yet they had diced together; they had just fought side by side, and they both wanted the Covenant destroyed. Of course they would take it.
Do you seriously think Iâll deal with you again after you cheated me? said Kânacka.
âIt was worth a try,â said Behemoth.
Besides, I canât bear the tedium of Elyssian any longer.
âNot even with all those month-brides to comfort you?â Behemothsaid slyly.
They were just for show; what use are brides to a codless god? But itâll be different in Perdition. Iâm looking forward to the challenge of toppling you. I feel quite alive again.
âSo do I, my old enemy,â said Behemoth, his black eyes gleaming. âSo do I.â
After Kânacka had returned to the other gods, Behemoth said, âYou drive a devil of a bargain, Daughter.â
âI learned from the master. Oh, and when you go, take Fistus with you.â
âIf he enters Perdition alive, heâll suffer even more cruelly.â
Mercy, vengeance, or retribution? The abbeyâs teachings, or Perditionâs? She had broken her vow and no abbey would take her in, but she would always be a demonâs daughter. Besides, mercy would only give Fistus the chance to begin again. âHe has to pay his debts. Take him.â
Behemoth nodded, rose, but settled down again, staring at her.
âWhat?â Astatine said, afraid he was going to punish her.
âTake off that ugly white skin. Let me see my beautiful daughter as she really is.â
She started, then went between the rocks, undressed and took hold of an edge of her white skin. It sloughed off easily, as if Behemoth had broken the bonds that held it in place. Astatine threw the ugly noviceâs habit away, put her gown on over the cocoa skin that felt so right, and went back.
Behemoth sighed and, to her astonishment, an adamantine tear appeared in one eye.
âCome back with me,â he said. âIn Perdition you will be a princess. You can have everything you ever wanted.â
Astatine was tempted, but she said, âWhy would I want to be a princess of tormented souls?â
âA nun is a slave to live souls.â
âI canât be a nun; Iâve broken my vows.â
âNo one need ever know. You can go back, if thatâs what you really want.â
â I would know. Besides, someone has to make up for what you andKânacka have done to Hightspall. Iâm going to help put it right.â
âYou wonât succeed. The world is too far gone.â He grinned wickedly. âItâs mine.â
âNot any more. Iâm going to fight the influence of Perdition all the way.â
âIâm sure you will,â he said fondly. âBut the gods are no better, you know.â
Astatine hesitated, now knowing how imperfect the gods were; how capricious. She wasnât entirely sure she believed in them any more, as gods. And yet, perhaps they were needed.
âPeople have to believe in something , Father. If they canât, theyâll believe in anything . Besides, I believe that the gods reflect who we are. If we live better lives, they might, too.â
âBlasphemy!â he growled. âWell, donât think youâre going to corrupt me into goodness.â
âIâm my fatherâs daughter,â she said, smiling sweetly. âIâve already corrupted you .â
A FTERWORD
âTribute to Hellâ is set in the Elder Days of a new fantasy world explored in detail in the trilogy The Tainted Realm, published worldwide by Orbit Books from late 2010. The first book is Vengeance .
â Ian Irvine
Copyright
First published in 2010 in the compilation Legends of Australian Fantasy (ed. Jack Dann and Jonathan Strahan).
This edition published in 2011
by HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Ian Irvine 2010
The right of Ian Irvine to be identified