The girl strummed the harp with tantalising skill. All the while, the Nameless Man’s smouldering yellow eyes measured her with a barely-veiled might not unlike what she had felt in the Ancient Dragon. Lia considered the childlike voice which wielded verbal blades, the simplicity of a boy’s words incising past and future with equal facility. “Ask your questions,” said the Nameless Man. “I have many,” Lia admitted. “Perhaps the most important is, how can I restore the King to the Onyx Throne?” “Find him and defeat Ra’aba,” he replied at once. Hualiama knew her inward scowl did not go unnoticed. “Nameless Man, you know what manner of man Ra’aba is–” “I do.” “Then you know I can never defeat him.” “I repudiate that conclusion. Nevertheless, the future is clouded.” The Nameless Man reached out with his free hand, swirling the steam rising from his small cup of tea as though he could thus read the mysteries of the Island-World.
