. John the fanner sat strick-enly in the front row. Near by was a solid bloc of young men who had apparently come in a body; Ezzef waved at Carl from that section. And there were others, old family friends, comrades of game and chase, whose looks were sympathetic.
The boy tried to relax. He was bathed, fed and rested. His wounds were bandaged, and Ralph had sent clean garments for him and his companions. He could do nothing just now. But excitement thrummed high in him; he strained and quivered with it. This was more than his own life. Perhaps the future of the world would be settled today.
A gong boomed, once, twice, thrice. Slowly the talk died away and was replaced by a breathless, waiting silence.
Ralph and Donn went through the old ritual of opening a Council. They avoided each other’s eyes. Then the Chief stepped forth. His tones rang deep and clear.
“I am supposed to preside over this, as all meetings,” he said. “But a judge may not take sides, and I think you all know that my own feelings are too deeply caught here. Therefore, I shall turn the Council over to Wellan, chief of the elders, and speak only as a tribesman.” He unbuckled the sword of justice and handed it gravely to the white-headed old man seated at his right.
Owl hissed furiously, “He’s betraying us! As Chief, he could at least swing things to save our lives. He’s too law-abiding!”
“No, you fool,” muttered Tom. “This way is better. As Chief he could not even try to change whatever is going to happen, or people would know and howl him down. Under the law, he has no power to do more than preside. But as a tribesman, he can speak freely —and people will still know he’s the real Chief and listen more closely to him than to others.” He smiled. “Carl, your father may be upright, but he’s not stupid either!”
“We are met to try three for breaking taboo,” came old Wellan’s reedy voice. “I am told that this is also a meeting to decide if the taboo is not to be lifted. Let the accuser speak.”
Donn rose to his feet and walked to the front of the stage. His eyes smoldered over the Council, and when he spoke it was slowly and sorrowfully.
“This is a heavy thing for me,” he began. “I must turn on a family whose members have been my lifelong friends and helpers. I must call for the death of three promising youths who sought only to aid their tribe in this terrible war. The hand of the gods lies grimly on me.
“But a Doctor’s path is stern. He is sworn to forget not only himself, but all others, in serving the gods and the tribe. I have myself, in my younger days, closed my ears to the screaming of poor children from whom I pulled an infected tooth or cut a devouring growth. Yet afterward they lived because of what I had done, and thanked me for it. Now I must again hurt that I may heal. But this time the sickness is deeper. It is a sickness of the spirit, and the wrath of heaven lies on us because of it.”
He went on to describe the first visit of the boys and the trophy they had brought back—and how he had destroyed the thing with many purifying rites and hoped that the curse had been taken off. But apparently it had not, for the brave and wisely led army of the Dales had been routed by a smaller force of enemies —enemies who now held the entire land in their grip and had penned the tribe in its walls like cattle in a corral. Yet some devil must still have lurked in these boys, for they had stolen away again to the forbidden City, and had dealt with the witch-folk, and returned to preach openly the breaking of taboo. And what ruin might not come of that second insolence toward heaven? The gods might visit all the folk with plague; or they might let them die in here of slow hunger; or they might aid the Lann to break through and butcher the people and set the town ablaze. No, the tribe had to disown these mad boys who had thus broken the laws of the wise ancients. It had to appease heaven with the greatest sacrifice of alclass="underline" human life taken according to law. “And thereafter,” finished Donn, “the gods may take pity on us and grant us the victory. But I will weep alone in darkness.”
He turned slowly back to his chair and sat down again. His hands trembled. The Hall buzzed and mumbled until Wellan had the gong sounded again. Then the old man called, “Let the accused speak.”
Carl got up. “We have decided that I will speak for all three of us,” he said, striving for quietness and dignity. He put his hands on his hips and stood looking over the assembly for a moment.
“I am not one to argue logic and religion with the wise Donn,” he went on. “However, I should like to make one or two points now, in answer to the questions just raised.
“First, it is said that we suffered our defeat at the hands of the Lann because of this visit to the City where I obtained the cold light. May I point out that we three were not the first to enter the taboo circle. It had often been done before, even if no one stayed very long. Furthermore, we did so under press of mortal danger, and the law of the Dales permits a man to save his Me in any way necessary. Moreover, the first disaster to us, the Lann invasion of the northern marches, the defeat of the gathered men there, and the sack of all that territory, happened before we took this light away. So how could it be due to the anger of the gods? Surely they are not so unjust as to punish a deed before it is done—or, for that matter, to visit the sins of three heedless boys on a whole tribe.” He looked at his father. “Sir, you led the army. Do you think our defeat was due to divine anger?”
Ralph stood up. “I do not,” he said flatly. “We were beaten because the Lann had a better army. More cavalry, not more virtue. Also, we cut our way out of their trap and escaped with fewer losses than even I had hoped for. Offhand, I should think the gods took pity on us, rather than vengeance.” He sat down again.
“As for the second trip to the City,” went on Carl, “again, you and your families fleeing here, and the Lann sweeping through the Dales, happened before the crime which is supposed to have caused them. In short, O Council, I think common sense shows that whether or not anyone goes to the City has nothing to do with whether or not we win our battles. Except in this way: that by the power of the ancients which is hidden away there, we can find our victory! Let me now tell you the full story of these two visits and you shall judge for yourselves whether we did right or not.”
He gave them the tale, speaking in the plain words that he knew these earthy farmers and workmen liked.
He dwelt on the great good spirit which had created the time vault in the hope that men would find it and use it well, and he told them a few things the ancients had undoubtedly been able to do. He finished simply: “Thus I ask the Council, which makes all laws, to raise the taboo on the old works. It was born of fear and ignorance; let us be bold and wise. Let us send our army forth from these walls, to drive through the Lann ring and capture that vault. Let us learn from it—first, some simple way to defeat our present foes-then, how to rebuild that glorious lost world. That is all.”