[Amanaduial the archer]

Hide, you mean, Zamara replied silently, her lip curling slightly. But what other choice did she have? Stay, hide, it was all one: one must what one must, that was what she had always been taught; and what she must do now, whether she liked it or not, was hide.

But Zamara had also been taught that no matter how dark the situation seemed, there is always another choice, another path that can be taken, however shrouded. The darkness that crept over the kingdom allowed little light to fall now on the choices of even the highest nobles, and Arshalous had, it seemed to Zamara, leapt to the one choice that she probably felt she was forced to make; but even in times so dark, a shred of light still crept through from the cracks in th floor of the heavens, a shred of light that illuminated Zamara's ultimate choice - and Arshalous's. I will not hide forever...

The Priestess nodded, showing no sign of her inner turmoil, although at the mention of her house-arrest, she couldn't help but glance anxiously out of the window. "I do not think I could return there if I wanted; no doubt it would 'sorcery' could be the explanation for my escape, and just another reason to condemn me. Maybe escaping seems to have made things worse, but I could not have stayed a minute longer..." she shuddered slightly, remembering the Emissary's cold, relentless grip on her arm as he forced her to her knees, effectively forced her to bow to him. Shaking away the memory, Zamara nodded to Siamak, a shadow of a smile gracing her expression. "My thanks, Prince Siamak, Princess Gjeelea." She extended her grace to the princess not out of diplomacy, but for the change that seemed to have come about in the woman: a new strength, but also a quietness. A fear that even Gjeelea could not entirely hide. She must have married Korak after all, Zamara noted resignedly as she spied the gold band on the princess's finger. And for the first time in how many hundred years, the marriage must have been performed in the Temple of Rae... A sudden, more frightening thought came to Zamara, and she started slightly at it.

"The gods..." Zamara looked anxiously at the royal siblings. "He really did have them destroyed, did he not?"

Gjeelea looked shaken at the wording used by the Priestess. "The emissary effectively closed the temples, and the Temple of Rae was transformed into a temple for the...the new God." Here she glanced sharply at Zamara, as if unsure of how the Priestess would take this, then seeing Zamara's simple, impassive expression, she continued quickly, "But I would not say he has 'destroyed' Rhais or Rae..."

"Destroy the worshippers and you destroy the gods," Zamara replied softly. Looking down, she sighed softly, closing her eyes for a moment as she shook her head. The snake had told her mockingly one day of the downfall of the old gods; had told her that the people now shunned her petty, false gods, to worship the true One... She had ignored him, had shut her ears to his laughter and mockery, waving it aside as false. But now to find the truth in the statement? Zamara squeezed her eyes tightly shut, then looked up again at Gjeelea, bright eyed. "And the name of this one god?"

"His name...his name is Morgoth."

"Morion...i yára úmëa..."

The words slipped from Zamara's lips so softly that they were like a mere whisper of wind, softer than the glimmering of a distant star - distant as the voice of a faraway god. Both the prince and princess felt a shiver up the back of their necks as they watched the Priestess gazing out of the window. As if fearing to break a spell, Gjeelea replied almost in a whisper, "What did you say?"

Zamara looked around suddenly, as if awoken from a dream, and blinked. Shaking her head, she frowned slightly. "I..nothing. It does not matter." Shaking off the strange, creeping feeling at the back of her neck, Zamara blinked a few more times and turned to the children together, opening her mouth to speak, before something outside the door creaked: nothing more than a rogue floorboard, but nonetheless the sound made all three jump and Zamara almost bolted for the doorway again. Feeling foolish, Zamara gave a small, nervous smile despite the tension, and turned to Siamak again. "Your majesty, you were saying something about a hiding place? Have you anywhere in mind?"