Rakshasi smiled. "Aye, even so, my Lord. Thus told I them. But there be ever those who doubt. And they murmur that ofttimes the actions of thy companions are strangely ungodlike. They eat, they sleep like mortals. From place to place they transport themselves on foot rather than by instantaneous translation, as all men know is the way of gods. And many are the questions they ask, when all know the gods are omniscient."
It was not, Ramey had to concede ruefully, not just a chink in the armor. It was a gaping hole, big enough to drive a Mack truck through. He and his friends were touring around Chitrakuta like a bevy of wide-eyed schoolkids, and certainly putting on one hell of an unecclesiastical show!
"When the gods walk amongst men," he told her firmly, "they conduct themselves in the fashion of their worshippers. It is no man's right to question these things."
"Aye, my Lord!" This time Rakshasi's agreement was more swift. He had, Ramey thought, pulled a successful sandy. "So told I them, yea, and even my brother Ravana which lent an ear to their impious murmurings. These are in truth the gods, spake I, come to mete justice and right to their children. Still—" Here her voice took on a plaintive, querulous tone—"Still cannot we of Videlia understand why the gods should show favor to the blue lord of Gaanelia, when it is our people which have ever been their most ardent followers. All know that the blue ones of Gaanelia are a cynical, impious race. Theirs is a culture of agnostic science. Many, indeed, have declared there are no gods at all, but only primal causes—"
"Hold, my Lady!" interrupted Ramey. "The protector Sugriva is a good man—"
A note of passionate rebellion throbbed in the golden one's voice. "A good man, aye!" she cried witheringly. "In his feeble way! But they are a decadent, dying race, the Gaanelians! Where as we of Videlia—" A tenseness gripped her figure, and the shadowy amber of her breast rose and fell with her emotion—"are a great and growing race, young and strong. As the gods," she cried challengingly, "have much to offer men, so have their followers much to offer the gods! Allegiance and devotion, aye, and sacrifice!
"Speak you, Lord Ramey—were it not to the gods' own benefit that they should cast down these weaklings of Gaanelia, and raise to the heights those who are their own true believers?"
Her meaning was clear. Ramey stared at her with sudden sharp intentness, a warning bell chiming in his ears. Here was open proof of the faithlessness Sugriva had feared. A plea for divine approval of Videlian ambitions. It was a good thing he had come here tonight. He must nip this movement in the bud.
"The gods, my Lady Rakshasi," he said sternly, "desire naught but peace. They will neither sponsor nor permit the elevation of one race over another. All must live in amity."