Epilogue

A real road was built from Koltor to Zoltan's village with a chain of courier stations along it. Zoltan did indeed become Lord Zoltan, an ally of Koltor. The village became a stop on the caravan trail. The village grew into a small city with a school and hospital, plus the normal taverns and brothels. Slavery wasn't permitted and the brothels were staffed with women who wanted to earn a little spending money. There was no stigma attached to the women but a man who supported himself by renting his women was invited to leave.

The Goddess had cured Urgah of the guilt he carried from his days in gladiator school which compelled him to go about doing heroic things. He settled down in the village as the chief of police and militia leader. He led troops and patrols to guard the village and repel bandits and invasions but his days of looking for a fight were over. He built a large compound in which he lived with his women and children. Two of the women with whom he had slept on his first visit moved in and were commonly considered his wives. The compound was the village's safe haven where widows and women fleeing abusive relationships came. He took in orphans, runaways and unwanted children, plus many who were considered to be his or Morgan's. He wound up being the city's family court, child welfare office and daycare center. All the children of the city took to calling him Father Urgah and his compound was a happy anarchy of women, children, cats, dogs and babies.

From this and other exploits Morgan became Count Morgan, advisor and envoy of the court. He served King Phillip IV and Queen Gloriana III, then was appointed the guardian of Prince Andrew X until he came of age. He married one of "Queen Glory's" ladies- in-waiting. It is said that he was enamored of her fencing ability or that she fell in love with his poetry, depending upon which of them is telling the tale.

Princess Irulan wasn't in the line of succession. She so captivated Prince George, the younger son of King Stephen of a neighboring kingdom, that he petitioned his father for her hand even though he could have made a better match elsewhere. King Stephen relented and Prince George carried Irulan off in a blaze of loving devotion. Irulan and George had a daughter and son when a freak magical accident killed the king and both his sons. Irulan became Queen Irulan until her daughter came of age, then she relinquished the crown.

The Goddess did have further instructions for Talia after she reached the temple in Koltor. The Goddess wasn't happy with the administration of Her temples or the attitudes of Her clergy. She sent visions of how She wanted things to be to Talia, who attempted to interpret them. These visions were imprecise which frustrated Talia when she tried to pin them down. She found that by working with Morgan's father she was able to formulate definitive guidelines. Between the two of them they created what amounted to a Talmud or Koran - general rules for daily living, only these made allowances for differences in opinion and local conditions. Since Talia had been Touched by the Goddess in front of witnesses and with the miraculous transformation of her slave ring as evidence, Talia was able to bring The Word of The Goddess to Her people. The Goddess' temples became the same refuge for women and children that Urgah's compound did. Of course, with Talia's temperament the temples developed significant self- defense capabilities. It wasn't the Goddess' way to spread enlightenment with fire and sword but Her temples were rather abrupt with those who tried to interfere with their internal affairs and she had to lead expeditions to 'explain' this. The clergy of the Fire God, the patron of warriors, had the same attitude which made the two churches allies in this respect and in time the Fire God's followers adopted the Goddess' Word as their own. Talia and the prime Fire God priest became fast friends and lovers. Cassiopeia, the woman who acted as one of his troubleshooters on occasion, bore a marked resemblance to Talia and wore an iron slave ring around her neck.

Dorothy Kirkpatrick was awarded her Ph.D. in astronomy and did indeed get to go to Farside. Her series of holographs from that trip was published in 'coffee table' format. It never became a best seller but it remained in print as a staple gift item for almost a decade. She was chosen to narrate The Wonders of the Universe series for the International Astrographic Society. She attended conventions when she could, played Cassiopeia on the series on occasion, and wore her iron slave ring most all the time.