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'Of the what? said Holroyd. But he didn't say it out
loud. He was aware of himself falling into step beside the
heavy-faced marshal, his brain once more reeling out at a
tangent. His original estimate must be increased ninefold.
Thirty-six hundred million men not counting army corps
above the 9430th. Here were nearly twice as many soldiers
as there were human beings on the earth of 1944 the
greatest army in the greatest land that ever was. His army,
his land, if he could but grasp it; if he could but frustrate a
goddess' schemes, a goddess' ambition, and take what was
his.
Beside him, a woman's voice said softly, 'I am here, Ptath,
in a new body, to help to advise you.'
The woman's words had a queer effect. They brought
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revulsion, a sense of having had unwholesome thoughts.
Peter Holroyd, American, owning a world damned un-
democratic nonsense! But could he hope to defeat that
strong and elemental Ptath part of him which had such
aspirations? The doubt made him cold with anger as he
twisted to glance at L'onee's new body. He calmed slowly.
Her new form was that of a plump, middle-aged woman,
and the selection interested him. Before he could speak,
L'onee whispered again:
'I'm Marshal Nand's wife. His mistress is over there to
your left. Ptath, the army must be transformed and reorgan-
ized. Ptath, women were not allowed in army training
camps until a few years ago when Ineznia decided to destroy
you. She wanted to make sure that the army was not in
condition to launch the attack you would have to make on
Nushirvan just in case you ever got into position to make it.
But the rebel officers have resisted the deterioration, and so
the army's basic condition is much better than she thinks.'
'My dear,' came the marshal's voice from the region of
Holroyd's other shoulder, 'you mustn't whisper to his high-
ness.'
'I was telling him something very important,' the woman
pouted. 'Wasn't I, Prince Ineznio?'
Holroyd smiled, nodded. He felt suddenly immensely
better. The smooth reply of the woman pleased him. This
was life unfolding around him, moment by moment.
L'onee's character had a lot in it that he didn't like, but she
was trying to help him. He tried to picture all that that
meant. She had said her true body was imprisoned in a
dungeon. It was curiously hard to imagine the reality of
that. He would have to rescue her, of course. Just how or
when was as dim now as had once been the how of his
attack on Nushirvan. He didn't even know where she was
imprisoned. And she couldn't tell him.
Actually, the attack on Nushirvan wasn't any nearer. But
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it had been impossible. Now, a way seemed open, in the far
distance of time. Perhaps a similar opportunity might occur
in regard to L'onee's body.
'Ptath!' It was L'onee again. 'You mustn't stay here any
longer. You have seen all that is important. You know the
main faults of the army, lack of discipline largely due to the
presence of a mistress in every soldier's hut, a situation
deliberately created by the goddess in her will to destroy
you. Now that you know this basic truth, you cannot waste
any more time here with one twenty-thousandth of the
army that must be changed. I swear to you every hour, even
every minute, is vital.
'Remember, Ptath, my body is lying in a dungeon darker
than that which held you for such a brief period. If she
should find my flesh untenanted, she could destroy it and
she would, instantly and then only you, in your full
strength, could again render me capable of being a pole of
power. Ptath, for my sake as well as your own, let me take
you to the next phase of what you must learn in your fight
to save your life, and mine. Ptath, let me take you out of
here through the realm of darkness.'
Holroyd had listened to her uneasily, almost unwillingly,
yet with the half conviction that he had seen the main
faults of the army, and anything more could only be repeti-
tion with details. Now he stared at her in amazement.
'The realm of darkness?' he echoed.
She made an impatient gesture. 'Merely a means of
leaving this valley. What you have discovered here is some-
thing I would have told you before this day was out. Ptath,
this morning is but begun, and yet a large portion of it has
been wasted in your personal discovery of two facts: the
defects of the army, and that Ineznio is a real person who
resembles you utterly, even to the texture of his voice.
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'I could have told you both facts in two minutes. Ptath,
spend this morning with me, listen to what I have to say.
Learn what I have to teach you. And then go to your de-
stiny in your own way. Ptath, say that you will go through
the realm of darkness. You have to say it. I am too weak to
take you by force or I would do so instantly.'
Holroyd hesitated, impressed in spite of himself. She was
right. Of all his problems since his arrival in Gonwonlane,
the greatest was his lack of information. His own reluctance
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