Trevor talked fast, then, talking for his life, telling them about Shannach and how the Korins themselves were enslaved.
"A lie," spat Saul.
"Look for yourselves in the crypts underneath the city! But be careful."
He looked at Jen, not at Saul. After a moment Jen said slowly, "Perhaps there is a—Shannach. Perhaps that's why we were never allowed in the city, so the Korins could go on pretending that they were gods."
"It's another of his lies, I tell you!"
Jen turned to him. "Go and look, Saul. We'll watch him."
Saul hesitated. Finally, he and a half-dozen others went off toward the city.
Trevor sat down on the hot, scorched grass. He was very tired, and he didn't like at all the way the withdrawn shadow of Shannach hovered just outside his mind.
The mountains leaned away from the Sun, and the shadows crawled up the lower slopes. Then Saul and the others returned.
Trevor looked up at their faces and laughed without mirth. "It's true, isn't it?"