"There are matters to be settled first."
"Indeed?"
"I believe you know what it was I found."
The King made no answer.
"I do not believe you would have set me such a task had you not known its nature."
Again there was no reply.
"Therefore, I believe that you have some use for this creature. When we spoke before, you made mention of certain desires of your own, which required things you do not yet possess. This creature is one of those things, is it not?"
"I have a use for the basilisk."
"What use?"
"That is not your concern."
"Perhaps not; still, I would know what it is"
"That was no part of our agreement."
"True. But when we framed our bargain, I had no idea that I was being sent for so venomous a creature."
"Ah. How does that alter the agreement?"
"I want no part of unleashing so potent a force of death as the basilisk. I can see no use or need for such a creature unless you plan to use it as Shang did, to destroy large numbers of people."
"Nonetheless, I have a use for it, and you have agreed to bring it to me as the first part of our bargain.
"As I told you at our first meeting, I am weary of the omnipresence of death and decay. I do not wish to contribute to the spread of death."
The yellow-clad figure stirred slightly. "Garth, do you know what year this is?"
Garth was puzzled by the apparent change of subject. "It is the year three hundred and forty-four of Ordunin."
"Do you know no other reckoning?"
"The men of Lagur call it the Year of the Dolphin, I believe."
"This is the year two hundred and ninety-nine of the Thirteenth Age, the age in which the goddess P'hul is ascendant over all the world."
"I do not see the significance of this."
"P'hul is the goddess of decay, the handmaiden of death, one of the greatest of the Lords of Dыs."
"I still fail to see why this is of any concern to me."
"This is the Age of Decay, Garth. There is nothing you nor anyone can do to prevent the continuance of universal decline, so long as P'hul remains dominant."
"Such fatalism is irrelevant. I do not believe in your gods. And even if I cannot prevent death and decay, at the very least I can avoid contributing to it."
"Perhaps. Yet perhaps not. How many deaths have you caused already upon this errand?"
"A dozen men died that I might bring you the monster."
"One, undoubtedly, was Shang, the wizard responsible for the depopulation of Mormoreth. The rest, I take it, were bandits?"
"Yes."
"You mourn the loss of these twelve?"
"Any death is unfortunate."
"Yet you killed them."
"I acted in self-defense."
"Still, you killed them. Can you really avoid contributing to decay and death?"
Garth was silent for a moment, then answered, "I killed in self-defense. You are under no threat so dire that you need the basilisk to defend you."
"So you will not deliver it?"
"Not unless you first satisfy me that you will not use it to slaughter."
"But I can do that without revealing my purpose."
There was another moment of silence, or rather, a moment in which the only sound was the steady patter of rain at the window. The glow of the single candle flickered. Finally, Garth said, "How?"
"I swear, by my heart and all the gods, that I have no intention of using the basilisk's gaze or venom to slay others. That oath satisfied you once."
Garth said nothing, considering.
"If that is not sufficient, then I will swear further by the God Whose Name Is Not Spoken."
Garth hesitantly said, "I have been warned that you are an evil being."
"Ah. Shang thus warned you?"
"Yes."
"What is evil? Perhaps I merely opposed Shang, who destroyed an innocent city. In any case, even evil beings are not lightly foresworn, and you have heard my oath."
Garth made no answer. He felt slightly ashamed, though he was unsure why.