For a thousand years the Pale King lay mantled in dark, enchanted
slumber, imprisoned in his desolate dominion of Imbrifale.

And then

2 The derelict school bus blew into town with the last midnight gale of
October.

Weary brakes whined in complaint as the vehicle pulled off a stretch of
Colorado mountain two-lane and into an open field. Beneath a patina of.
highway grime that spoke of countless days and countless miles, the
bus's slapdash jacket of white paint-a shade called Pearly Gates, just
five-ninetynine a gallon at the Ace Hardware in downtown Leavenworth,
Kansas-glowed like bones in the phantasmal light of the setting horned
moon. The bus's folding door squeaked open, and two painted-over stop
signs flopped out from the vehicle's sides like stunted angel wings. One
sign admonished Repent Your Sins Now, while the other advertised Two for
the Price of One.

A figure stepped from the bus. Wind hissed through dry grass around his
ankles and plucked with cold fingers at his black mortician's suit. He
reached up a quick, long hand to keep his broad-brimmed pastor's hat
planted on his head, then gazed into the darkness with dark eyes.

"Yes, this will do fine," he whispered in his steel-rasp and
Southern-honey-pecan voice. "This will do just fine."

Then the man-who had been called many names in the past, but who these
days went by the moniker of Brother

3

4

Cy-leaned his scarecrow frame toward the bus, like a lodgepole pine
bending before the storm, and called through the open door.

"We have arrived!"

A chorus of excited voices answered him. Someone flicked on the bus's
high beams, and two cones of light cut through the night. The rear
emergency door swung open, hinges creaking, and a dozen shadowy forms
leaped out. They dragged a heavy bundle into the field and unrolled it
with deft movements. More dim figures scurried from the back of the bus,
wrangling poles and rope, and hurried to join the others. Brother Cy
stalked to the center of the field and paced a wide circle, digging the
heel of his worn black boot into the turf at measured intervals. When
the circle was complete, he stood back and looked on in satisfaction.
Here would stand his fortress.

Canvas snapped like a sail.

"Blast and damnation, watch that pole!" Brother Cy shouted as his
workers strained to stand a length of wood as tall and thick as a tree
on end. A billowing shape rose up before him, like an elephant lumbering
to its feet. Brother Cy prowled around it: the hungry lion.

"Stake down that wall!" he roared. "Untangle those lines. Get a rope

through that tackle. Now pull! Pull, or you'll think the Dark One's
domain a sweet paradise compared to

the hell I'll show you!" Brother Cy thrust his lanky arms above his
head. "Pull!"

A score of dim forms strained. The mound heaved itself higher into the
air, and higher yet, like a mountain being birthed. At last its pointed
peak reached the top of the high pole. Ropes were lashed around wooden
posts and tied off, tray edges of canvas were skewered to the ground,
lengths of cord were tucked away. Where minutes before there had been
empty moonlight there now stood a tent. It was an oldfashioned circus
tent, what in days gone by had been called a big top, torn and patched
in so many places it looked as if it had been sewn from the trousers of
a hundred penniless clowns.

Brother Cy clapped his big hands together and laughed like thunder.

"Now, let the show begin!

5

Like wraiths in the half-light, the shadowy roustabouts bustled in and
out of the tent. Parti-colored banners were unfurled. Collapsible
bleachers were pulled from the back of the bus. Fire sprang to life in
dozens of punched-tin lanterns, carried inside in a glowing procession
until the tent shone gold in the night. Last of all a sign was planted
in the earth before the tent's entrance. It proclaimed in bold, Gothic
letters:

BROTHER CY'S APOCALYPTIC TRAVELING SALVATION SHOW

Ailments Cured-Faith Restored-Souls Redeemed

And below that, scrawled in crude script like an afterthought:

Come on in-we want to save you!

Brother Cy stepped back, crossed his arms, and surveyed his domain.

"Does all go well?" a clear voice asked behind him.

He whirled around, and a cadaverous grin split his gaunt face.

"Indeed it does, Sister Mirrim." He reached out to help a woman down the
steps of the bus. "Do you see? Our citadel stands once more."

Sister Mirrim gazed at the tent. Her visage was smooth, even beautiful,
but her old-fashioned garb was severe. She wore a tight-bodiced dress of
funereal black, as well as highbuttoned shoes, the kind that could still
be found to this day in the downtown five-and-dime of any number of
dusty Oklahoma towns-the kind that bespoke the unforgiving hardness of
another century. Yet, even in the pale light of the crescent moon,
Sister Mirrim's long hair shone flame red and flew about her on the wind.

A child followed Sister Mirrim down the steps, a small girl clad in a
black dress that was the older woman's in perfect miniature. Her hair,
however, was the color of the night, and she regarded Brother Cy with
wise purple eyes. He lifted her into his arms. She coiled a small, cool
hand around his neck and pressed her soft rosebud mouth against his cheek.

6

"I love you, too, Child Samanda," Brother Cy said in bemusement.

"But of course you do," she murmured.

He set her down, and hand in hand the trio approached the tent..The wind
whistled through the ropes and lines, conjuring a sorrowful hymn.

"Will they come, Brother Cy?" Sister Mirrim asked, her voice like the
call of a dove. "I have been looking, but I cannot see them yet."

He looked past the tent, down into the valley below, to a haphazard
collection of sparks that twinkled in the highcountry night. Castle
City. There they huddled in the warm light of their little houses,
unknowing of the darkness that approached. But it was so distant, this
darkness, so strange, and so terribly far away. How could they know? How
could they realize that their very souls hung in the balance? Yet
somehow they must. That was why the three had journeyed here.

"They have to come," Brother Cy said at last. "There are an manv who
have a nart to nhiv "

Sister Mirrim shook her head, her question unanswered. ut will they?"

It was Child Samanda who spoke this time.

"Oh, yes," she whispered. "They will come." She slipped her tiny doll
hands from the larger grips that enclosed them and took a step nearer
the lights below. "But there are two whose tasks will be far harder than
those of the others. We cannot know if they will have the strength to
bear their burdens."

Brother Cy gave a solemn nod. "Then we can pray, my little bird."

A chill gust rushed down from the high peaks, and the three looked up to
see the tent shake under the blast. Shadows played crazily across the
canvas walls, cast from within by lanterns dancing on their wires, as
the roustabouts scrambled to brace the tent against the gale. Some of
the silhouettes were squat as stumps, while others were oddly tall, with
fingers as slender as twigs. Some of them bore what seemed antlers,
branching like young saplings from their heads, while others looked as
if they walked on crooked legs, tails swishing in agitation behind them.
However, rippling

7

canvas could be a twister of shadows, and a player of tricks. The wind
blew itself into nothing, the tent grew still, the shadows slipped away
from the walls.

"Come, let us go inside," Brother Cy murmured. "To wait for them?"
Sister Mirrim asked.

Child Samanda nodded in conviction. "Yes, to wait." Hand in hand once
more, they turned their backs on the night, stepped into the tent, and
left the small mountain town to sleep alone in the night below.

8

9

10

11

Sometimes the wind blowing down from the mountains made Travis Wilder
feel like anything could happen.

He could always hear it coming, long before the first telltale wisps of
snow-clean air touched his face. It would begin as a distant roar far up
the canyon, nearly and yet not at all like the ancient voice of a
stormswept ocean. Before long he could see it, rushing in wave after
wave through the forest that mantled the granite-boned ranges that
encircled the valley. Lodgepole pines swayed in graceful rhythm, while
cloudlike aspen shivered green, then silver, then green again. Moments
later, in abandoned fields just outside of town, he could hear the
witchgrass rattle a final portent as it whirled around in wild pagan
circles.

Then the wind would strike.

It would race down Elk Street-Castle City's broad main avenue-like an
invisible ghost-herd of Indian ponies. Past McKay's General Store. Past
the Mosquito Cafe. Past the abandoned assay office, the Mine Shaft
Saloon, the Blue Summit Earth Shop, and the faded Victorian opera house.
Dogs would bark and snap at passing newspaper tumbleweeds. Strolling
tourists would turn their backs and shut their eyes to dust devils that
glittered with gum wrappers and cigarette-pack cellophane. Dude-ranch
cowboys would

12

hold on to black hats with turquoise-ringed hands while their dusters
flew out behind them like rawhide wings.

Maybe he was the only one in town crazy enough, but Travis loved the
wind. He always had. He would step outside the buckshot-speckled door of
the Mine Shaft Saloon, which he had the dubious distinction of owning
these days, and lean over the boardwalk rail to face the gale full-on.
There was no way to know from where the wind had journeyed, he reasoned,
or just what it might blow his way. He would breathe the quickening air,
sharp with the scents of cold mountain stone and sun-warmed pine, and
wonder whose lungs it had filled last-where they lived, what language
they spoke, what gods they courted, if they courted any at all, and what
dreams they dared dream behind eyes of a hundred different shapes and hues.

It was a feeling that had first struck him the day he stepped off a
mud-spattered bus-a flatland kid raised between the straight and hazy
horizons of Illinois-and drank in his virgin sight of Castle City. In
the seven years since, the sensation had come to him with surprising and
comforting regularity, never lessening in potency with time. Facing into
the wind always left him with an ache of wordless longing in his chest,
and a feeling that he didn't have to choose between anything, because
everything was possible.

Still, despite his many musings, there was no way Travis could have
imagined, on a chill evening caught in the gray time between the
gold-and-azure days of fall and the frozen purple of winter night, just

exactly what the wind would blow into Castle City, and into his life.
Later, looking back with the empty clarity of hindsight, he would sift
through all the strange and unexpected events to pinpoint the precise
moment when things began to change. It had been a small happening, so
small that he might not have remembered it had it not been for the fact
that afterward things would never-could never-be the same again.

It was when he heard bells.

13 Afternoon sunlight fell as heavy as gold into the mountain valley as
Travis Wilder piloted his battered pickup truck toward town. Faint music
crackled on the AM radio in time to the squawking dashboard. A paper air
freshener shaped like a pine tree bobbed on a string beneath the
rearview mirror, all the fake pine smell long since baked out of it by
years of the high-altitude sun. The engine growled as he downshifted and
swung around a curve at precisely twice the speed recommended by a
nearby road sign: a yellow diamond so full of shotgun holes it looked
like a chunk of Swiss cheese.

"You're late, Travis," he said to himself.'

He had spent most of the afternoon on the roof of the ramshackle hunting
lodge he called home, nailing on tar paper and replacing shingles torn
off by last night's windstorm. It was past time to be getting ready for
the snow that the fat, red-furred marmots foreshadowed. When he finally
thought to look up, the sun had been sinking toward the wall of
mountains that ringed the valley. Travis never had been good with time.
But then, he never had been good with a lot of things. That was why he
had come here, to Castle City.

The regulars would start straggling into the Mine Shaft Saloon by
sundown, and there were usually a few hapless tourists who had taken a
wrong turn off the highway and had ended up in Castle City by accident.
Legions of them cruised the twisting two-lanes this time of year, to
ogle the gold splendor of the mountain autumn from the heated comfort of
their rental cars. To make matters worse, Moira Larson's book club was
meeting in the back room of the saloon that evening. The topic:
Nineteenth-Century French Novels of Adultery. Travis shuddered at the
thought of facing a dozen book lovers thwarted in their hell-bent desire
to discuss implications of class structure in Flaubert's Madame Bovary.

A nervous whistle escaped his lips. "You are really, really late."

Of course, Max would be at the saloon.

14

Max Bayfield was Travis's one and only employee. Max was supposed to be
working the day shift today, although more likely he was poring over the
saloon's books, trying to find money between the lines. Travis supposed
that was what he got for hiring a refugee accountant from New York, but
at least there would be someone there to pour a drink if a customer
asked. Then again, it wasn't really a great idea to let Max wrangle the
bar on his own during busy hours, Travis could only hope Max wasn't
hovering around the jukebox again, telling customers that while
listening to classical music temporarily raised one's IQ,
country-western songs-with their simplistic melodic structure and
repetitive rhythmic schemes-did just the opposite.

His sense of urgency redoubled, Travis punched the accel. erator, and

the truck flew out of the curve like a rock out of a slingshot.

He was about a mile from town when a dilapidated shape flashed past the
truck's cracked windshield. Hulking beside the road were the remains of
a house. Although he had passed it countless times, like always, Travis
found his gaze drawn toward the ruin. The old place had burned years
ago, long before he had come to Castle City, yet somehow he knew that
even before it caught fire, this had been an ugly building. It was squat
and sprawling, with rows of small windows that stared like hateful eyes
at the beauty of the mountains. Now the structure was nothing more than
a shell, the husk of some gigantic beetle that had died next to the road.

According to the stories Travis had heard, the house had been an
orphanage once. Built during the days of the Great Depression, the
Beckett-Strange Home for Children had endured for decades as one of the
largest orphanages in central Colorado, but about twenty years ago the
place had burned. By then orphanages were well out of fashion, and the
Home was never rebuilt. Travis couldn't say he was sorry. There was
something ... wrong about the ruin. He wasn't sure what it was, but
often when he passed it he found himself thinking dark thoughts.
Thoughts about fear, or suffering, or mayhem. Maybe it was just that he
knew people had died in that fire. Not any of the children-they had all
escaped-but several of the Home's workers had been trapped in the'rooms,
and they had all been burned alive. At least, that w

15

what the rumors told. Travis didn't know if the stories were true, but
if there was ever a place for ghosts, it was the remains of the
Beckett-Strange Home for Children.

The old orphanage slipped out of view, and Travis fixed his gaze on the
road ahead. This was the time of day when deer were inexplicably
compelled to leap out and fling their bodies in front of moving cars. He
kept his eyes peeled. Except a moment later something caught his
attention, and it wasn't a deer. He downshifted, his hurry forgotten.
Gears rattling in protest, the pickup slowed to a crawl.

It was a billboard.

Tires ground on gravel, and the truck rolled to a halt on the shoulder
of the road. Travis peered out the driver's side window. Like so many
wooden artifacts in the high country, the billboard was bleached and
splintering but curiously intact. The thing had to have seen a good
sixty or seventy mountain winters in its existence, and even the most
recent advertisement plastered across its face was long faded. However,
he could still make out the ghostly shapes of people wearing clothes
that had been fashionable two decades ago, laughing as they sucked
smooth, delicious smoke out of white sticks propped between long fingers.

Hinges groaned, and the truck's heavy door swung open. Travis climbed
out. Cold air sighed through clumps of dry weeds, and he was glad for
his thick sheepskin coat. Beneath this he wore faded blue jeans and a
tan work shirt. Travis was a tall man, just on the lean side of big, but
he had an unconscious tendency to hunch his broad shoulders. At
thirty-three years his face was boyish, and when he smiled, his crooked
grin suggested a mischievousness that was not altogether misleading. His
hair was the exact color of dull yellow sandstone, but his beard, which
he sometimes let grow against the winter cold, or simply out of sheer
laziness, had sparks of copper and gold in it.

Travis adjusted the wire-rimmed spectacles that perched in front of his
pale eyes. Jack Graystone had given him the spectacles a few years back.
Jack owned the Magician's Attic, an antique store on the west side of
town, and he was one of Travis's oldest friends, maybe even his best.
The spectacles were over a hundred years old, and once they had belonged
to a young gunslinger named Tyler Caine. Jack

16

always said the best way to understand the here and now was to gaze at
it through the eyes of a distant time and place. Sometimes Travis
thought Jack was the wisest man he knew.

Travis approached the billboard, his scuffed boots crunching against the
hard ground. There-that was what had caught his eye. Last night's gale
had ripped away a piece of the old cigarette ad. He drew in a cold
lungful of air. Through the hole in the advertisement he could see what
appeared to be a painting of a rugged landscape. Only it didn't quite
look like a painting. It was too real, more like a photograph,
breathtaking in its perfect clarity. He could just see the edge of a
snow-covered peak, and beneath that the hint of an evergreen forest.
Without even thinking, Travis reached a hand toward the billboard, to
peel off more of the ad's colored paper.

That was when he heard them.

The bells were faint and distant, yet clear all the same, and
crystalline. The sound made him think of sleigh bells on a winter's
night. His hand fell to his side, and he cocked his head to listen. Now
all he heard was the low moan of wind over granite. He shivered and
remembered he needed to get to the saloon. Whatever the sound had been,
it was gone now, if he had ever really heard it in the first place. He
started back for the truck.

The wind shifted and brought with it, fleeting but clear, the chime of
music.

Travis spun back around. Once more the bells faded into silence, but
this time he could tell from which direction the sound had come. His
gaze traveled across a sere expanse of grass until it reached a dark
hulk a few hundred yards away. You don't have time for this, Travis. But
he was already walking across the field, hands jammed into the pockets
of his coat.

A minute later the orphanage loomed above him, taking a bite out of the
blue-quartz sky. He had never been this close to the ruin before. Now
the windows seemed more gaping mouths than staring eyes. Lichen clung to
scorched clapboards like some sort of disease. Even after all these
years a faint burnt smell emanated from the place, acrid and

17

vaguely menacing. Travis held his breath: the eerie voice of the wind,
and silence, that was all.

He pushed his way through a patch of dried thistles and walked around
the side of the house. Behind the place were a pair of outbuildings.
They were far enough away from the main house that the fire had not
gotten them. Dull paint peeled from their walls, and their doors were

sealed shut with rusted padlocks. Storage sheds of some sort. Between
the buildings was a narrow run, almost like an alley. Had something
moved there in the dimness?

He took a step into the space between the sheds, and in the murk he
glimpsed a pile of scrap metal and an old rain barrel. That was all. He
was about to turn away when he noticed a glint of light by his feet. He
squatted down and saw tracks in the ground. Water had seeped from the
earth to pool in the tracks and reflect the waning daylight. The prints
had been made by small, cloven hooves, probably a mule deer. They
wandered all over the valley. With a shrug, Travis stood and turned to
head back to the truck.

This time the bells were closer. Much closer.

Travis whirled around. There. Something had moved-a dim form by the rain
barrel.

"Who's there?" he called out. No answer. He took another step, deeper
in. Shadows closed behind him, and a new sound drifted on the air, a
sound almost like . . . laughter. It was high and trilling, the mirth of
a child, or that of an ancient woman. The rain barrel rocked back and
forth, then toppled. Water gushed onto the ground, dark as blood.

Travis's heart shriveled in his chest. He started to back out of the
alley. The mocking laughter rang out again. He bit his lip to stifle a
cry of fear, turned, tripped over his boots, and broke into a run.

He was brought up short by a tall, stiff object, and this time he did
cry out. He stumbled backward and looked up. "Can I help you with
something, son?"

The man standing before Travis looked like he was eighty years too late
for a funeral. His black suit of moth-eaten wool was archaic and oddly
cut, with a long hem and a high collar. The suit hung loosely on the
man's spare frame, while the shirt beneath had turned the yellow of old
bones, its neck bound with a limp string tie that flapped on the air.

18

The man snatched a hand up to keep his broad-brimmed hat from taking off
on a gust of wind.

"I said, can I help you, son? I mean, are you in need of some aid?
Forgive my saying, but you look as white as Lot after he slipped on out
of Sodom."

The man's voice was dry, like the rasp of a snake's belly against sand,
but coated with a sticky Southern sweetness. This was a voice to invoke
dread and devotion in one fell swoop. A grin split the man's face. His
teeth were the same dull yellow as his shirt, and his eyes glinted like
black marbles.

"You aren't simple, now are you, son? You can talk, can't you?"

Travis managed a nod. "I'm fine, really. It was nothing, just an animal
by the sheds."

Instinct told him to get out of here. The man gave Travis the creeps,
him and his papery skin and that skeletal smile. He had to be some sort

of vagrant, what with those thriftstore clothes. And there was something
foreboding about him. Not violent, but perilous all the same.

Travis swallowed hard. "Listen, I need to get going. I have . . . I have
something I need to do."

The man watched him with those black eyes, then gave a solemn nod.

"So you do, son. So you do."

Travis did not reply. He hurried past the other, kept his eyes fixed on
the ground, and hoofed it as fast as he could

across the field without looking like he was out and out

running. To his great relief, he made it back to the truck. He climbed
inside, then cast one last glance over his shoulder. The man in black
had not moved. He still stood in front of the ruined orphanage and
clutched his hat while waves of grass surged around him. He gazed at the
horizon, like those dark marble eyes of his could see something coming,
something other eyes could not.

Travis shivered, shut the truck's door, and cranked the key in the
ignition. With a spray of gravel the pickup launched itself down the road.

Travis laughed as the oddness of his encounter at the orphanage
evaporated in the mundane task of piloting the truck. Now that he
thought about what had happened, it no

19

longer seemed so strange. There had been some sort of animal between the
sheds, and the man in black was just a drifter, peculiar but harmless.
As for the sounds-he could chalk those up to wind and imagination.
Either that or he was going insane, and there was nothing at all special
about that. He hummed along with the radio as he drove.

A pointed shape came into view up ahead. As he drew closer, Travis saw
it was a big circus tent pitched in a field next to the road. Its canvas
roof was patched in countless places, and parked to the side was an old
school bus covered with a blotchy coat of white paint. He slowed down as
he passed the tent. In front was planted a crude sign. As always, it
took a moment of concentration to stop the words from roaming, then he
reined them in. The sign read:

BROTHER CY'S APOCALYPTIC TRAVELING SALVATION SHOW

Ailments Cured-Faith Restored-Souls Redeemed Come on in-we want to save you!

It was an old-fashioned revival. Travis hadn't thought these sorts of
things still existed. He shifted into fourth, and the tent vanished
behind him. At least now he knew where the strange man had come from,
and he had been right on one count. The old guy was a nut, although not
the kind he had thought.

The battered pickup cruised down the road, and he turned his attention
to everyday matters-how many kegs of beer he needed to order for the
bar, who he had to call to get rid of that skunk holed up under the
saloon, and when he was going to find time to patch the leak in the
storeroom's roof.

Yet all the way into town, Travis couldn't quite forget the far-off
music of bells.

Twilight was drifting from the sky like silver snow by the time Travis
turned onto Elk Street and brought the pickup to a halt in front of the
Mine Shaft Saloon. Only the summit of

20

Castle Peak rose high enough above the valley to be gilded by the last
of the sunlight. He stepped out and shut the vehicle's door without
bothering to lock it. Small-town living had its own little luxuries.

Elk Street hadn't changed much in the last hundred years. If cars could
be traded for wagons and potholed pavement for red mud, Castle City's
main drag wouldn't look much different than it had at the height of the
mining days. It ran broad and straight through the heart of town-unlike
the narrow, convoluted roads of Eastern cities, constructed by people
who were still accustomed to the cramped burgs of the Old World, before
they came to realize just how much elbow room this new continent truly
had to offer. Weathercorroded false fronts rose sharp and square against
the sky, and hitching rails stood in front of most buildings, although
these days they usually kept mountain bikes from wandering off instead
of horses.

Lights were coming on all along Elk Street against the deepening night.
People strolled the boardwalks, heading to the Mosquito Cafe for the
best cup of cappuccino in Castle County, or chatting in front of McKay's
General Store, or stopping to look at the smoky quartz crystals,
obsidian bolo ties, and hand-drawn tarot cards in the window of the Blue
Summit Earth Shop. At the end of the street, graceful as a ghost,
hovered Castle City's old opera house, with its Greek Revival columns
and baroque marble facade.

Travis hopped onto the boardwalk in front of the saloon just as the neon
sign above sizzled to red-and-blue life. He reached out to turn the
brass doorknob, then paused. He frowned and leaned toward the door to
peer at the upper left corner. There. It was so small and inconspicuous
he had nearly missed it. Something had been scratched into the door's
faded gray paint, an oval shape formed of two curved lines:

What it signified Travis couldn't say. Most likely it was just some
piece of graffiti. Castle City didn't have much of a vandalism problem,
but it did happen on occasion. Whatever

21

it was, he was certain it hadn't been there yesterday: The scratch marks
looked fresh. Travis let out a sigh. Well, he needed to repaint the door
anyway. He added that job to his growing list, then headed into the
saloon. The comforting rumble of conversation and the clink of beer
glasses told him that Max hadn't driven away all of the customers. At
least not yet.

Max stood behind the bar and pored over a mass of papers spread out
before him on the expanse of old wood. His long hair was tied back in a
ponytail, and a yellow pencil perched behind one ear. He stroked the
drooping black mustache he had copied a few months back from the local
ranch hands and slid a bowl of pretzels across the bar to a customer.

All at once he grabbed the pencil and scribbled on one of the pages,
then he leaned back, chewed on the eraser, and smiled the smug smile of
a kid who had just traded two Green Lanterns and a Superboy for a Batman
Giant Special. Travis had been right. Max was going over the saloon's
books again.

Like the street outside, the Mine Shaft Saloon hadn't changed much in
the last century. These days electric bulbs shone in the wrought-iron
chandeliers that hung from the pressed-tin ceiling, and neon beer signs
glowed above the beveled bar mirror, but that was about it. Mummified
heads of elk, deer, and mountain lion stared down glass-eyed from the
walls, draped in funeral shrouds of cobweb and dust. Time-darkened
Wanted posters plastered the posts that supported junk-filled rafters.
An antique player piano stood against one wall, still capable of
plunking out its tinny music with nail-studded hammers.

The regular customers greeted Travis with hellos and raised mugs as he
wound his way through the haphazard scatter of tables and chairs. He
smiled and waved back. Maybe he didn't have a family anymore, but these
people came close. Some of the hands from the dude ranch down the
highway sat around a table where they played cribbage and drank
single-malt scotch. A pair of red-cheeked German college students in
wool sweaters and Birkenstocks had stowed their big backpacks in a
corner, and now the two young men were trying to go shot for shot
against a bluehaired contingent from the local chapter of the Daughters
of the Frontier. They were losing. A pair of cowboys in Wran

22

glers and bright geometric shirts two-stepped together to a country song
in the warm glow of the jukebox. And in a

corner, Molly Nakamura patiently taught several others how

to fold origami animals out of stiff sheets of paper, although none of
their crumpled-looking creations quite looked like

Molly's graceful cranes and prowling tigers.

Local legend held that no one came to Castle City by accident. Travis
didn't know much about legends. All he knew

was that people who passed through Castle City on their way to someplace
else had a tendency never to leave. Each of them always said the same
thing-that the first time they laid eyes on Castle City it felt like
they had found something

they didn't even know they were looking for. Maybe it was

the beauty of the place, maybe it was that they felt like they

belonged here, or maybe, as some people believed, it was that the valley
had called to them, and somehow they had

listened. Travis couldn't say which explanation was right.

Perhaps they all were.

Travis himself hadn't decided to come here. Like everything in his life,
it had just happened to him. He never had been good at making choices.

At eighteen he had left the faded Illinois farmhouse where he had grown
up to attend

junior college in Champaign. He never saw his parents or

that house again. Travis couldn't remember exactly what he

had studied in school. He had simply drifted from one subject to the
next, until one day he had found himself with a

paper in his hand standing at a bus stop. He had stepped on

the first bus that had come by, figuring it was as good as any.

It had been headed west, and after that inertia had kept him

moving in the same direction. For a time he would stop in some city,
work awhile, maybe make a friend or two. Then

he would find himself on another bus heading west again.

Until the day he ended up in Castle City, and he felt that

first breath of clean mountain wind against his face.

Andy Connell had owned the Mine Shaft then. He had

hired Travis to help out behind the bar, and Travis had

rented the beat-up cabin outside of town. He hadn't decided to stay here
any more than he did anywhere else. One day he just woke up and realized
he had been here for years, and

that he didn't have any plans for leaving. And that was about

as close to making a choice as Travis ever got. When Andy

23

died two years ago, Travis had scraped together enough cash to buy the
saloon, though whether he was going to keep it was a point he and the
bank disagreed on monthly.

He made his way to the bar, and Max looked up from his pile of papers
and grinned.

"Didn't think I could handle the place on my own, did you, Travis?"

Travis lifted a hinged section of wood and stepped through. "What makes
you say that, Max?"

"Nothing really. Just little things, I suppose. Like the fact that
you're always muttering under your breath that you don't think I can
handle the place on my own."

Travis winced. "Oh." He pulled a brown bottle of homemade root beer from
the chiller and twisted the top. "Let me guess. I have a tendency to
think aloud sometimes, don't I?"

"Don't worry, Travis. It's just one of your endearing little quirks."

Travis wondered what the others might be but opted not to ask. He wasn't
altogether certain he would like the answer. Instead, he checked the
kegs to see if any needed changing, then started washing dirty mugs in
the bar sink. Max tapped his pencil against the papers in front of him.
He might have fled the anxiety of his Wall Street job for the peace of
the mountains, but number crunching was in his blood.

"You know, I think we're going to owe some back sales tax for last
year." He fixed Travis with a speculative look. "This may just be a wild
guess, but . . . you haven't ever actually considered using a
calculator, have you?"

"I've always found that doing the books is a much more creative
experience without one," Travis said. The fact was, Travis was about as
good a mathematician as he was a brain surgeon. He had been more than
relieved to surrender the books to Max, but he wasn't about to let his
employee know that.

Max shut the ledger and groaned in despair. "Why don't you just stick a
pencil in my heart and get it over with, Travis? It would be simpler for
both of us."

"Oh, I don't know," Travis said. "This way isn't nearly so messy."

Defeated for the moment, Max tromped back to the store

24

room to hunt for more paper napkins. Travis grabbed a rag to wipe down
the bar and enjoyed his victory. As an employer it was his duty to
torment Max. That he enjoyed it so much was simply an added bonus.

It was just after eight o'clock when Castle County sheriff's deputy
Jacine Windom stepped through the door of the saloon. For a moment
Travis thought she had come by for a beer, then he noticed the gun at
her belt. She was on duty. Jace tipped her hat toward Travis from across
the room, then marched through the maze of mismatched tables toward the bar.

"Evening, Travis," Jace said, her brassy voice tinged with a melodic
Western twang. She thrust out a hand.

Travis smiled and took the proffered hand. "Nice to see you, Deputy
Windom." His expression edged into a grimace when she returned his grip
with one of crushing strength. After she let go he had to resist the
urge to rub his fingers. Deputy Windom was a small woman in her late
twenties, but she carried herself with an air of authority that made her
seem taller and older. She had short brown hair and wore a khaki uniform
with creases sharp enough to cut a well-done steak.

Jace set her Smokey-the-Bear hat on the bar and perched on a stool, then
scanned the saloon with cool eyes. "Looks like business is good tonight."

Travis filled a mug with hot black coffee and pushed it toward her.
"It's not bad. Max hasn't scared too many customers away."

Jace took a swig of the scalding coffee and fixed him with a stern look.
"If you don't mind my saying, Travis, you're too hard on Maximilian. It
isn't his fault that living in a big city makes a man soft and nervous.
Your employee has a lot to overcome. But I think he's starting to fit in

nice."

Their gazes traveled across the saloon. Now Max laughed and shook his
head while the Daughters of the Frontier, with their blue cotton-candy
hair and red-fringed denim jumpsuits, tried to get him to country line
dance with them. Max looked up, saw Travis and Jace, and shot them a
goofy hound-dog grin.

"Real nice," Jace said and gripped her coffee mug. "In fact,

25

get that boy a haircut and a pair of Wranglers, and he'd make a fine
little cowboy."

Travis's eyes bulged. He stared at the deputy as she gazed in Max's
direction, and for the first time he noticed that a gold earring gleamed
against each of her small, pretty ears. There was a resolute cast to her
square jaw and a fierce gleam in her eyes. Something told him Max was in
for a bit of a surprise.

He cleared his throat and changed the subject. "So, what was it I can
help you with, Deputy Windom?"

Jace snapped around on her stool, all business once more. She pulled a
small notebook from the pocket of her jacket and flipped several pages.

"We received an unusual report at the sheriff's office earlier."

A chill skittered along Travis's spine. "An unusual report?"

"That's correct. Waunita Lost Owl phoned the station at about four P.m.
You know her, Travis. She works behind the counter at McKay's General
Store, lives in a double-wide just north of town. Mrs. Lost Owl was
quite agitated at the time of her report. It seems she saw a . . ." Jace
glanced down at her notebook. "... it seems she saw a delgeth in' her
backyard."

Travis took a pull on his ever-present bottle of root beer. "Should I
know what that is?"

Jace slipped the notebook back into a pocket of her brown leather
jacket. "Not unless you happen to have a degree in Native-American
folklore. I had to look it up at the library. It's a Plains Indian myth.
As far as I can tell, a delgeth is a kind of antelope spirit."

Travis gripped the edge of the bar. He remembered the shadow he had seen
that afternoon behind the old orphanage and the hoofprint pressed into
the mud-a print which, now that he thought about it, could have belonged
to a pronghorn antelope as easily as to a deer. He licked lips gone dry.
"You don't think Waunita really saw one of these delgeths, do you?"

Jace let out a chuckle. "I don't think Sheriff Dominguez is worried
about creatures creeping out of old myths to prowl Castle City. But he
is concerned that a mountain lion might

26

have come down from the hills. Mrs. Lost Owl did see something. I
checked in at McKay's and the Mosquito Cafe to ask if anyone else had

seen it. I just thought I'd do the same here."

For a moment Travis considered telling Jace about what he

had seen. But if he told her about the shadow, then he would

also have to tell her about the bells and the eerie laughter,

and he didn't want to do that. The day had turned strange

enough as it was.

"I'm sorry, Deputy Windom, but if anyone has seen

thing out of the ordinary, they haven't told me about it."

Jace scraped her barstool back, then stood and rested a casual hand on
the gun at her hip. "Looks like I had better

move on then. Thanks for the cup of java, Travis." She donned her hat,
tipped it toward him, then headed for the door. She cast one last
piercing look in Max's direction, then

with a puff of night air the deputy was gone. Travis grabbed a

tray, collected empty beer glasses, and did his best not to

think about the deputy's words.

Half an hour later, the phone rang.

Max answered, then with a resigned look held the phone

out across the bar toward Travis. That Max never got any calls had been
a slight point of contention lately. Max was of

the opinion that at least some of the calls to the saloon

should be for him, and he seemed to think it some sort of

conspiracy that this wasn't the case. The fact that Travis was

the owner of the Mine Shaft and not he didn't seem to play a

significant role in Max's logic. Travis set down a tray of

mugs and took the phone.

"Travis," the voice on the other end said in hoarse relief.

"Travis, I am so thankful to have reached you."

"Jack?" Travis cupped a hand around the phone and tried to block out
some of the clamor of the saloon. He recognized

the voice of his old friend Jack Graystone. "Jack, is that

you?"

"Listen to me, Travis." Jack's faint words buzzed in his ear. "I am

afraid I haven't time to explain properly, so I can

only hope that, as your friend, you will see fit to trust

There was a potent silence. Then, "You must come to the

Magician's Attic at once."

Travis was taken aback. He had never heard Jack sound

27

like this. Jack's voice was shaking, almost as if he were alarmed. No,
Travis realized with a chill-almost as if he were afraid.

"Jack, I can't just leave the saloon." Travis tried to keep his voice
down. All the same, Max shot him a curious look. "This is our busiest
night of the week."

"But you must, Travis." As if through great force of will, Jack's voice
calmed and slipped into the smooth, indeterminate European accent with
which Travis was so familiar. "I wish I could explain over the phone
what has transpired. However, I dare not."

"Explain what?" Travis said.

"I am afraid that must wait until you come to the antique shop. I cannot
trust anyone who might be listening to our conversation. Now, you
mustn't repeat to anyone what I have said." Jack's voice dropped to a
whisper. "But you have to believe me when I tell you that my life is in
grave-"

There was a click, then a hissing noise filled Travis's ear as the phone
went dead.

The saloon's door shut behind him, and Travis stepped into the night. He
hunched broad shoulders inside his sheepskin coat. The crescent moon
hovered over the parapets of Castle Peak, and its light rimed dark
ridges like frost. The warmth and glow shut behind the buckshot-dented
door of the Mine Shaft seemed suddenly far away.

He had left without much explanation, but lack Graystone was his best
friend and, however odd they seemed, Travis couldn't go against Jack's
wishes. Besides, Max had been only too happy to have a chance to run
things himself for a while. Yet what had Jack been talking about? Travis
couldn't imagine what anyone might gain by threatening the grandfatherly
proprietor of a small-town antique store. There had to be a more mundane
explanation for the phone call.

Travis headed to his pickup. He reached for the handle, noticed
something wedged into the door crack, and plucked it out. It was a tuft
of fur, silver-brown in the moonlight. He

28

frowned. Now how had this gotten stuck in the door? A chill breath of
wind snatched the tuft from his fingers, and it danced away on the wind.
That most likely answered his question. He climbed into the truck,
mashed down the clutch, and cranked the ignition. The engine turned over
three times, then wound down with a feeble whine. He tried again. This

time he was rewarded with a metallic deathknell buzz that signaled yet
another battery had succumbed to the high-country climate. He smacked
his forehead against the steering wheel in frustration, then climbed out.

Common sense said he should head back to the saloon and ask someone for
a jump start, but if he did, people were bound to ask where he was
going, and he had promised Jack. With a sigh he began hoofing it down
the street. The Magician's Attic was only a mile away: He could manage
the walk. It was just nine o'clock, but the town's lone traffic light
already winked like an amber cat's-eye in the dark. He tried not to
think about Deputy Windom's delgeth story. Once already that day he had
let his imagination run away with him, and that had been enough.

Travis moved up onto the boardwalk. He passed by the door of the
darkened hardware store, then paused and pushed his wire-rimmed
spectacles up his nose. There it was againthe same odd symbol that had
been scratched on the saloon's door. He continued down Elk Street and
saw other doors marked in similar fashion. Travis shivered and quickened
his pace.

To his relief, fifteen minutes later, he found himself in front of the
Magician's Attic. The antique shop occupied the ground floor of a
rambling Victorian on the west edge of Castle City, and Jack reserved
the upper stories for his living space. The house was lightless and
quiet, from the tower that reminded Travis of a castle's turret to the
velvetcurtained parlor windows that stared outward like heavylidded
eyes. Was Jack even still here? Travis ascended the steps of the front
porch and reached out to knock, but the door flew open before his hand
touched it.

"Wotan's Beard! It's about time you arrived, Travis." Travis lurched
through the doorway into the cluttered foyer beyond and barely managed
to keep from falling. Jack

29

shut the door. He carried a tin hurricane lamp, its speckled golden
light the only illumination in the place.

Jack Graystone appeared to be about sixty years old, although Travis
couldn't remember him ever looking any different in the seven years they
had been friends. He was a striking man, with a Roman nose and eyes of
sky blue. His iron-gray beard was neatly trimmed, in contrast to his
thinning hair of the same color, which had a tendency to fly rather
madly about his head. He was dressed in an old-fashioned but elegant
suit of English wool over a starched white shirt and a flannel waistcoat
of hunter's green. Travis had never seen him wear anything else.

"I'm sorry I took so long, Jack." Travis tried to catch his breath. "My
truck wouldn't start, so I had to walk here." "You walked here?" Jack
fixed him with a grave look.

"That wasn't a terribly good idea, you know, not on a night like this."

Travis ran a hand through his sand-colored hair. "Jack, what is going
on? I didn't know what to think after the phone went dead."

"Oh, that. Do forgive me, Travis, I'm afraid that was all my fault. You
see, I thought I heard a noise in the parlor while we were talking. I
turned around and accidentally cut the phone cord with a sword I was

holding."

Travis gaped at him. "A sword?"

"Yes, a sword. It's like a large knife often used by knights in-"

"I know what a sword is."

Jack gave him a sharp look. "Then why did you ask?" Travis drew in an
exasperated breath. As much as he liked Jack, talking with him could be
a challenge. "Jack, would you please tell me why you asked me to come here?"

Jack regarded Travis with perfect seriousness. "A darkness is coming."

With that he turned and disappeared into the dim labyrinth of the
antique shop. There was nothing for Travis to do but follow. The gloom
all around was filled with the flotsam and jetsam of history-chests of
drawers with porcelain knobs,- lead-backed mirrors, lion-clawed
andirons, velvet chaises, and weather-faded circus posters. Jack never
rested

30

in his hunt for curious and wonderful antiques. That was how he and
Travis had become friends.

One day, not long after Travis started working at the Mine Shaft, Jack
Graystone had stepped through the door of the saloon, incongruous in his
old-fashioned attire, yet not uncomfortably so. He had asked if he might
be allowed to cull the saloon's storeroom for any "artifacts of
historical interest." Andy Connell had been out of town, but one of
Travis's assignments while Andy was away had been to clear a century's
worth of junk out of the back storeroom. Travis had been more than happy
to let Jack do some of the work for him.

Yet before long-and afterward he was never quite certain just how it
happened-Travis found himself on the storeroom floor, covered with grime
and cobwebs, sorting through tangled piles of hundred-year-old clutter,
while Jack, neatly ensconced on a barstool, politely offered direction.
In the end, the saloon's storeroom got cleaned, Travis hauled a pickup
truck full of copper lanterns, bent-willow chairs, and thick-glassed
purple bottles to the Magician's Attic, and somewhere along the way Jack
had apparently decided he and Travis were the best of friends. Travis
had never bothered to disagree.

Still, nothing in their long friendship had prepared Travis for Jack`s
behavior tonight. With Travis following on his heels, Jack wended his
way to the back of the shop, his tin lantern casting off shards of gold
light. He stepped over a heap of broken Grecian urns and edged past a
wooden sarcophagus that leaned against the wall and stared with knowing
eyes of lapis lazuli. They started up a narrow staircase that Travis, in
all his visits to the Magician's Attic, had somehow never noticed before.

Old photographs in antique gilt frames lined either wall of the
stairwell. One caught Travis's eye. He paused and peered more closely at
the photo. It showed a group of grim-faced men and women clad in somber
attire. Some gripped shovels or pickaxes, and a hole had been torn open
in the earth before them. A caption was written at the bottom of the
photo in spidery ink. Travis strained to make it out: The BeckettStrange
Home for Children, 1933. It was the groundbreaking ceremony for the old

orphanage. However, it was

31

something else that had caught Travis's attention. A rectangular shape
floated in the picture's background, blurry and half-obscured by a
woman's hat, but he recognized it all the same. The old billboard by the
highway-only in this photo it was not covered by the cigarette
advertisement. Although dim and murky, he could just discern the wild
landscape. So the painting had been there back in 1933. Yet what was it
advertising? There seemed to be flowing words written at the bottom of
the billboard, but Travis could not read them.

A perturbed voice broke his concentration. "Travis, do stop dawdling.
There simply isn't time."

Travis tore his eyes away from the old photo and hurried up the steps
after lack. The odd staircase ended in a blank wall. Jack pressed
against a mahogany panel to his right, and an opening appeared. Travis
ducked his head and followed his friend through the small door. Bronze
light flared to life as Jack used the candle from his hurricane lantern
to light an oil lamp atop a wrought-iron stand. Travis adjusted his
gunslinger's spectacles in amazement.

"Jack, what is this place?"

"Minerva's Thread! You can't stifle your questions for five seconds, can
you, Travis?"

Travis hardly heard him. The windowless room was circular, and by that
he knew it to be somewhere within the house's tower. He was familiar
with the rooms above and below. Why had he never considered what might
lie between? Now he stared in wonder.

The walls were covered with artifacts. Flat-bladed swords gleamed in the
light of the oil lamp, their blades etched with flowing designs and
incomprehensible symbols. Beside them hung half-moon axes hafted with
bone and leather, and massive hammers that obviously had been designed
for pounding in skulls, not nails. There were wooden shields inlaid with
silver, and neck-rings of fiery copper, and helmets crowned with goat
horns and yellow horsehair. It was like a collection from a museum, but
not quite. For what startled Travis most of all was the way the objects
shone in the warm light. Most of them were worn and well used, but none
seemed to display the signs of decay and corrosion that came with
centuries of burial. Well-oiled leather still looked supple, and steel
glowed without a speck of rust.

32

This was too much for Travis. "Jack, I have a request, and I really
don't think it's all that unreasonable." He advanced on his friend.
"Tell me what is going on."

Jack gave him a sour look. "Do spare the dramatics, Travis. And sit down."

As usual, Travis found himself obeying. He sank into a chair beside a
table that occupied the room's center. Jack filled a glass from a
decanter of brandy and handed it to Travis.

"I don't want it," Travis said in a sulky tone. "You will."

Something in Jack's voice made Travis hold on to the glass. "Jack, what
are all these things?" He gestured to the artifacts that decorated the
walls of the room. "Where did you get them? And how come you've never
offered any of them for sale?"

Jack waved the questions aside with a dignified flick of his hand. Jack
could do things like that. He paced around the table, lips pursed in
thought. At last he spoke. "I'm dreadfully sorry to have to involve you
in all this, Travis. However, I'm afraid I don't have any choice. There
simply isn't anyone else I dare trust. And these matters are far too
crucial for me to take unnecessary chances." He sighed, a sound of
profound weariness. "I am going to be leaving."

Travis stared at his old friend in shock. "Leaving? You mean Castle City?"

The older man nodded in sad affirmation. "But why?"

Jack sat down, folded his hands neatly before him, and met Travis's eyes.

"I am being hunted," he said.

Travis gripped the empty brandy glass and listened numbly while Jack
explained in a tone of infuriating calmness that certain individuals had
been searching for him for a long time. Now they were on the verge of
discovering him at last, and Jack was obliged to leave Castle City, at
least for the

33

time being. Travis started to wonder if Jack was dealing in black-market
artifacts. Maybe the swords, axes, and helmets that adorned the walls of
the hidden room had been smuggled into the country, and others who
wanted them were after Jack. Hard as it was to believe, it seemed the
only logical explanation.

Travis realized Jack had asked him a question. Dazed, he shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Jack. What did you say?"

"Pay attention, Travis," Jack said with a disapproving frown. "This is
important. I said I was hoping you could keep something for me while I
am gone. It is a small objectof no market worth whatsoever-but of great
personal value to me. I would rest far better if I knew it was in good
hands while I am away." He unlocked an oak cabinet and pulled out a box,
black and small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. He set it on the
table before Travis. "Will you keep it for me?"

"Of course I will, Jack, if you want me to." Travis picked up the box.
It was heavy, and he realized it must be fashioned of iron. Its surface
was decorated with angular symbols he did not recognize, and a simple
hasp held the lid shut. Travis started to undo it.

"By the Lost Fraction of Osiris, don't open it!" Jack clamped his hand
down on the lid of the box and glared at Travis. Then, with a chagrined
look, he leaned back in his chair and smoothed his waistcoat. "Forgive
me, Travis. It really would be best if you left the box closed."

"So I gathered," Travis said.

"There's no need to be flippant. Just promise me you'll keep the box

safe and secret."

Travis sighed in defeat. "All right. I promise." "Thank you."

However, Travis was not finished. "Jack, what's really going on? Who are
these people who are after you? Where are you going?` And when will you
be coming back?"

Jack's tone was reproving, if not unkind. "You know better than to ask
such questions, Travis. I have already told you more than I should."
With that Jack stood, giving clear indication that the conversation was
over. Travis knew there was nothing else he could do, although that
didn't keep a heaviness from weighing on his heart.

34

Travis picked up the iron box, and slipped it into the breast pocket of
his sheepskin coat, then followed Jack downstairs. The two paused before
the antique shop's front door. Travis chewed his lip. Was this the last
time he would ever see his old friend? "I'm going to miss you, Jack."

Now a wistful expression touched Jack's mien. "And I you, Travis. You
are a true friend. Thank you for understanding."

Travis didn't bother to say he didn't understand any of this. It would
be no use. "Good-bye, Jack." He couldn't believe he was speaking these
words. "Wherever you're going, take care of yourself."

A spark flashed in Jack's blue eyes. "Oh, you can be assured of that."
Without further ado, he opened the shop's door and ushered Travis outside.

Travis started through, then halted in mid-step. A chill coursed through
him. "There it is again," he said.

Jack's bushy eyebrows knit themselves together. "What is it, Travis?"

Travis reached a hand toward the upper left corner of the door, and his
fingers brushed over a design scratched into the paint. It was the same
symbol he had seen on the front door of the saloon and the other doors
around- town. Except this one was different in that an X had been
scrawled beneath:

Jack peered at the scratch marks, and at once his blue eyes went wide.
"Oh, dear," he whispered. "This isn't good. This isn't good at all."

Travis looked at his friend in astonishment. "You know what this symbol
means, don't you?"

Jack brushed the scratch marks with trembling fingers. "It is the mark
of their servants. I had not guessed they were this close, not yet. But
if their minions have been here, they cannot be far behind."

Travis shook his head in confusion, but before he could speak a beam of
blue-white light tore apart the fabric of the night. Travis raised a
hand to shield his eyes. It was like the searchlight of a police
helicopter, except it was too low to

35

the ground, and there was no sound accompanying it, only the murmur of

the wind. Whatever the source of the light, it was coming toward the
antique shop. And coming fast.

"Go inside, Travis." Jack's voice resonated with low urgency.

"What is it, Jack?" Travis squinted against the light. He thought he saw
something moving within-tall silhouettes backlit by the glare.

Jack's voice became a stern command. "Now, Travis!" This time Travis
didn't argue. He stumbled backward into the shop. Jack hurried after
him, slammed the door shut, and slid the dead bolt into place. He shut
the drapes that covered the shop's iron-grilled front window, and the
room was plunged into gloom. Only a razor-thin plane of hot white light
found its way through a gap in the curtains: It sliced the dusky air
like a glowing knife.

Alarm surged in Travis's chest. "It's them, isn't it? The people who are
after you." Jack did not disagree. That was all the confirmation Travis
needed. Alarm crested into outright panic.

"Calm yourself, Travis," Jack warned with a stern look. "I don't want to
be calm," he whispered. "Now is definitely not the time for calmness."

"On the contrary, there is no better time to remain calm than when one
is in danger."

Travis groaned. Jack had to go and say the word, didn't he? Danger.

Jack moved to an old-fashioned typesetter's desk, opened a drawer, and
drew out an object wrapped in black silk. He unfolded the cloth to
reveal a slender, murderous stiletto. A bloodred stone glistened in its
steel hilt. He handed the knife to Travis.

"Take this, just in case."

Travis fumbled with the weapon as though he had just been handed a live
snake instead. However, a scowl from Jack kept him from dropping the
knife. Travis had never owned a weapon of any sort in his life. It felt
cool and disturbingly smooth in his hand. He slipped it through his
belt. At least that way he wouldn't have to hold it.

"Just in case what?" he asked in a croak.

36

Jack ignored the question. "Follow me," he whispered an moved through
the chaotic clutter of the shop.

Travis started to stumble after him, then froze. An electri

humming pierced the silence, and a line of brilliant

flared beneath the front door. With menacing slowness, the doorknob
turned right, then left, then right again. Travis felt

a warmth against his hip and glanced down. The gem em bedded in the
stiletto's hilt now shone bright crimson. "Travis, get over here!"

Jack stood beside an open doorway that led down to the

shop's cellar, but Travis could not move his feet. His eyes

locked on the antique shop's front door. A sharp beam

frosty light shot through the keyhole. The doorknob twisted

faster, until it rattled in its socket, then the rattling ceased

A moment later the entire door shook with a thud. There was a long
pause, followed by a second strike.

"Travis!" The roar of Jack's voice shattered his paralysis. Travis
lurched toward his friend and bit his tongue as he barked his shin on a
cedar trunk. Just as Travis reached Jack, one last blow resounded behind
him. Hinges shrieked, old wood exploded in a spray of splinters, and
searing light flooded the shop.

Jack pulled Travis through the cellar doorway onto the top step. As one,
they turned to shut the door at the head of the staircase. For a
fleeting second, through the closing gap, Travis glimpsed a figure
silhouetted against the blazing light. The outline of the intruder was
tall and slender, and moved toward them with swift, sinister grace. Then
the door slammed shut and blocked out the sight. Hands shaking, Jack
slid a stout wooden bar across the doorway. Together, the two men half
ran, half fell down the staircase into the cellar below. Sheet-draped
furniture clustered around them like a spectral chorus, and the cellar
air was as cold as a tomb. Above, the first violent blow struck the
cellar door. Ethereal light poured through the crack beneath and drifted
down the steps like livid mist.

Jack's thin gray hair flew about his head. "That bar will only hold them
for a few moments. You must go, Travis. Quickly." He hurried to the far
wall and opened a small

37

wooden door. Beyond was a dark passage. "This tunnel leads to the garden
shed out back."

"What about you, Jack?"

A second blow struck the cellar door.

"Don't argue with me, Travis. There simply isn't time." "But why aren't
you coming?" Every instinct told Travis to flee, to scramble through the
tunnel, to run as fast as he could into the late-October night. Yet he
couldn't just leave Jack like this.

"I have my reasons for staying."

Jack's voice was flint, his expression steel. Travis had never seen him
like this before.

"Then let me help you."

"You don't know what you're dealing with, Travis." Travis shook his
spinning head. "I can't just leave you, Jack!"

At this Jack's expression softened a fraction. "Don't be afraid, Travis.
I had not planned this, but I see now it is the only way. If I am

fortunate, I can give you time to escape. However, you must use it." A
sad light shone in his blue eyes. "You are our hope now."

He reached out and took Travis's right hand between his own two and
gripped it firmly.

"Forgive me, my friend."

Agony raced up Travis's arm. For a fractured moment it felt as if his
entire body was on fire. White-hot radiance washed over him, pierced
flesh, blood, and bone-streamed through the very substance of his body
as if he were as transparent and brittle as glass. Travis tried to
scream, but his voice was lost in the roar of the wildfire that engulfed
him. In another heartbeat it would burn him into nothing.

The moment shattered. Travis reeled away from his friend. The blazing
fire had vanished, and now chill sweat trickled down his sides. Although
he dreaded what he would seecrisped flesh and blackened bones-he looked
down at his throbbing hand. The skin was smooth and undamaged. However,
all that was left of the hair on the backs of his knuckles was a fine
gray ash.

He looked up at Jack with a mixture of fear and wonder. "Go, my friend,"
Jack said. "May the gods walk with you." Travis shook his head in dull
incomprehension. Another

38

impact shook the cellar door. The thick wooden bar cracked with a sound
like breaking bones.

"Go, Travis!" Gone now was the kind and slightly absentminded old man
Travis had known for seven years. In his place was an imposing stranger:
face sharp, voice commanding, eyes vivid as lightning.

This time Travis did as he was told.

He dived into the cramped tunnel. Cobwebs clung to his hands and face.
With a cry he tore them to shreds. From behind came a crash as the
cellar door shattered. A highpitched sound crackled on the air, like dry
ice on metal. Travis ran hunched through the tunnel, propelled by
terror. Seconds later the passage dead-ended. For a panicked moment he
thought he was trapped, then his groping fingers found the wooden rungs
in the blackness. He clambered up the ladder, threw open a trapdoor, and
found himself in the cluttered garden shed. He stumbled out the shed's
door and into the frigid night.

The antique shop loomed thirty feet away. Light-hot and brilliant as a
burning strip of magnesium-flickered behind the windows. Travis took a
staggering step toward the antique shop. At that moment every one of the
shop's windows exploded outward in a spray of glittering glass. The
shock wave struck Travis like a clap of thunder, threw him to the
ground, and knocked the breath from his lungs in a grunt of pain.

He gritted his teeth and struggled to his feet. Now the flames that
poured out of the antique shop's windows were red and orange. Fire, real
fire. The place was going to burn. Travis whispered a single word.
"Jack...."

Then he turned and ran into the night.

Just north of town, the billboard faced blindly into the moonlight.

The highway was empty, a silent river of blacktop cutting across the
high-country plain. The night was still. Stars glittered in the
purple-black sky, and added their glow to that of

39

the crescent moon. Somewhere a coyote warbled a mournful song that would
have spoken of cold rushing water, of old splintered bones, of lonely
mountains stretching to the end of the world, had anyone been there to
listen to it.

The moon brushed the sharp horizon. That was when it began. Like a drop
of water on a hot iron skillet, a spark of blue light skittered across
the face of the old billboard. The spark burned itself into a cinder of
darkness and was gone. Another pinprick danced across the billboard.
Before this one dimmed another spark joined it, and another, and
another. In moments the entire face of the billboard sparkled with blue
incandescence.

A faint hum buzzed on the air. As the sound grew louder, a strip of the
faded cigarette advertisement peeled itself off the surface of the
billboard and fell to the ground. Sparks clustered like blue fireflies
around the edges of the hole left by the chunk of old paper. Bathed in
their sapphire glow, a patch of the picture beneath showed through-a
jewellike fragment of a wild landscape.

Winking like tiny eyes, the sparks spread outward. More strips of paper
curled themselves into tight coils and dropped to the ground, then still
more, to reveal the long-hidden image beneath.

People in the Emergency Department always told Grace Beckett she had a
good grip on reality.

If they meant she could pull hot chunks of car shrapnel from the chest
of a screaming motorcyclist without blinking . . . if they meant she
could perform a caesarean on a seventeen-year-old mother killed in the
crossfire of a driveby shooting and somehow still smile at the perfect
smallness of a premature baby's toes . . . if they meant she could get
called away from the other residents in the TV lounge to resuscitate the
elderly victim of a hit-and-run and still make it back before the
commercial was over . . . if that's what people meant, then Grace
supposed they were right. She was good, she knew she was, and she knew
it without any sense

40

of hauteur or self-importance. It was simply a fact. Everyone had a
talent, a gift-something they did better the first time

they tried than most people could do after years of practice and this
was hers. Grace could put broken people back t gether.

She always knew when a rush was coming.

Of course, there were all the usual signs even a first-year

intern knew-a full moon, a rising barometer, a hot Friday night in June.

But even when there were no signs, when the city drowsed, and there
hadn't been anything more serious than a sprained thumb all day, somehow
she could feel it about to happen, like a prickling on her skin. Even as the

others played broom hockey in a slick-tiled hallway-a game they resorted
to in those rare ebbs-Grace would slip on a pair of latex gloves and
stand, expectant, before the automatic doors.

With a hiss the doors slid open. Then they were there,

streaming into the Emergency Department of Denver Memorial Hospital,
pulled from an overturned bus, or a burning

hotel, or a twenty-car freeway pileup. While the others

scrambled to grab gowns and stethoscopes, Grace already

weaved her way among the wounded, the frightened, the dead, soothing
hurts and fears with precise hands. Some in

the ED mistook this cool and focused efficiency for aloofness, but Grace
never bothered to correct them. She had not

come to this place to make friends.

Yet, sometimes, in the quiet hour that always came at fou

in the morning, when everything in the world seemed to

sleep and the Emergency Department grew still and tomblike, Grace would
sit in a vacant wheelchair, holding a foam

cup of dull beige coffee drizzled from a dull beige vending

machine, and she would think that people were wrong-awfully, utterly,
hilariously wrong-and that it was really just

the opposite. Grace didn't have a good grip on reality. Reality had a
good grip on her.

Bullet wounds, mangled bodies, burnt children . . . despite her effort
to keep each instance distinct and sharp and

tragic, all inevitably blurred into one endless tapestry of suffering.
For every hole she patched, for every shattered limb

she straightened, for every heart she shocked and battered

41

and cajoled into beating again, there would be another to take its place.

Still, in all her wheelchair reveries, there was no prescience that
could have warned Grace of, or even hinted at, the queer happenings that
would weave themselves around her on that purple autumn night. Not that
it mattered. For in the end, whether she gripped it, or whether it
gripped her, the result would have been exactly the same.

Grace Beckett's reality was about to unravel.

Grace watched as two interns pushed the gurney down the institutional
green hallway. One of the thing's wheels was askew and rattled like an
old grocery cart as it hurtled along. Neither of the fresh-faced young
men seemed to notice. Elevator doors lurched open, and a moment later
interns, gurney, and patient-victim of an apartment building firewere
gone. Grace leaned against the wall and pressed her cheek to the cool
tiles. The doors of Trauma One flapped behind her like the palsied wings
of an old bird. She let her eyes droop shut for a delicious moment, then
forced them open again. She shucked off her papery sterile gown,
crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it into a receptacle where it could
await the cleansing fire of the incinerator. With a deep breath she
started toward Admitting to get her next injury. The day wasn't over
yet, not by a long shot.

She navigated her way through an antiseptic labyrinth of corridors, past
color-coded examination rooms and dim alcoves where emergency medical
equipment lurked like alien creatures, waiting to suck vital fluids from
human bodies held in their metallic grips. Spare wheelchairs and gurneys
littered the hallways, along with a haphazard collection of patients.
Most were bored refugees from the recuperative wards-those able to walk,
hobble, or wheel their way out of their rooms, exploring in curiosity,
maybe looking for a place to smoke a cigarette in secret, oxygen tanks
and clattering IV stands dragged in tow.

Grace detoured for a moment and pushed through the door

42

of the ladies' rest room. She bent over the chipped sink, splashed water
on her face and neck in an attempt to wash away weariness and the smell
of blood, then used damp fingers to comb'short, ash-blond hair. With a
snap she straightened the white coat she wore over a blouse and chinos, then

surveyed her appearance in the mirror-not to see if she looked
attractive, but rather to determine if she looked capable, professional.
Beauty was no concern of Grace's, though

in fact she was beautiful. She was a tall woman of thirty,

lean and angular, almost stiff in bearing, yet possessed of a subtle
elegance. Had her voice had substance, it might have

been smoke, or butterscotch, or fine cognac. She never wore

cosmetics, and although she thought her features sharp, others described
them as chiseled or even regal. She had absolutely no idea that her
green-gold eyes had the power to

mesmerize. "It'll work," she murmured to the reflection.

True, her skin was too pale, but there was nothing she

could do about that. She spent far too much time in the fluorescent
glare of the ED, far too little under the Colorado

sun. She promised herself next summer she would try to get

outside more, even as she knew she would not. Why should

she, when all she needed was here?

TEEN STUDIES MEDICINE, the headline had read, RECALLS PARENTS SHE NEVER
KNEW.

Newspapers adored that sort of stuff. Human interest, they called it.
Grace still had the clipping, crisp and yellow,

folded between the pages of a high school scrapbook she was

too cynical to take out of storage and too sentimental to throw away.
The photo showed a gangly sixteen-year-old

wearing a too-big lab coat, her shorn hair looking like it had

been hacked off with a scalpel. She held a human skull and

stared at the camera with an earnest expression that couldn't

quite conceal the spark of grisly mirth in her eyes. But the

pretty reporter had been squeamish of the skull, and it was a

weakness that, even as a child, Grace had found funny andmore
importantly-contemptible.

"So, honey," Colleen Adara of the Denver Post had snapped around an
apparently delicious piece of gum, "you

never knew your parents, is that right?"

43

"No, I didn't," Grace had said. "That's because, when I was a baby, they
both . . . died."

With that last word, she had thrust the skull at the reporter for
dramatic effect. A look of horror had spread across Ms. Adara's
perfectly made-up face like a webwork of cracks on a sun-baked mud pan.
It was a minor victory, but one Grace had relished all the same. That
had been in the foster home days-the five years she had referred to at
the time as one long game of Pass the Orphan-and she had needed all the
small triumphs she could get.

In the end, of course, Ms. Adara's article had been hopelessly wrong. It
wasn't the regretful ghosts of her parents that propelled Grace onward.
No, if Grace was haunted by anything at all, it was something very much
alive.

She had studied premed at the University of Colorado with fierce abandon
and was accepted to the prestigious medical school at Duke University.
Packing everything she owned into her primer-gray Mustang, she had
traded the bright dryness of Colorado for the damp and shadowed green of
North Carolina. It was her first time in the South, and, as a semiarid
Western child, she had not been prepared for the rank lushness of it
all. Everything here was alive. Not just the rhododendron and dogwood
and moss-speckled pine, but the rocks, the soil, the rivers-all were
choked with life. Even her shabby Georgian apartment, with its high
ceilings and sloping wood floors, seemed to breathe and grow, and it
wasn't just because of the cockroaches, or because of the mold in the
bathroom, which she had renamed the Terrarium. For on steamy August

nights, when she lay awake and naked beneath a rattling metal fan, the
walls would sweat and groan as if they too felt the heat.

During her four years of medical school, Grace displayed a hunger for
knowledge that disturbed her professors as often as it impressed them.
While other students dissected human cadavers with delicate disgust, she
dug into hers with such intensity, determined to discover how every bit
of bone and tissue and nerve was strung together, that one of the
anatomy professors dubbed her Michelangela. She merely gave him a
tight-lipped smile and kept cutting. When she graduated, it was eleventh
in her class, not first. To rank higher required someone more
personable, someone less intelligent

44

and disarming. Of course, not all specialties required bedside manner,
and her advisor, Dr. Jason Briggs, had expected her to place well. Then
she informed him she had turned down

an internship in radiology, the dream specialty of every med.

ical student with country club aspirations, and had accepted

one in emergency medicine instead, at a public hospital to make it
worse. Furious, he had told her she was making a

foolish mistake. Grace had nodded, then had returned to her

apartment, packed her belongings-everything still fit neatly

inside her old Mustang-and had headed back to Colorado

Saying good-bye had been easy enough. She had made no

true friends, and she would not miss the roaches.

Now she was in the third year of her residency at Denver

Memorial Hospital, and the occasional letters from Dr

Briggs had dwindled and, finally, stopped. Of course, Briggs

had been as dead wrong about Grace as Ms. Adara of the

Denver Post. Not that she cared. This was where she had to be, and that
was all anybody needed to know. Healing was a

strange and bittersweet revenge.

Grace left the rest room and headed down the hallway to

the ED's admitting area. It was nearly deserted. A few people attempted
to doze on plastic chairs while they waited to hear

news of a friend or relative. A heavyset nurse floated by, silent in her
angel-white crepe-soled shoes. Grace checked,

but there were no charts-no more patients to see. She moved through the
door near the ambulance entrance, taking a shortcut to the lounge, then
she saw a crumpled form

on a gurney. There was one more who needed her after all.

She- took a step forward.

A hand closed on her shoulder to stop "That one is mine, Grace."

Startled, she turned and found herself looking into quiet brown eyes.
They belonged to a lean black man with a saltand-pepper beard.

If Grace had anything resembling a friend at Denver Memorial, then it
was Leon Arlington. Leon was the swing shift

manager of the hospital's morgue. He had been working with dead people
so long that, over the years, he had picked up a number of their habits,
from his slow calm to his placid and

slightly disconnected gaze. These days few of Grace's pa

45

tients made the final elevator ride down to see Leon. She was shooting
for none.

Leon nodded toward the gurney in the corner, and Grace glanced over her
shoulder to see a nurse pull a sheet over the still shape. She let out a
shuddering breath. The adrenaline rush that always propelled her without
thought from patient to patient evaporated and left her weak and empty.

"Come on," Leon said in his husky voice. "Let's get some coffee."

"I remember her now," Grace said a few minutes later. The two sat in a
bank of green vinyl chairs. She took a sip from her foam cup: The coffee
was hot and bitter. "I examined her myself. She was one of the apartment
fire victims. One look, and I knew her lungs were gone. She knew it,
too." Grace shook her head in wonder, then looked at Leon. "How is it
people always know when they're about to die? We spend years trying to
learn how to read the signs, but they just seem to know. I could see it
in her eyes. And you know what I did? -I smiled at her, and then
I_turned away and moved on to someone I had a chance of saving. Any of
the other residents would have done the same."

For a moment she remembered the woman's eyes, so blue, like two jewels
in the fire-darkened ruin of her face.

She shook her head. "Whatever happened to our hearts, Leon?"

Leon just shrugged. "You did what you were supposed to, Grace."

"I know that." She searched his lean brown face, hoping to find a bit of
that easy calm she could keep for her own. "But did I do what I should
have?" She took another swig of her coffee, winced as it burned her
tongue, and swallowed it all the same. "Sometimes I wonder if all I'm
doing is prolonging the pain: I let that woman suffer so I could keep
alive a man who will have to undergo at least a half-dozen skin grafts,
and who will spend the rest of his life horribly scarred. Pain for pain.
Is that a fair bargain?"

Her voice trailed off. For a long time Leon's face was expressionless,
and when he finally did react it was not as she had expected.

He bared his white teeth in a grin. "I don't know, Grace, but you might
be surprised at the number of folks who, if

46

you gave them a choice, would stick with good old suffering. What do you
think that man you just sent upstairs would choose? To suffer the pain
of staying alive? Or to sleep in one of my drawers downstairs?" Leon let
out a hoot of laughter. "I sure know what I'd choose."

Grace wondered if she could be so certain. She glanced at a wall clock.
Five P.M. Her shift had ended an hour ago, not

that official starting and ending times meant much around

here. She stood and rubbed the back of her neck with a hand.

going to get out of here while I can. Have a good

night, Leon."

"Oh, I always do," the morgue manager said and tipped an imaginary hat
toward her.

On her way out, Grace stopped by the office she shared with some of the
other residents to shrug off her white coat and pick up her briefcase
and beeper, then she headed down a hallway toward a back exit. If she
really wanted to escape

this place it was best not to be seen. An automatic door slid

open, and she stepped outside into the late-autumn evening.

The light of the westering sun warmed her cheeks, and she

breathed in cool air. Traffic buzzed past, like a line of shiny

army ants cutting down all that stood in their path. Grace

was on foot. She headed down the tree-lined tunnel of a side street and
for the next twelve blocks tried not to wonder if

she had made the world better or worse that day.

Twenty minutes later, Grace walked up the steps to her second-floor
studio apartment and unlocked the peeling door.

Inside, she groped in the dimness until her hand found a

light switch, then flicked it on. The electric glare of the overhead
lamp was not kind to the space it found. What had been

fresh and modern in 1923 when the San Tropez was first

constructed had become dingy and ugly in the intervening years. The
white paint slapped on the plaster walls had

turned the yellow of an old wedding dress, and the green shag carpet was
so worn in places that the original linoleum tiles-probably made of

compressed asbestos-showed

47

through. Grace's meager possessions did little to brighten the place.
She saw that the last of her houseplants was withered and brown. At
least she wouldn't have to worry about watering it anymore.

She headed to the apartment's afterthought of a kitchen, rummaged in the
rusty refrigerator, and came out with a carton of Chinese takeout. She
sat cross-legged on a futon on the floor-it was the one piece of
furniture she owned-and ate cold rice while she watched the evening news
on a blurry television set almost as old as she was.

But she wasn't hungry, and the news was the same parade of disasters and
violence it was every night, and suddenly she did not want to be there,
in that dim little apartment, alone and brooding and trapped. She stood
and looked around, as if seeing the place for the first time. It didn't
seem real. Was this where she lived? She knew it was, and yet it
couldn't be. How could it, when she felt so disconnected from it all?
This place-none of this-was hers. It was an irrational feeling, and yet
so strong and certain she could only believe it was true.

Grace did not belong here.

She left the greasy carton of food on top of the TV set, stood, and
grabbed a jacket. The door shut behind her, and only as she started down
the steps did she realize she had not locked it. She almost halted,
almost turned to head back up the stairs. This was not the best of
neighborhoods. Until that moment she had always been obsessive about
locking the door. Now giddiness rose in her chest, and along with it an
odd sense of premonition. Somehow she knew, if she left this place now,
she would not come back again, and if that was true, whether she locked
the door or not mattered nothing.

Grace hesitated only a heartbeat, then descended the steps. She shoved
her hands in the pockets of her jacket and walked into the gathering
twilight.

After a few blocks she found herself on the edge of an expanse of
green-brown grass speckled here and there with trees. City Park. She
started down one of the park's asphalt trails. Soon she found herself
humming. It was a halfremembered song, from her childhood perhaps. The
melody

48

came easily to her lips, although she did not know its name and she
could recall only a few snatches of murmured lyrics:

"And farewell words too often part All their small and paling hearts. .

The words made little sense-she supposed they had been transmuted in her
mind with time-but they were comfort, ing all the same. As she often did
when she walked, Grace reached up and drew out a silver necklace that
hung around her throat. On the end was a pendant, a wedge-shaped piece
of metal incised with an angular design. Like the song, the necklace was
a thing of her childhood. She had been wearing it when the people from
the orphanage had found her, al. though she had been too young to
remember. Still, it was a link to the parents and the life she had never

known, and although it was a sad reminder, it was precious as well.

Grace walked on. It felt good to distance herself from the oppression of
the city's buildings. The air was lighter in the park, pearl instead of
gray, and she could feel a hint of the vastness of the world that lay
beyond. The mountains stood in silhouette on the horizon, as sharp and
flat and black as if a child had cut them from construction paper for an
art project. The first stars glimmered in the sky. She drifted on
through the park.

It was the girl's eyes that caught her.

Grace nearly did not see her at all, for the child's oldfashioned dress
was the exact shade of twilight, and her hair was a shadow floating
about the pale-moon oval of her face. However, her purple eyes glowed in
the dimness, and when Grace saw them she froze in mid-step. The girl
appeared to be no more than eight or nine years old. She stood quietly
beneath the slender ghost of an aspen tree to one side of the path,
small hands folded neatly before her, fingers soft and pink as the
petals of an unfurled rose. Come to me, Grace thought she heard the
child whisper, although that would have been impossible. All the same
she moved toward the girl, responding to that instinctual power children
sometimes have over adults. In moments she stood before the child.

"I am not lost," the girl said in a clear voice.

49

Grace snapped her mouth shut, for that was the question she had been
about to ask. She stared down at the girl in wonder, then shivered.
There was something extraordinary about the child, something sorrowful,
and knowing, and even ancient. All at once Grace felt that she was the
one who was lost. The bare limbs of the aspen tree made a forlorn music
in the breeze.

,,Who are you?" Grace asked. It was all she could think to say.

A pretty frown creased the girl's forehead. "Who are you? That is a
better question, I think."

Grace shook her head, unsure how to answer. The world had fallen silent.
She could hear no traffic, no sirens, no circling airplanes waiting to
land. It was as if the city had vanished into the night. A crescent moon
hung in the sky, although she could not remember seeing it earlier. The
wind held its breath.

The girl's eyes reflected the moonlight. "A darkness is coming," she
whispered.

Grace stared at the girl in incomprehension, then a shrill chime pierced
the silence. After a confused second Grace realized what it was. Her
beeper. She fumbled for the small device clipped to her belt, grabbed it
in numb hands, and glanced at the glowing liquid crystal display.

"Damn it," she said. "They want me back at the hospital." She looked up.
"I have to ..."

Her words trailed off. The girl was gone. She spun around and scanned
the deepening night, but she had no real hope of seeing the child, nor
did she.

10.

Fifteen minutes later, Grace dashed through the door of Denver
Memorial's Emergency Department. For a moment she leaned against a wall,
eyes squeezed shut, mouth open, and panted for breath. She had half
walked, half run the ten blocks from City Park, and now her lungs felt
as if she had been the one caught in the smoke of the apartment fire
earlier that day. The long hours of a resident left little time for

50

exercise, and although she was thin enough-maybe even too thin-Grace
wasn't in top physical shape. She took one

last breath, then opened her eyes. The ED was a madhouse.

In front of the receiving counter, a man argued with his

wife even as he gripped the carving fork she had stuck in his

side. Down one hall, a couple of gang members hurled expletives and
death threats at each other while a frightened intern tried to bandage
their knife wounds. A gray-faced man

stumbled through the door, asked to see a doctor, then vomited in the
middle of the floor. Every chair in the waiting room was occupied by
someone clutching a broken limb, or

sweating with fever, or wheezing for breath. Above it all,

like a dissonant chorus of sick angels, rose the crying of children.

Grace gathered her will, pushed her way through the throng of injured
toward one of the nurses' stations, grabbed

a pair of gloves, and put them on with an expert snap.

"Grace, where the hell have you been? I page you three

times and it still takes you thirty minutes to show up?"

"Fifteen," she murmured. She turned around and found

herself gazing at the young, angry face of Chief Resident Morty
Underwood. Grace disliked Underwood, but she never displayed her
feelings. She refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing he had
gotten to her. "It took me fifteen

minutes, Morty. I came as soon as you paged me."

This latter statement was not entirely true. For several

minutes, after her beeper had first gone off, she had stood in

the park and gazed into the gloom, looking for the child, but

the girl in the old-fashioned dress had vanished like a ghost.

Maybe, in a way, that was what she had been. Just before

Grace had noticed the girl she had been thinking about the orphanage,
and there were ghosts enough in those memories

to haunt a hundred walks. Yet Grace didn't quite believe

that. The girl had seemed so real. Almost too real. As if everything
else Grace had seen that day-the hospital, the city,

her own apartment-had been the apparitions, and among

them all only the girl in the archaic clothes had been solid

and true. Besides, if the child had been a phantasm of memories, why had
she spoken of what was to come?

Underwood lifted a hand to check the comb-over plastered

51

with large quantities of pomade to his prematurely balding head. "Take
this long to show up again, and I'll be reporting it, Grace."

just wanting to get away from Underwood and get to work, Grace feigned
contrition. "Which one is mine?" she asked.

The doors of the ambulance entrance whooshed open. A stretcher hurtled
through, propelled by a pair of emergency medical technicians in crisp
white uniforms. One of the EMTs shouted for help. Behind them came two
Denver police officers, hands on the guns at their hips. On the
stretcher, torso smeared with blood, a man writhed in agony.

"I think that's your ticket now, Grace," Underwood said with a noxious
smile. "Looks like a nice sucking chest wound. Enjoy."

"Thanks," was all Grace said. She turned her back on Underwood and moved
to help with the stretcher.

"What have we got?" she asked one of the EMTs. "Penetrating trauma from
gunshot," he said. "Two entrance wounds, no exits."

Grace grabbed a passing intern. "Get me two units of 0-negative and a
portable X-ray, and meet me in Trauma Three." The intern sprinted away,
and she commandeered another resident and a pair of nurses.

"How did it happen?" Grace asked as they raced down the corridor.

One of the police officers, a woman with gray-flecked hair, answered.
"The suspect was caught breaking and entering at an antique store on
South Broadway. We arrived on scene to see the suspect assailing a
woman, the owner. When the suspect wouldn't desist, I brought him down
with two shots."

Grace looked up at the officer. "And the owner? Where is she?"

"There," the other officer answered, his boyish face grim. Grace
followed his gaze. Across the ED, she saw Leon Arlington push a gurney
into an elevator. On it lay a sheetdraped form. Leon nodded in her
direction as the elevator doors slid shut.

"The store owner was dead on the scene," the young officer went on. "Her
neck was broken, the suspect did it with his bare hands. He's a strong
bastard, I'll give him that

52

much. Although why he was breaking into an antique shop, I don't know.
There was less cash on the premises than in a convenience store."

"Maybe he's a collector," Grace said. She shook her head. "All right.
We'll take it from here."

Moments later, wearing sterile gowns, Grace, resident, and nurses
wheeled the stretcher into the trauma room. On her count they lifted the
patient onto the table. Within seconds the nurses had taped electrical
leads to his chest, started an IV drip, and had a catheter in him.

Grace took her first good look at the patient. He was a white male, late
twenties, curiously groomed and affluentlooking for a typical break-in
suspect. However, she didn't care who he was. He was wounded, that was
all that mattered now. With instinctual speed she assessed his
condition. He was cyanotic, his flesh tinged blue. Pink froth bubbled
from the holes in his chest. Probable pneumothorax. The intern rushed
into the trauma room. Grace took the two units of blood from him, hung
them, then glanced at the other resident. "Intubate him."

He nodded and guided a plastic breathing tube down the patient's
trachea. Grace made an incision beneath the armpit, inserted a chest
tube, and attached it to a vacuum bottle. Blood and fluid bubbled into
the bottle. Grace and the others stepped back as the intern positioned
the X-ray. arm over the table, then moved in again after he swung the
unit aside and continued their work to stabilize the patient.

"I've got the film," one of the nurses said minutes later. Grace
straightened, and the nurse held up the X-ray for her. Grace's own
gloved hands were now smeared with blood. She glanced at the image on
the film, then frowned. "What is this?"

The two slugs showed up on the X-ray as white dots. One was lodged next
to the right lung. The other was situated dangerously close to the
descending aorta, had perhaps nicked it. However, Grace noticed these
only in passing. For just left of center in the patient's chest was
another white blot, except this one was huge, as big as a fist, and
roughedged. It lay directly in front of his heart.

"Your guess is as good as mine," the nurse said. "But something tells me
this isn't his first chest wound."

53

Grace pushed aside the X-ray and glanced back at the patient. The other
nurse had cleaned away most of the blood. Now the two gunshot wounds
stared upward like angry red eyes. In between them, down the center of
his chest, ran a jagged line of pink scar tissue. The scar looked barely
healed. Grace studied again the white blotch on the X-ray. Only metal
would show up that clearly.

"It's almost like he's got some huge chunk of shrapnel in his thoracic
cavity," she said. She had seen a lot of strange things in the ED-an
attempted suicide who drove himself to the hospital with a bullet lodged

in his cerebral cortex, a woman complaining of heartburn who gave birth
to twins, a girl with a piece of grass growing from a seed that had
taken root in her eyeball-but this had to be the strangest. How could a
man live with a piece of metal that big in his chest? And how did it get
there in the first place?

A monitor beeped. "Pressure is fifty and dropping," the other nurse
called out. "I think we're losing him."

Grace called for a syringe of epinephrine and injected it into the IV
tubing. A second later the patient's eyes flew open. He screamed and
arched his back off the table, hands clenched into claws.

"Get him down!" Grace shouted. "Get him down now!" It took all of them
to hold the man on the table. Convul sion after convulsion wracked his
body, and he mumbled something in a ragged voice.

". . . sin . . . have to find . . . Sinfath ... "What's he saying?" the
intern asked.

"I've lost his pulse!" a nurse shouted.

The patient stiffened, then his eyes fluttered shut, and he fell limp.
The intern grabbed defibrillator paddles from the crash cart and handed
them to Grace. She rubbed them together to spread the conductive gel,
then placed them on the man's chest. The defibrillator whined as the
charge built up. "Everyone clear!"

The patient's body jerked as the electric charge surged through him,
then went still. Grace glanced at the monitor. Only a few erratic spikes
broke the flat green line. She shocked him again, and again. No response.

"All right, let's crack him," she ordered. "I'm going to massage his heart."

54

Grace grabbed a scalpel and made a deep incision in the left side of the
man's chest. She took a stainless steel rib. spreader from the intern
and in one deft motion opened him up. Without being told, a nurse
positioned a suction tube and cleared away excess blood so Grace could
see. Grace re. minded herself to compliment her coworkers. They were
top-notch and deserved to know it. She reached into the tho. racic
cavity, deftly moved aside the left lung, then plunged her hand deeper,
toward the sac that contained the man's heart.

Her fingers closed around something hard, rough, and bitterly cold. With
a hiss of pain she snatched her hand back. It felt as if she had just
touched a lump of dry ice.

"What is it?" the other resident asked.

Grace shook her head and cradled her hand. "I don't . . .

I don't know."

She shook her hand, then picked up a retractor and pulled back the left
lung. The suction tube gurgled and drained away the blood in the
patient's chest so that all could see what lay within.

Grace stared in perfect shock.

"Oh, God . . ." one of the nurses breathed, while the other clamped a
hand to her mouth to stifle a scream. "Jesus, what is that?" the intern
said, his eyes wide. Grace worked her jaw, unable to form words. She could

only gaze at the fist-shaped lump of metal that lay in the center of the
man's chest, exactly where his heart should have been. The monitor
beeped frantically, then let out a piercing whine.

The suspect was dead.

It was getting late.

About an hour ago the tide in the ED had finally turned, and after that
more patients were wheeled out the doors than were wheeled in. The
throng of wounded dwindled to a scattering of people waiting to be seen
for minor injuries, and the roar of anger and pain faded to a patient
murmur. Some

55

where, far down a corridor, an infant cried. It was a weak and forlorn
sound, and along with it drifted the weary music of a woman's lullaby.

We are born to this. To life, and to hurt. Grace sighed and gripped a
chipped mug with both hands. Ripples shivered across the brown surface
of the coffee within. Circles spreading to nowhere, containing nothing,
vanishing when they struck the boundary that imprisoned them. Maybe that
was all they were, ripples on a pond. Maybe she was foolish to try to fight.

"Dr. Beckett . . . ?"

Grace jerked her head up. A police officer sat in the chair opposite
her, a concerned expression on his face. "I was asking you a question
about the suspect, Dr. Beckett.

She blinked. "Yes, of course, I'm so sorry. Please go on."

"Did the suspect say anything that might help us in learning his
identity? Did he mention a name? Or a place he might have come from?"

Grace concentrated, thought back to the urgent chaos in the trauma room,
then shook her head. "I'm afraid not. For a minute he did mumble
something, but I couldn't understand what it was. I'm not even certain
it was English. It might have been something about sin or sinning."

The officer nodded and scribbled on a notepad. "We'll run his
fingerprints through the system, but any additional information could
help narrow down the search. Did he say anything else you could make
out? Anything at all?"

Grace shook her head again. She watched as he jotted down a few more
notes. Officer John Erwin, read the tag on his blue shirt. He was
middle-aged, with kind brown eyes. He and several other police officers
had arrived at the hospital not long after the happenings in Trauma
Three, called in by the original two officers. Erwin had explained it
was standard procedure to file a report on how the suspect had died,
and-he had paused here-to describe any unusual circumstances associated
with that death. At first Grace had been nervous, but Erwin had sat her
down, pushed a mug of coffee into her hands, and with his considerate

manner had put her

at ease.

Earlier, Morty Underwood had done just the opposite.

Not long after she had sewn up the body of the John Doe

56

and had sent it down to the morgue, she had rounded a cor ner to find
herself face-to-face with the Chief Resident. His comb-over flew above
his head, and his expression was one

of panic. He had just gotten out of a meeting with the chief

of the ED. The hospital's management had decided it was

to keep the incident with the police suspect

Everyone remembered the incident at another hospital a few

years back, when toxic fumes emitted by a woman's blood had nearly
asphyxiated a half-dozen hospital workers. Some

people had gone so far as to suggest she had been an extraterrestrial
alien. Denver Memorial Hospital did not want that kind of publicity.
Things like that happened in tabloids, not

here. A detailed autopsy would certainly reveal a more mun

dane explanation for the patient's condition. Until then, no

one-including Grace-was to say anything about the incident to anyone.

Incident. Grace was rapidly getting sick of that word. This hadn't been
just an incident. Incidents were things to be

written up, filed away, and forgotten. But this had been real.

She had seen inside the man's chest. There had been no

ing, beating human heart there. Instead there had been only

a metallic lump-she had touched it with her own hand. Yet somehow that
thing had worked to pump blood through the

man's body. They had detected the pulse. If the story did make the
tabloids, then the headlines would be exactly and

terribly right. The man had a heart of iron.

She had run a hand through her hair, her words scathing.

"What do you want me to do when the police ask me why

their suspect died, Morty? Lie to them?"

Morty had said nothing, and had fidgeted with the collar of

his shirt instead. It was clear from his expression this was

exactly what he wanted.

She had stared at him in genuine amazement. "Do you

actually enjoy being a worm, Morty?"

He had assumed a self-important air. "Whether I enjoy it

or not isn't important. It's my job."

Grace had taken that opportunity to accidentally step on

his toes. While he clutched his foot she had made her escape.

And she had told Officer Erwin everything, just as it had

happened. It seemed impossible, even absurd, but she knew

what she had seen. While some people could deny the truth

57

in order to protect their small minds from anything that might expand
them beyond the comfortable and ordinary, Grace was not one of those people.

Nor, she suspected, was Officer Erwin. He asked her several more
questions, and while he raised his eyebrows more than once at her
answers, he did not express any doubt that she was telling the truth. He
shut his notepad and slipped the pen into a pocket.

"Thanks for your help, Dr. Beckett." He fell silent and gazed into
space. Finally he turned his eyes back toward her, his words quiet. "We
think we have it all figured out. But we don't, do we? We're not even
close."

A shiver coursed up Grace's spine. She had no answer for that.

Erwin stood. "I'm going to talk to the nurses who assisted you, Dr.
Beckett. If you don't mind, that is."

Grace thought of Morty Underwood's puffy, anxious face. "Be my guest."
She lifted the mug. "And thanks for the cof'fee."

"I bet it's cold by now." "I don't mind."

Officer Erwin grinned, then moved away across the ED's admitting area.
Grace sipped the cold coffee, and though she wouldn't have thought it
possible then, she found herself smiling. Then her smile faltered, the
smallhairs of her neck prickled, and she looked up.

,After a moment she saw him. He stood some distance down one of the
hallways that led from Admitting, watching her. Dark suit, dark hair. He
leaned against a wall in a casual, elegant posture. How long had he been
there? For a moment his deep-set eyes locked on hers. His gaze was
searching, as if he wanted something of her.

Curious-or was it compelled?-Grace started to rise from her chair. Just
then a gurney rattled by and blocked her view. A moment later the gurney

passed through a doorway. Grace looked back down the hall. It was empty.
The dark-haired man was gone. She sank back into her chair and clutched
the coffee mug. Maybe the man hadn't been watching her after all, maybe
he had been waiting for someone else.

Maybe, but she doubted it.

58

Leon Arlington liked his job.

In fact, he liked it a lot. Leon always had been a night person, so he
didn't mind the late hours. And with its thick cement walls, the place
was nice and quiet, which made it good for thinking. Leon liked
thinking, too. He thought about lots of things while he worked down in
the cool silence of the morgue. Things like, how long it would take to
walk to the moon, if you really could walk there? And what was the best
kind of tree? And if he could drink just one drink for the rest of his
life, would it be water or Mello Yello? Hoo boy, that was a good one. He
still hadn't figured that out yet.

But the biggest reason Leon liked his job was simple: Dead folk gave him
no trouble. No trouble at all. He had worked plenty of other jobs where
he had had to deal with living people. They were always wanting
something different from what he gave them, or telling him how to do
things he already knew, or acting like he was stupid just because he was
slow and quiet and didn't easily get mad. Too often in this world people
mistook fast for smart, loud for important, and angry for righteous. But
Leon knew the difference. Besides, the customers here didn't care what
pace he did things at.

Whistling a tuneless song, Leon adjusted the plastic sheet that covered
a cadaver lying in an open body drawer. He had to make certain there
were no gaps in the wrapping. The morticians hated it when the corpses
dried out. Leon wasn't sure why. Maybe it made it harder to paint the
makeup on them for the funeral. That was something else to think about.
He paused to regard the old woman in the stainlesssteel drawer. With her
blue-gray skin and white hair it looked almost like she was frozen in a
piece of ice rather than wrapped in clear plastic. It made him think of
a story he had read as a child, a story about the queen of Snow. Only
the queen had been cruel, and she had imprisoned a little kid in her
palace of ice.

Leon slid the drawer shut and shivered. That was the one

59

real problem with this job-it was too damn cold down here sometimes. The
chill radiated from the bank of drawers and soaked into the floor and
walls, where it lingered like permafrost. The cold had never bothered
Leon in the past, but this last year he had noticed it creeping deeper
into his joints and bones, like something hungry and alive. Maybe one of
these days he would have to get a different job. Something warmer.

He rubbed his lean hands together for heat and turned to see to his next
customer. The naked corpse lay on its back on a stainless-steel
table-white male, late twenties, in good physical shape. Leon picked up
a clipboard and checked his notes. That's right. This was the John Doe
the police had shot before bringing in. They had cracked this one's
chest open, but the wound was neatly closed up now. Leon recognized the

precise stitches that bound together the two raw edges of flesh. Even
when they were dead, she always took care in what she did to them. This
had been Grace Beckett's patient.

Leon grabbed a pen and made notes concerning the corpse's condition:
height, weight, appearance, the locations of the two bullet entry
wounds. He turned the body over, then, noticed a small tattoo on the
underside of the John Doe's forearm. He bent closer. No, it wasn't a
tattoo, but a brand. The puckered scar tissue formed a symbol:

It wasn't anything Leon recognized, although it did make him think of
some sort of religious sign. If it was from a religion, then it had to
be a crazy one to brand its disciples like cattle. Leon shook his head
at the sorry state of the world, then turned the corpse back over and
scribbled some more on his clipboard. A moment later he halted and frowned.

"Now, I thought I already shut your peepers."

The cadaver only gazed upward with unseeing eyes. Leon snapped on a
fresh pair of latex gloves and closed the corpse's eyelids. Staring was
one impertinence he did not tolerate of dead people. He made a few last
notes, then prepared the

I

60

cadaver for storage. Leon had it down to a system these days. Toe tag,
plastic bag, then into the deep freeze.

"You were a healthy boy, now weren't you?" he grunted as he wrangled the
heavy corpse from table to drawer. Some, times the bodies seemed to
fight him in this, as if they did not want to be shut away in the dark,
as if they wanted to

hold on to the lighted world for a little while longer. Mostly,

though, it was just rigor mortis and the slippery plastic that made it
so hard. At last Leon succeeded. He leaned on the open drawer to catch
his breath. Maybe he really was getting

too old for this job. He supposed he could go work at his

cousin Benny's upholstery shop. It sure would be warmer

and he wouldn't have to talk to customers if he didn't want to, not if
he stuck to the shop's back room. Besides, Benny

owed him a favor. He resolved to call his cousin in the morn.

ing, then started to slide the drawer shut.

The cadaver stared up at him through the clear plastic

sheet.

Leon halted. "What the hell . . . ?" he whispered. He was

sure he had closed them this time. But the corpse's dull eyes were
wide-open. Leon shuddered, the damn chill again. He leaned over the

drawer and bent down for a closer look, to be sure he wasn't mistaken.
His breath fogged on the plastic as

he gazed into the dead man's eyes.

A hand punched through the clear sheet, reached up from the drawer, and
closed around Leon's throat. Leon tried to struggle, tried to scream,
but the grip on his throat was far

too tight: He could not break it. Even as his mind fought to understand
what was happening, his lungs started to burn for want of air. Bright
pinpricks exploded in his brain like

fireworks. Somehow he managed to look down at the cadaver. His gaze
locked with that of the dead man in the drawer, and in those dull eyes
he saw . . . evil. It was a

malevolence so vast, so deep, that suddenly he knew it was

ancient beyond all reckoning. In that second, Leon Arlington

understood everything. A darkness was coming. His very

last thought was of how cold he felt, how awfully cold.

strength, the dead fingers tightened

The sound of snapping bones echoed off the hard tiles.

61

Grace drained the last of the coffee, then stared at the bottom of her
empty mug. Despite the sense of disconnection she had felt earlier that
day, she thought maybe she could return to her apartment after all.
Maybe she could curl up with a blanket on her futon and fall asleep to
the drone of late-night TV, and when she woke in the morning, things
wouldn't seem so strange, so alien, and so like she didn't belong.

Grace rose and headed for the break room to rinse out the coffee mug.
Along the way she nodded to Officer Erwin. He stood at one of the
nurses' stations and talked with the intern who had assisted Grace
earlier. Erwin nodded in reply. Nearby, Morty Underwood looked on with
a.sour expression and fumbled as he tried to unwrap a roll of antacid
tablets. Grace did not resist the small wave of satisfaction she felt as
she continued past.

She was halfway across the admitting area when the elevator let out a
chime. Afterward, she was never quite certain what made her pause and
turn to stare as the elevator doors slid open. Maybe it was that, in the
back of her mind, the chime sounded almost like a death knell. She
watched transfixed as the doors rolled to either side, like an opening
eye turned on its side. A figure stood inside the elevator, silhouetted
by fluorescent light. Grace blinked against the sterile glare. The
sounds of the ED receded into the distance, yet her pulse throbbed in
her ears, mixed with the thrum of a hundred other heartbeats, as if the
very air had become a stethoscope transmitting the life and sudden fear
of all those around her. The figure stepped out of the elevator.

It was him. The man she had pronounced dead three hours ago. He was
naked, his skin mushroom pale. Black blood oozed between the stitches

that bound the wound in his chest. His eyes stared forward with dead
intensity. Then, with mindless deliberation, the man with the iron heart
walked forward, his bare feet slapping against the tile floor.

Sound rushed back into the ED. Screams sliced the air in

62

all directions as people scrambled to get out of the dead man's way. One
EMT was too slow. The dead man thrust out a hand, and the EMT was hurled
to one side. He slid a dozen feet along the floor before he struck a
bank of chairs. He twitched but did not get up. Morty Underwood stood
only a few feet from the crumpled form of the EMT, but the Chief
Resident did not even glance at the fallen man. Fear twisted his mealy
face. He tossed aside a handful of papers in a multicolored flurry and
turned to flee the admitting area. The dead man walked on, headed for
the main entrance of the ED. Grace backed up against a wall. She knew
she should run, but it was a dull knowledge, and could not connect with
the nerves and muscles of her limbs. The coffee mug slipped from numb
fingers and shattered against the floor with a sound like breaking bones.

A dark blue blur moved past her. Erwin. The police officer approached
the dead man, one hand held out before him while the other reached for
the gun at his hip.

"Just stop right there-" Erwin began.

He never got any further. The corpse shot out a hand, contacted Erwin's
forehead, and thrust the officer backward with brutal force. Erwin's
skull struck the wall an arm's length away from Grace. There was a sharp
noise, like a firecracker exploding. Then, as if all his bones had
turned to jelly, Erwin slid to the floor. His head left a trail of gore
on the green paint.

The walking corpse did not pause. Staring forward with hideous calm, he
continued toward the automatic doors and passed within five steps of
Grace. A paralyzing odor rose from his body: the foul reek of congealed
blood and the sweet taint of decay.

It was the smell of death.

The admitting area was virtually empty now. Most had fled, although a
few people peered out of side corridors in dread fascination. The EMT
had crawled away. Only Grace and the fallen officer did not move. Then,
along with the damp flop-flop of the dead man's feet, another sound
drifted on the stifling air: a metallic creak accompanied by a fearful
muttering. Grace cast her gaze over the room in search of the sound's
source.

In front of the ED's automatic doors, a white-haired

63

woman in a bathrobe struggled with her wheelchair. One of the wheels was
stuck and would not turn. With arthritic fingers she tugged at the
brake, then tried again. The wheelchair spun in a slow circle but did
not move forward. Confused by its proximity, the automatic doors slid
open, then shut, then open again, as if wracked by silent, spastic
laughter. The woman looked up, and fear touched her faded eyes. Her
wheelchair stood directly between the dead man and the doors.

He was going to kill her. The dead man would not move to one side, would
not go around her. Instead, he would destroy

anything that lay in his path. That was the nature of this . . .
creation. Grace knew it-knew it with strange and perfect certainty. But
then, this was not the first time she had come face-to-face with evil.

In that fractured moment, Grace made a decision. She could not allow
this thing to do whatever it was it had been made to do. The naked man
bore down on the wheelchair. The woman had stopped struggling and now
simply gazed at the approaching corpse. Like all the very old, she knew
the Angel of Death when she saw It coming.

With dreamlike calm, Grace knelt beside Erwin, unbuckled the leather
holster at the dead officer's hip, and pulled out 'the revolver. She
stood, turned, and pointed. The gun seemed an extension of her arm.

The dead man reached for the old woman. Grace did not hesitate. She
squeezed the trigger and called down the thunder. The dead man jerked
and arched his back, as if struck a blow by an unseen enemy. A wet
blossom appeared on his right temple. He took a staggering step forward.
Grace pulled the trigger again. Light and sound shattered the air like
crystal. The corpse's arms flew out to either side, the wings of a weird
bird trying to take flight. Again she fired, and again. With the last
shot the entire right side of the man's skull exploded. Dark fluid
stained the old woman's face, and she watched in dull amazement as Death
died before her.

The man with the iron heart toppled to the floor. For a minute he
convulsed violently, legs jerking, hands scrabbling at the tiles. Then
he went still. One last trickle of blood oozed from his chest before the
flow ceased. Even this thing needed a brain to function. It was over.

64

Her back against the wall, Grace slid to the floor and crouched beside
the, dead police officer. No, that wasn't right. It wasn't over. Somehow
she sensed it was just the opposite. She leaned her cheek against the
wall, cradled the gun against her chest, and gazed into Erwin's
peaceful, empty eyes. The words whispered by the purple-eyed girl in the
park drifted once more in her mind, and with them came a strangely
exultant sensation.

Yes, a darkness was coming.

Excited voices sounded around her. People rushed into the admitting area
now. Two police officers knelt by Erwin and swore as they examined him.
Grace did not look their way. Instead, her gaze was drawn to the floor
before her, to the shards of the broken coffee mug. A faint smile of
wonder touched her lips. So sometimes the containing circle could be
broken after all, and the ripples sent free.

14.

It wasn't until he saw the revival tent glowing in the distance that
Travis realized where he was going.

How long he stumbled through the night after fleeing the destruction at
the Magician's Attic he didn't know. Perhaps it was minutes, perhaps

hours. For a time the keening of sirens echoed in the distance. Then the
blocky shapes of Castle City shrank behind him, and his boots scuffed
against weathered asphalt. After that there was only darkness and the
hiss of the wind.

As he walked, he rubbed his right hand-the hand Jack had clasped just
before everything had gone mad. It still throbbed, but now the pain had
dwindled to a swarm of pinpricks, like the aftereffects of an electrical
shock. Travis remembered the fierce light that had blazed in Jack's
usually kind blue eyes. You are our hope now, he had said, and even more
mysteriously, Forgive me, my friend. Travis didn't know what to make of
those words. None of this made any sense. All he knew was that his best
friend in the world was quite possibly dead.

Through his sheepskin coat he felt the small, heavy lump

65

of the iron box. What did it contain? Whatever it was, it couldn't
possibly be worth all that had happened. Or could it? After all, Jack
had told him to keep the box safe-no doubt from the people who were
after him, the people who had broken into the antique shop and had set
it ablaze. Except, now that he thought about it, Travis wasn't so
certain it had been people who had attacked the Magician's Attic. At
least not any sort of people he knew. He saw again the silhouette he had
glimpsed for a fleeting second. So tall, so thin, moving with eerie
grace. It might all have been a trick of the light, but even the light
itself had seemed wrong. Too bright, too piercing. Travis shook his
head. He had so many questions and no place to go for answers.

His boots ground against the pavement as he slowed to a halt. For a
moment he considered returning to the light and warmth of the Mine
Shaft. But that wasn't possible, was it? Maybe they were following him,
the beings in the light. What would happen if he led them back to the
crowded saloon?

Travis shivered inside his coat. He supposed it was midnight by now. Far
below, the lights of Castle City gleamed in the mountain dark, beautiful
as stars, and as utterly unreachable. His eyes traveled up the desolate
stretch of highway, and for a moment he wondered if maybe he had been
following the road back to his cabin, with its drafty log walls and
leaking roof-if maybe he had been going home. Yet even as the thought
occurred to him, he knew it was not so. He did not belong there any more
than he belonged amid the lights shining in the valley below. Somehow,
during the course of that night, Travis had stepped outside the
boundaries of his usual world-he had gone beyond the pale-and he did not
know how he would ever return. It was the loneliest feeling he had ever
known.

"I'm afraid, Jack," he whispered, but the words turned to fog on the
cold air and melted away.

He turned to continue on, and that was when he saw it, beside the
highway not far ahead. The old-fashioned circus tent. Golden light
spilled from the half-open entrance flap and through rents in the canvas
to give the big top the aspect of a great, grinning jack-o'-lantern.
Travis stared for a long moment. Then, before he even knew what he was
doing, he

66

started walking toward the tent. But the man in black had

gazed into the darkness gathering on the horizon with knowing eyes, and
Travis had nowhere else to go.

As he drew closer to the tent, he passed the blotchy white

school bus he had seen earlier. Parked beside it was a motley

collection of vehicles, ranging from pickups and rusted-out station
wagons to suburban minivans and gleaming sports

cars. Travis hesitated a moment before the entrance. Did he

really think he would find answers here?

There was only one way to find out. He took a deep

breath, then plunged into the golden light beyond.

15.

Despite the lateness of the hour, Brother Cy's Apocalyptic Traveling
Salvation Show was in full swing.

The first thing Travis noticed was that the tarnished light came, not
from electric bulbs, but from punched-tin lanterns suspended below the
canvas ceiling. A haze of smoke hung on the air like an atmosphere of
mystery. To either side of the entrance hulked a bank of wooden
bleachers. A scattering of people sat upon the splintery planks, perhaps
two dozen in all. It was an unlikely melange. A walleyed trucker in
faded flannel kicked up his battered boots, smoking a cigarette. Nearby,
a woman in a smart blue business suit perched on her bench like a stiff
bird. Beyond her, an old blind man in thrift-store garb leaned forward
on his rattan cane, head bowed, listening. Sitting in the front row was
a young woman-barely more than a girl-clad in a nylon coat of dirty sky
blue with matted fake fur around the neck, a small child clutched on her
lap. The young woman's thin face was tightly drawn-in weariness, and
perhaps in trepidation-but the child stared around him with wide eyes, a
look of wonder on his grubby cherub's face.

Feeling conspicuous, Travis found a vacant place and sat down. He lifted
his head, and that was when he saw him. The man in black.

Or Brother Cy, for that was certainly his name, and this was most
certainly his traveling revival show. The preacher

67

prowled on a stage opposite the bleachers, clad in that same black
coffin suit, and paused now and then to thump a bony fist on a podium
that looked as though farm animals had drunk out of it in its last
incarnation. He had taken off his broad-brimmed pastor's hat to expose a
phrenologist's dream of a cranium. With a start, Travis realized the
rich music he had heard rising and falling on the smoky air was in fact
Brother Cy's magnificent, terrible, honeyed-rasp voice, preaching up a
storm.

and you, my friends, you who lurk in your comfortable tract houses,"

Brother Cy thundered with as much spit as volume, "believing yourselves
protected from all harm, wallowing in your reclining chairs, drinking
your six-packs of beer, and prostrating yourselves before the altar of
television. You are in for a surprise, my friends." The podium shuddered
under his fist, and his eyebrows bristled like black caterpillars. "For
whether you live in a hilltop mansion or a river bottom shack, it will
find you just as easy and knock upon your door. For I say to you
again-there is a darkness coming!"

"Amen!" a smattering of voices said, and there was even one faint
"Hallelujah!" Brother Cy grinned, fire lighting the pits of his eyes, as
if it had been an affirmation a thousand voices strong. But he was not
finished yet.

"It creeps nearer every day, this darkness-every hour, every minute. But
have any of you seen its coming? Have you felt it, like a shadow falling
across your soul?" He shook his head, perhaps in sorrow, perhaps
disgust. "No, you have not! You have turned your eyes inward, you have
shut your ears, and you have drowned yourself in the petty comforts
of-ryour material possessions." He thrust his arms out to either side,
and his voice vaulted to a crescendo. "I say, is there not even one
among you who has dared to gaze into the heart of the approaching dark?"

Two dozen faces stared at Brother Cy, fearful, entranced. Then one
tremulous voice rose on the smoky air.

"I ... I have."

It was the young woman who held the child.

Brother Cy gazed down at her for a protracted moment, like he was
judging her with those black-marble eyes. Then he stepped off the stage
and moved to her with his scarecrow

68

gait. He cupped a long hand beneath her fragile chin and lifted it until
her look was lost in his.

"So you have, child," he said in a secret voice. "So you have." They
remained that way for a long moment, as if

some unheard conversation passed between them. Then he leaped back onto
the stage and pounded the podium until its

sides bowed.

"Are you not ashamed?" Brother Cy said. "Here before

you sits one with a tiny child, who is little more than a child

herself, pitiable and full of fear. Yet she has found the

strength to do what the rest of you have not, to lift up her

eyes and stare into the very heart of shadow!" The spectators shifted on
the hard bleachers.

"Yes, I see the truth now," Brother Cy said. "There are disbelievers
among us tonight, aren't there? You know who

you are." He thrust out a skeletal finger and swept it owe

the audience. When the accusing appendage pointed toward Travis, it
seemed to pause. Travis squirmed in his seat, and

he felt naked. Then Brother Cy's finger moved on past him. "It seems I
lack the power to convince all of you disbeliev.

ers," the preacher said. "However, you are fortunate, for there is
another here tonight who sees this darkness more

clearly than anyone else. And with her is one who

stands its nature far better than I." Brother Cy thrust a hand toward a
side curtain of moth-eaten velvet and bowed like a

macabre facsimile of a game-show host. "May I introduce to

you Sister Mirrim and Child Samanda!"

The curtain parted, and onto the stage stepped a woman and a girl. They
approached Brother Cy hand in hand, and

Travis had the sense that it was not the woman who led the girl but
rather the reverse. Both wore heavy dresses of black

wool that contrasted with their moon-pale skin. However,

there the similarity ended, for the woman's hair was wild and fiery, and
she gazed forward with distant green eyes, a

stricken cast to her otherwise impassive visage, as if she looked upon
some far-off place, while the girl's hair was

raven dark, and her purple eyes seemed far too knowing for

the angelic cameo of her face.

Brother Cy stood behind woman and girl, and

passed but did not touch them with the half circle of his arms. "Sister
Mirrim is possessed of great and unusual

69

sight," he said in a stage whisper. "Would you have her see for you
now?" He held up a silencing hand. "Wait! Before you answer, know that
what Sister Mirrim sees may be good or ill, and in these times I say of
the two it is far more likely to be ill she will glimpse. But then, from
knowledge of evil can come great good, for those who dare to listen. Do
any of you so dare?"

A chorus of affirmation rose from the bleachers.

"So be it." Brother Cy bent close to Sister Mirrim. "See for us,
Sister," he murmured, then retreated. Sister Mirrim stood at the fore of
the stage, her hands resting like frail doves on the small shoulders of
Child Samanda, who stood quietly before her. At last Sister Mirrim
spoke, and as she did her eyes grew more distant yet, gazing on things

no other within the tent could glimpse.

"It comes from a place far distant," she began in a chantlike voice.
"Yet in that distance lies no protection. For I can see it growing now,
sending forth dark shoots, and digging down dark roots, drinking a world
to make it strong. And when itt has drunk that world dry, and all that
is left is ash and bone, it shall lift its gaze in this direction, and
it shall slake its thirst upon this unwary world." Her voice rose,
shrill now. "Can you not see it? The birds of night have taken wing.
Their pale master wakes, and his heart is colder than winter. Where are
the Stonebreaker and the Blademender? I cannot see them yet. But there
is something more, something darker still, a shadow behind the shadow."
She shook her head. "I cannot . . . I cannot quite . . ." Her voice was
galvanized by panic, and the stricken look in her eyes became one of
terror. "Alas! Alas! The eye that was blinded sees once more, and all is
blackened and withered beneath its fiery gaze!"

Sister Mirrim swayed and would have fallen save for Child Samanda, who
grasped her arm. In two long strides Brother Cy was beside them to add
his own steadying grip to the firehaired woman's shoulders.

A cracked voice rose from the audience. "I've seen them, too."

It was the blind man. He lifted his wrinkled sockets toward the stage.

70

Although his voice was low, Brother Cy's words pierced

the stillness of the tent. "What have you seen?"

"The dark birds." The old man gripped his cane. "I ain't seen a thing
since I was a boy, but I seen them of late, flying

before my eyes, like blacker patches of black on the

I always see. And . . ." His voice dropped to whisper.

and I seen him as well."

Brother Cy watched him with interest, and the old

shifted in discomfort, as if he could feel the force of the

preacher's gaze.

"Who have you seen?" Brother Cy asked.

"Him," the blind man said, and his knuckles went white around the cane.
"The pale one. I saw him once, with the

night birds whirling round him, and he was white as snowor so I'm
guessing, as I ain't seen snow in 'most a lifetimeand he shone against
the blackness, tall and fierce and ing a crown of ice, it seemed to me.
And he was lau

Laughing at me." The old man shook his head. "He was

something terrible, he was."

The middle-aged woman in the skirt suit stood on the

heels of the old man's words. "Is it too late?" She wrung her

hands. "Is it already too late for us to do something about the

darkness?"

"No," Brother Cy said. "It is never too late, not until the

end-and even then, who's to say if all is really over? The

darkness approaches, but it is not yet fully here, and if we all

do our part, it may never be."

"But what is it?" a voice called out in frustration. "What is

this darkness that everyone keeps saying is coming?"

Travis was shocked to realize the voice had been his own.

He was standing now. Somehow all this hysteria about

doom and darkness had gotten to him. "That is the question I have been
waiting

It was not Brother Cy who spoke, but the girl. Her voice

was soft, and it lisped slightly, yet there was power in it. The

girl stepped forward, and her black-buttoned shoes tapped against the
wooden stage like tiny deer hooves. Although her

voice addressed the entire gathering, Travis was convinced

that her too-knowing gaze was for him only.

"The nature of the darkness is both singular and multifidous," the girl
said, and heads nodded, as if the onlookers

71

understood her cryptic words perfectly. "Singular, in that it stems from
one deep well. Multifidous, in that each of us must face it in our own
way." With a tiny hand she pointed to the audience. "Each of you has a
battle to fight. That is why you came here tonight-although there are
many, many more such as yourselves. Most of your battles will be small
ones, yet that does not mean they are not important. For that is how
this war will be won or lost, by a thousand little battles, each fought
by one person standing alone against the darkness-or surrendering to it."

"But how will we know our battle when it comes?" the trucker asked.

A secret smile touched Child Samanda's rosebud lips. ,,You will know,"'
was all she said.

With that, the revival was over.

"Thank you all for coming," Brother Cy said with a dismissing sweep of

his arms. "Do not forget the seeings of Sister Mirrim or the words of
Child Samanda. And do not forget to consider a small donation-a pittance
that will allow us to bring our message to others like yourselves-as you
depart."

Brother Cy leaped from the stage and stood beside the tent's entrance.
Seemingly from nowhere, his broadbrimmed pastor's hat appeared in his
bony hand, and he thrust it out before him. A few people tossed in a
handful of change or a crumpled bill as they shuffled past. Onstage,
Child Samanda led Sister Mirrim toward the curtain. As` they stepped
through a slit in the ratty velvet, Travis caught a fleeting glimpse of
a dim space beyond. He blinked, for it seemed to him that a number of
figures gathered behind the curtain, tangled in a queer knot of crooked
legs, sinuous arms, and curved swan necks. One of them, a young manor
was he old?-peered back at Travis with nut-brown eyes. Something
sprouted from his forehead, something that looked almost like . . .
antlers? Then the gap in the curtain closed. Sister Mirrim and Child
Samanda were gone. Travis supposed it was all simply a trick of smoke
and shadows, yet he found himself thinking of Waunita Lost Owl's delgeth
all the same.

He realized then he was the only one left inside the tent except for
Brother Cy. He hurried to the exit. Avoiding the

72

preacher's piercing gaze, he dug into the pocket of his jeans

found a creased five-dollar bill, and dropped it in the hat. "Thank you,
son.

Travis said nothing. Head down, he reached for the canvas flap covering
the exit.

"Your battle will be harder than most, son, if you choose to fight it."

Travis turned around and laughed. It was a hollow sound. He rubbed his
right hand. "You mean I have a choice?"

A knife-edged grin cut across the craggy landscape of Brother Cy's face.
"Why, we all have a choice, son. Haven't you heard one word I've been
saying? That's what this is all about."

Travis shook his head. "But what if I choose the wrong

thing?" "What if you choose the right thing?"

"How will I know?" Travis said. "Sometimes I don't even know right from
left. How can I possibly choose?"

Lamplight gleamed off Brother Cy's eyes. "Ah, but you have to, son.
Light or dark. Sanity or madness. Life or death. Those are our choices,
those are the battles we must fight."

Travis tried to absorb these words. Was there more to Brother Cy than he
had guessed? Without really thinking, he reached into the breast pocket
of his coat and drew out the iron box Jack had given him. He held it
toward the preacher.

"You know, I think the man who gave this to me saw the same darkness you

do. Maybe . . . maybe it would be better if you took it."

Brother Cy laughed, a great booming sound. Then his laughter fell short,
and his stony face went grim. He took a step backward, as if loath to so
much as touch the box. "No, son. That which you carry is not for the
likes of me. It is your burden to bear now, and no other's."

Travis sighed. He had been afraid the preacher would say something like
that. There was nothing more for him here. He slipped the box back into
his coat pocket and opened the tent flap.

"Wait, son!" Brother Cy said. "You need a token, something to bolster
your faith, something to remember when all seems too dark, and home
seems too far away." He reached

73

into his hat, pulled out a small and shiny object, and pressed it into
Travis's hand. It felt cool against his hot skin.

"Thanks," Travis said, unsure what else to say. "And I hope you stop
your darkness, whatever it is."

"It's not my darkness, son. It belongs to all of us."

In a disconcerting instant, the smoky world of the tent was replaced by
one of empty gloom. Travis gasped. He stood outside the revival tent
now, although he did not remember stepping through the door. He lifted
his hand and uncurled his fingers. On his palm lay a silvery half
circle. It was a coin, or rather a piece of one, for it was broken along
a rough edge. There was a picture on each side of the coin, and he tried
to make them out in the cast-off radiance of the revival tent, but could
not.

All at once, like a lightbulb switching off, the tent went black and
left Travis alone in the cold night.

Travis slipped the half-coin into the pocket of his jeans and started
walking, although he had no idea where he was walking to. The crescent
moon had gone behind a cloud, and the road seemed to lead only from
darkness into darkness. His boots beat a lonely rhythm on the pavement.

He had gone only a short distance when, without warning, the fabric of
night was riven by brilliant light.

Travis spun around, held a hand before his eyes, and squinted against
the white-hot glare. The world had fallen silent except for an electric
hum that vibrated on the air. It raised the hairs on his arms and neck,
like a harbinger of lightning. How had they found him? But it was not so
hard to understand. If they had not found what they were seeking at the
Magician's Attic, they would have kept searching. And there was only one
road out of Castle City. This road.

For a moment he stood frozen, an animal caught in a fatal headlight
snare. He caught a glint of crimson and glanced down. The stiletto lack
had given him was still tucked into his belt, and the gem in its hilt
glowed bloodred. He jerked his head back up. The brilliant light floated
down the high

74

way. At last fear broke through his paralysis. Travis turned

and ran headlong into the night. His lungs caught fire. He

ignored the pain, leaned his head down, and ran faster yet.

A rectangle loomed in the dark before him and brought him up short. He
skidded to a halt and barely managed to avoid colliding with the thing.
It was the old billboard. He stared at the back side now, for he had
come upon it from the opposite direction than before. The webwork of posts

that supported the flat plane looked like bones in the gloom.

Urged by a compulsion he could not name, he moved around the billboard
to gaze upon the front. Just then, in the sky above, wind tore a cloud
to tatters, and the horned moon broke free. Its light drifted down to
illuminate the face of the

billboard. Travis gasped.

The cigarette advertisement was gone. In its place, fully

revealed now, was the picture of the wild landscape. Before,

when Travis had glimpsed a fraction of the picture through the overlying
ad, it had seemed to depict a daylit scene, yet it was a night land that
covered the billboard now. Mountains rose into a star-sprinkled sky,
like a crown perched above the endless forest, and everything was dusted
with a pearly sheen, as if the light of the moon above fell somehow too
upon it. There was a beauty about the landscape that was

both fresh and ancient, as though it had stood unspoiled for

countless eons, waiting to be seen.

In all, the billboard looked just as it had in the 1933 photograph he
had seen at the Magician's Attic. Only as he realized this did Travis
drop his gaze to the words written at the

bottom in flowing script. He concentrated, and after a moment they
sorted themselves out:

Find Paradise And below that, in smaller type:

Brother Cy's Revival, 1 mi. N. of C. City

Laughter rose in Travis's chest. So Brother Cy had been here back in
1933. That knowledge should have shocked him, should have sent him
reeling off-balance. Yet, some

75

how, after all that had happened, it did not. In fact, it all made an
absurd sort of sense.

He looked up as something on the billboard caught his eye. No, it wasn't
on the billboard, but in it-something wispy, like a puff of cotton.
Something that was . . . moving

It was a cloud. It drifted above the brooding mountains, floated from
right to left, and passed off the edge of the billboard and vanished.
Fascinated, Travis took a step closer. It wasn't just the cloud, he saw
now. Everything in the picture was moving. Tiny trees swayed in the wake
of an unseen wind, and the silver thread of a waterfall glinted as, from
its base, clouds of mist billowed upward. Even the stars were alive,
twinkling like real stars, now bright, now dim, now bright again as they
wheeled in the sky.

It wasn't a picture on the billboard at all. Somehow it had become a
window looking into another-what? Another place? Another time? He
thought of Sister Mirrim's words. Another . . . world?

His thoughts were drowned out as sound sizzled on the air, growing
louder every second. He turned and saw, over a rise in the road, a white
glow. Even as he watched, the glow crested the hill like some terrible
dawn. Then he saw them in the center of the light, coming toward him:
sinister, spidery figures. Had they seen him yet? Had they recognized
him from the Magician's Attic? Travis didn't know, but he couldn't run
anymore, he was too tired. Whatever the things in the light were, in
seconds they would have him. He wondered if it would take long, and
whether it would be very painful.

"I'm sorry, Jack," he said. He clutched the iron box through the thick
fabric of his coat. "I'm sorry I let you down. But there's nowhere left
to ..."

His words trailed off. He turned and stared at the face of the
billboard. Maybe that wasn't true, maybe there was somewhere after all.
It was impossible, but so had been a dozen other things he had witnessed
that night. Maybe it made sense to try something impossible himself.

There was no more time to think-the willowy figures moved toward him
with malevolent speed. Travis clenched

76

his jaw. He hesitated only a heartbeat, then he threw forward .. .

... and fell into the billboard.

"All right, Dr. Beckett, I have just a few more questions for you," the
police detective said in a weary voice. He flipped a

page of the legal tablet that rested on the cluttered desk be.

fore him.

Grace shifted on the hard wooden chair. For the last hour she had sat
while the detective took her statement and prompted her for details
concerning the deaths at Denver Memorial. Back at the hospital, when a
pair of officers had

told her they would have to take her to the Denver police station for
questioning, Grace had offered no resistance. She had let them pry the
gun from her fingers, and was grateful

they did not handcuff her as they led her to the patrol car.

But the two young officers had been sympathetic, and even

admiring, as they bantered in the front seat.

"Bastard didn't have the sense to know he was dead the

first time around," one of them had said with a low whistle. "Must have
been high on something pretty damn amazing."

"Takes a licking and keeps on ticking," the other had

joked.

The first officer had laughed at that. "Not after the doc

here took care of him, he wasn't."

The second officer was angry now. "Yeah, she took care of that copkiller
real good." He turned around to look at Grace

through the intervening grill. "You did the right thing, Doc,

taking him out like that. You did the exact right

Grace had only squeezed her eyes shut and saw again the man with the
iron heart, the way his head exploded outward

in a spray of white, and gray, and brilliant red. She had said nothing.
Yes, it had been the right thing to do, but these thick-necked boys
playing cops and robbers had no idea of the true and terrible reason
why. And she would never tell

them. How could she? I'm sorry, Your Honor, I shot him

77

because he was a creature of perfect evil. She had a feeling it would
not provide much of a defense in a murder trial.

The detective droned on, and Grace listened as best she could. As she
often did when nervous, she had drawn her necklace from beneath her
blouse and now fidgeted with the pendant. The touch of the cool metal
calmed her. It was hard to breathe in the detective's cramped office.
The overhead light seemed to leak its dirty illumination only
grudgingly, and thick smoke curled from a lit cigarette he had left in
an ashtray. She noticed a plastic nameplate amid the litter of his desk.
Det. Douglas L. Janson. Something told her people usually called him
Doug. She could almost imagine a young, handsome, high school yearbook
version of Detective Janson. But with twenty-five years had come twice
that many extra pounds, along with thinning hair and circles beneath his
small eyes. A crooked mustache framed his thin mouth, and stubble
speckled his jowls like grains of sand.

He gripped a pencil in thick fingers and checked off items on his list
with bored efficiency. In measured words Grace responded. No, she had
never seen the suspect in the ED before that night. Yes, she had
believed the life of the old woman in the wheelchair to be in danger.
No, she had not called out to the suspect to halt before she had shot
him. Yes, she had shot him exactly four times. Yes, she would do it
again if she had to.

At last Detective Janson set down his tablet. "Thank you, Dr. Beckett. I
think that's enough." He stood, took his holster from the back of his
chair, and slung it over his shoulder. "I've got to confer with my
superior for a minute on this, but I doubt we'll be making an arrest, at
least for the time being."

Grace gave a jerky nod in reply and felt a jolt of relief. Maybe this
night was finally almost over.

Janson promised to return in a few minutes. The detective shut the door
behind him. There was a click as the lock turned, then the receding
sound of his heavy footsteps. Grace glanced at the wall clock. Almost
midnight. It had been just six hours. Six short hours since she had
encountered the strange girl in the park. Six small notches on the face
of the clock, that was all. When the police did release her, she
wondered where she would go. Not back to the ED.

78

Knowing what she did now-awakened to the awareness of what things walked
the world-she could never again sink into the safe preoccupation that
had been her life. Knowl. edge was perilous, and it changed everything.

The lock on the door rattled. Grace glanced up. She had not expected
Janson to return so quickly, nor had she heard his footsteps
approaching. The lock continued to rattle, as if the detective was
having difficulty getting the key to work, then the dead bolt turned.
The door opened and shut again as a man stepped into the office. It was
not Detective Douglas L. Janson.

With a start, Grace recognized the dark-haired man. He was the one who
had watched her from a distance at the hospital, not long after the man
with the iron heart had died. Had died for the first time, that was.
Grace started to rise from her chair in alarm, but the man held up a
hand to halt her. She was not certain how, but some instinct told her
that while this man might be dangerous, he was not her enemy, She sank
back down into her chair. "Who are you?" she asked, surprised at her own
calm. "A friend," he answered.

The man moved away from the door and slipped a thin piece of wire into a
pocket. He was tall, middle thirties perhaps. His tailored suit was of
European cut, and his visage made her think of a bust of a Roman
general: curly hair, proud nose, full and sensual lips. When he spoke,
it was in a cultured voice from which an expensive education had purged
all but the faintest traces of an indeterminate accent.

"You are in danger here," the man said in a grave voice. Grace sighed
and thought of the girl in the park. She had had enough mysterious
admonitions for one day. "I'm afraid I don't take cryptic warnings from
strangers anymore," she said.

The hint of a smile played across his lips. "I apologize, Dr. Beckett.
In my urgency to warn you, I have neglected to introduce myself. A
regrettable oversight. I hope it has not predisposed you toward
suspicion." He held out a hand. "My name is Farr. Hadrian Farr."

Grace did not accept the proffered hand. Rather than expressing
embarrassment at this snub, Farr deftly altered his gesture and reached
into the breast pocket of his suit coat to

79

draw out a gold cigarette case, as though that was what he had intended
to do all along. He begged her permission with a raised eyebrow, and
when she did not protest took out an unfiltered cigarette, then touched
the end to a flame that sprang from the side of the case. Rich tobacco
smoke curled upward and blended with the haze that already hung on the
air. The man called Farr sat on a corner of the desk to regard Grace.
What could he possibly want of her?

"I don't want anything of you," he said. "But in a moment, after you
hear what I have to say, you may want something of me. That is why I
followed you here."

Grace crossed her arms and treated him to a skeptical look. The man was
peculiar, but he did not seem particularly menacing. Despite his air of
education-which, she was beginning to suspect, was an affectation-she
guessed he was a reporter for some tabloid newspaper, hot after the
story of the man with the iron heart. The detective was going to return
any minute, so she supposed there was little risk in indulging Farr.
Grace indicated for him to continue speaking.

"I belong to an international organization," Farr went on after a drag
on his cigarette. "The name is not important right now, but know that
this is an organization that studies-how shall I say it?-unusual things."

"Things like people with hearts made of iron?"

"Yes, things like that. And more. We take an interest in many sorts of
curious items and occurrences, all of which, you might say, have a
preternatural character to them. That is, they lie beyond the world of
the usual and mundane. It is the purpose of my organization to seek out,
investigate, and catalog such instances." He took another pull on his
cigarette. "We are scholars, you see."

"And the connection between all this and me is . . . ?" "Oh, there's the
obvious connection," Farr said. "We often attempt to interview those who
have had encounters with the unusual. But there is a more immediate
concern here." He snuffed out the cigarette among the butts in the cheap
ceramic ashtray and leaned forward. "I have already said it once, but
allow me to reiterate. You are in peril here, Dr. Beckett."

A chill danced along Grace's skin. Grim intensity shone in

80

Farr's eyes, and it was suddenly hard not to believe his

words. "How?" It was all she could manage.

"The man you shot at the hospital was not the only one of

his kind, Dr. Beckett," he said in a hushed voice. "My orga.

nization has been aware of them for some time, and we have

studying them-though as of yet we have been unable

to make direct contact, so we know little of their origin

purpose. But I imagine you will be interested to know

detective friend here is one of them." "One of them?"

"Yes. Janson is an ironheart, Dr. Be

Grace shook her head in mute disbelief. It was impossible.

It had to be. Janson seemed so drab, so uninteresting, so normal. How
could he be another one of them?

Farr did not give her a chance to reply. "There is more you

should know. It might have been chance that brought you in

contact with the ironheart at the hospital. Then again,

might be inclined to question that. Regardless, there is no

blind luck in Detective Janson's present interest in you. It is

your necklace, you see."

Grace reached up to grip the pendant at her throat. "My

necklace? What does my necklace have to do with any of

this?"

"Perhaps a great deal." Farr reached out and uncoiled

Grace's hand from around the pendant. He brushed a fingertip over the
designs incised upon it. "As I said, we know

little of the purpose of the ironhearts. But we do know they

have, in the past, expressed an interest in runes-that is,

symbols such as these engraved on your necklace."

"Runes?" Grace thought she had heard the word before,

but she wasn't exactly certain what they were. "Aren't those

some sort of things New Age types use when their tarot

cards wear out?"

Farr gave a soft laugh. "Yes and no," he said. "Yes, in that the runes
used for entertainment today are descended from symbols of power that
were used centuries ago by various

Norse and Germanic peoples." He paused a heartbeat. "No,

in that the type of runes the ironhearts are interested in-the sort that
are on your own necklace-are extremely rare, and

of unknown origin."

81

Grace tucked a loose lock of ash-blond hair behind one of her small
ears. Farr's words were ludicrous, yet for some reason they frightened
her. "What am I supposed to do?"

"First you must get away from Detective Janson," Farr said. "Get out of
the police station as quickly as you-" He was interrupted as, faint but
approaching, the sound of

heavy footfalls drifted through the open transom over the door.

Grace stared at Farr with wide eyes. "But how can I know what you're
saying is true?"

Outside, she could hear the echo of Janson's voice. He had paused to
speak to someone. Farr stood, reached into a pocket, and drew out an
object. He thrust it into Grace's fumbling hands.

"Use this. See the truth for yourself. Then-and I entreat you-get out of
here as fast as you can."

The footsteps approached once more. Farr moved to the door, then turned
to regard her for a fleeting moment. "Good luck, Dr. Beckett." The door
opened and shut, the lock turned, and Hadrian Farr was gone.,

Grace glanced down at the object in her hand. It was a plastic compass,
the kind Boy and Girl Scouts used on hiking trips. The needle wavered
back and forth, disturbed by her shaking hand, but never veered more
than a few degrees away from magnetic north. The door opened. Grace
jumped to her feet and thrust the compass into the pocket of her chinos.
Detective Janson stepped in, a folder of papers in his hand, his
expression just as bored as ever. Apparently he had not seen Farr's
departure.

"You're all cleared, Dr. Beckett." The detective tossed the folder onto
the desk. "We just need you to sign a few things, then you can be on
your way. I'm going to have some coffee. Would you like some?"

"Sure," Grace managed to say. Now that Janson had returned, it seemed
harder to believe Farr's outlandish words. She did not doubt there were
others walking the world with lumps of cold iron lodged in their
thoracic cavities instead of warm, living hearts. But Janson was just
another overweight, overworked, disinterested police detective. Still,
she would sleep better if she was absolutely certain. . . .

Janson turned his back to her, picked up a pot from a hot

82

plate, and filled two paper cups. She drew the compass from her pocket
and stepped toward him. She glanced down. The needle pointed straight
toward magnetic north. Nothing had altered its direction. Relief coursed
through her. Just to prove the point, she stretched out her arms and
brought the

compass within a foot of Janson. The needle spun in circles.

Grace stared in horror. Even as she watched, the needle

steadied until it was aimed once more in a single direction.

Only this time it was not pointing toward magnetic north. It

was pointing directly at the center of Detective Janson's

back.

"Now, let's get you signing those papers so you can go home," Janson
said in an amiable tone. He picked up the

coffee cups and turned around.

Grace stepped back and thrust the hand with the compass into her pocket.
Janson held out one of the steaming cups,

and she gripped it in her free hand, certain he had to see the way she
trembled. However, the detective seemed not to

notice anything was amiss. Grace clenched her jaw, terrified

she was going to scream.

"So, Dr. Beckett," Janson said, and a spark of interest ignited in his
small eyes, "tell me where you got that interesting necklace of

In every progression, in every series of changes great or small, there
comes a single moment-one thin sliver of a second-in which all that lies
behind, and all that lies before, stands in perfect symmetry, like a
beam balanced on a fulcrum. Step back from the point of the fulcrum, and
the balance shifts to the side that was trod before, back toward the
familiar and the usual. But step over the fulcrum, and the beam tilts
forward, and one who stands upon it careens down the slope, carried
beyond all control into possibilities unknown. And once the fragile
balance of the progression has been altered, in either direction, it can
never be restored. Step back, and the chance to step forward will never come

83

again. Go beyond, and lose all hope of ever returning to what once was.

Detective Janson's question trailed off, the echo of his words oozed
false nonchalance, and his once-bored eyes were now alive with hungry light.

In that moment, Grace stood upon the fulcrum. She clutched the hot cup
of coffee, and a vision passed before her, such as that glimpsed by
people during near-death experiences. She was at the hospital, caught up
once more in the breathless chaos that gave her-thankfully-no time to
think. Morty Underwood laughed, and a stream of injured poured through
the automatic doors. Grace bent over each patient, to quiet fear, soothe
pain, and mend hurts with deft fingers. Treating the wounds of others
left her no time to notice her own.

It was still possible to go back-back to the hospital, back

to her carefully constructed life. All she had to do was give

the cold lump of metal in his chest, again. She saw herself

But Leon Arlington couldn't be there. Poor Leon, who was

tal's morgue. Dear Leon, who had worked so long with dead

Janson the necklace. It was the necklace he was interested in, not
herself. If she gave it to him, he would certainly let her go, would
almost certainly forget her. And the hospital's board of directors
wanted to keep the incident with the ironheart quiet. She would never
have to think of him, or of striding through the corridors of Denver
Memorial once more: confident, in control, a queen in her own dominion.
Even Leon Arlington was there. He leaned against a counter and gazed at
her with his sleepy brown eyes... .

Leon? now himself lying in one of the metal drawers in the hospipeople
he had become like them, then had become one of

them. Yet now he was there, and he fixed her with his placid ~Hi gaze.

The vision slowed, and each moment, each movement, was protracted into
agonizing slowness. Everything around her seemed flat and distorted,
like a wide-angle film compressed onto a square television screen. Leon
opened his mouth, as if to tell her something, but only a rumble issued
forth. Her mind reeled. Leon Arlington could not be there.

84

That was what he was trying to tell her. The low rumbling phased into
watery, understandable words.

This ain't real no more, Grace... .

As if someone had thrown a switch, the image vanished. Detective Janson
still stood before her. Grace panicked. How long had she been frozen,
lost in the haze of possibilities? Had Janson grown suspicious at her
silence? But his eyes still rested on the pendant at her throat. No more
than a second or two had passed. Grace took a deep breath and gathered
her will. Then she stepped beyond the fulcrum.

Grace affected a pretty smile and performed her finest imitation of a
North Carolina belle. "This old thing, Detective?" she said with a
winning laugh and touched the necklace.

A grin spread across his face. "Those symbols on itthey're quite . . .
unusual." He bent toward her to take a closer look at the pendant.

Grace did not hesitate. She thrust the paper cup toward Janson. Boiling
coffee splashed across his face. A strangled scream escaped his throat
as he lurched backward, eyes clenched, and stumbled into a filing
cabinet. He clutched at his face with shaking hands and hissed in pain.
The skin was already turning an angry red. Grace did not waste the
moment. She stepped forward, grabbed the pistol from the holster slung
over his shoulder, and leaped back. Janson groped for her, tried to grab
her arm, but his fingers closed on empty space. He started to lunge for
her, then froze at the click of a gun's safety being switched off. Grace
allowed herself a sharp smile and tightened her fingers around the
smooth grip of the pistol. She was getting pretty damn handy with these
things.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Janson squinted at her
through swelling eyelids. "This is a goddamn police station!"

"I know what you are," she said through clenched teeth. For a moment

Janson stood utterly still, then came a transformation so sudden and
complete Grace nearly dropped the gun in shock. As if he had cast off a
mask, the detective's confused expression was traded for one of utter
malevolence. Evil light shone in his beady eyes.

"How?" Janson hissed. "How can you possibly know?"

85

With one hand Grace reached into her pocket and pulled out the plastic
compass. She tossed it at him, and he flinched as it landed on the floor
at his feet. The'needle spun in spastic circles. With a grunt of
disgust, he stepped on the compass and ground it into plastic shards
with the heel of his shoe.

"You can't escape us." He spat the words like venom. "I don't know who
you are, or where you got that necklace, but I guarantee you my master
will want it for his own. Once he hears about it, he won't stop until he
gets it, even if it means taking it from around your dead neck."

"Then maybe he'll never hear about it," Grace said. Janson let out a
strangled snarl and tensed as if to spring at her. Grace leveled the gun
at his head.

"I know how to kill your kind," she said without emotion. "I've done it
once, and I can do it again. A bullet in your chest won't stop you, but
a few in your brain will do just fine."

Janson glared at her in hate. "I'm a detective, this is a police
station. Kill me and you'll rot in jail-if they don't give you the chair
first."

"I'm willing to risk that."

A sneer twisted his puffy face, but he did not move. "What are you going
to do with me?"

A glint of metal caught the corner of Grace's eye. She reached behind
her toward the desk, and her hand came back with a pair of handcuffs.

"Take a guess."

Keeping the pistol trained on Janson's head, Grace instructed him to sit
and handcuff himself to the desk chair. She was surprised at the steel
in her own voice. It was as if she were born to giving orders like this.
Janson did as he was told. In moments he sat at the desk, wrists
securely cuffed to the arms of the heavy chair.

He shook with rage. "You'll never get out of here." "Care to place a bet?"

Janson's eyes were nearly swollen shut now, yet she still caught a glint
of such inhuman fury in them that her breath caught in her lungs.

His voice dropped to a whisper. "Run, Beckett. Run as fast as you can.
It won't make any difference. In the end, he'll

86

find you. I know." A shudder surged through his body. "In the end, he
finds everybody."

Dread trickled down Grace's throat and filled her chest. She could not
possibly imagine the evils this man had witnessed, or what temptation
had compelled him to sacrifice his own living heart in trade. For a
moment she almost felt pity for him. Almost. For whatever had once
resided in him that might have been sad and pitiable, it had been cut
out and replaced by a lump of iron. Detective Douglas L. Janson was
already dead, and upon the dead, as Grace well knew, pity was a wasted
thing.

She held the gun with one hand and used the other to grab a handful of
paper towels from a stack by the coffeepot. She crumpled them'into a
ball, then ordered Janson to open his mouth and rested the gun against
his left temple for incentive. He complied. She shoved the wad of paper
into his mouth. His muffled shout of protest verified the gag was
functional. It was time.

She bent forward to whisper in his ear. "Tell your precious master,
whoever he is, that he had better think twice before he picks on me."

Grace moved to the door and slipped the hand with the gun into the deep
pocket of her chinos. She opened the door and glanced in both
directions. The hallway was empty. She stepped outside and shut the door
behind her. Heart thumping, she started down the corridor. She walked
quickly, but not so quickly as to arouse suspicion. If she was lucky, it
would be several minutes before anyone discovered Janson, and Janson's
superior had approved her release. People would be expecting her to
leave the station. She just had to stay calm.

She rounded a corner and collided into a young woman officer. Grace
stuttered an apology, certain the officer must have noticed the gun
Grace gripped in her pocket. But the young woman only smiled, told her
not to worry about it, and continued on. Grace passed several other
officers, and she imagined that some of them looked at her with more
than passing interest. A terrifying thought occurred to her. Perhaps
Janson was not the only ironheart at the police station, perhaps there
were others as well. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed
unlikely he was the

87

only one. She forced her face to remain expressionless and kept walking.

The corridor opened onto the station's main office. At first the noise
and chaos startled Grace. A dozen harried officers sat at paper-clogged
desks, where they took phone calls, talked with belligerent suspects, or
tried to reassure frightened victims. Other officers milled about in an
attempt to keep the flood of accused moving. After a moment Grace
realized the confusion gave her the distraction she needed. She wended
her way through the throng, and no one gave her so much as a second
glance. She pushed through the police station's front doors and stepped
into the night. The bracing air cleared her head. She descended the
steps and walked

down the street. She was going to make it.

An engine roared behind her. Grace turned in renewed alarm to see a car
speed toward her. Tires squealed as it came to a halt scant feet away.
It wasn't a police car, but a sleek, black sedan. Before she could
consider running, the driver's door opened, and a man stepped out. In

the moonlight she recognized the elegant form of Hadrian Farr. He
gestured to the open door.

"Get in, Dr. Beckett," he said.

She gaped in openmouthed astonishment, and once again Farr answered her
unspoken question.

"Detective Janson has been discovered. Even now he is informing his
fellow officers of what you did, and that you have escaped. They'll be
pursuing you in moments."

Bewildered, she shook her head. "But how do you know that he?"

Farr raised a hand. "Please, Dr. Beckett, there isn't time." His
cultured voice was as polite as ever, but there was an edge of authority
to it that shocked her and forced her to listen. "You must take my car.
Drive it out of the city, it doesn't matter where you go. They won't be
able to follow you."

"But what about Janson?" she said.

A hard gleam touched his eyes. "Do not worry about Janson. I will take
care of the detective myself."

With that, she found herself gently but forcefully helped into the
driver's seat of the sedan. The engine was still purring. Farr leaned
through the open door.

88

"Please take this." He handed her a small, thin object. "Contact me as
soon as you can."

With that he shut the door and sealed Grace inside the soft interior of
the sedan. She looked down at the object Farr had pressed into her hand.
It was a white business card. It read simply:

The Seekers 1-800-555-8294

Grace stared at the card. Then Farr's voice jerked her out of her
stupor. "Drive, Dr. Beckett," he said. "Now!"

Instinct took over and she punched the accelerator. The car lunged
forward with surprising speed and pressed her back into the leather
seat. Grace tightened her grip on the steering wheel and gained -control
of the vehicle as it sped into the night. She glanced at the rearview
mirror and tried to glimpse the world she was leaving behind. However,
the sedan's glass was too heavily tinted. All she could see was darkness
and her own pale reflection staring back at her with haunted eyes.

19.

"Thank you, come again," the dull-eyed clerk behind the counter mumbled.
He handed Grace her change without looking at her, then turned to wipe
the soda machine with a grimy rag.

Not much worry of having my face recognized here, Grace thought with
slightly manic mirth. Never again would she complain about apathetic
service. She glanced around the fluorescent-lit convenience store where

she had stopped to purchase gas for Farr's sedan. A cryptic pictograph
caught her eye. The women's rest room, she assumed, and pushed through
the stainless-steel door. She slipped her necklace beneath her blouse,
then splashed water on her face and fingercombed her hair in an effort
to make herself look somewhat less like a fugitive from the law. A
thought occurred to her. She locked the rest room's door, then pulled
Janson's pistol

89

from her pocket and wiped it with a paper towel. She wrapped more towels
around it and shoved it deep into a trash receptacle, then she unlocked
the door, walked through the store, and out into the night. A glance
through the plate-glass window confirmed her expectations. The clerk
still wiped the soda machine with mindless diligence.

Grace hurried back to the car and climbed in. She was still on the
outskirts of Denver. It was time to put some distance between herself
and the city. She turned the key and noticed a white shape on the
dashboard. The business card Hadrian Farr had given her. She picked it
up and glanced at it again. The Seekers. That must be the name of the
organization to which he belonged. The society of scholars, as he had
called them. But who were they really, and why would they go to such
great lengths, and at such great risk, to help someone such as she? The
only reason that made any sense was the one Farr himself had given her:
that the Seekers were observers of the unusual, that to study strange
happenings was their purpose, and that she had unwittingly found herself
in the midst of one of their investigations.

Grace slipped the business card into her pocket, then piloted the car
out of the parking lot. As soon as she was someplace safe, someplace
where the police could not find her, she resolved to call the telephone
number on the business card. She wanted to thank the Seekers for helping
her escape. However, there was more to her desire than merely gratitude.
Certainly the Seekers possessed more knowledge of the men with the
hearts of iron than Farr had revealed to her. Now that she was aware of
their existence, Grace could not simply forget them and their evil. She
wanted to learn more about them-where they came from, what they wanted,
how the seemingly impossible organs of cold metal functioned to keep
them alive. Perhaps she could even help the Seekers in their study of
the ironhearts. After all, she was a doctor. She could perform
dissections on any deceased specimens they might acquire, to examine
their anatomy in hopes of discovering what it was that made them tick. A
warm spark of excitement flared to life in her chest. Perhaps, in time,
she might even become a Seeker herself. . . .

The sedan sped down a deserted road and left the glowing lights of the
city behind. A smile spread across Grace's lips.

I

I

90

Buoyed by a sudden exhilaration, she pressed the accelerator and sped
deeper into the folds of night.

Time slipped by, like the shadowed world outside the tinted windows of
the car. Grace had not noticed when the hulking shapes first rose around

her. Now they loomed in all directions, sharp against the star-strewn
sky. The car's headlights cut a swath through the dark as it wound its
way up the twisting two-lane road. She had not decided to head into the
mountains, yet it made sense to stay off the main interstate highways.
Besides, once she did see them, the rugged silhouettes of the mountains
beckoned to her and drew her deeper in.

She wasn't exactly certain where she was now. Not that it mattered
anyway. It wasn't important where she went, as long as it was somewhere
far away from where she had been before. Like water in the wake of a
ship, the night closed behind the car as it glided down the road.

Grace nearly did not see it in time.

She slammed on the brakes, and the car skidded to a violent stop. The
seat belt locked, and that was all that kept her body from striking the
steering wheel. She peered through the windshield. White light glinted
off pointed antlers and silver-brown fur. A shadow darted across the
road and vanished into the gloom of the night. Grace let out a breath of
relief. That had been close. The last thing she needed to do now was hit
a deer.

She pressed the accelerator and drove on. A minute later it struck her.
She had seen the antlers, but something about the shadow had been wrong.
Then she had it. How many deer walked on two, legs?

She shook her head. Her eyes were playing tricks on her, that was all.
Sleep-deprived interns in the ED were known to hallucinate.

"You're tired, Grace," she said. "You're way too tired. You're going to
get yourself killed."

She glanced at the dashboard clock. Almost three in the morning. She was
far away from Denver now. It would be safe enough for her to pull over
to sleep, just for an hour or two. At least, she had to believe it was.

Just ahead, in the dimness, she glimpsed an abandoned building next to
the road. In front was a flat area. It would

91

do. She slowed down, pulled off the highway, and brought the car to a
halt before the blocky hulk. With a yawn she shut off the ignition and
reached to flick the switch for the headlights.

Something made her hesitate. She gazed through the window at the
abandoned structure. It was impossible, but this place seemed familiar
to her. She felt a tingling against her chest, lifted a hand, and
touched the pendant through the fabric of her blouse. Compelled by a
force she could not name, she opened the car door and stepped out.

She shivered as the wind tangled cold, substanceless fingers through her
hair. Silence ruled the night. Before her, half-revealed by the
headlight beams, the old building glowered against the sky. A dozen
empty windows stared out like hooded eyes. Of all the places where she
might have driven that night, of all the roads she might have traveled,
what trick of fate or long-submerged memory had led her here? She knew
this place. This was where it had all begun. This was where she had
first learned about the existence of evil.

The Beckett-Strange Home for Children.

Grace approached the ruin. It was difficult to believe she had spent ten
years of her childhood here. But it was just miles from this place, on a
mountainside, that she had been found as a child: no more than three
years old, alone, abandoned. It was here she had been given her
Christian name, Grace. It was from this place her legal name, Beckett,
had come. And it was within these walls she had first learned to treat
the wounds of others.

Much of the Home's roof had collapsed inward, and only a few shards of
glass clung to the window frames to glint like broken teeth in the last
of the moonlight. The board nailed over the entrance had fallen to one
side, and through the gap, brooding in shadows, she glimpsed the front
door. Its surface still bore the blistered scars of old fire. The
building was just a husk now, like the cast-off skin of a snake-an empty
reminder of the evil that had once dwelled within. Even after all these
years, a burnt smell hung on the air. But the fire had come last of all,
and long before the fire there had been the cries of owls, and the hands
reaching out of the dark.

92

A voice spoke behind her and jerked her back to the present. "Can I help
you, child?"

Grace gasped for breath, like a swimmer who had just surfaced after long
submersion. She turned around and blinked

against the glare of the car headlights. He stood before her,

although she had not heard him approach, an unusually tall

man clad in a shabby black suit that hung loosely on crooked

scarecrow limbs. Eyes glinted like chips of obsidian in the

cratered moonscape of his face.

"Who are you?" she whispered, but even as she asked the halting question
she thought she already had an inkling of the answer. For there was
something about him-in his oldfashioned clothes and in his ancient,
knowing gaze-that reminded her of the purple-eyed girl she had
encountered in

the park.

With long fingers, the man in black touched the edge of

his broad-brimmed pastor's hat and affected a mock bow.

"The name is Cy," he drawled in a voice smooth and gritty as new-oiled
rust. He reached out, as if to hand her a calling

card. "That's Brother Cy. Purveyor of faith, peddler of salvation, and
prophet of the Apocalypse. At your service."

see," she said breathlessly, for it was an introduction

difficult to fathom in just one hearing. She glanced down and

saw that instead of a calling card, her cupped hand held only a faint
glow of starlight, and as she watched even this ran

through her fingers and was gone. To conceal her startlement, she
blurted out her own name. "I'm Grace. Grace

Beckett."

Brother Cy gave, an absent nod, as if he already knew this fact, or did
not care. His eyes flickered past her to take in the

brittle shell of the orphanage. "The past lies dark and heavy

on this place. Can you feel it?"

"Yes," she said after a moment, for she could.

He brushed bony fingers against scorched clapboards. "Even fire and time
cannot make the wood forget. Not entirely. The memory of evil lingers in
the grain."

Grace crossed her arms over her chest. How could they know so much? Both
of them-this weird caricature of a

preacher, and the ethereal, porcelain-doll girl.

She whispered it again; desperate now. "Who are you?"

93

A grin, both terrible and impish, split Brother Cy's visage. ,,We are
what we are and have always been. We go where the winds of chance blow
us, and do what our natures require. But then, who is anyone, child?"

It was testament to Grace's odd frame of mind, and the disconnection she
felt from all that she had once thought of as real, that his words
almost made sense. She turned her back to him and gazed once more upon
the orphanage. "Can we never be free of the past then?"

"No, child," Brother Cy said from behind her. "We cannot shape the past,
for it is the past that shapes us, and without it we would be as dim
shadows, lacking form or substance." There was a long pause. Then, "You
cannot shape the past, and the future is beyond our reach, but remember
this, child: You do possess the power to shape your present."

Grace searched the blistered slab of the orphanage's door. What would
she glimpse if she were to open it? Would she see clumps of dry thistles
nestled among burnt timbers, scattering downy seeds like fine ash? Or
would she see a small girl, shivering in a torn nightgown in a corner?
Present or past? She didn't know.

"Then find out," came Brother Cy's raspy whisper. "Open the door, and
see what lies beyond. Only then will you know."

"I can't," she said in dread, even as a queer compulsion blossomed in
her chest. Yes. Why had she come to this place if not to open the door?

She felt something small and cool being pressed into her hand. Her
fingers closed around the object.

"It is merely a token," Brother Cy said. "Yet in it there may reside
some small reservoir of strength. And by it, perhaps, you will better
remember my words." The preacher's whisper grew faint, as if he receded
into a far distance. "Open the door, child. What you see beyond is up to
you...."

The preacher's words melded into the night wind, and Grace knew she was
alone. Step by step she approached the door of the orphanage. Her heart
fluttered at this strange homecoming she had never imagined. The scarred
door stood before her. She reached out and closed her hand around the
tarnished knob, almost surprised to find it cold against

94

her skin rather than molten with fire. For a second she held her breath.
Then she turned the knob. With a creak, the door swung open before her.

At first she saw only darkness, and she was afraid maybe that was all
there was left for her. Then something cold and damp touched her face. A
moment later another chill, feathery caress brushed against her cheek,
followed by another, and another. Then she saw them in the glow of the
headlights. Tiny flecks of white danced on the air and settled on her
arms, her hands, her hair. It was snow. Pure, white, beautiful snow. It
swirled out of the door in a glittering cloud to surround her.

After all the day's happenings it was, at last, too much. She reeled.
The snow cast a veil before her eyes, and a rushing noise filled her
ears. Past was forgotten. Present was forgotten as well. There was no
light, nor was there darkness. There was only snow. A soft sigh escaped
her lips and fogged on the icy air. Only dully did she hear a sound like
a door shutting behind her.

Then Grace fell forward and sank into cold and perfect whiteness.

20.

Hadrian Farr turned away from the burned-out building and raised a hand
to shield his face against gritty wind. The black helicopter lifted off
the stretch of two-lane highway and rose over the abandoned structure,
into the hard blue sky. From inside the plastic bubble the pilot saluted
in farewell. Then, like an onyx insect, the helicopter sped away and
disappeared behind the mountains that bounded the valley. The morning
air fell still.

Hadrian lowered his hand and walked back to the sedan parked before the
ruin-once an orphanage, according to the remnants of a sign he had
stumbled upon. He had traded his suit of last night for wool pants and a
fisherman's sweater. He reached through the car window, opened the glove
compartment, and switched off the transmitter inside. They had picked up
the signal just after dawn, but the moment they

95

landed Hadrian had known they were already too late. Although obscured
by the cloven hooves of a wandering deer, he had been able to follow Dr.
Beckett's footprints to the door of the structure. There her trail had
ended. He had searched within the orphanage and found nothing but
thistles and charred timber. It was as if she had vanished. However,
Hadrian knew well people did not simply vanish. They always went . . .

somewhere.

He pulled a small cellular phone from his pocket, pushed a button, and
held the phone to his ear. A polite voice answered.

"I've located the car," Hadrian said without preamble. The voice asked a
dispassionate question.

He shook his head. "No, there's no sign of the subject. Nor do I expect
to find any." He drew in a deep breath before speaking the words. "I
believe we have a Class One on our hands."

The voice on the other end paused, then spoke again in careful tones.

"Yes, you heard me correctly." An edge of annoyance crept into Hadrian's
voice. "That's a Class One encounter. Extraworldly translocation."

There was a long moment of silence. When the voice resumed, a note of
excitement had broken through the formal veneer.

Hadrian nodded. "Yes. And send an observation team out here immediately.
There may be residual signs-energy signatures or compound residues-I
can't detect on my own."

The voice acknowledged his words. Hadrian pressed a button and slipped
the phone back into his pocket. He gazed around. Dry grass danced under
the lonely mountain sky. It was beautiful. He almost wished he could
stay here, but there was work to do. He was to return to the
charterhouse in London at once, to make a full report. Efforts to locate
the ironheart known as Detective Janson had failed. However, last night,
his operatives had managed to acquire the corpse of the ironheart from
the morgue at Denver Memorial Hospital, and he had the photos he had
taken of Grace Beckett's necklace. Together, it would be enough to make
his case for Class One determination. It would mean a great victory for
him, perhaps even advancement. Class Three encounters

96

rumors of extraworldly beings-were common. And while rare, Class Two
encounters-meetings with those who had interacted with extraworldly
forces-were well documented. But in the entire five-hundred-year history
of the Seekers, there had been no more than a dozen Class One
encounters: direct contact with an extraworldly traveler.

Hadrian sighed on the cool air. A mixture of emotions filled him.
Excitement at having made so great a discovery. Concern for Grace
Beckett, who was now far beyond his reach. And strange envy as well, to
think she was almost certainly now experiencing that which he had always
dreamed of. A Class Zero encounter-translocation to another world oneself.

He laughed at himself and shook his head. Hadn't he found what most
Seekers spent their entire lives searching for? Evidence of worlds other
than this Earth? He climbed into the car and turned the key.

He pulled the sedan around, then paused by the highway to let a splotchy
white school bus pass. Inside, the shadowy figure of the bus's driver
waved in thanks. Hadrian waved back, and the dilapidated vehicle roared
by. He pulled onto the highway, then piloted the sedan in the opposite
direction. A few moments later something caught his eye. Beside the road
was a billboard. Its blank surface was covered with a fresh coat of

primer-gray paint, ready for a new picture. Empty paint cans lay
scattered in the grass before it. For a moment Hadrian imagined his life
like that billboard: fresh, clean, ready to be worked anew. Maybe that
was what it felt like to journey to another world.

A smile touched his lips. "Good luck, Dr. Beckett," he whispered.

Engine purring, the sedan sped down the highway and left the blank
billboard behind.

97

98

99 I

21.

Travis blinked.

The first thing he noticed was that he stood in a forest. The second
thing he noticed was that misty light filtered its way between the pale
trees all around. He adjusted his wirerimmed spectacles before wide gray
eyes. A moment ago the world had been cloaked in the dark of night. Now
it was nearly dawn, and snow dusted the frozen ground. But how?

It was hard to think. He drew in a deep breath and tried to clear the
buzzing from his head. The forest air was cold and moist, redolent with
the tastes of ice and pine. He could not remember a time when he had
breathed air this good. For a moment he almost believed these were the
woods north of town. Almost. Except, now that he looked at them more
closely, the trees he had taken for aspens didn't seem quite right. They
looked like aspen trees should-but they were all a little too tall,
their branches spread a little too wide, and their papery bark was a
little too silver. And while the occasional conifer scattered among them
was as tall and straight as a lodgepole pine, he didn't remember that
lodgepoles had that purplish tinge to their needles. Where was this
place? Then the fog in his mind cleared and he remembered everything.
The revival, the words of Brother Cy, the beings in the light, and last
of all the .. .

100

He spun around and expected to see it hovering there, like a window
looking out over the moonlit highway that mean. dered north of Castle
City. The billboard. However, there was no floating window behind him,
no crisscrossed timbers of a billboard's back side, nor was there a
highway anywhere in sight. He stumbled forward and searched desperately
to either side. His walk became a jog, then a headlong run through the
forest. Branches whipped at his face, he batted them aside. It had to be
here. Yet all he saw were unfamiliar trees that stretched bare limbs
toward the sky.

Wherever this place was, it was not Colorado.

At last Travis halted and gasped for breath. His head spun. The air was
too sharp, too thin, like that on a high mountain summit. He gripped the
trunk of an aspen-or whatever sort of tree it was-to keep from reeling.

"Well now, I had not expected to have company for breakfast," said a

deep voice behind him. "But then, company is the best sort of surprise,
isn't it? Especially in a place as lonely as this. Won't you join me?"

Travis turned around in astonishment.

The speaker sat on the ground a half-dozen paces away, cross-legged
before a campfire. He was a man of indeterminate years, although he was
more likely older than younger, for his dark, shoulder-length hair was
shot with gray, and lines accentuated a strong mouth and eyes the exact
faded blue of the wintry sky above. The man was dressed in curi ous
fashion. He wore a long shirt of heather-gray wool, belted at the waist
with a broad strip of leather, and a kind of tight, fawn-colored
trousers. Leather boots shod the man's. feet, and gathered around his
shoulders to ward off the chill was a cloak the color of deep water. The
cloak was fastened at his throat with an ornate silver brooch.

In all, the man reminded Travis of the actors from the local medieval
festival that was held each summer a few miles down the highway from
Castle City. The festival workers often wandered into the Mine Shaft
after the fair closed for the night, to have a drink at the bar or shoot
some, pool, still clad in their anachronistic costumes, posing as
noblemen, ladies, knights, and thieves. However, there was something
about the man's clothes that made Travis think

101

they were not part of a costume. They seemed too well worn, too
travel-stained, too . . . real.

Travis's dizziness was replaced by alarm. If the billboard really had
taken him somewhere else-somewhere far enough away to have strange
trees-then there was no telling who he might meet. He eyed the man in
suspicion. He could be a criminal, a fugitive, maybe even a murderer.

The stranger grinned, as if he read Travis's thoughts. His voice was
like the sound of a horn. "You need not worry, friend. I am almost
certainly the least dangerous thing you will encounter in these woods."
He gestured to the fire. "You're cold. You should sit and warm yourself
awhile. What could be the harm in that?"

After everything that had happened, Travis could think of plenty of
possibilities. However, despite his sheepskin coat, he was cold. His
hands ached, and his feet were blocks of ice in his boots. He decided it
was better to fall in with an outlaw than freeze to death, so he
approached the fire and sat on a cushion of pine needles. He held his
hands over the flames and soaked in the warmth. Without further words,
the stranger picked up a wooden spoon and stirred the contents

then two wootentativedlyen btasteowlds the with stew. thick A moment
stew and hanlaterded Thconsidered, at least by me."

he

reminded him he had not eaten since lunch the day before.

At last he sighed and set down the bowl. Warmt crept

through his body. After a moment he realized the stranger was watching
him. No, studying him. Travis shifted on the ground. There was somethin
eculiar about the man's keen

The stranger winked, and his gaze was no longer so piercThe stranger
simply nodded and began to eat. green stickTraviss. The

of "Thank a pot balyou,ance"d over Travis the fire manage on d a to
tripod of stammer.

one to Travis along with another spoon. man tated, filled

hesi was wolfing down the food, heedless of the way it scorched his
tongue. It was delicious-seasoned with an herb he had never tasted
before-and after the first bite his stomach had h

gP blue eyes. They seemed too old for the rest of his face.

ing. "Do not fear, friend. My eyes are not as sharp as some, and if I
have seen anything at all in you, then it is neither shadowed nor
wicked. Friend I call you, and so you will be

102

He gathered up the bowls and spoons, wiped them clean with a handful of
pine needles, and placed them inside the pot. He stowed the cooking gear
in a small pack, then turned his attention back to Travis. "Well then,
it is against all laws of hospitality to ply a guest with questions when
his stow. ach is empty. Yet now we have had our breakfast, and I think
the time has come for introductions."

Travis started to speak, but the stranger. held up a hand to silence him.

"Hold, friend," he said. "One cannot make proper introductions without a
hot cup of maddok. This may not be a civilized land these days, but that
does not mean we have to act as barbarians."

Travis bit his tongue. Something told him the stranger was not
accustomed to contradiction. The man pulled a tin kettle out of the
coals and poured dark liquid into two clay cups. As he did this, Travis
noticed he wore a black leather glove on his right hand, while his left
hand was bare. It seemed a curious affectation, but there was much about
the stranger Travis found curious.

Travis accepted one of the cups and gazed into it. He had never heard of
maddok, but it looked suspiciously like coffee to him. He raised the cup
and took a sip. Instantly he

knew maddok was not coffee. It was more bitter, although not
unpleasantly so, and richer as well, with a nutty flavor. Almost
immediately Travis detected a tingling in his stomach. He shook his
head, wide-awake as if he had just had a full night's sleep. He stared
at the cup, then downed the rest of the hot liquid.

The stranger laughed, raised his own cup, and drank deeply. Then he
spoke in a formal tone. "My name is Falken. Falken of Malachor. I am a
bard, by right and by trade."

Travis took a breath, it was his turn. "My name is Travis Wilder."
Somehow it didn't sound quite as interesting as the stranger's
introduction. He searched for something to add. "I don't know that I'm
anything by right, but I'm a saloon owner by purchase."

"A saloon?" Falken asked with a frown.

Travis nodded. "That's right-a saloon. You know, it's like a bar." By
his expression, Falken evidently did not know. Travis kept on trying. "A
pub? A tavern?"

103

Understanding flickered across Falken's face. "Of course, you are a
tavern keeper. An old and honorable profession, at least in this land."

Travis just shrugged, although inwardly he felt a note of pride. He had
never thought about anything he did as being honorable before.

Falken set down his cup. "Then again, something tells me you are not
from these parts."

Travis scratched his chin. "I'm not quite sure." A question rose to his
lips. It was utterly mad, but he had to ask it. "Just where are these
parts exactly?"

To his surprise, Falken did not laugh. Instead, the bard regarded Travis
with grave eyes, then spoke in measured words. "At the moment we are
deep in the Winter Wood, a vast and ancient forest which lies many
leagues north of the Dominion of Eredane."

Travis shivered at the sound of the strange names. "The Dominion of
Eredane?"

Falken leaned forward, his expression suddenly one of sharp interest.
"That is correct. Eredane is one of the seven Dominions which lie in the
north of the continent of Falengarth."

Travis gave a jerky nod, as if this made sense, when it made nothing of
the sort. "I see." He, searched for a way to phrase his next question
that would not sound utterly absurd. It was no use. He asked it anyway,
doing his best to sound nonchalant. "And the world we're talking about
here is ... ?" His question trailed off on the cold air. He was suddenly
freezing again.

Falken raised a dark eyebrow. "Why, the world Eldh, of course."

The words struck Travis like a clap of thunder. He had not stepped
through the billboard to another place, but to another world. The world
Sister Mirrim had spoken of at the revival. There was no other
explanation. The strange trees, the unfamiliar air, Falken's odd
clothes. As impossible as it seemed, it was the only answer that made sense.

This was not his Earth.

With this knowledge came a new, terrible thought, and a wave of panic
crashed through him. There was no sign of the

104

billboard on this side, no window that looked out over the City.

How was he going to get back?

22.

Travis felt something being pushed into his hands. It was a clay cup of
maddok. He raised the cup and gulped the warm liquid. After a moment his
mind started to clear, and his panic receded a bit, although it did not
vanish. Falken was beside him now, concern written across his wolfish
features. "Are you well, Travis Wilder?"

Travis shook his head in a daze. Was he well? In the last day he had
lost his best friend, his home, his entire world. He was anything but well.

"I don't think I'm going to faint, if that's what you mean," he said.

Apparently satisfied with this, Falken leaned back on his haunches and
rubbed his jaw in thought. He spoke in quiet wonder, almost more to
himself than Travis. "So you come from a world other than this. I have
heard of such things, although I never expected to come face-to-face
with the proof myself. Yet I must confess, the moment I saw you I knew
there was something unusual about you. And it was not simply your queer
garb and manner of speaking. There is an otherworldly air about you,
friend."

The maddok had done its work to steady his mind, and Travis actually
managed a weak laugh. "An otherworldly air? Funny, but I would have said
the same thing about you, Falken. Except I suppose this is your world,
not mine." His hand shook as he set down the empty cup. "But if this
truly is a different world, then I have just one question. What am I
doing here?"

Falken clasped his hands together. "A good question, and one I would
like to know the answer to. The morning is wearing on, and I had hoped
to get an early start today, for I have a long way to travel, but it
might be the time it would take to hear your tale would be well spent.
If you would care to share it, that is."

105

As peculiar as he was, there was something about Falken that put Travis
at ease. Besides, right now Travis didn't have another friend in the
world. This world, anyway. A lump of loneliness welled up in his throat,
but he did his best to swallow it.

He nodded. "All right, Falken. Maybe you can make more sense out of
what's happened to me than I can."

As the sunlight brightened from silver to gold among the trees, Travis
recounted everything that had happened to him since yesterday evening.
It was almost a relief to share all the strange events with another.
There was only one thing Travis left out of his story, although he
wasn't quite certain why. Maybe it was simply too personal, and too
disturbing, to think about. Regardless of the reason, Travis did not
speak of the moment when Jack had gripped his hand, and how it felt as
if lightning had struck him.

Throughout Travis's tale, Falken listened intently, and interrupted only
now and then to ask about a word that was unfamiliar to him, things like
truck or telephone. Travis reached the end of his story, and for a time
the bard was silent, his expression thoughtful. The only sounds were the
hiss of the dying fire and the music of the wind in the trees.

At last Falken spoke. "I imagine your friend Jack Graystone was a wizard

of some sort."

Travis gaped at the bard. "A wizard?"

Falken nodded. "Clearly there is magic at work in your tale, and it
seems to center around your friend. Wizards often have an interest in
ancient objects, just as you've described Graystone. While there is no
way to be certain, it seems the likely explanation."

Travis started to protest that this was impossible, then stopped. Was it
really? The more he thought about it, the more magic seemed a better
explanation for everything that had happened. He wasn't sure he believed
in magic, but then he wasn't sure he didn't believe in it either. As
with so many things in his life, he had simply never decided one way or
the other.

"It might help us to know what is in the box," Falken said. Travis
reached inside his coat and closed his hand around the iron box. Jack
had warned him not to open it, but that had been when lack had feared
his pursuers nearby. For all

106

Travis knew, the beings in the light were an entire world away now.
Besides, he was suddenly filled with a burning curiosity to know what
was inside. He drew it out and set it on the ground between Falken and
himself. It looked dark and ordinary in the morning light, the symbols
carved on its sides and lid barely visible. He hesitated a moment, then
in one quick motion undid the box's latch and raised the lid. It was a
stone.

The stone was small enough to fit easily in the palm of one's hand and
perfectly round, like an oversize marble. It was a mottled gray-green in
color.

Travis groaned in amazement. "A rock? I went through all of this for a
rock?"

He reached out and picked up the stone. Instantly he sensed there was
something more to it than he had guessed. It was slick, almost oily,
although it left no residue on his skin. He turned it around and noticed
a fleeting iridescence to its otherwise dull surface as it caught the
morning light. The longer he looked at the stone, the more he realized
how beautiful it was. He held the stone out toward Falken. "Here, take a
look at it."

The bard shook his head and thrust his hands behind his back, as if to
avoid temptation. "No, I do not think I will, Travis Wilder. Your friend
Graystone gave it to you and you alone. I do not believe it is meant for
other hands, at least not hands such as mine."

Travis didn't quite know what to make of Falken's words. He gazed at the
stone a moment more, then placed it back in its box. With reluctance he
shut the lid. Now that he had seen the stone and how beautiful it was,
it seemed a shame to hide it away again. Already he missed the
smoothness of it against his skin, the weight of it in his hand. He
started to open the box once more, but Falken's movement halted him. The
bard scattered a handful of dirt over the remains of the fire to
extinguish it, then he placed the clay cups and the kettle in his pack,
tied it shut, and stood.

"Well, I think we have wasted quite enough of this day." Falken squinted
up through the treetops at the hard blue sky. "It is best to get moving
while the weather is fair, for storms can blow out of the Ironfang
Mountains without warning this time of year." He lowered his gaze toward
Travis. "At

107

present I am journeying southward, to the petty kingdom of

Kelcior, where I hope to meet an acquaintance or two of

mine. It is a trek of some days on foot, but you are welcome to join me
as I travel. In fact, I would rather recommend it,

for there is not another fortress or village to be found in many leagues
of this place. At least, not one in which folk have dwelled in a
thousand years." He slung his pack over his shoulders.

Travis grabbed the box and leaped to his feet in renewed panic. It was
one thing to sit in this strange forest and have coffee-or whatever the
stuff was-with Falken. It had been almost pleasant. But to go tramping
after the bard, farther and deeper into this . . . this world . . . was
something else altogether. This place was where the billboard had
brought him. If he left it behind, he didn't see how he could ever hope
to find it again.

"Wait a minute, Falken," he said. "You still haven't answered my
question. What am I doing here? And how am I supposed to get back home?"

The bard shook his head. "I am afraid I have answers to neither of your
questions, Travis. Though as we journey, it is my hope we might discover
some. At any rate, I am beginning to think it was not chance I met you
here."

Some of Travis's panic was replaced by puzzlement. "What do you mean?"

Falken's faded eyes grew distant. "Fate is an efficient spinster. She
wastes no thread needlessly, and it is fair to say she will weave as
many destinies into one happening as possible." Now a mysterious smile
played across the bard's lips. "So we will just have to keep our eyes
open for those answers of yours, friend."

With that, Falken turned and marched off through the leafless trees.
Travis stared after him. What should he do? But

even as he wondered, he knew he didn't really have a choice. Once again
in his life he had simply drifted with the tides of circumstance, and
this was where they had stranded him. With a heavy sigh, Travis stuffed
his hands into his coat pockets and trudged after the bard.

108

All that day, Travis followed Falken through the frozen si. lence of the
Winter Wood.

As they went, Travis was filled with questions-How far away was this
Kelcior place? Who exactly were these people Falken was meeting? Would
any of them be able to help him find a way home?-but he was forced to

forgo asking them in favor of gasping for breath. The bard set a stiff
.pace over the uneven forest floor, up steep slopes, and down
snow-dusted ravines. Despite his long legs, Travis was hard-pressed to
keep up. The forest changed little during that first day, and consisted
mostly of pale not-aspens dotted here and there by stands of purplish
not-pines. Before long Travis noticed a third sort of tree, or rather
shrub. This was a bluish evergreen, its feathery boughs speckled with
pearlescent berries. Striving for consistency, Travis decided to call it
not-juniper.

Soon the sun rose above the bare trees into the cobalt dome of the sky.
Like everything else here, there was something peculiar about the sun.
It loomed a little too large in the sky, and it cast a glowing yet dusky
patina over everything, like the shellac on a Renaissance painting.
Finally Travis remembered when he had seen daylight such as this before.
It had been a few years ago in Castle City, during a partial solar
eclipse. For a short time, the moon had taken a small bite out of the
circle of the sun, and a gloom had descended over the valley, dim yet
somehow rich, like tarnish on copper. The half-light had made everything
look curiously old, and so it did in this world as well.

From time to time, when they crested a low hill, Travis caught a glimpse
through the trees of mountains that thrust upward from the horizon like
a dark wall. Although the rest of the sky was clear, clouds brooded
behind the knife-edged line of peaks. He wasn't certain why, but gazing
at them filled Travis with a nameless foreboding, and he was glad they
were heading away from the mountains rather than toward them.

It was late afternoon when he lost Falken.

109

With a grunt, Travis pulled himself up a rocky slope. At the top he bent
over, hands on knees, to catch his breath. His stomach rumbled in
complaint-the stew eaten beside Falken's campfire seemed woefully long
ago now-and he wondered how long it would be before they stopped to rest
and, he hoped, have a bite to eat. He lifted his head to see how far
ahead the bard had gotten.

Falken was nowhere in sight. Travis looked around, but all he saw was
empty forest. Dread rose in his chest, and he cupped his hands to his mouth.

"Falken! Where are-?"

"Don't shout, you fool!" a voice hissed in his ear.

Travis clamped his mouth shut and nearly shed his skin in fright. He
whirled around, then terror gave way to relief when he saw Falken before
him. The bard wore a disapproving frown on his face. The echo of
Travis's cry died on the air, as if suffocated by the preternatural quiet.

"I'm sorry, Falken." Travis whispered the words, loath to break the
oppressive silence of the forest again, for it reminded him of another
silence, one that had hung over the Illinois farmhouse where he had
grown up.

He had been thirteen. Day after day his father had lurched around the
house, like some robot from a late-night space movie, while his mother
had faded as steadily as the gingham curtains that drooped over the
kitchen window. The air in the house was so brittle Travis had hardly

dared say anything, let alone the one word that meant something,
anything. Alice. As if now that she was gone, lowered in her small
coffin into the ground, they had to pretend she had never existed.

"Travis?" He shook his head. Falken still glared at him. "I thought I
had lost you," Travis said.

"And lost me you had," the bard said. "Though I certainly had not lost
you." His expression softened. "It is my fault, of course. I should have
warned you earlier. So let me warn you now-it is not a good idea to
shout or even raise your voice in a place such as this. This is not an
evil land, and yet it is not so far from evil, either. It is best not to
draw attention to one's self when there is no telling who might be
listening."

As if to punctuate Falken's admonition, a shadow flew

110

overhead and let out a harsh croak that rang out through the forest. The
two men looked up in time to see a raven wing swiftly over the treetops
and vanish into the distance.

Falken shook his head. "It appears my warning comes too late. Yet I
suppose we can hope it was simply an ordinary raven, disturbed from its
roost by the sound of your call. If it was something else, then it is
too late to trouble ourselves about it now."

Travis wondered what the something else might possibly have been, but he
was unsettled enough as it was, and he did not ask. Yet he could not
help noticing that the raven had flown in the direction of the jagged peaks.

"It would be best to be as far from the mountains as possible by
sundown," Falken said.

With that, the bard hefted his pack and started off again through the
forest. Despite his weariness, Travis found he had no desire to linger
in this place. He mustered his strength and hurried after Falken.

They made camp that evening beneath the shelter of a stand of not-pines,
and soon twilight mantled the forest. Falken started a small fire with
flint and tinder and heated the remainder of the morning's stew. They
ate in silence, hungry after the day's long march. However, when the
dinner things were stowed once again in Falken's pack, they sat close to
the warmth of the fire and talked in low voices.

Travis would have asked questions, but he had no idea where to start.
Fortunately, Falken seemed in a mood to talk, and for a time he spoke of
things he thought a stranger

to this world might be interested to know. He started with the names of
the trees around them. The purplish pines were called sintaren, which
meant duskneedle. The juniperlike shrubs were melindis, or moonberry.
And the ghostly trees that reminded Travis of aspens had the most
beautiful name: valsindar, which meant king's silver. But, as Falken
explained, they were more commonly called quicksilver trees for the
manner in which they quickened, or trembled, under the slightest breath
of wind.

Later Falken discussed something of Eldh's geography, so Travis might

know where in this world he was. At present they walked the far north of
the continent of Falengarth. Kelcior, to which they journeyed, lay to
the south, and be

111

yond that were the seven Dominions, where many folk dwelled.

Travis gazed into the forest, and a question struck him. ,,What about
this place, Falken? Doesn't anyone live here?" A shadow that might have
been sorrow flickered over

Falken's visage. "Long ago, they did. We tread now in lands that once
lay within the boundaries of the kingdom of Malachor. Then, all the
north of Falengarth lay under the crown of that realm. But Malachor fell
seven centuries ago and is no more."

Travis frowned at this. Hadn't the bard introduced himself that morning
as Falken of Malachor? Of course, it was possible that Falken traced his
ancestry to the ancient kingdom. That might explain what the bard was
doing tramping around this desolate forest.

Falken went on. "I would hazard that knife of yours is of Malachorian make."

Travis looked down in surprise at the stiletto tucked into his belt.
Until that moment he had forgotten about the knife. At the Magician's
Attic-and again on the highway north of Castle City-it had shone
crimson, but now the ruby embedded in the hilt was cool and dark. Travis
looked up at Falken. "My friend Jack Graystone gave this to me. But what
would Jack be doing with a knife from this world?" Even as he voiced the
question he knew the answer. His eyes widened in shock.

Falken gave a sober nod. "Yes, Travis, I believe your friend Graystone
came from Eldh. Though they are rare enough here, it seems wizards are
more common in my world than yours. So you see, it is not chance at all
that brought you to this place, though what the real reason might be I
still cannot begin to guess." He gestured to the stiletto. "At least
your friend gave you a precious gift in parting. A Malachorian blade is
a treasure few kings possess. Finer smiths have never worked metal in
this world, unless one counts the dwarfs in their mountain forges-but
the dark elfs are only a legend, and one barely remembered, like all the
Little People."

Travis traced a finger over the knife, as if he could feel the long
years that lay upon it. Another question occurred to

112MARK ANTHONY

him, but even as he voiced it he wished he had not, ,for the fire seemed
to dim, and the cold pressed in hungrily.

"Is there a country beyond the dark mountains?" he whis pered.

Falken gave him a piercing look. "It is best not to speak in the dark of
what lies beyond the Fal Threndur."

With that, their conversation was finished. Falken banked the coals of
the fire in the ashes, it was time for sleep. A half. moon had risen
into the sky. Like the sun, it was larger than the moon Travis was
accustomed to, only far more so. It seemed to hang only just beyond the

treetops. And, as if to erase any doubt that might have lingered in
Travis's mind that this was truly another world, even the stars were too
near and too brilliant and traced unfamiliar constellations against the
heavens.

His shivering did not go unnoticed.

"Here, take this." Falken pulled a bundle from his pack and handed it to
Travis. "It is old, and a bit frayed around the edges, but the weave is
still warm."

Travis unfolded the bundle. It was a cloak. The pearl-gray cloth was
thick and soft, and it seemed to absorb the moonlight.

"There are no finer garments than the mistcloaks woven in Perridon,"
Falken said. "It will keep you warm, even in the deepest, dampest chill."

Travis regarded his curious traveling companion, amazed at his kindness,
but grateful for it all the same. "Thank you, Falken," he said. "Thank
you for everything."

When at last the bard spoke, his eyes glittered in the gloom. "You may
not wish to thank me yet, Travis Wilder." But what those words meant, he
did not say.

Travis lay down on a bed of pine needles and moss near the remains of
the fire, then wrapped himself in the cloak. Soon his shivering stopped.
He thought of all the strange and incredible things that had happened to
him in the last two days, and was certain sleep would be impossible.
However, exhaustion from the day's labor soon won out over worries, and
before long, slumber stole over Travis.

Afterward he was never quite certain, but as Travis drifted.

down into sleep, it seemed to him Falken still sat by the glowing coals,
and that he drew an instrument, like some

113

sort of lute, from his pack. The bard strummed a soft melody, and after
a time, as the strange stars glowed in the sky above, he began to sing
in a low voice. The bard sang about memory, and loss, and most of all
about beauty. And whether it was a dream or not, the words lingered in
Travis's bind for the rest of his life:

The shining tower has fallen, The high walls stand no mor Yet I have been

On wings of dream Again to Malachor.

How silent dwelled the garden, Beneath that shadowed keepStill one rose
bloomed

Amid the gloom

And dew its petals wept.

Before a throne of silver, Stood columns two by twoBut did the hall

In ruin fall

Where valsindar now grew.

Alone there I did wander, And yet when I did haltStill voices rang

And mem'ries sang Within that forest vault.

At last the gloaming deepened, And then I dreamed no moreBut sweet I own

That I have known The light of Malachor.

114

'oing was not as rough as the day before, or Travis - getting used to
the thinner air of this new world. tramped after Falken through the
still reaches of Wood, and he kept pace so that never once did he f the
bard.

;hostly valsindar slipped by, Travis's thoughts astle City. He supposed
he had been missed by oubt Sheriff Dominguez had put out a missing etin,
and Deputy Windom would be questioning town concerning his whereabouts.
At least Max keep the saloon running. A longing filled Travis

he smoky warmth of the Mine Shaft and the fad of Jack's voice. A sharp
pang of loss pierced his ie rubbed his right hand.

ime Travis shook his head. These were melan;hts, but thenthe Winter Wood
was a melancholy adow lay upon it, yet the shadow was not of it, almost
a sweet sadness that lingered there among he a memory of beauty. He
sighed as he trudged i. Sometimes it was all right to be sad.

:e afternoon, and the sun had just dipped behind 1 trees, when Travis
and Falken came upon a ie silence of the wood weighed on this place, and
n slowed to a halt. The clearing was roughly cirbout thirty paces
across. Nothing grew on the rid, not even moss or witchgrass.

iter of the glade was a standing stone. The stone s a man and about half
that much wide, hewn of volcanic rock. Its surface was weathered and I
with time. Propelled by curiosity-or perhaps force-Travis approached the
stone. He now saw ed with carvings, but they were faint and illegivorn
away by centuries of wind and rain and ice. d the standing stone, the
air dimmed and grew he had stepped into a shadow. In answer to a

115

wordless compulsion, he lifted his arm and reached toward

the rough surface of the stone.

"No, Travis, do not touch it," a voice beside him whis

pered, gentle but insistent.

Travis stood frozen. The stone seemed to fill his mind and blotted out
everything else. Then, with great effort, he shuddered and withdrew his
hand. He tried to swallow, but his

was dry as dust.

"What is this place, Falken?" The unnatural hush stifled his words.

"It is evil," the bard said, the line of his mouth grim. He

paced around the stone, careful to keep his distance. "It is a

relic of an ancient war, a war fought in this land long ago. A

pylon, I believe such things were called then. I had thought

all such traces of the Pale King were cast down in ages past. It seems I
was wrong."

Travis stared at the standing stone. The bard's words thrummed in his
mind, and he thought he saw a thousand sparks of crimson, like fire
glinting off raised spears as a shining army marched toward a vast,
shadowed host. Faint but clear, the sound of horns rang out as the army
of light pressed onward, until it seemed like a tiny white ship lost in
an undulating sea of darkness.

"Let us go," Falken said. "We will find nothing good in this place. Even
after all these centuries, the land has not forgotten the evil that
dwelled here."

Travis shook his head, and the vision melted away on the cold air. He
stepped away from the standing stone, and the day brightened once more.
He casfone last troubled glance at the stone, then hurried after Falken.
While the bard had set a brisk pace before, now Travis almost had to jog
to keep up with him. However, he did not complain, and soon the two left
the glade and the pylon far behind.

For three more days they traveled south. As they marched, Travis found
he had little extra energy to worry about how he was going to return
home. Each day they rose with the frigid dawn and pushed on until
twilight mantled the Winter Wood. They subsisted mostly on maddok and a
thin soup Falken concocted of bitter herbs and hermit's root-a kind of
white root which the bard always seemed to know where to find. Once or
twice a day Falken would pause in their trek to

116

kneel and pry several of the roots from the frozen soil with his knife.
Travis would not have ventured so far as to term the soup filling, but
it did keep the worst of his hunger at bay. Then, late on the fifth day
of their journey, the trees thinned, and the two found themselves on the
edge of a gold. brown plain. At once the oppressive silence that had
hung over the forest lifted, and the air, although it remained crisp,
grew a trifle warmer.

"We have journeyed beyond the shadow of the Fal Threndur," Falken said
in answer to Travis's unspoken question. "Winter comes early to this
part of the world and lingers late, but in the Dominions autumn still
wanes. We should find the climate a bit kinder as we travel on."

Travis glanced back over his shoulder. True to Falken's words, he could
no longer glimpse the brooding line of mountains through the barren
trees. However, to the south and east, the land rose up to meet a new
range of mountains-a lower yet still rugged jumble of peaks. These
Falken named the Fal Erenn, or the Dawning Fells.

"That way lies Kelcior," the bard said.

Together they set out across the plains, leaving the sadness of the
Winter Wood and the valsindar behind.

Two days later they came upon the ancient road.

. "This is the Queen's Way," Falken said as they scrambled over a grassy
bank and onto the broad swath of the road. "Folk still call it by that
name, though few know the true reason why they do."

Travis plopped down on the side of the steep road bank to catch his
breath, and Falken sat beside him. As far as they could see in either
direction, the surface of the road was covered with flat stones. The
paving stones were cracked and worn with centuries of wind and rain, and
the passage of countless feet. Wind rattled through dry grass that had
pushed up between them. However, the road was still passand it cut
across the rolling landscape-straying from able,

its course for neither hill nor valley.

117

They rested beside the road for a time and sipped water from a flask
Falken pulled from his pack. The sun was bright, but the wind was sharp,
and Travis was grateful for his new garb. In place of his jeans, work
shirt, and jacket, he now wore a forest-green tunic and fox-colored
breeches along with the gray mistcloak. The breeches fit him well
enough, and while the tunic was on the baggy side, he had cinched it
with a wide leather belt, into which he had tucked the Malachorian
dagger. He had slipped the iron box and the half-coin Brother Cy had
given him into a pocket sewn inside the tunic.

Falken had pilfered the clothes the day before from a ramshackle
farm-the first sign of human habitation they had come upon.

"I cannot say I enjoy resorting to thievery," the bard had said as he
handed Travis the clothes. A mischievous light had twinkled in his faded
blue eyes. "Nor can I say it is the first time. Regardless, now that we
have reached the edge of settled lands, it is important you look less
outlandish. Times were troubled when I left the Dominions, and they may
have grown more troubled yet in my absence. It is best if we do not draw
undue attention to ourselves."

Travis had bathed in the frigid stream next to which they had made camp,
and had donned the new attire. When he had returned to the campfire he
had discovered, much to his chagrin, that Falken had burned his old
clothes while he wasn't looking. He had belatedly realized his wallet
had still been in the back pocket of his jeans. Now his cowboy boots and
his gunslinger's spectacles were his only connections to Earth.

Travis scratched the red-brown stubble on his chin, then reached into
his pocket and drew out the silver half-coin. He had all but forgotten
about Brother Cy's gift until last night. Now he studied the broken
coin. There was something engraved on each side, but he couldn't make
out what the carvings were. It would take the other half to determine
what the pictures represented.

Falken leaned over and peered at Travis's hand. "What have you got there?"

Travis explained how the strange preacher had given him the coin after
the revival.

118

Falken gave him a peculiar look. "May I see it?"

With a shrug, Travis handed the half-coin to him. The bard examined it
closely, then shook his head.

"Kethar ul-morag kai ennal," Falken said. "Sil falath irn donnemir."

The words that tumbled from the bard's lips were flowing and beautiful
but completely incomprehensible.

Travis gaped at Falken in confusion. "What did you say?" This time it
was Falken who looked confused. "Min uroth, kethar ul-morag kai ennal."
He handed the half-coin back to Travis. "As I mentioned, you'll probably
want to hold on to it. Whatever land this is from, it is very ancient.
And do try not to mumble, Travis. I couldn't understand a word you just
said."

Travis stared at the broken coin that glinted on the palm of his hand.
"You weren't the only one," he said. Then, quickly, he explained what
had occurred.

A few more experiments confirmed Travis's suspicions. If he held the
half-coin, or if it was anywhere about his person, he could understand
Falken's speech perfectly, and the bard could understand his. However,
if Travis was not in contact with the coin, neither could understand a
word the other said., There was only one answer. The language Falken
spoke was not English-a fact that made perfect sense once Travis
considered it. After all, this was an entirely different world. However,
the half-coin Brother Cy had given him functioned as some sort of
translator and allowed Travis to speak and understand Falken's tongue,
even though it seemed to him he still spoke English.

Falken's expression was thoughtful. "It seems your friend Graystone was
not the only wizard in this Castle City of yours. Tell me, are there any
more surprises you have yet to spring on me?"

Travis gave a weak smile. "Only ones that will be surprises to me, too."

The bard shot him a speculative look, then stood. "Come," he said. "The
day is wasting. If we press on, we may reach Kelcior before nightfall."
He shouldered his pack and started southward down the road, and Travis
followed after.

119

"So just why is it called the Queen's Way?" Travis asked after they had
been walking for a time.

"It's an old story," Falken said. "This road was built a thousand years
ago, in the years after the army of the Pale King was defeated by King
Ulther of Toringarth. It is for Elsara, Empress of Tarras far to the
south, that folk call it the Queen's Way, although they do not remember
it. It was she who commanded a road be forged, running from the city of
Tarras on the shore of the Summer Sea, all the way to the then-new
kingdom of Malachor in the north, where her son sat upon the throne side
by side with Ulther's daughter. But all those names are forgotten now."

"Why were they forgotten?"

Falken paused to scoop up a handful of dirt in his gloved hand.
"Malachor fell to ruin, and the Tarrasian Empire dwindled. Its borders,
moved ever southward, and left only barbarian lands in its wake, until
the Dominions were forged centuries later. Of them all, only Toringarth
endures to this day, although little is heard from the icy land beyond
the sea. Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall, Travis." The dirt slipped
through the bard's fingers and was gone. "It is simply the ebb and flow
of history."

With that Falken started once more down the ancient highway. He began to
sing in a clear voice, and Travis felt his blood stir, as if he could
see the great battle conjured by the bard's song:

"With Fellring sword of Elfin art, Ulther smote the Pale King's heartThe
magic blade was riven twain, But Berash did not stand again.

Then came the Runelords tothe vale, To bind the gates of ImbrifaleAnd
witches too with their fey art, Wove passes high with perils dark.

Lord Ulther knelt before the Queen, And a pact they forged betweenThey
set the guard of Malachor, That shadows gather nevermore."

120

It was late afternoon, and the sunlight had turned to gold, when they
came to the crossroads. The old road had plunged into a dense copse.
There, within the leafless stand of trees, a narrower road intersected
the Queen's Way at right angles.

"We turn east from the Queen's Way here," Falken said. "It is not far
now." With that he started toward the left-hand road. Travis followed after.

The road left the copse behind, then began to wind its way up a series
of ridges that rose ever higher, like gigantic stone steps. Not only was
this road narrower than the Queen's Way, it was in far worse repair. The
paving stones were crumbling and treacherous, and in places they were
gone altogether, leaving patches of hard ground where little grew
besides stinging nettles, though these did so in great profusion. Soon
Travis's shins were burning with nettle stings, for the barbs seemed to
prick right through his breeches.

Just when Travis's lungs were starting to burn, the two men crested the
shoulder of a ridge and came to a halt. Below them the land fell away
into a bowl-shaped valley. In the center of the valley was a lake, its
waters molten with the light of the westering sun. A rough finger of
rock protruded into the lake, and atop the craggy peninsula stood a
fortress of stone. Even from here Travis could see that at least half of
the fortress had fallen into ruin. Broken columns loomed like rotten
stumps over jumbles of stone that might once have been walls. Even the
part of the fortress that still stood sagged under its own weight as if,
with one final sigh, it might collapse inward at any moment.

"There it is," Falken said. "Kelcior."

Travis eyed the weathered keep, his expression dubious. "I hope you
won't be insulted, but it really doesn't look like much."

Falken laughed. "These days, it isn't much. Though once, long ago,.this

was the northernmost garrison of the Tarrasian Empire, and after that it
was a keep of Malachor. However, these days the fortress-or at least
what's left of it-is occupied by a scoundrel named Kel. Barbarian though
he is, Kel fancies himself a king, and it's a good idea not to disagree
with him, at least not in his own great hall."

A gloomy thought occurred to Travis as he gazed at the keep. He let out
a troubled breath.

121

"What is wrong, Travis?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. It's just that you're going to be
meeting your friends here, Falken. That means your journey is over. But
I still have no idea where I'm supposed to go to find a way back to my
world."

Falken studied Travis for a moment, then reached out to grip his
shoulder. "I never said my journey ended at Kelcior, Travis." He
chuckled softly. "Given the nature of Kel's court, it would be ill luck
indeed if that were the case." His visage grew solemn once more. "To
speak the truth, I'm not certain either where best you should journey.
But there is some hope one of my acquaintances will have a better idea
of that than I. And do not forget the weavings of Fate. Who knows? It
may be our paths lie together for a while yet, friend."

Travis gave the bard a grateful smile. He was far from the world he had
known all his life, but at least he wasn't alone. Together the two
started down the road toward the ancient fortress below.

Grace clung to the knight's broad back as his horse galloped toward the
castle that loomed in the distance.

Castle? The word skittered off the surface of her frosty mind. She tried
to grasp at its meaning, but it was no use. Like a fish beneath the
surface of a frozen lake, it flashed brightly and was gone.

She was cold, so terribly cold. A rolling landscape slipped by in blurs
of gray and white. Yet a moment ago there had been something else,
hadn't there? She remembered branches against a pale sky, sharp and
black as lines of ink on paper, forming angular words she could not
read. Trees? Then there had been an expanse of silver, and the drumbeat
of hooves on stone. However, the names for these things could not break
the icy plane of understanding in her brain. After that the trees had
fallen behind, and on a distant hill before them she had glimpsed towers
and high walls muted

122

by swirling shards of ice, just like a scene inside a child's snow
globe. Yes, it almost certainly had to be a .. .

She was too cold to grasp the word again. Perilously cold. She huddled
inside the woolen blanket the knight had wrapped around her. It smelled
of sweat and horses. Her half. frozen blouse and chinos clung to her
skin, yet she was not shivering. Wasn't she supposed to be shivering?

You're hypothermic, Grace, spoke a dispassionate voice deep in her
turgid brain. Even now, while the rest of her was numb with cold, the

doctor in her evaluated the situation and offered its precise diagnosis.
Your heart rate is depressed, your blood pressure is dangerously low,
and you are clearly experiencing an altered mental state. You know these
symptoms, they're the first signs of a patient going into shock. You
have to get warm, Grace. If you don't, you will die.

It was so hard to move: Her muscles were lead. Yet somehow, ever so
slowly, she tightened her arms around the knight's chest, and pressed
her body against the heaving back of the horse beneath her. This action
drained the last remnants of her strength. Paralysis stiffened her
limbs, the landscape around her faded away. Darkness pressed from all
sides. It was neither cold nor warm, nor was there fear in its soft
folds. There was only sweet and endless emptiness. Though a tiny
presence seemed to whisper something to her-you can't sleep, Grace, not
now-she could not quite comprehend its words. She slipped deeper into
the gently suffocating darkness.

It appeared as a tiny but brilliant spark against the black backdrop of
her consciousness. It flashed and was gone. Grace ignored it and
continued her descent into the abyss. Just a little farther now and she
would never be cold again.

Another bright pinpoint flared in the dark, and another. Then there were
thousands of them, small and sharp and white-hot as stars. At last she
realized what the specks were. Pain. Countless pinpricks of pain crept
along the surface of her skin. The sparks tore apart the darkness that
surrounded her. She felt a twinge deep inside, followed a moment later
by a noticeable twitch. Then, all at once, a violent shiver wracked her
body.

123

She opened her mouth, drew in a shuddering breath, and

then did she realize she must have stopped breathing.

pain sparkled up and down her limbs as warmth from the horse and the
knight crept into them. Again a shiver coursed through her, and again.
After that she could not stop shivering.

This is a good sign, Grace, the doctor's voice said without emotion. The
reflexive action of your muscles will generate

chemical heat and restore blood circulation to your extremities. The
pain indicates you don't have frostbite. You're going to make it.

Shiver-warmth continued to seep through Grace's body as the horse
pounded onward through the wintry day. The dullness in her mind began to
melt, and she grew more aware of her surroundings. For the first time
she saw the knight as something more than a dim blur before her. She
sensed that if he stood, he would not be a tall man, but he was
powerfully and compactly built. He gripped the horse's reins with
mesh-gloved hands, and-he wore a kind of long, smoke-gray shirt, slit on
the sides, beneath which Grace felt numberless small, hard, interlocking
rings of metal. A black cloak hung from his shoulders, and on his head
he wore a flat-topped helmet of beaten steel.

The man glanced to one side, and Grace caught a glimpse of his profile.
Pockmarks dinted his skin here and there, the legacy of some childhood
disease. Ice clung to his drooping black mustaches, and his breath

fogged on the air. His nose was hawkish beneath brown eyes, and creases
framed the grim line of his mouth. She guessed the knight to be in his
forties.

Knight? Where had she gotten that word? Perhaps in her fog she had heard
him use it. Or perhaps the term had been dredged out of her
unconsciousness in response to the sword sheathed at his hip and the
metal rings beneath his long shirt. Either way, the term suited the man.
Noble, solemn, slightly dangerous. He looked like a knight should look.

She wondered then if she had been rescued by some sort of anachronist, a
mountain recluse who styled himself as a kind of medieval warrior. The
more she thought about the possibility, the more it began to make sense.
Although it

124

was difficult, she forced her brittle mind to search back and remember
what had happened before she had found herself on the horse, riding with
the knight through the frozen for. est. She could almost recall a place,
a door, a voice. Then like dark water bubbling up through a hole in an
icy lake, memories welled forth.

She remembered the orphanage. Yes, that was it. She had driven to the
mountains in Hadrian Farr's sedan, fleeing Denver, and the police, and
the men with the hearts made of iron. Then she had been too weary to go
on, and somehow, by chance or fate, she had ended up before the
burned-out husk of the Beckett-Strange Home for Children. Now darker
memories threatened to gush through the hole in the ice, but Grace
forced them back. She did not want to remember those things. Not here,
not now. It was already too bitterly cold.

What next?

An image flashed before her, of obsidian-chip eyes and a cadaverous
grin. The man in black. Yes, that was right. She had spoken with the
weird preacher in the old-fashioned suit, the preacher who was certainly
akin to the porcelain doll girl in the park. What had the man in black
told her?

Open the door, child. What you see beyond is up to you....

That was just what she had done. She had opened the charred door of the
old orphanage, and beyond the door had been . . snow. The last thing she
remembered was the sound of a door shutting behind her. Everything had
turned white as she fell, and then-then she had been here, gripping the
knight as the horse galloped on.

No, that wasn't quite right. There had been something before that. The
memory was as pale and fragile as the drifting snowflakes, but she
recalled a moment when she had opened her eyes. Trees had woven their
dark fingers against a white sky above her, and a shadowy form had bent
over her as a deep voice spoke in wonder.

Why, 'tis a lady!

Piece by piece, her analytical mind began to patch together the puzzle.
Of course-it all made sense. She had seen snow when she opened the
orphanage's door, but that was only

125

because it had been snowing outside. It was hardly unusual for the
mountains in late October. No doubt the flakes had drifted down through
holes in the building's ceiling. At that moment she had collapsed, an
inevitable physiological reaction to stress and exhaustion. It was luck
plain and simple that the knight had found her before she died of exposure.

Grace turned her thoughts to her rescuer. She supposed he was some sort
of historical re-creationist. No doubt he lived in a remote valley, rode
his horse, wore his costume, and pretended he dwelled in a time long
past. Certainly it would have been better if someone passing by on the
highway had seen her prone form, but Grace would not complain. She was
grateful to have been rescued before hypothermia stopped her breathing
for good. She supposed the knight was taking her to his hut or fort or
whatever structure it was he had built for his home. Once she was warm
enough, and when the weather permitted, she could walk back to the
highway. And then? She wasn't sure, but she could worry about that when
the time came. She remembered the card the mysterious man, Hadrian Farr,
had given her. It was still in the pocket of her now-thawed and wet
chinos. Perhaps she would call the number on the card. The Seekers might
be able to help her decide what to do next.

Carefully, for she was still dangerously cold, Grace parted the blanket
in which she huddled, then peered around the knight's broad back. She
was curious to see if she could recognize any landmarks in the direction
in which they rode. After all, this area had been her home once.
Certainly she would recognize something.

Through the gap in the blanket, she watched fields bordered by low stone
walls slip by, all dusted by the snow that fell from the colorless sky.
None of it looked remotely familiar. Only after a long moment did Grace
realize she could see no mountains. Instead, they rode across an
undulating plain. But that couldn't be right. Maybe the falling snow had
obscured her vision. She leaned to one side, in order to get a view of
what lay directly ahead of them.

She had forgotten about the castle.

It was closer now, standing atop a low hill that rose above the horizon.
Turreted towers reached toward the sky, surrounded by a wall of gray
stone. With sudden certainty she

126

knew there was not now and never had been a place like this in Colorado.
And the knight was riding directly for it.

Grace's carefully crafted explanation shattered like so much ice.

27.

"Where . . . ?"

The word was barely a whisper and was snatched away by the frigid wind.
Grace drew in a gulping breath and pressed her lips together in an
attempt to warm them. She tried again.

"Where are we?"

This time it was something between a whisper and a croak. The knight
craned his neck and glanced back at her over his shoulder. For a
fleeting moment he smiled, display. ing whiter and straighter teeth than
Grace would have guessed. Then his expression grew solemn once more.

"So, my snow lady is awake," he said in a grave voice that was rich with
a lilting accent Grace did not recognize.

It seemed he had not understood her faint words. Withgreat effort, she
spoke the question one more time.

The knight frowned, as if this were a peculiar thing to ask. "Why, we
are in Calavan, of course." He let out a forlorn sigh and his shoulders
slumped. "But that was greatly discourteous of me, was it not? I will
ask your forgiveness, though I doubt you can possibly grant it. You must
feel distressed after your ordeal. Indeed, it is a wonder your mind was
not completely addled by the cold, and that you can speak at all. So
allow me to answer you again. We have been in the Dominion of Calavan
proper ever since we crossed the old Tarrasian bridge over the Dimduorn,
the River Darkwine." He pointed toward the rapidly growing castle.
"Yonder is Calavere, the seat of King Boreas."

Grace did her best to digest this information. She could not fathom
precisely what it meant-there were far too many intriguing but
unrecognizable words. However, it all seemed to confirm her suspicion
this was somewhere very far from Colorado. She tried to swallow and
found she could

127

"Why did you call me your snow lady?" Her voice was stronger this time.

The knight glanced back at her again, his brown eyes somber. "Because,
my lady, when I came upon you in the forest, you were as white as the
drift of snow in which you lay." He shook his head. "I feared you were
dead when I found you. In truth, I half fancied you had never been a
living creature at all, for your skin was as white as ivory, and when I
lifted you out of the snowbank your flesh was as hard and cold as stone.
But when I laid my ear against your chest, I heard the faintest sound of
a heart beating. 'Durge,' I said to myself, `somehow your snow lady is
alive. But if you don't get her to the castle, and as quick as
lightning, she'll be as cold as the snow indeed. No doubt you are too
late, and there is no hope, but you ought to try all the same.' "

Grace's forehead furrowed. The knight, whose name was apparently Durge,
seemed a gloomy fellow. "But you did gave me," she sad.

The knight looked startled at this. "We'll see," he said. "It isn't much
farther now, but I imagine you cannot endure the cold any longer. I
suppose it would be all the more, ironic if you expired a mere furlong
from the castle gate."

She shook her head. "I'll make it." A thought occurred to her. "You said
you found me in the snow?"

"That is so, my lady. There has been an early snow-a ,queer storm for a
land so far south as this. I rode into a clearing, and there you were,
lying in a drift as peacefully as a princess on her feather bed. Nor
were there footprints in the snow around you. It was as if you had
drifted down from the sky."

Here the knight paused and cast a look at her out of the cgmer of his
brown eyes. However, if he wondered how it was she had come to be in the
woods, he did not ask her. But how had she gotten from the old orphanage
by the highway to a snowy' forest here in . . . wherever this was? At
the moment she had no idea, but she intended to find out.

"It is a wonder anyone found you at all, my lady," Durge laid. "It is
spoken that Gloaming Wood is a fey and ancient ce. Few of the common
folk will venture within its shaded eaves. I suppose they fear the
Little People. Though it the mundane dangers-boar and bear and poison mush

128

rooms-rather than old myths that are likely to harm them."

"Why . . . why were you in the woods?" Grace asked. The words came
easier now.

"I am making haste to Calavere, my lady," the knight said. "A Council of
Kings has been called for the first time in long years, and the rulers
of all seven Dominions ride to Calavan. I have journeyed south from my
homeland ahead of my liege, King Sorrin of Embarr, to make certain
things stand ready for him when he arrives at the castle. At dawn I
decided to cut through the fringes of Gloaming Wood, for the way is
faster, and I had hoped to find a fat stag to offer for King Boreas's
table. But winter comes early this year, and game is already scarce. I
found no trace of stag in the woods. Thus King Boreas will have to make
do with your company instead."

Grace thought the stern knight had made a joke, then she reconsidered.
Something told her Durge vas not one for making merriment. Whoever this
Boreas person was, she would almost certainly need his help to learn
where she was, and it would not aid her cause if it seemed she was the
reason there was no meat for his board.

Grace lifted her eyes to the dark shape that rose before them and
studied it. She had seen castles before in pictures, and had been inside
replicas of them at amusement parks. However, the fortress that loomed
before her was neither a crumbling relic of a bygone age nor an
anachronistic recreation constructed to amuse and elicit money from
tourists. Somehow Grace knew this castle was real.

Counting, she saw the castle =Calavere, the knight had called
it-possessed nine towers. None of them were alike. Some of the towers
were tall and spindly with pointed roofs, while others were stout and
square. Most were set into the many-sided wall that ringed the hilltop,
while the largest dominated the center of the fortress. This last tower
was a great, blocky structure as wide as it was tall, with narrow
windows and high crenellated parapets. The haphazard towers gave the
impression the castle had been built in many stages over several
centuries with no common design. The result was a kind of stark and
craggy majesty that seemed as natural and unplanned as the beauty of
mountains.

129

Durge nudged the flanks of his soot-colored mount. "Come now,
Blackalock. This is no time to dally." The horse stretched its legs to
gallop faster, yet the stallion's gait remained smooth, even careful,

and he rolled his eyes back to glance at the passenger who rode behind
the knight.

In minutes they reached the base of the hill on which the castle
perched. Durge guided Blackalock onto a broad path that wound in a
spiral up to the summit. For the first time they encountered others on
the road, and the higher they went the more people they passed. These
were all on foot, dressed in drab but warm-looking clothes cut of rough
cloth. Some pushed wooden carts filled with peat or firewood, while
others carried bundles on their stooped backs or prodded flocks of goats
with willow switches. To Grace they all looked curiously old: their
limbs crooked, their faces weathered. All except for their eyes, which
seemed too young for the rest of them.

A memory crept into her mind, of old men in patched overalls sitting on
a rickety front porch. Only they hadn't been old, had they? She had seen
people like this once before, while on a vacation in the Blue Ridge
Mountains of North Carolina. In Appalachia there were places where
people still lived under the same primitive conditions their ancestors
had three centuries before, in ramshackle cabins that lacked
refrigerators, running water, and electricity. Most of them had looked
years older than their twentieth-century counterparts-wrinkled, gnarled,
toothless. Something told Grace these people here were a similar case.

Peasants, the word drifted from her subconscious. With great effort, she
dredged up dusty recollections from her undergraduate world history
course. Didn't every castle have peasants who paid tithes of goods and
labor to the lord in exchange for protection? Except, according to the
course professor, the feudal system had vanished over six hundred years
ago. At least on Earth, a disconnected voice in her mind added. However,
she was still too cold to consider the implications of that. She
tightened the blanket around herself and tried not to stare at the
people who trudged along the road.

They came to the castle gate. This was a high arch in the wall flanked
by a pair of square towers. Massive doors of.

130

iron-reinforced wood stood open to either side. The knight slowed his
horse to a walk and followed the stream of people into the opening.
Beyond was a dim corridor. The sounds of people and animals echoed off
the stone walls. At the far end of the passage was a raised iron grill.
Grace craned her neck and saw dozens of holes in the ceiling. Their
purpose was clear. Intruders who broke through the first gate would be
stopped by the second and caught within the tunnel while defenders
rained down arrows or boiling lead from the murder holes above. Whatever
this place was, it certainly was not unfamiliar with the concept of war.

Two men stood at the far end of the tunnel, clad in mail shirts, swords
belted at their hips. Like the peasants, they were small but
powerful-looking, with weathered faces and young eyes. The men-at-arms
collected a copper coin from each of the peasants who passed through the
far archway. The knight nudged his mount forward. One of the men-atarms
looked up, then saluted, fist against chest.

"Where will I find King Boreas's seneschal?" Durge asked. "In the king's
stable, in the upper bailey, my lord," the guard said and gestured
through the archway.

Durge nodded and guided Blackalock toward the opening. As they passed,
the guard's eyes widened. The man elbowed his companion, who affected a
similar expression. Durge kept his gaze fixed ahead. Grace cast one last
glance back and saw the two men-at-arms make some strange sign with
their hands. Then the horse passed through the archway and into the
space beyond.

It was a courtyard. High walls enclosed an area as large as a city
block. The courtyard-or bailey, to use the guard's word-was ringed all
around by stone buildings of myriad shapes and sizes, each built with
its back against the castle's outer wall. Smaller buildings of wood were
scattered throughout the courtyard. It looked as if some sort of market
or fair were in progress, for the entire bailey bustled with peasants
and various castle folk. The hooves of livestock and the wheels of carts
had churned the ground into a mire. There was as much to smell as see,
and Grace's nostrils were assailed by the odors of smoke, manure, and
roasting meat. Any last doubts this place was anything but real were
erased from her mind.

131

Knight, horse, and passenger moved through the crowded courtyard.

"What was that all about?" Grace gestured back toward the castle's gate.
"The guards acted so strangely when they saw me."

The knight cleared his throat. "It was nothing that should concern you,
my lady. They wonder who you are, that is all. You must forgive them.
They are simple men."

Grace accepted this, but she thought there was something more Durge was
not telling her. A flash of silver caught her eye, and she glanced down
at the ground. It was a puddle of water, a mirror to the sky above. A
ghostly face gazed up at her: thin, ethereally pale, green-gold eyes
like summer gems above sharp cheekbones. It was her own reflection in
the puddle. No wonder the guards had stared at her so. The horse
continued on, and the reflection was gone.

At the far end of the bailey was a wall that was darker and
older-looking than the others. There was a second gate in this wall, and
it was toward this that Durge steered his horse.

"We are going to see Lord Alerain, my lady," the knight said. "He is the
king's seneschal, and so is concerned with visitors to the castle. I
must announce myself to him, and he will be able to see to your needs.""

Grace gave a jerky nod. It was not as if she had any other suggestions.

They passed through the gate and entered a smaller courtyard. The upper
bailey was quieter than the lower bailey. This was the oldest part of
the castle, Grace decided, for here the stonework looked heavier and
more weathered. Against the far wall rose the high, square tower she had
glimpsed before. It must have been the hill fort's original keep,
although its layers of different-colored stone indicated that the tower
had been expanded many times in its history. Stone -wings stretched from
either side of the main keep and turned the corners to encircle the
courtyard on all sides.

In the center of the upper bailey was a thick and tangled garden that
looked like a tiny forest. Even in this wintry weather, Grace caught the

faint perfume of flowers on the "'air, and from somewhere in the garden
drifted the music of

132

water. She sighed. It was a peaceful and private refuge. Even the thick
stone walls were comforting rather than confining.

There were fewer people about the inner courtyard-men. at-arms and
others Grace took for servants. Durge asked a grizzled guard to direct
them to the king's stable, and the fellow pointed toward a long wooden
building. As they ap. proached the structure, Grace caught the rich
scent of horses.

The knight brought his horse to a halt and dismounted, then reached up
to help Grace. She was stiff and clumsy and nearly fell, but Durge
caught her in strong arms and set her on the ground.

A sharp voice emanated from the stable. "And the next time I catch you
sleeping, boy, you can clean all the stalls yourself-and without the
benefit of a rake, mind you!"

"Yes, Lord Alerain," answered a youthful and contrite voice.

A figure stepped from the shadows of the stable. He was a lean, precise
man of later years. His white hair was closely cropped, and a neatly
trimmed beard adorned his pointed chin. His garb was fine but
understated, all in shades of maroon and black, and a cloak was clasped
at his neck by a simple-but large-gold brooch. He cut an imposing
figure, yet there was something grandfatherly about him all the same.
Perhaps it was the preoccupied look in his watery blue eyes. He started
toward the keep, an intent cast to his face. "Pardon me, Lord Alerain,"
Durge said.

The seneschal looked up, searched for the source of the voice, saw them,
and approached. He studied the knight, then seemed to make a decision.
"The earl of Stonebreak, I presume?" he asked in a formal tone.

"You presume correctly," Durge said.

A smile broke through Alerain's stern expression. "Then I have not lost
all my skill. Well met, my lord. You have the look of your father,
Vathris keep him." He reached out and gripped the knight's hand. "It
seems Embarr is the first to arrive for the council. Is King Sorrin far
behind you?"

"At least a fortnight, my lord. Though it would surprise me little if
his traveling party were delayed by bandits, or lamed horses, or a
fallen bridge."

Alerain scowled at this. However, his eyebrows were too

133

bushy for the expression to be genuinely fierce. "You Embarrans! Such a
gloomy folk-always expecting the worst of things. I'm certain King
Sorrin will arrive in good order."

Durge shrugged. "If it pleases you to say so, my lord." The seneschal
rolled his eyes but let it pass. He glanced at Grace, who was still

wrapped head to toe in the blanket.

"Tell me, my lord, who is this who accompanies you?"

"I cannot truly say, Lord Alerain." Durge gazed at her with his solemn
eyes. "I came upon her half-frozen in the snow, in the eaves of Gloaming
Wood."

Alerain gave the knight a sharp look. "You ventured into Gloaming Wood?"
The seneschal shook his head. "You are a brave man, Sir Knight. Or, if
you'll forgive me, a foolish one. You might have become as lost as this
poor lass." He took a step toward her. "Now, what have we here?"

Grace opened her mouth, but Alerain clucked his tongue to silence her.
"Do not fear, my child. We'll get you out of that damp blanket and into
something dry at once. There will be plenty of time to tell us your name
after you've warmed yourself by a fire." He reached a hand toward her.

Grace hesitated. Yet it couldn't hurt to wait. until she was warm and
dry to start asking questions about where she was. She reached out to
take the seneschal's hand. As she let go of the blanket, it slipped back
around her shoulders, away from her face.

Alerain sucked in a hissing breath. "My lord!" he said to Durge. "Why
did you not tell me who your companion was?"

The seneschal dropped to one knee right there on the muddy ground in
front of the stable. Grace cast a startled look at Durge. The knight
gave a nod, as if something he had suspected had just been confirmed.
Then he too bent to one knee before her.

Grace watched the men in confusion. What was going on? As if to answer
her question, Alerain bowed his head and spoke in a ritual tone.

"Welcome to Calavere, Your Highness. How may we serve thee?"

134

The door shut behind Grace and she was alone inside the drafty
bedchamber. Outside, footsteps faded away as the two maidens who had led
her through the castle's labyrinthian corridors retreated. She let out a
deep breath.

"What would a princess do in this situation, Grace?" She grimaced. It
had been absolutely no use trying to convince Lord Alerain she was
nobody special. In the courtyard, after the flustered seneschal had
managed to recover his composure, she had attempted to explain he had
made a mistake. Her name was Grace Beckett. She was not royalty, and
there was absolutely no need to keep bowing his head or calling her
Highness.

Despite her repeated protests, Alerain had given her a conspiratorial
wink. "As you wish, Your Highness," he had said. "It is not my place to
question why a lady of high station might desire to travel in disguise.
It is a curious happening, to be sure, but these are curious times.
Though I confess, I cannot fathom from whence you hail. The line of your
jaw speaks of the noble houses of northeast Eredane, but your cheekbones
could belong to a duchess of southernmost Toloria. And your eyes are
like those of no royal family I can think of." He had stroked his short
beard. "It is part of my office to know every noble in the Dominions on

sight, whether we have met before or no. But I know you not. This
Beckett must be a dominion far distant from Calavan."

"Very far," Grace had replied.

After that she had given up. It was simpler that way. Besides, she was
too numb really to protest. Alerain had summoned a half-dozen servants,
and with crisp commands gave orders for a room to be prepared for her.
Most of the servants had dashed off at breakneck speed, but two pretty
womenbarely more than girls-clad in dove-gray dresses had remained
behind. Each took one of Grace's elbows and had led her at a more
careful pace toward one of the wings of the keep. She would have shaken
off their hands and told them she could walk on her own, but she wasn't
entirely certain

135

that was true. Her knees shook, and she felt light and hollow.

She had wondered then what had become of Durge in all of the chaos, and
had glanced over her shoulder. Gloomy as he was, she rather liked the
knight, and though she seldom made friends, she thought she could use
one in this unfamiliar place. However, the brown-eyed knight had been
nowhere in view, and before she could ask about him the maidens had led
her through a door into the keep.

Now Grace let her gaze wander over the room. It was perhaps five paces
across and nearly twice as long. One end of the room was dominated by a
gigantic four-posted bed. The top of the bed was so high off the floor
that a stepping stool placed before the footboard was the only practical
means of climbing up. At the other end of the room was a fireplace in
which a cheerful blaze crackled, and on the far wall was a narrow window
glazed with thick glass. All around the room colored tapestries hung
against the walls and depicted flowering trees, lushly tangled vines,
and clear fountains. So vivid were the images in the weavings that if
she half closed her eyes, Grace could almost believe she stood in an
idyllic spring glade. Almost. For despite the fire and the tapestries,
and a worn carpet beneath her feet, a chill radiated from the stone
walls and floor. By this, and the musty odor that lingered on the air,
she suspected this room had not been used in some time.

Grace decided to look out the window in an effort to get her
bearings-she had lost all sense of direction in the castle's mazelike
corridors-and moved toward the far wall. Halfway there she
halted-something she had not noticed before caught her eye. In a corner
near the fireplace was a large wooden tub filled with water. Even as she
watched, a crisp curl of steam rose from the water's surface. On a stool
next to the tub lay a neatly folded cloth towel, a brown lump she took
for soap, and a porcelain bowl filled with dried herbs and flower petals.

Grace cast another look at the window. She wanted to learn more about
where she was. However, the window wasn't going anywhere, and right now
her chilled body ached to feel itself immersed in hot water. She debated
the issue-window or bath?-for a second more.

136

Bath won out.

She stood before the fire, kicked off her cold shoes, and started to

unbutton her blouse. It was only then she noticed her left hand was
clenched shut in a tight fist. She thought about it and realized it had
been so all along. With her right hand she had clutched the blanket
around her while on the knight's horse, and it was also with the right
she had reached toward Alerain. Her left hand had remained closed
through. out all of it, so numb with the cold she had not noticed. Now,
with her right hand, she unclenched the left.

Something small and silver shone on the palm of her hand. Grace peered
at the object she had clutched so tightly. It looked like half of a
coin. There was a design on each side, but she could not make them out,
for the half-coin was too worn. It must have been very ancient. Yet
where had it come from?

A raspy voice seemed to speak again in her mind. It is merely a token.
Yet in it there may reside some small reser. voir of strength.

Of course. He had given it to her. The weird preacher man in black.
Brother Cy. She remembered something small and cool being pressed into
her hand, just before she had opened the door of the orphanage. Just
before everything had gone white and she had awakened to find herself
here, in this .. . ... world?" she whispered aloud.

Yes. That was the word that had been hovering on the edge of her
understanding, waiting for her to voice it. This was not present-day
Earth. Nor was this even Earth as it had been in some past century. She
wasn't certain how she knew this, only that she did. Perhaps it was some
deep and primeval human instinct, embedded in her chromosomes over the
course of millions of years of evolution-sensitive to slight
discrepancies in the color of the light, or the force of gravity, or the
chemical composition of the atmosphere-that told her this was not her world.

Yet that did not seem entirely right. If that were truly the case, then
the knowledge she was no longer on Earth-that she had somehow stumbled
through an impossible doorway into another, alien world-should have
flooded her veins with fear and adrenaline. Wasn't that how instincts
worked?

137

However, for all its strangeness, there was something about this place
that felt oddly . . . comfortable.

None of this served to answer her primary question. How had she gotten
here? Had he sent her to this world? But the preacher had told her what
lay beyond the door of the orphanage was up to her. Perhaps something
deep inside of her had wished to find a way to another world.

She dug into the pocket of her chinos and pulled something out. It was
damp and rumpled but still legible: the business card Hadrian Farr had
given her. Farr had told her it was the mission of the Seekers to search
for and study strange occurrences.

A jolt of grim humor hit her. "You should have stuck with me, Farr. It
doesn't get any stranger than this."

A shiver reminded Grace of the steaming tub of water. She set the card
and the half-coin on the mantel above the fireplace, then took off her
necklace and placed it beside them. When she got back to Earth-if she
got back, she amended, then suppressed the thought-she would call the

number on the card and talk to the Seekers. However, right now there
were other matters to concern her, the most immediate of which was survival.

As quickly as she could with her stiff fingers, she shucked off her wet
clothes and piled them in a heap before the fireplace. Then, without
even testing the water, she climbed into the tub.

She let out a gasp. The water was shockingly, painfully, and deliciously
hot. A series of violent shivers surged through her body, and needles of
pain danced across her skin. She forced herself to stay submerged. Her
shuddering eased, and the bright pinpricks faded to a pleasant tingling.
Finally the heat seeped into her chilled core, and her shivering ceased.
She let out a luxuriant sigh and sank deeper into the tub as her stiff
muscles melted.

She decided it was time to scrub and reached for the lump of soap. It
was soft and fatty, and its smell was faintly rancid. However, it was
soothing as salve when she rubbed it on her skin. She sprinkled the
dried herbs and flowers into the water, and a sweet fragrance rose
upward, effectively masking the unpleasant odor of the soap, as was
clearly their purpose.

After this, Grace leaned back, soaked, and drowsed for a

138

time. At last the water started to cool. With a sigh, she climbed from
the tub and toweled off in the glow of the fire. Soon she was dry and
warm. And, she realized, quite naked. She eyed the clothes piled on the
hearth. They were steam. ing now, but still sopping.

She gazed around the room, and her eyes fell on a tall cabinet in a
corner. She threw open the cabinet's doors, and this action confirmed
her initial suspicion. It was a wardrobe. Inside were several gowns,
each a different color, but all fashioned of soft wool. Folded on a
shelf above were some sort of undergarments, made from undyed linen. All
looked to be about her size. No doubt these things had been brought here
ahead of her, along with the tub of water. Grace gave the odd clothes a
dubious look. None of them were exactly her style-chinos and a blouse
were about as dressy as she ever got-but she supposed necessity
superseded fashion.

The undergarments were easy enough to comprehend. They were soft and not
unlike a pair of long underwear. She slipped them on, then started to
reach for one of the gowns, but at that moment a wave of weariness
washed over her. Between her ordeal in the woods and the warmth of the
bath, she was exhausted. Her gaze drifted toward the massive bed, and
immediately her only thoughts were of sleep. She clambered up the
stepping stool, flopped onto the bed, and sighed as she sank down into
expansive softness. Goose down.

Then, for a time, she did not think of all that had happened to her. She
did not think of the man with the heart of iron, or of Hadrian Farr, or
of Brother Cy. She did not think of this strange world, or of how far
away from Earth she might be. She did not even think of the hospital, or
of the endless stream of broken people that streamed through the
Emergency Department's door.

Grace's last conscious effort was to burrow under the heavy bedcovers.
Then she shut her eyes and drifted into a deep and peaceful sleep in

which she thought of nothing at all.

139 Travis and Falken reached the ancient keep just as the sun sank
behind the rim of the valley and the lake turned from copper to slate.

"Shall we see if anyone is home?" the bard said. His blackgloved hand
slipped to the knife belted at his hip, and belied his light tone.
Travis didn't need a magical translator for that message. He swallowed
hard and gripped the hilt of his stiletto. Falken made a fist of his
left hand and pounded on the door-a huge slab of scarred wood-three times.

There was a grating sound. Then, with a groan, the door

opened a crack-just enough to reveal a single, bulbous eye.

goes there?" a chalky voice said.

Falken answered in a formal tone. "Two travelers seeking

shelter against the coming night."

"Well, then you had better find another keep," the voice

We couldn't possibly squeeze in another, let alone

"In case you hadn't noticed, there are no other kee s " the

I'm afraid King Kel doesn't go in much for lawsgrants. two. two. Good-bye!"

Another burst of laughter answered Falken's surprised ex"Yes I know who
you be wanderer. , then focused on the

Thtwoe bloomen.dshot orb rolled back and forth,

said in a croak. "We've already taken in our share of vaThe door started
to shut, but Falken wedged the toe of his boot in the crack to keep it open.

P, bard said. "We might be on the far frontier of the Dominions, but
even here the laws of hospitality hold sway. Or have you forgotten?"

This resulted in a burst of cackling. "I have forgotten nothexcept for
ones he makes up himself, of course. Still, I doubt you'll find a lord
more hospitable to those he favors-or more harsh to those he does not."
The eye squinted to a slit. "Which be you, Falken of the Blackhand?
Friend or foe?" pression.

Of little worth would be the doorkeeper who did not know the sight of
the Grim

140

Falken shot Travis a look. "So are you going to take us to

quaff it!"

A snaggle-toothed grin split her face. " 'Tis not my fault if they don't
look at what's floating in their ale before they

any help in this matter from you, witch?"

Falken's eyes narrowed. "And I suppose they didn't have

selves into a stupor by sundown-as usual."

leather slumped within, snoring. "These ones drank themhand she gestured
toward an alcove. Two men clad in greasy

the old woman said. "Warriors." With a gnarled

pened to those famed warriors of his?"

Falken was obviously unimpressed. "So King Kel has been reduced to this?
A single hag to guard his door? What hap"Welcome to Kelcior!" she said
in a facetious croak.

She stared at the two with her one bulging eye.

that wrapped her shapeless body, like the limbs of a spider.

toward them. Bony arms and legs stuck out of the tatters

woman. She slid a wooden bar across the door, then scuttled

It took Travis a moment to realize that what he had at first mistaken
for a pile of rags in the dim light was in fact an old

door slammed shut behind them. The two men spun around.

in sight. Travis took a deep breath and followed Falken into the
passageway beyond. There was a great booming as the

creak. Torchlight spilled out. The doorkeeper was nowhere

Bard coming!" The eye rolled in Travis's direction. "But what is this
delicious morsel you've brought with you?"

Travis squirmed under the orb's scrutiny, uncomfortable for a reason he
couldn't quite name.

Falken glowered at the eye. "Just answer my question. Are you going to
let us in or not?"

"Oh, very well," the voice said. "If you absolutely must, you may pass.
But you would be wise to answer my question, at least to yourself. Be
you friend or foe? As I recall, King Kel was not altogether pleased with
the name Falken Blackhand when last you left here." With that the eye
vanished.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Travis whispered. "I'm not entirely
certain."

Travis didn't like the sound of that, but before he could question the
bard further' the door swung inward with a

Kel or not?" the bard asked.

141

"Ah! Too important to hang about with the likes of Grisla, are we?" The
witch affected a mocking bow. "Very well, Lord High-and-Mighty. Grisla

will do as you bid, and with quivering pleasure. Come this way, come
this way!"

The hag Grisla grabbed a smoking torch from the wall and led them down a
murky corridor to a set of doors. A dull roar emanated from the other side.

The hag gestured to the doors. "Beyond is the great hall. The king is
holding a feast tonight."

"When isn't Kel holding a feast?" Falken asked.

Grisla scratched at her matted hair. "I think there was a

Melinsday morning two years ago when everyone decided to go on a picnic
instead."

Falken let out a groan. "Enough, witch! Back to the door with you."

Venom perfused her words. "As you wish, Lord Irritability.

Before she left them, the crone plucked at Travis's sleeve with knobby
fingers. "I have an eye for you, my lad!" She cackled and pressed
something into his hand.

Travis looked down, then gagged. On his palm was a glistening eyeball.
It lolled damply back and forth, staring up at him. With a yelp he
dropped the eye, and it rolled away down the hall.

With a shriek, Grisla chased after the orb and groped for it with blind
hands. At last her fingers closed on the loose eye. The witch stuck it
back in its socket, grunted in satisfaction, then scuttled down the hallway.

Travis wiped his hand on his tunic. He felt vaguely ill. "How did she do
that?"

Falken shook his head. "Believe me, you don't want to know." He motioned
to the doors. "Shall we?"

Together the two pushed through into the space beyond. Travis's senses
reeled, overwhelmed as they tried to take in the dizzying scene that
greeted them. The great hall of Kelcior was a cavern of a room. High
walls of stone rose to a ceiling crisscrossed by soot-blackened beams.
Two lines of trestle tables ran the length of the room, perpendicular to
the high table, which stood upon a dais at the head of the hall. Torches
lined the walls, but their light barely cut through the haze of smoke
that hung on the air. Travis took a breath

142

and nearly choked on a powerful reek-a melange of burnt meat, spilt
beer, sweat, and vomit.

King Kel's feast was no formal affair. As many people stood on the
tables as actually sat at them. Brawny men used swords to hack apart
huge joints of roasted meat, while others drank out of rusted helmets.
Serving wenches swaggered as they plunked down platters of food and
deftly evaded large, groping hands. One warrior managed to grab a
smudgefaced maiden and got a dagger through his hand as a reward.
Children in patched tunics ran shrieking back and forth in some ruleless
game, while wildmen-clad in rancid animal skins, their hair caked with

blue mud-fought and snarled with mangy dogs for scraps under the tables.

Travis gave his companion a dubious look. "Are all your friends like
this, Falken?"

The bard treated Travis to a withering glance, then wended his way
through the throng. Travis followed close on his heels. They reached the
steps below the high table.

A great bellow thundered over the roar of the feast. "Bring me another
haunch of aurochs! Hold on there-better make that two. I'm feeling a bit
peckish!"

Travis craned his neck and stared upward in awe. The largest man he had
ever seen sat at the center of the high table. The man had the shoulders
and chest of a grizzly bear, and his huge head was crowned by a shock of
red hair that was surpassed in wildness only by the tangled bush of his
beard. Eyebrows bristled like living things over the blue sparks of his
eyes. A sizzling hunk of some dead beast was plunked before him. Kel
displayed pointed teeth in a barbaric grin, then tore into the joint of
meat with hands like paws.

As befit a king-even a petty king-sitting with Kel at the high table
were the most important members of his court. That is, the burliest
warriors, the most buxom wenches, and the wildest-looking wildmen. Once,
years ago, while in an unfamiliar city, Travis had accidentally stepped
into a rough and seedy biker bar. Harrowing as that experience had been,
that bar had had nothing on this place. If he turned and left now, would
he have a chance of getting to the door before getting a sword in the gut?

"Don't even think of running," Falken said under his

143

breath. "They can sense fear." With that, the bard ascended

the nrst step

"Greetings, Kel, King of Kelcior!" Falken spoke in a resounding voice.

The king looked up, and his blue eyes widened into circles. The joint of
meat slipped from his hand and fell to the table. As if that were a cue,
the entire great hall went silent. Warriors froze in mid-brawl, wenches
gripped serving trays with white-knuckled hands, and wildmen cowered
beneath tables, where they whimpered along with the frightened

hounds.

30.

"Falken Blackhand!" King Kel's voice was a growl. "I had not expected to
see your bleak face in my hall again. At least, not so soon after the
last time. Have you come to bring me another disaster? We've only barely
finished burying the bodies after the last one, you know."

Falken raised a hand to his heart in a gesture of feigned surprise. "So
the north guard tower did fall, then?"

King Kel shoved back his chair and stomped around the high table to
tower over Falken. "Aye, it fell! Just as you said it would, and mere

hours after you disappeared without begging proper leave from my
kingdom, you scoundrel. Killed my best hunting dog when it went." Kel
wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. "Oh, and a few dozen members of
my court as well."

"I warned you the tower's foundation was weak."

Kel grunted in suspicion. "Aye, you did at that, Falken Blackhand. It
seems you're always warning of disaster, and it seems you're always
right." He glowered at the bard. "A man might start to wonder if dark
happenings follow you, or if, just maybe, you have a hand in making your
warnings come to pass."

At this accusation a hiss ran around the great hall. Kel wasn't the only
one with this idea.

Falken held out his arms, begged for silence, and somehow received it.
"It is true I have often warned you against im

144

pending trouble, Your Majesty. And if you heeded my warn ings, it might
be little ill would come of them. Be that as it may, I am saddened you
have forgotten all the other admoni. tions of Falken Blackhand-the ones
that have brought good rather than ill."

Falken paced on the dais. His voice rose, as if this were a performance
of some sort. Travis held his breath. Perhaps it was at that, a
performance which, if not compelling enough, could cost them their heads.

"Who told you where in the lake to search for lost trea. sures of
Tarras?" Falken asked. "Who told where to mine salt, when you had no
salt for your table? And who sang to you the entire Lay of Boradis for
three days without pause or rest, just so you could hear over and over
the verse in which the dragon eats the army?"

The king's eyes sparkled. "I love that part!"

Falken fixed Kel with a sharp look. "Who did these things?"

The king heaved his massive chest in a sigh. "You did, Falken."

Falken crossed his arms and nodded.

Kel scratched his furry chin in thought, then snapped his thick fingers.
"I know! I'll ask my advisor what I should do." Falken's brow furrowed.
"Your advisor?"

The king's bellow rang out over the great hall. "Where's my witch?
Somebody bring me my witch!"

"I'm right here, Your Boisterousness." A spidery form scurried onto the
dais.

Falken raised a single eyebrow at the hag. "You're his advisor, too? If
you don't mind my saying, you seem to get around."

Grisla shrugged her bony shoulders. "A witch's work is never done."

King Kel looked to the hag. "What should we do with them, witch?"

She reached into the mass of rags that covered her body and drew out a
handful of thin, yellow objects. Only when she cast them upon the steps
did Travis realize they were bones. Grisla hunkered down to study the
pattern made by the fallen bones.

145

"Humph!" she said. Then, "Hmm." At last she concluded with a harsh "Hah!"

Kel clasped a big hand to his chest. "What is it, witch?" Grisla looked
up and fixed Falken and Travis with her one bulging eye. Travis's heart
fluttered.

"The oracle bones speak clearly," Grisla said. "These two come on dark
business."

The king let out a snort. "I hardly need your charms to tell me that, hag."

"I'm not finished! Dark as their business is, it does not concern us."
Grisla gazed again at the bones, and her face pursed into a frown. "Yet
it does not not concern us."

"That's conveniently vague," Falken said.

Grisla snorted. "I don't make the oracles, I just read what they say."
The hag gathered up the bones and tucked them away among her rags.

King Kel mulled over this new information. He scratched his head and
made his wild red hair even wilder. Then he nodded. "I have made my
decision." He towered over Falken and Travis. "I will not grant you the
hospitality of my hall, Falken Blackhand."

Travis shot Falken a look of open alarm. The bard started to protest but
was silenced as Kel raised a meaty hand. "However," the king went on, "I
will allow you to earn it."

At this Falken's grim expression was replaced by a broad smile, and
Travis let out a breath of relief.

"I will be only too happy to earn my keep with my lute, Your Majesty,"
the bard said. "And, if it would please the court, I might even sing the
Lay of Boradis a time or two."

A toothy grin split Kel's face. "By Jorus, I never could stay mad at
you, Falken!" He grabbed the bard and crushed him in a bear hug. The
great hall erupted into merriment once again.

"I can't play if you break me," the bard said in a muffled voice.

Kel dropped Falken to the dais. The bard staggered and might have fallen
save for Travis's steadying arm. The king returned to the high table and
called to his servants. Two stools were set upon the steps before the
high table, one each for Falken and Travis. The only chair in the entire
great hall

146

belonged to the king-everyone else sat on benches. A wench thrust a
foaming tankard into Travis's hand. Thirsty, he took a deep draught and

immediately started choking. The gritty liquid in the tankard was
neither Budweiser nor oatmeal but something in between.

"Don't just sit there sputtering, Travis," Falken said. "Unwrap my lute
and hand it to me."

Travis managed to catch his breath. "But the pack's right by you. Can't
you get it yourself?"

"I could," Falken said. "But it's an apprentice's job to serve his bard.
Unless, of course, you don't wish to pose as my apprentice, and would
prefer to find your own way to earn King Kel's hospitality. I'm sure the
drunken warriors over there could use someone to hold up their
knifethrowing target."

Travis hurriedly, reached into the pack and retrieved the bard's lute.

The feast resumed, and Falken strummed his lute and sang of ancient
battles, proud kings, and fey treasures. Travis was content to sit
quietly on his stool and sip his beer. It wasn't so bad once he learned
to filter it through his teeth. He listened to the bard's songs and let
his gaze drift over the great hall. In one corner of the hall he noticed
two people-a man and a woman-who did not seem to fit in with the rest of
the barbaric revelers. The woman was beautiful, her hair black, her skin
coppery, her amber eyes striking. She wore a midnight-blue kirtle
trimmed with silver. Her companion was a big, rangy, fair-haired man. He
appeared to be a knight of some sort, for he wore a heavy-looking shirt
of chain mail, and a helm rested on the table before him. The knight
watched the merriment 'in the hall with an expression of amusement,
while the woman's gaze was turned inward, as if she gazed upon some
secret place.

Falken handed Travis the lute, and his attention was turned away from
the two strangers. It was time for a break. Kel called out in his
thundering voice for food to be brought for the bard and his apprentice.
Each was handed a hunk of meat on a slice of hard bread, which Falken
called a trencher. Travis was ravenous. Not caring what animal it might
have come from, he took a bite of the meat and chewed. And

147

chewed. And chewed. It was more gristle than flesh. He managed to
swallow, although just barely.

He snapped his head up at a low growl. A hunting dog stood before him,
muzzle pulled back in a snarl. Travis decided it wasn't worth losing a
hand over and tossed the rest of the unidentifiable meat to the dog. He
settled for gnawing on the trencher, which, while stale, was somewhat
edible.

Another call went out from the high table and was quickly picked up by
others.

"Bring on the play! Where is Trifkin Mossberry? Bring on the play!"

"We had better get out of the way," Falken said to Travis. They grabbed
their stools and retreated to one side of the dais. A curtain behind the
high table parted, and a diminutive figure popped out. The small man
leaped onto the table, performed a capering dance in which several
tankards and bowls were upset, then launched himself into a handspring

and landed nimbly on the steps of the dais. A great whoop went up from
the crowd at this entertainment.

The little man was clearly full grown, though he was no more than half
Travis's height. He had a broad face and nutbrown eyes, and his pointed
chin was beardless. His clothes

were of green arid yellow, and a red-feathered cap perched on

his tousled brown hair. He doffed his cap, bowed deeply, then rose to
address the crowd in a piping voice:

"My name is Moss, and Berry, too, But your names I'll not ask you. For I
have come to wonders show, Not to drink, nor mischief sow. Behold, my
friends-turn not awayAs Trifkin's troupe performs the play."

At that cue the curtain behind the table parted again, and a dozen forms
dashed out to stand upon the dais with Trifkin. The actors were clad in
elaborate and outlandish costumes. A man in white robes with a long
white beard tossed dried petals like snow into the air. Tree-women clad
in barkbrown dresses shook long arms that ended in branching twigs.
Bare-chested goat-men with horns tied to their heads scampered about in
fuzzy trousers. In the center of the

148

troupe stood a radiant maiden in a green dress, her long hair tangled
with leaves and flowers. Trifkin raised his arms, and the noise of the
crowd died down as all leaned forward to watch the actors at their craft.

Though he tried his best to follow the action, Travis didn't quite
understand the play. As far as he could tell, it had to do with Winter
and Spring. The old man in white was obviously Winter. He walked around
what seemed a forest and tossed his snowy petals on the ground while the
tree-women shivered their twiggy arms. Then Winter came upon the beauti.
ful maiden in green-who was clearly Spring-and, affecting a salacious
grin, snatched her up and ran off, an action which caused the audience
to let out a reaction that was equal parts hisses and cheers.

After this, the scene changed, and the goat-men bounded onto the dais.
Travis wasn't entirely sure what this part of the play was about, but it
seemed to involve a fair amount of capering and trouser-dropping. The
scene shifted again. Now Spring languished in Winter's chill grip.
However, the goatmen soon came to her rescue. They grabbed Winter,
heaved him off the stage, and thus freed young Spring, who showed her
gratitude by letting the goat-men cavort around her. At last the
goat-men surrounded Spring and concealed her from view. When they dashed
away again, Spring had a large bulge in her dress.

At this point, Trifkin Mossberry himself bounded into the scene with an
energetic series of flips and tumbles. He came to a stop before Spring
and reached up her dress, then snatched out the bundle and held it
aloft. It was a crude doll dressed all in yellow with a yellow crown.
Travis decided he had just witnessed the birth of Summer. The play
concluded in a dance that made the rest of the drama seem sedate by
comparison, then the actors dropped to the steps in exhaustion as the
audience roared its approval. The tree-women and goat-men sprang up to
take their bows, followed by Winter and Spring. Last of all Trifkin
himself rose and bowed, then spoke once more in his piping voice:

"I hope you liked our merry play, Yet if not, then hear me, pray. For we
are like to shadows see,

149

Treading soft on memory.

And now let fall your weary heads, As off you journey to your beds."

The curious troupe of actors dashed off the dais and disappeared through
a door on one side of the great hall. The audience blinked and yawned,
and, as if Trifkin's words had been some sort of enchantment, the revel
wound down to an end. The trestle tables were folded and pushed against
the walls, and people spread sleeping mats of woven rushes on the floor.
King Kel disappeared into the room behind the frayed curtain, and the
mysterious woman and her knightly companion were nowhere to be seen-they
must have departed to a private chamber during the play. Even Falken
looked weary as he strummed his lute, then slipped it into its case. It
seemed Travis was the only one who was not ready for sleep. He gazed at
the side door through which Trifkin's troupe had vanished. He could not
stop thinking about the little man and his actors. There had been
something extraordinary about them and their peculiar play, though he
wasn't certain just what.

Torches were doused, and soon only the ruddy light of the fire filled
the great hall as the folk of Kelcior readied themselves for sleep.
Falken found a spot in a corner, and he and Travis lay down and curled
up in their cloaks. Sounds drifted around them in the dimness: snoring,
murmured talk, the soft noises of lovemaking. Travis tried to close his
eyes, but he wasn't tired.

"Do you think he really would have thrown us out?" he whispered after a
while. "King Kel, I mean. He seems a bit on the barbaric side."

"No, we were in no real danger," Falken said in a sleepy voice. "At
least, I don't think we were. Kel likes to act terrible, but I suspect a
large heart resides in that burly chest of his." He gave a weary sigh.
"Now go to sleep, Travis Wilder."

Despite his exhaustion, Travis stared into the dusky air long after
Falken's breathing had grown deep and slow.

150

Travis opened his eyes. The fire had dwindled to a heap of coals, and
the great hall was quiet except for the soft sounds of breathing. It was
the deep of the night. He sat up, cocked his head, and listened. What
was it that had awakened him? He wasn't certain, but it had sounded
almost like . . . bells.

Now Travis was wide-awake. He glanced at Falken, who lay beside him in
the murk. The bard's eyes were shut, and he snored gently.

"You should go back to sleep, Travis," he whispered to himself even as
he quietly stood up. He cast one more look at Falken, then picked his
way among the bodies that littered the floor of the great hall. He
should not be doing this. At the very least it was foolish to go
wandering around a strange castle at night, and at the very worst it
could be perilous. Yet the last time he had heard bells-on the highway
outside Castle City-was when everything had started to change. Maybe

there was a connection here that could help him find a way back home.

His boot trod on something soft, and there was a sleepy grumble of
protest. Travis froze and bit his lip to stifle a cry. He peered down in
the gloom and saw he had stepped on the foot of a wildman. Travis's
heart raced. Then the wildman let out a sigh; rolled over, snuggled
against a slumbering hunting hound, and after that was quiet. Travis let
out a silent breath of relief and continued on.

He came to a side door-the same door Trifkin Mossberry's troupe of
actors had vanished through earlier. He pushed open the door, thankful
that it did not creak, then stepped through and shut it behind him. He
found himself in a narrow corridor. While the great hall had been warm
with the heat of fire and dogs and people, here the stones radiated a
wintry chill. At one end of the corridor lay an alcove which, his nose
told him, contained the privy. At the other end was a small arch that
opened on a spiral staircase. Travis headed for the stairs. The steps
were steep and narrow, and he grew dizzy as he wound his way upward. At
the end of the

151

staircase was another archway. This opened onto a hallway similar to the
one below. Doors lined one wall, leading 'to rooms that must lie above
the great hall. The corridor was dark except for a single line of golden
light that glowed beneath the farthest door.

This time there was no mistaking the sound. As he drew near the door,
the music of bells shimmered on the air, followed by laughter as clear
as creek water. Only when he stopped before the door did Travis realize
he was trembling. A single beam of light poured through a keyhole.
Before he even thought about what he was doing, he knelt and peered
through the aperture into the chamber beyond.

The first thing he noticed was that the room was bathed in a radiance
the color of sunlight in a forest. The second thing he noticed was that
there was no visible source for this light: no candles in sconces, no
torches on the wall, no oil lamps hanging on chains from the ceiling.
The light simply was. It filled the chamber with its golden radiance.

Trifkin Mossberry's troupe gathered inside the room. At first glance
nothing seemed out of the ordinary. This was merely a band of actors
relaxing after 'a performance. Yet the more Travis stared, the more
things seemed peculiar. For one thing, none of the actors had removed
their costumes. A few of the goat-men reclined on the floor and balanced
wine goblets on their naked chests. Another goat-man played a melody on
a reed pipe while three tree-women danced in a circle around him and
laughed as they shook their branch-arms. 'The young actress who had
played Spring leaned back on'a lounge and hummed to the music, while a
tree-woman combed her green hair with twig fingers. Old man Winter
'-spun around and threw handfuls of his white petals in the air. Above
it all, on a high shelf like a red-cheeked cherub, sat Trifkin
Mossberry. The little man swung his short legs in :time to the dance
below. He gripped a silver cup and beamed beatifically, as one who was
joyfully drunk.

Travis blinked. Suddenly he was no longer certain the actors were still
in costume. The more he looked, the more he as certain the goat-men's
crooked legs were not merely

,clad in shaggy trousers, but in shaggy hair. The tree-women Ads simply
grip bundles of twigs in their hands. Their ands and fingers were twigs,
thin and lithe as willow

152

wands. The white flecks Winter tossed into the air melted into diamond
droplets of water as they touched the floor. And Travis was now sure
that the flowering vines had not simply been braided into Spring's hair.
Instead, they were part of it, and grew from her scalp with the rest. Of
them all only Trifkin Mossberry seemed no different than he had ear. her
in the great hall. He still wore the same yellow breeches and green
jacket, and the same red-feathered cap was perched on his curly brown hair.

As if he sensed eyes upon him, the little man turned his head toward the
chamber's door. There was an odd look in his nut-brown gaze: curious,
knowing, and slightly mocking. Travis's heart ceased to beat. Somehow
Trifkin knew he was there!

Travis stifled a cry, scrambled backward, and ran for the stairwell. The
sound of high laughter pursued him. He did not look back. At breakneck
speed he careened down the steps, ran to the side door, and hurried
across the great hall. This time his clumsy steps left a string of
grumbles and muttered curses in his wake. He reached Falken, knelt, and
shook the bard's shoulder.

Falken groaned, and his eyes fluttered open. "What is it, Travis?"

"I saw them, Falken," he whispered. "They weren't costumes. They were .
. . they were real."

"What on Eldh are you talking about?"

In quick words Travis described how he had heard the sound of bells and
had followed, and what he had seen through the keyhole. However, even as
he described the experience, it seemed more and more absurd. His words
trailed off. Falken wore a disapproving look.

"You were dreaming, Travis," the bard said with no small amount of
annoyance. "I'll grant you, the play was peculiar enough to give one
nightmares. These days actors seem to think they can perform any bit of
tomfoolery and label it art. What's more, dim-witted nobles are too
prideful to say they don't understand it, and so lavish gold upon the
actors to hide their ignorance. It is a trick, but hardly magic. Now go
back to sleep."

Without waiting for a reply, the bard rolled over, shut his eyes, and
soon snored again. Travis lay down and tried to do

153

the same. Falken was probably right. The play had been peculiarly vivid,
and it was little wonder it had encroached on his dreams. Yet when he
closed his eyes, he saw again the goat-men and the tree-women dancing,
and he remembered that he had glimpsed similar creatures before. The
moment had been so fleeting that, at the time, he had decided he had
seen nothing at all. Now he was not so certain what to believe.

It had been at Brother Cy's revival in Castle City, and he had seen them
behind the curtain.

This time it was Falken who woke Travis. The bard shook him-a bit more
roughly than was strictly necessary-and grinned when Travis sat up.

"So, any more strange visitations last night?"

Travis worked his dry tongue. "Just this taste in my mouth."

"Feasts have a way of doing that." He gave Travis a hand up. "Let's go
find something to wash away the remnants of last night's revel."

Though the hour was early, the keep's folk were already up and about,
and the great hall was nearly empty. An ashwife stirred the coals in the
fireplace, and a pair of girls scattered fresh rushes on the floor.
Travis followed Falken down a set of stairs and through a door outside.
Here, behind the keep, was a courtyard bounded by crumbling walls. The
sun had just risen over the lake, and had set aglow the mist and the
smoke of cookfires.

Despite what Falken had intimated last night, apparently there wasn't
always a feast in progress in the petty kingdom of Kelcior. Last night's
revelers were now engaged in a variety of tasks. Old women boiled mash
for beer in a great iron cauldron. Boys cleaned the stalls in a thatched
stable full of horses. Several men worked to bolster a sagging wall, and
others sharpened swords, repaired harnesses, or hammered horseshoes over
a hot fire. One of the shaggy wildmen led a

154

flock of sheep out a gate in the courtyard's wall while a hound barked
happily at his heels.

Travis and Falken made their way to the cooking shed, which leaned
against one wall of the courtyard. The bard charmed the red-faced
kitchenwife into giving them a pot of beer and a loaf of yesterday's
bread, and they made their breakfast atop a pile of stones. Beer would
not have been Travis's first choice to wash the taste of last night's
feast from his mouth, but the stuff in the alepot turned out to be more
yeast than fire, and it did the job. The black bread was hard, but it
was flavorful and filling.

As they ate, Travis watched the men repair the courtyard wall. According
to Falken, there were barbarian chiefs and bands of outlaws in this land
who would be more than happy to take over the ancient keep if Kel gave
them the chance. Here on the edges of the Dominions life was rough and
only barely civilized, and a petty king ruled by the might of his
warriors, not by the right of inheritance. However, Kel had held the
keep for some years. He had forged alliances with several of the chiefs,
and, in exchange for tithes of grain and meat, his warriors protected
the villages scattered along the Queen's Way to the west. It was not a
perfect system, yet it worked.

Falken stood up. "All right, let's get moving."

"Where are we going?" Travis asked around his last mouthful of bread.

"You will see."

Travis knew he would get no further explanation from the bard. He
swilled down the last of the beer and followed. They returned the empty

alepot to the kitchen, then left the courtyard through a gate. To their
left lay a ruined portion of the fortress, and it was in this direction
the bard turned. They picked their way among heaps of broken stone, and
soon Travis realized they were making for the broken stump of a tower
that stood on the end of the peninsula. Sweating despite the morning
chill, they reached the tower and stepped through an open archway.
Inside, the tower was roofless, its circular floor covered with dry
grass. Sunlight spilled through a gap in the east wall. Only after a
moment did Travis realize he and Falken were not the only ones in the
tower. An amber-eyed woman in a midnight-blue kirtle

155

sat upon a large stone, while a tall, fair-haired knight stood behind
her, hand on the hilt of his sword-the same pair he had seen at the
feast the night before.

"Well, it's about time you got here, Falken Blackhand," the woman said.

Travis shot the bard a nervous look. "These are the friends you talked
about, aren't they?"

"However did you guess?" Falken said. The bard approached the duo. "I'm
sorry it took me so long to get here, but I ran into a few . . .
complications along the way."

The woman turned her startling gaze on Travis. "So I see." He squirmed
under her attention. Something about the way she looked at him made him
feel transparent. He sighed in relief when she turned her attention back
toward Falken.

"We were about to give up on you. It has been nearly a month since we
were supposed to meet here, and I must tell you King Kel's hospitality,
although graciously given, grows a trifle wearisome by the sixth or
seventh feast."

"Oh, I don't know," the knight said in a cheerful tenor. He scratched
the scruffy blond beard that clung to his cheeks. "I rather like Kel's
court. One doesn't have to think about what to do every night. The
social activities are all sort of planned out.,,

The woman stood. "So, are you going to introduce us to your companion,
Falken? Or have you decided to dispense with all semblance of manners in
order to better blend in with King Kel's courtiers? I must confess, it
appears to be a role quite within your reach."

Falken winced, then turned toward Travis. "Travis Wilder, I would like
you to meet my friends." He shot the others a dark look. "Though
sometimes I wonder if that's really the proper word. At any rate, the
big blond oaf in the metal suit is Beltan. And the lovely woman with the
tongue of steel is the Lady Melia."

Melia shot Falken a warning look. "I might be happy to see you, Falken.
Then again, it would be wise not to press the point." She approached
Travis with a swish of wool, held out a hand, and affected a disarming
smile. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

Unsure exactly what he was supposed to do, Travis took .her hand in his
and kissed it.

156

"Well, at least somebody here has manners," Melia said, and her eyes
glinted.

"You might want to find a place to sit, Travis," Falken said. "Lady
Melia and I have a bit of catching up to do, and it

might take some time."

Falken sat on a stone near Melia, but Beltan continued to stand behind
the dark-haired lady. Travis found a place in the sun not far away from
the others. He sat cross-legged on the ground and let the morning light
warm his face as he listened.

It was Melia who began. "A great deal has happened in the year since we
parted ways and set off on our separate journeys, Falken. Beltan and I
have traveled to all of the seven Dominions, and we have seen and heard
much that is troubling. But let me begin by giving you what might be the
most pressing news. A Council of Kings has been called at Calavere. Even
at this moment, the rulers of the other six Dominions journey toward
Calavan."

Falken let out a low whistle. "Things must be bad indeed. I'm afraid
where I journeyed in the last year, I heard little news of the rest of
Falengarth. Tell me more."

As sunlight crept across the grassy floor, Falken and Melia continued
their exchange, with occasional additions from Beltan. Travis watched
them with keen interest. After all, these were the people who might be
able to help him get back to Colorado. There was little in their
conversation he truly understood, yet during the course of their talk he
managed to glean a bit of information about the two strangers.
Apparently the big knight, Beltan, came from the Dominion of Calavan,
where this Council of Kings was to be held. No one mentioned from what
land Melia hailed, though Travis

got the impression she came from the far south, and that she was a lady
of some importance there. At least she acted like

one. At one point as he watched the three, Travis adjusted his

wire-rimmed spectacles, and he almost thought he glimpsed a faint aura
shining around each of them. Beltan's aura was bright gold, though there
was a dark streak in it, almost like tarnish. Falken, too, had an aura
Travis had not seen before-as pale as silver, and as sad as valsindar in
winter. Brightest by far shone the corona around the Lady Melia. It

157

was the same rich amber as her eyes, yet it shimmered with azure as well.

Melia turned to fix Travis with a piercing look. Startled, he fumbled
with his glasses, and the auras were gone-if he had ever really seen
them. Melia turned her gaze back toward Falken.

From what Travis could understand of their talk, Melia and Beltan had
parted ways with Falken in the Dominion of Calavan last autumn, and had
agreed to meet again in Kelcior in one year's time. The purpose of their
travels had been to search for the source of an evil that had begun to

stir in Falengarth. As Melia and Beltan told their tale, it became clear
that, during the intervening year, things had gone from dark to darker.

Everywhere in the Dominions the summer had been short and blighted.
Crops perished in the fields, while plague swept village after village.
Now winter came early, and by the looks of things it meant to stay long.
A hard winter meant that bands of barbarians and outlaws, who usually
prowled the marches on the fringes of the Dominions, were likely to
strike deeper into the heart of civilized lands in search of food and
warmth. Fear and unrest already grew among the peasantry, and that made
the nobles more than a little nervous. Yet raiders were not the only
things of which the peasants were afraid. In some of the villages Melia
and Beltan had passed through, the common folk had been worked up about
rumors of strange creatures prowling about and causing mischief.

Travis's ears pricked up at this. He thought of Trifkin Mossberry's
troupe of actors, and the queer figures he had glimpsed behind the
curtain at Brother Cy's.

"Strange creatures?" Falken asked, his eyebrows drawn together.

It was Beltan who answered. "That's right. It's always in the most
remote villages-those on the edges of deep forests or high mountains.
Time and again, folk claim to have seen creatures right out of old
stories and legends. Things like goblins, and greenmen, and even
fairies." He let out a skeptical snort. "Of course, even I'm not stupid
enough to believe those tales. I would guess they're just rumors told by
village drunkards and gossipy goodwives."

158

"And most likely your guess is right," Melia said. "However, I'm not
entirely surprised such rumors are on the rise. People grow more fearful
and superstitious in troubled times. They do not know the real causes of
disasters like plagues and famines, and so turn to old legends as a
source of explanation." A grim light shone in her eyes. "Either that, or
they turn to new religions."

Falken cocked his head.

"There's a new mystery cult on the rise in the Dominions," Melia said.

The bard ran a hand through his hair. "But that doesn't make any sense.
The mystery cults are ancient. All the ones practiced in the Dominions
came north across the Summer Sea centuries ago. How can there suddenly
be a new cult?"

Melia smoothed her gown. "That's a good question, and one whose answer I
would give much to know. From what I can gather, disciples of the Raven
Cult must renounce their spirit into the keeping of their god. What's
more, they hold that life itself is unimportant, for in death they will
become one with the Raven god and know eternal ecstasy."

"That's awfully convenient," Falken said in a caustic voice. "You're
saying the cult's priests don't have to try to explain any of the
current strife and trouble. In fact, they can actually exploit it to win
new converts."

Anger colored Melia's cheeks. "Exactly. And it all leads to a horrid
kind of apathy. Disciples of the cult don't try to du anything to

counter suffering in this world because, according to their priests,
there's no point. If life becomes too hard, it simply makes them yearn
for the bliss of death all the more. To the followers of the Raven Cult,
life has no meaning. Only death does." She clenched a small hand into a
fist. "It's utterly perverse," she said with a vehemence that seemed
somehow personal.

Falken rubbed his chin with his gloved hand, his expression sad and
weary. "Yes, it is. Unfortunately, it's also just another sign of dark
times." He took a deep breath. "Well, I think our course from here is
clear. We have to journey south as fast as possible, to the Council of
Kings at Calavere, to report what we've learned."

"Wait a minute, Falken," Beltan said. "You have yet to tell

159

us where you journeyed and what you found there. Have you

forgotten?"

The bard's faded blue eyes grew distant. "No, I haven't forgotten. The
truth is, I'm not yet entirely certain what I learned, and I don't want
to say more until I'm sure. But I will tell you this: My journey was
dark and long, and it took me to the Fal Threndur, and after that into
Shadowsdeep, and all the way to the Rune Gate itself, beyond which lie
the shadows of Imbrifale."

Melia and Beltan stared at Falken. A chill danced up Travis's spine. So
that was why the bard had been traveling south through the Winter Wood,
away from the Ironfang Mountains.

Falken's gaze snapped back into focus. "More of my journey I won't say
at present. Yet I suppose now is as good a time as any to show you this,
Melia. I wouldn't mind a second opinion." He pulled a cloth bundle from
his pack. "I found it in Shadowsdeep."

The bard set the bundle atop a flat rock. Drawn by curiosity, Travis
rose and approached. Falken unwrapped the cloth and revealed the object
within. It was a disk of some sort of white stone, about as large as
Travis's splayed hand. Embedded in its surface was a silver symbol:

A jagged break ran down the center of the disk and separated it into two
halves.

Melia peered at the artifact and pursed her lips in interest. "It looks
to me like some sort of bound rune. In which case, it's quite ancient.
The Runebinders' art has not been known in Falengarth in centuries."

Falken nodded. "A bound rune-that's what I thought, but I'm glad to hear
the same answer from the lips of another. I know only a little of runes,
yet I think . . ."

The bard's words dwindled to a drone in Travis's ears. He gazed at the
broken rune. The stone looked as smooth as cream, and his fingers
itched. What would it feel like against his skin? Before he knew what he
was doing, he reached out his right hand and touched the broken rune.

160

The stone disk flared with blue incandescence, and the silver symbol
glowed bright white. At the same moment a voice spoke an unfamiliar word
in Travis's mind.

Krond. But that was not the strangest thing, for he knew the voice. It
sounded exactly like Jack Graystone's.

Travis let out a cry of alarm, and the others gaped at him. He snatched
his hand back, and at once the azure radiance vanished. The symbol on
the disk dulled, and the voice in his mind faded and was gone.

Travis rubbed his hand-it tingled fiercely-then Falken reached out,
grabbed his wrist, and turned it over.

A wave of disbelief crashed through Travis. The others looked at him as
if he had just grown a second head. All except for Melia, whose
expression was sharp and calculating.

It marked the palm of Travis's right hand-the hand Jack had grasped that
night at the Magician's Attic-glowing silver-blue like some impossible
brand. A symbol, but not the same as the one which marked the broken
rune. A low moan of fear escaped his lips.

"Oh, Jack," he whispered. "What did you do to me?"

33.

"I believe, Falken," Melia said as she paced across the grassy circle
inside the abandoned tower, "that it is time you told us more about this
complication of yours." She fixed her amber gaze upon Travis.

Travis slouched on a rock, head hung low, and gripped the wrist of his
right hand. The symbol on his palm had already faded away, but he could
still feel it there, like a prickling beneath his skin. The glowing
image had burned itself into his brain, so that every time he blinked he
saw the symbol again, three crossed marks:

161

Questions whirled in Travis's mind. How had Jack placed the marks on his
hand? And what did the symbol mean? No, it wasn't a symbol. Though it
was different from the

mark on the broken disk Falken had brought from Shadowsdeep, certainly
it was of the same ilk. What had the bard called the stone? A rune? Yet
that still did not answer his question. What had lack done to him?

Beltan shifted from foot to foot but said nothing. The rawboned knight
clearly deferred to Falken and Melia on the topic of magic. Yes-magic.
There was nothing else it could be. Except that, in the stories Travis
had read as a child, magic had always been a wondrous and exciting
thing. Instead, this was dark, and frightening, and isolating. Even now
the others watched him with wary expressions.

Falken crossed his arms over his gray tunic. "I had thought we were done
with these little surprises of yours, Travis." "So did I." Travis looked
up at the bard. "I need to tell

Lady Melia and Beltan, don't I? About everything that's happened to me."

"I think that's probably a good idea."

Travis took a deep breath, then spoke in a quiet voice, recounting all
that had happened to him starting with that last, fateful night in
Castle City. Throughout it all Melia watched him with a calm and even
intensity, as if nothing he might say could possibly have worked to
surprise her, but Beltan's eyes grew wide.

Travis's words trailed into silence. Melia rose and approached him with
a rustle of blue wool.

"May I see the box?"

He jumped to his feet. "Of course." He pulled out the small iron box and
held it toward Melia.

She shook her head. "You open it. Please."

Polite as they were, Melia's words seemed less a request than they did a
command. Travis undid the latch and opened the lid. Inside, the
gray-green stone shone in the morning light. Melia peered into the box
and examined the stone, though she was careful not to touch it. Then she
indicated he could shut the lid.

"What do you think it is?" Travis asked.

She cupped an elbow in one hand and rested the other beneath her chin.
"I don't think anything. At least, not yet.

162

However, I suspect you would be wise to keep the box well hidden,
Travis. Do not open it again unless for some reason it is absolutely
necessary."

Travis tucked the box back into his pocket. Falken treated Melia to a
speculative look. Obviously the lady had some suspicions regarding the
stone's nature but was unwilling to say what these were. Travis, for
one, was not about to ask her. He had had more than enough surprises for
one day.

Falken rewrapped the broken stone disk in its cloth and tucked it away.
"Let's get going, then. I think it's time to beg our leave from good
King Kel. It's a long way to Calavan."

Melia made a subtle gesture toward Travis. "And what are we going to do
about our little problem?"

"Well, unless you have any ideas, we still have no way of getting him
back to his own world."

Melia tapped her cheek with a finger. "I think we had better take him
with us to Calavere. After that little incident with the bound rune, I
imagine it's best if we keep an eye on him."

"My thoughts exactly."

"Excuse me," Travis said, annoyed at being spoken about as if he wasn't
standing right there, "don't I get a say in this?"

Evidently he did not. Melia and Falken exited the tower, then started
back toward the keep, discussing plans for the journey south, along the way.

Travis stared after them, feeling more than a little sorry for himself.
"No one ever tells me what's really going on." Beltan clapped a big hand
on Travis's shoulder. "You

might as well get used to it," the knight said with a grin. "Those two
aren't much into explaining things." He started off after the bard and
the lady.

Travis stood alone in the empty tower. Then he took a deep breath and
followed the others through the ruins.

163 Grace awoke to a soft sound, like the movements of a mouse.

She opened her eyes and blinked. Honey-colored light filled the
bedchamber. She turned her head on the pillow and

saw golden sunbeams slant through the room's narrow window. It had been
both morning and snowing when Durge brought her to the castle. Now the
clouds must have broken, and the day had turned to late afternoon. She
had been asleep for hours.

Her forehead creased in a frown. There it was again, the sound that had
awakened her: a rustle followed by a faint pad-pad, as of quiet
footsteps. Grace pushed aside the bedcovers and sat up.

Like young does caught in the beam of a hunter's flashlight, two
servingwomen in gray dresses froze and stared at Grace in round-mouthed
surprise. One stood beside a table that had not been there earlier and
was in the act of setting down a tray laden with dishes. The other was
just picking up

Grace's clothes from the hearth.

Grace cleared her throat. "Hello."

She might have screamed the word in her loudest voice

rather than murmured it, for the reaction it caused. As one, the serving
maidens let out a cry. The one dropped the tray on the table in a bright
clatter of crockery. The other snatched up the damp garments and
crumpled them into a ball. Both scurried toward the chamber's door.

Grace reached out a hand in alarm. "Wait! Those are my clothes!"

It was too late. The serving maidens both shot her one last

look of terror, then fled the room and shut the door behind them.

,Grace chewed her lip. What had that been all about? Certainly she
didn't look as frightening as she had earlier-although belatedly she
realized she had not combed her hair, and a probing hand confirmed that
it was wild and tangled

from sleep. Yet that didn't really explain why the maidens

164

had seemed so afraid of her. And why had they taken her clothes?

Grace climbed down from the bed and moved to the hulk. ing wardrobe.
There was nothing to do but try one of the gowns. She examined each of
the garments in growing despair, then finally chose the one that seemed
the least complicated. This was a voluminous affair that consisted of
more yards of blue wool than Grace could count. She shrugged the gown
over her head and almost went down under its weight, but she gritted her
teeth and managed to keep her feet. After this ensued a great deal of
tugging, pulling, and adjusting in which she tried to figure out the
gown's myriad and inexplicable straps and fastenings.

It was futile.

Grace considered herself an intelligent woman, but the logic of the gown
was beyond her. No matter what she tried, the gown bunched up or gapped
open, and generally made her look like an overstuffed chair. Huffing
with exertion, she untangled herself from the dress and heaved it back
into the wardrobe with a few choice exclamations.

She was about to shut the door of the wardrobe-she did not want to even
look at the gowns again-when she noticed something balled up in a
corner. She drew out the bundle and unfolded it. There was a long shirt
of brown wool as well as thick green leggings, along with a leather
belt. Now these were more to her liking. Grace shrugged on the clothes
over her undergarments. Both the tunic and hose were baggy, and she
suspected they belonged to a servingman who had forgotten them here.
However, the garb was warm and comfortable, and-most
importantly-comprehensible. She cinched the tunic around her waist and
noticed, attached to the belt, a leather pouch. She moved to the mantel,
slipped her necklace over her head, and tucked the pendant beneath her
tunic. Then she took the Seekers' card and the half-coin, placed them
inside the pouch, and tied it.

"There," Grace said in satisfaction.

She turned from the wardrobe, and a savory smell reached her nostrils.
Her gaze moved to the tray on the table. A chair had been placed nearby.
Her stomach let out a loud growl of protest to let her know it had been
ignored far too long, and it was high time she paid it some attention.
Grace consid

165

eyed the tray for a moment, then moved to the table and sat. After all,
hunger impaired the thinking process. It simply made more sense to come
up with a plan on a full stomach.

Grace lifted various lids and covers and explored the contents of the
crocks. The fare was peculiar: slices of cold meat accompanied by a
green jellied sauce, tiny poached eggs that floated atop a thick beige
soup, a bread pudding freckled with mysterious herbs, and a kind of
dried fruit she did not recognize swimming in thick cream. She eyed the
food for a moment, then hunger won out over caution.

She sampled the contents of one of the crocks. Seconds later she was
shoveling food into her mouth. The meat was rich and delicious as long
as she avoided the green stuff, and while the eggs had a strong,
unpleasant flavor, the yellow soup tasted of leeks and potatoes and was
quite acceptable. The bread pudding had a note of anise, which she had

always liked, and the dried fruits were edible, if leathery. In all,
Grace had partaken of far worse meals, though given her hunger she
supposed she would have made do with dog kibble.

Serious eating had given way to pleasant nibbling when she noticed
something near the hearth where her clothes had been. It was a pair of
boots. She set down her spoon, rose, and retrieved them. They were
fashioned from creamy deerskin. She sat on the chair and tried them on.
They slid over her feet and calves like butter, and she could not help
letting out a soft gasp of delight. The boots fit perfectly. So
perfectly she suspected they had been made especially for her while she
slept, using her old hospital shoes for a model. She stood and walked
around the chamber to test her new footwear. They hugged her feet, yet
flexed with every step, like a pair of boots she had owned for years.
She suspected she could walk twenty miles in them and not get a single
blister.

Her path brought her near one of the room's narrow windows, and she
realized then she had yet to look outside. She halted and peered through
the window. It was glazed with rippled glass dotted with bubbles,
inclusions of sand, and other imperfections. These sparkled in the
sunlight, and the effect was beautiful rather than distracting.

She saw that she was on an upper floor of one of the wings attached at
right angles to the main keep. To her left she

166

could see the king's tower. To her right was the gate through which she
and the knight Durge had entered the upper bailey. Across the way was
the other wing of the keep, and in the center of the courtyard lay the
tangled garden. Barelimbed trees obscured her view of the garden's
center, but she could just make out meandering footpaths as well as the
evergreen labyrinth of a hedge maze. The sun sank behind the castle's
spires and turrets, and gilded them with molten gold, while dozens of
banners snapped in a stiff wind, bright against the darkling sky.

Grace still stared out the window when a soft knock sounded on the
chamber's door.

Grace turned and stared at the door. The knock came again, gentle yet
insistent. She froze in panic. What was she to do? She could face any
gruesome injury, could treat any hideous disease, could manipulate the
wounded like broken puppets. So why did whole people terrify her so?

She cleared her throat. "Come in," she called out and winced at the
wavering of her voice.

There was a pause, then the latch turned, and the door swung open. A
young woman stepped into the chamber, and Grace knew at once that this
was no serving girl.

So that's what those gowns are supposed to look like. The dress hung
elegantly on the slender young woman, and its sweeping lines enhanced
her willowy shape rather than bound or concealed it. A pleated fold of
cloth gracefully draped her right shoulder. The gown's sapphire color
perfectly matched the young woman's large eyes and contrasted with her
dark hair and ivory skin. Her features were fine, but they were strong
and gentle rather than merely delicate. Though at present she was
pretty, she would, with age, become beautiful.

The young woman curtsied deeply. How could she possibly manage the
action in that heavy gown? But she made the motion appear effortless.

167

At last the young woman straightened. "Am I disturbing you, Your
Highness?" she asked in a clear voice.

Grace's surprise gave way to exasperation. She let out a groan. "Not
you, too."

A look of alarm crossed the young woman's visage. "Has Her Highness been
disturbed previously in her rest?" Alarm turned to quiet outrage. "Be
certain I will find the perpetrators of this terrible act and have them
suitably drubbed, Your Highness!"

Grace thought of the two frightened servants and shook her head. "Oh,
no-no drubbing. Please. Really, no one disturbed me. It's just . . ."
She took a step toward the young woman. "It's just everyone keeps
calling me Your Highness, and I really wish they wouldn't." There, she
had said it.

The other nodded, and a knowing smile touched the corners of her mouth.
"Lord Alerain warned me you would maintain this, Your High-that is, my
lady. Of course, I will respect your wishes. However, you must let me
know how I am to address you."

Manic laughter tickled Grace's throat. "How about if you just call me
Grace? It even happens to be my name." "Well, that would seem to be the
logical choice then,

wouldn't it?" the young woman said.

Either she had entirely missed the wryness of Grace's comment, or she
was responding with an even subtler humor. Grace could not decide which.
Curiosity began to replace her trepidation.

"And you are . . . ?"

A chagrined look crossed the other's face. "Well, it seems I left my
manners in my other gown today."

Grace breathed in relief. Definitely humor.

"I am the Lady Aryn, Baroness of Elsandry." The young woman said this in
a slightly pained voice, as if she found the title somewhat trying.
"However, if I am to call you Grace, then you must call me Aryn, and
were you the queen of lost Malachor, I would still not accept a refusal
in this regard."

Never in her life had Grace been comfortable around other people. Yet
she felt almost at ease in the company of the young noblewoman, as if
there were some connection be

168

tween them she could sense but not quite name. She made her own clumsy
attempt at a curtsy.

"I wouldn't dream of refusing your request, Aryn." Feeling positively
brave, she fixed the baroness with a sharp look. "Now, do you plan to
come in and shut that door, or is it your particular intention to let in
that icy draft? I've already been half-frozen once today, and that
really was enough."

"I'm so sorry, my lady!" Aryn hurried into the room and shut the door
behind her. The playful mirth had fled her expression, and concern
clouded her eyes.

Grace groaned inwardly. Well, you've certainly done a good job of
botching the mood. I suppose that will teach you to try being funny.

She spoke in earnest then. "Please don't worry, Aryn. I was only being
foolish."

She did not want the baroness to leave in fear as the servants had.
Rarely in her life had Grace sought out companionship, but at that
moment she realized just how profoundly lonely she was. But what could
she say to convince the baroness to stay?

"I'm afraid I have a tendency to be a bit too wry for my own good
sometimes. Please, you have to forgive me."

A radiant smile lit Aryn's face. "You needn't apologize, Grace.
Certainly not after all you've endured today."

They gazed at each other, then the baroness rushed forward and reached
out to squeeze Grace's left hand with her own.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're not dreadful!" she said, then she snatched her
hand back and bowed her head.

Grace was unnerved in the wake of the baroness's gesture. "What made you
think I would be dreadful?"

Aryn glanced up. "Usually noble ladies who visit Calavere are troubled
only with asserting their status over the highest-ranking woman in the
castle." She let out a despondent sigh. "Which, I'm afraid, at the
moment happens to be me. I'm King Boreas's ward, and ever since Queen
Narena passed away, it has been my duty to greet and entertain all
visiting ladies of importance. This typically consists of listening
politely while I am told in no small amount of detail how much grander
and more luxurious their households are compared to mine, how much finer
and more expensive

169

must confess, I had secretly hoped you would be absolutely wonderful,
and that you would wish to spend time talking together, and taking walks
in the garden, and . . ." Her cheeks flushed. "But I'm being horribly
presumptuous, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are," Grace said. "However, you're also lucky in that you've
happened to presume correctly."

There was a moment's silence, then Aryn laughed. To her surprise, Grace
found herself joining in. Apparently she was much better at humor when
she wasn't actually trying to be funny. She would have to remember that.

After this, Aryn gestured to a stone bench set into the wall before the
window. The two sat together in the honeyed light of late afternoon.
Grace shifted on the bench and searched for something to say. She had
never excelled at the

art of conversation, though it might have been for lack of practice.

"So, do I have the king to thank for the kind hospitality I've been
shown?" She tried to make the question sound as if it weren't completely
forced.

Aryn shook her head, and a fleeting smile played about her lips. "Oh,
no. I'm afraid that King Boreas is usually far too preoccupied to see to
the needs of his guests. Ruling a Dominion is a rather distracting job.
At least, so I would imag, and how much faster and more fearful their
servants."

"Sounds delightful," Grace said. Aryn's description reminded her more
than a little of the power plays in Denver Memorial's Emergency
Department. There, the residents had constantly jockeyed against each
other to win the favor of the attending physicians. It was a game Grace
had not cared to play. "However, as I told Lord Alerain, I'm not
royalty, so there's certainly no need to .be afraid of me."

"Of course, Grace," the baroness said. "As you wish."

It was clear the baroness believed Grace's denials of nobil ity as
little as had the king's seneschal. However, Grace did not press the point.

their clmannersothinesthe castle who are even remotely near my age. I
Aryn continued with increased enthusiasm. "Regardless of your station,
or your reason for traveling to Calavere, I'm glad you're here, Grace.
You see, there are so few women of

170

me. The king rarely so much as exchanges pleasantries with visitors to
Calavere, unless they are of the greatest importance. Taking care of
guests is my job."

"Then I would like to thank you," Grace said. "For everything. And
especially for these." She gestured to the deerskin boots she now wore.
"They're absolutely wonderful."

"I'm so glad you like them, Grace." A shadow of concern touched Aryn's
forehead. "Alas, I see none of the gowns I left for you were similarly
suitable. I was afraid that might be the case. However, you're quite a
bit taller than I, so I had few choices. Those are Queen Narena's
gowns-she was almost exactly your size. I had dared hope they would do
temporarily, but they are rather out of fashion. However, if I could
impose on you terribly to wait, by tomorrow I could have the king's
tailor alter one of my own gowns for-"

Grace shook her head and interrupted. "No, it wasn't the gowns, Aryn.
I'm afraid it was me. I just couldn't figure out where all the straps
and hoops were supposed to go. I've never worn anything like it before."

Aryn raised an eyebrow. However, if she thought Grace's statement odd,
she was too well mannered to say so. "Well, then, I will simply have to
show you." The baroness moved to the wardrobe.

After a moment Grace decided to ask the question that had been growing
on her mind ever since coming to the castle. "Why are people here afraid
of me?"

Aryn turned around. "What on Eldh would make you say a thing like that?"

Eldh? Was that the name of this world? Grace filed that question away
for later. Now, before she lost her nerve, she explained the way in
which the guards had looked at her, and how the two serving maidens had
reacted when she woke. When Grace finished, Aryn pressed her lips
together in worry.

"You know the reason, don't you?" Grace said.

Aryn sat down beside her, her expression concerned. "You really mustn't
worry about it, Grace. They're common people, after all-predisposed
toward superstition. And toward gossip as well. I fear you hadn't been
here an hour before the story of how the earl of Stonebreak found you in
Gloaming

Wood had run thrice around the castle. Of course, the tale

171

grew more fantastic and further removed from the truth with every
telling, until soon the servants had convinced themselves that you are
in fact a ..."

"That I am what?"

Aryn drew in a deep breath. "That you are in fact a fairy queen." She
shook her head. "I know, it is a great fancy, but there are many strange
stories about Gloaming Wood. Of course, these are nothing more than
tales to frighten children by firelight. Still, you were perfectly white
when the earl brought you into the castle, and you are certainly
beautiful enough to be one of the fey folk. I've never seen eyes the
color of yours. They're remarkable, like a forest in summer. So I hope
you won't be too upset that the servants mistook you for a queen of the
Little People."

The baroness laughed at this, then her mirth faltered. "They are
mistaken, aren't they?"

This was the first time Grace had ever been accused of being a fairy
queen. She did her best to sound reassuring. "I'm sorry to disappoint
you, but I'm afraid I'm completely mundane."

Aryn's smile gathered strength once more. "I rather doubt that. There's
nothing mundane about you, Grace of Beckett." The baroness leaned
forward, threw her left arm around Grace's shoulders, and pressed a
cheek to hers. "We're going to be friends, aren't we, Grace?"

Grace stiffened, alarmed by this sudden display. This was exactly the
sort of intimacy she had guarded herself against all her life. She
didn't dare get this close to another, not now, not yet. It was far too
dangerous. However, gradually, the baroness's warmth melted through her
fears, and Grace tentatively returned the embrace.

"No, Aryn," she said to her own amazement. "I think we already are."

It was then Grace realized what had been bothering her. The second the
baroness of Elsandry had entered the chamber, her doctor's instincts had
pricked up in alert, had sensed something was wrong. Until that moment
those instincts had been content to. remain in the back of Grace's mind,
patiently and dispassionately observing. Now they rushed to the fore.
Before she even considered what she was doing, she

172

gently pushed the baroness away and regarded the youtng woman with
probing eyes.

"May I look at your right arm, Aryn?"

The baroness's face paled, and a shadow stole into her eyes. "My arm?
Why should you want to look at my arm?,, "I'm a doctor," Grace said in a
solemn voice. "I might be able to help you."

"A doctor?"

"I heal people, Aryn."

At last the baroness nodded. "I see. You mean you are a chirurgeon."

"You're surprised," Grace said. "Are there no women doctors in this . .
. in Calavan?"

Aryn gave her a puzzled look. "All healers are women, of course. Men
consider it beneath them, though in truth I think they are simply
squeamish. Besides, they lack the patience for so subtle a craft. But I
might have known you were a chirurgeon. You have the look of a woman of
wisdom about you." The baroness braced her shoulders. "Of course you may
examine me, Grace, but I doubt there is anything you can do to help me."

With the same precision she always used when examining a new patient in
the ED, Grace lifted the fold of cloth that draped Aryn's shoulder.
Beneath, the baroness's withered right arm rested in a sling fashioned
from a linen kerchief.

Aryn sat perfectly still and stared impassively out the window while
Grace examined her and systematically formulated a diagnosis. Unlike the
left arm, which was normally developed, the right was malformed and
profoundly atro phied, being perhaps two-thirds the length of its
companion. Bones were visible beneath the wax-pale skin, twisted and
fragile, like the braided tendrils of a wisteria vine. Wisp-thin muscles
clung to these, displaying that perfect liquid smoothness that comes
only with persistent disuse. The hand was folded in on itself and held
in a perpetually flexed and pronated position-wrist and palm downward,
digits curled in. The last three fingers, only partially developed, were
syndactylous, contained within a single sheath of skin.

The result was disturbing and alien, yet beautiful, like the white,
contorted arm of a kabuki dancer, frozen in a gesture

173

of quiet sadness: the fall of a wounded dove, the stillness of a yew
branch in winter.

,,Can you squeeze my fingers?" Grace asked in her crisp doctor's voice.

Aryn frowned, concentration written across her forehead. The curled
digits closed softly around Grace's hand. Then, with a gasp, the
baroness pulled her arm back and held the withered limb close against
her side. With her left hand she deftly replaced the fold of her gown
and concealed the arm once more.

Grace took a deep breath. "You're right, Aryn. It's a congenital defect.
There's nothing I can do."

Aryn nodded in reply. "You mustn't worry, Grace. I don't mind. Truly,
I'm quite used to it." With this, the baroness smiled. It was a brave
and brilliant expression.

Grace did her best to smile in turn. "I could show you some simple
exercises. They would help increase your strength and range of motion.
Nothing drastic, but you might be able to use your arm a little more
than you can now."

"That's kind of you," Aryn said.

A distant look crept into her eyes, and she gazed out the window. Her
voice became a murmur.

"In a way we have something in common, Grace. When I was born, my mother
died in childbed, and when the midwife saw my ... my arm, she told my
father, the baron, that I was a changeling-a child spirited into my
mother's womb by the Little People. I was born in winter," and the old
midwife would have set me out in the snow to perish. However, I was my
father's only child, and he was not a superstitious man. He cast the
midwife out instead." Her eyes returned from the window to focus on
Grace, and her lips smiled once again. "So now both of us have been
mistaken for the kin of fairies. I suppose that makes us sisters of a sort."

Grace could only stare in sorrow. How many times had she tried to
resuscitate a baby pulled from a cold metal Dumpster? Maybe this world
was not so far from Earth after all.

A sharp knock sounded at the chamber's door. Grace and Aryn exchanged
looks, then the baroness rose to answer the

174

knock. The door opened to reveal a stocky man clad in a mail shirt and a
black cloak. Grace rose to her feet.

The man-at-arms bowed, then cleared his throat and spoke in a loud
voice. "I bring a summons from His Majesty, King Boreas of Calavere. The
king respectfully requests the presence of the Lady Grace of Beckett in
his chamber. Immediately."

Grace shot Aryn a look of terror. The baroness's mouth dropped open.

"I thought you said the king was too busy to greet his guests," Grace
said, breathless.

"He is." Aryn fixed Grace with an awed expression. "Unless . . . unless,
as I said, those guests happen to be of unusual importance."

Grace lifted a hand to her chest and tried to breathe.

36.

Grace hurried after Aryn down the torchlit corridor while the
man-at-arms marched behind them.

In the bedchamber, the baroness had clucked over the drab servingman's
clothes Grace had donned. However, the guard had continued to stand in
the doorway in wait for them, and there had been neither time nor
opportunity for a change of costume. Aryn had taken a moment to pull an
ivory comb from a pocket and subdue Grace's ash-blond hair. Then the two
had rushed out the door to half walk, half run through the castle's maze
of passages and hallways. Grace gathered one did not keep the king of
Calavan waiting.

"Whatever you may think when you first meet him, King Boreas really
isn't so terrible," Aryn said. "Well, most of the time, that is."

Grace winced. "That really isn't all that reassuring, you know."

Aryn gave her a tight smile. "Sorry. I guess I left my wits in my other
gown as well. I'll try harder."

They rounded a corner, and the corridor widened into a long hall.

"Boreas is a rather simple man," Aryn said so only Grace

175

could hear. "Though do not take this to mean he lacks intelligence, for
he most certainly does not. However, the king tends to see things in
absolutes, and he greatly favors action over debate. So if he asks you a
question or wants your opinion on something, cut to the heart of the
matter in as few words as you possibly can. And be warned: He may say
things to deliberately startle or frighten you. It's his way of testing
people. The best reaction is to react as little as possible-don't flinch
or gasp. If he thinks you weak or flighty, he'll dismiss you
immediately. Although in his favor I will say he is no more biased
toward women than men in this regard."

Aryn tapped her chin. "Oh, and one more thing. The king thinks he's a
good deal funnier than he actually is. So do try to pay attention to
what he's saying, and if it sounds at all like a joke, laugh. The louder
the better."

Grace clenched her jaw: How was she possibly going to remember any of
this? Facing Aryn for the first time had terrified her nearly to the
point of paralysis, and she couldn't imagine a person milder than the
baroness. How was she going to face a loud and demanding king? If he was
bleeding and unconscious on a gurney in the ED, she wouldn't even blink.
But whole and talking, asking her questions? That was a far different
matter.

"You'll do just fine, Grace," Aryn said, as if she sensed Grace's thoughts.

Grace made an attempt at a courageous smile. "I'll try my best."

They rounded a corner and were brought up short by an unexpected
obstacle in their path. Grace's jaw went slack, and Aryn let out a gasp.

"Well, if it isn't our dearest Lady Aryn."

The lady-for certainly she was a noblewoman-was older than Aryn, more of
an age with Grace. Though, next to her, Grace felt like a gawky and
boyish teenager. The lady's beauty was lush and sensual, mature without
the faintest trace of decline. Ripe. That was the word. She was
perfectly, lustrously ripe. Her hair was dark blond, her complexion
smooth ivory, her eyes the same bold green as her gown. It seemed she
favored the color, for a large emerald pendant rested in the deep cleft
of her bosom, which was barely con

176

tained within the confines of the gown's bodice. Instinct prickled the
small hairs on the back of Grace's neck.

Aryn's forehead crinkled. She gave the other a curt nod. "Good eventide,
Lady Kyrene," she said in a tight voice. Kyrene lifted a hand to the
arch of her throat. "Sweet

Aryn, you hardly seem pleased to see me. And here I was only just
thinking how lovely it would be to talk with you.,, Aryn chewed the
words. "Forgive me, Kyrene. We're in a bit of a hurry right now."

The emerald-gowned lady affected an ingenuous expression. "But whatever
for, love?"

The baroness groaned. "We don't have time for this, Kyrene. You know
exactly what we're about. Hardly a mouse shakes its whiskers in this
castle that you don't know of it. I doubt you simply happened to be
wandering in this particular corridor at this moment by chance alone."

Kyrene's full lips parted in a smile. A kitten-pink tongue ran across
tiny, milk-white teeth. "My, you are a clever girl, aren't you?" It was
not in any way a compliment. The lady's green gaze moved to drink in
Grace, cool with a glint of curiosity. "And who is this accompanying you
on your weighty errand?"

"Please don't expect me to believe you don't already know," Aryn said.

A delicate expression of annoyance touched Kyrene's visage. "What a wild
thing you are, Lady Aryn. Haven't you manners enough to introduce me
properly to a new guest of the court?" She shook her head and sighed.
"But I am cruel to scold you. It's hardly your fault, raised as you were
by that crude bull of a king, and without the benefit of a woman's
tempering influence. You must forgive me, love."

Aryn gritted her teeth. "Oh, think nothing of it." She drew in a deep
breath. "Kyrene, this is the Lady Grace of Beckett. Grace, allow me to
introduce you to the Lady Kyrene. Kyrene is.the countess of Selesia, in
southern Calavan."

Grace had absolutely no idea what to say. She settled for, "Pleased to
meet you."

"Of course you are, love," the countess said. Interest flickered in her
languid gaze. "It is rather unusual for a traveling lady to be summoned
by the king so soon upon arriving, is it not? Do you know what he might
wish of you?"

177

Grace shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't have an answer for you."

Kyrene's eyes narrowed. "I see the courtly game is played as skillfully
in this Beckett of yours as it is here in Calavere. I will have to
remember that."

What did that mean? Grace wasn't trying to play a game, she was simply
being honest. Yet now the countess regarded her in-what? Fascination?
Contempt? Suspicion?

Kyrene turned toward Aryn. "I must be on my way, love." She inclined her
head toward Grace. "I wish you well in your audience with the king, my
lady. But I won't say good-bye. After all, I am quite certain we will
see each other again."

Whether that was a threat or a promise, Grace wasn't sure. The Countess
Kyrene brushed past them with a rustle of fabric, swept down the
corridor, and was gone.

Aryn's expression was part shock and part wonder. "She has absolutely no
shame."

"There's no room for it in that dress," Grace said.

Aryn bit her lip. "I'm a baroness and she's only a countess, but somehow
she always manages to make me feel like I'm a serving maid and she's a
queen." She shook her head, lost in thought, then she let out a small
cry. "King Boreas!" She clutched Grace's elbow in panic. "We have to hurry!"

"What will the king do if we're late?" "You truly don't wish to know."

Grace needed no further inducement. With the guard in tow, they hastened
down the corridor into the heart of Calavere.

They turned down a side passage and came to a stop before a broad door.
An ornate crest had been carved into the surface of the door and inlaid
with silver: two swords crossed beneath a crown with nine points.

The man-at-arms who had accompanied them cleared his throat and
addressed Grace. "The king is expecting you, my lady. You may enter at
once." The guard rapped on the door, then pushed it open and held it for
Grace. Beyond she glimpsed flickering red light.

Aryn gave Grace's hand a warm squeeze. "Good luck. And try to remember
what I told you."

Horror flooded Grace. "But aren't you coming in with

178

The baroness shook her head. "The summons was for you, Grace, not for
me. But I know you'll do wonderfully." The light in her sapphire eyes
wasn't quite as confident as it had been before. "May Yrsaia's strength
be with you." With that, Aryn withdrew her hand and stepped away.

Grace had to think of some way to get out of this, some excuse why she
couldn't see the king. But her mind was frozen, and it was already too

late. The guard took her arm and gently but irresistibly propelled her
through the portal. Grace caught her toe on a crack in the floor. She
stumbled forward, gasped, and heard the door shut behind her with a boom.

"Come in, my lady," said a deep voice.

Grace lifted her head. The walls and floors of the chamber were strewn
with rugs, and a claw-foot table of dark wood dominated the room's
center. A fire roared in an open fireplace, and what she at first took
for a lumpy fur rug before the hearth was in fact a pile of sleeping
black mastiffs. Each hound's head was bigger than her own. She might
have been afraid of the dogs, but another feral figure caught and
trapped her attention.

King Boreas of Calavan was at once compelling and terrifying. He was not
so much huge as he was solid. His presence weighed so heavily on the air
that she thought she might start orbiting around him, caught like a
piece of flotsam in his gravity well. His visage was fiercely handsome,
and his keen eyes sparked like flint on steel. A few flecks of gray in
his trimmed beard and dark, slicked-back hair-along with a series of
fine lines around his eyes and nose-were the only hint of his advancing
middle years.

Belatedly, she decided some obeisance was expected of her. After all,
this was a king before her. She started a curtsy, then realized she had
absolutely no idea how to complete the action, and turned it into a
clumsy sort of bow halfway through. She straightened and expected to see
anger or derision in the king's eyes. There was neither. Instead he
regarded her with an intensity that was far more alarming. It felt as if
he were trying to look inside her.

"Allow me to welcome you to Calavere, my lady." His voice thrummed in
her chest.

179

A jerky nod was all the reply she could manage. She could not breathe,
and a cold hand constricted her throat.

The king crossed his arms. "I suppose it is proper etiquette for us to
exchange long salutations and overwrought soliloquies concerning our
overwhelming joy at meeting before we discuss anything remotely
resembling business. However, I'm not certain I have the time or
patience for such niceties." His voice de pened to a growl. "Does that
trouble you, my lady?"

He flung the questi n at her like a knife. Grace remembered Aryn's
admonitions and somehow managed to keep herself from flinching.; She
cleared her throat.

"No, Your Majesty. "It does not."

The king eyed her for a moment, then grinned. It did not seem an
expression of mirth. There were far too many teeth involved, and they
were all far too pointed. Boreas scratched his beard, then nodded.

"Excellent, my lady. Consider yourself well met, for I am glad indeed
you have come to Calavere. Now, I will bandy words no more, but will get
right to the point." He approached her with fluid strength. "I require
your help, my lady."

Was this one of the king's poor attempts at humor Aryn had warned her
about? However, something in the king's frank expression told Grace this
was no joke. She swallowed her forced laughter.

"My help?"

"That's right." Boreas pointed a finger directly toward her heart. "You,
my lady, are going to help me save Calavan."

King Boreas paced before the fireplace like a caged animal. The crimson
light flickered across his handsome face and made his features sharper
yet. The king snorted as he gathered his thoughts.

Grace watched in silent awe. He is indeed like a bull, a great, dark,
restless bull.

She clutched the goblet of wine he had thrust into her

180

hands moments before. The king had downed his wine in a single gulp,
then tossed the cup aside. Grace might have liked to do the same, but
she was not certain she could trust her shaking arms to bring the goblet
to her lips without spill. ing. She was an overworked resident in the
emergency de. partment of a city hospital. What could she possibly do to
help the ruler of a medieval kingdom?

Boreas halted and turned to impale her with steely eyes. She braced her
shoulders.

"Have you ever heard of a Council of Kings, my lady?" Grace shook her
head. "No, Your Majesty. I haven't. Other than to hear it mentioned by
the earl of Stonebreak after he . . . after he came upon me in the forest."

She expected the king to give her a look of suspicion, like the Countess
Kyrene, who had seemed to take nothing Grace said at face value.
However, Boreas nodded, as if he had not considered for a moment that
she might be telling him anything other than the truth.

"I am little surprised," he said. "There has not been a Council of Kings
in over a century, not since the horde of barbarian Thanadain marched
out of the west to threaten the Dominions. I had to have Lord Alerain
dig through all of Calavere's records just to find the proper protocol
for calling a council."

"Then it was you who called the council, Your Majesty?" Grace asked,
apprehensive at her boldness after the fact. Her impulse to drink her
wine overpowered her fear of spilling it. She raised the goblet and
actually managed to get some of the liquid into her mouth. She
swallowed. The wine was cool, rich, and smoky. She gulped some more and
set the goblet down.

The king gave her a curious look. "Yes, I did call the council. Somebody
had to do it." He clenched a big hand into an even bigger fist. "By
Vathris, I wasn't going to sit here on my throne waiting for one of
those other fool monarchs to get around to it while the Dominions fall
apart around my ears!"

Grace jumped back, as if Boreas's wrath might scorch her like fire. That

should teach her to ask questions of a king. It was time to stop this
charade right now. There was nothing she could do to help King Boreas.
She summoned her will

and told hers the ED's att pletely wron,

"I underst; keep the qu, know anythi I don't"

Boreas disc hand. "Unicr the machina always has a about within able to
trust days." He re mastiffs.

Grace shoc intended effe be brave she don't know,

He snappe Grace gro. tently mana, crown of the

The king s one hand wi ted in conce care one wh my purposes the truth of
to travel in noble birth, purposes un]

He bore d, times in the cil act swift] went and in( of the other the
council help me do ;

Grace's tr

181

elf it would be no worse than informing one of ;nding physicians that
his diagnosis was com;. After all, she had done that often enough. 'il

med. She should just stop before she inadverged to convince Boreas he
should give her the

far better if no one-including myself-knows

your origin or station, or why you have chosen lisguise. Your bearing
marks you as a woman of and a mysterious foreign lady with power and
known is exactly what I need."

own on Grace, his mien grim. "These are dark Dominions, my lady. It is
imperative the county, instead of bogging itself down in petty argu.
°aningless debate. I need to divine the intentions rulers, to shape
their opinions, and to convince to take action. And you, my lady, are
going to just that."

epidation gave way to confusion. "But I don't

BEYOND THE PALE 181

and your urgency, Your Majesty." She tried to aver from her voice.
"However, I really don't ng about kings or councils, so I think it's
best if nissed her words with an impatient wave of his iportant. In
fact, the less you know concerning Lions of courtly politics, the
better. An outsider clearer view of a quagmire than those mucking
Besides, my lady, it means I might actually be

t you. And that's a rare enough virtue these :ached down to stroke the
head of one of the )k her head. Well, that certainly hadn't had the ct.
She would have to try again. In an effort to took a step forward. "But,
Your Majesty, you who I am. Or even where I come from."

d his fingers. "Exactly!"

kingdom, while he became her court jester. tarted pacing once more and
slapped the palm of th the back of the other, shaggy eyebrows
knitntration. "If you must know, my lady, I don't it what land you hail
from. The fact is, it suits

182

understand. What help could a stranger possibly be to you? I'm sure no
one will even bother to talk to me."

Boreas let out a grunt. "You truly don't understand the workings of
court politics, do you, my lady? Things must be different in this
Beckett of yours."

"Very different." Grace didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She settled
for a wry sort of grimace.

"Then you must trust me in this," Boreas said. "The task I require of
you is really quite simple. I have called the council to convene on the
first day of Valdath. Nobles from the royal courts of the other
Dominions will arrive soon to prepare things in advance of their kings
and queens. You've already met Durge of Embarr. All you have to do is
observe, speak to the other nobles when you have opportunity, and report
to me all of interest you learn." He regarded her, his eyes solemn.
"Will you deign to accept this task, my lady?"

Grace decided to give reason one more chance to prevail. "Forgive me,
Your Majesty, but I just don't think I can be of any help to you."

Boreas glowered at her. "That was not my question, my lady." He drew
close, until his face was mere inches from hers. She could almost see
intensity radiating from him like waves of heat distortion. "I will only
ask you once more." His voice dropped to a thrum. "Will you help this
king, Grace of Beckett?"

Exasperation gave way to awe. She knew nothing of politics, and she was
hardly the right candidate for a job mingling with nobles. However, it
no longer seemed her place to protest. This was, after all, the king. In
disbelief, Grace found herself murmuring in reply.

"Of course, Your Majesty. I would be honored to help you."

Boreas nodded. "I am gladdened at your answer, my lady. You see, I find
I rather like you, and I would have been quite distressed to have had to
toss you in the dungeon. The rats start to get hungry this time of year,
what with winter coming and all."

Grace's eyes bulged.

The shadow vanished from King Boreas's face, and sparks of mirth danced
in his eyes. He grinned again, but this time the expression was only
slightly fearsome. He had been mak

183

ng a joke. Aryn had warned her, all right. The king really did think he
was funnier than he actually was.

"I got you, didn't I?" Boreas said in triumph.

Grace let out a deep breath of relief. "Oh, yes. You certainly did."

The king clapped his hands together at his victory. "Now," he said, "to
find what's become of the Lady Aryn. I have a task for her as well."

"Would you like me to go look for the baroness, Your Majesty?" Grace
tried not to sound too eager to take her leave of the king.

A sly light crept into Boreas's eyes, and his voice dropped to a
whisper. "No, my lady, I don't think that will be necessary." He stalked
to the chamber's door, his boots making no sound against the thick
carpets. "I think I know exactly where to find my ward."

The king paused beside the door, then in one swift motion jerked it
open. Something blue tumbled into the chamber with a gasp of surprise.

"Greetings, Aryn." Boreas folded his arms and gazed down at his ward.

The baroness straightened and smoothed her sapphire gown, her face pale.
"I wasn't listening at the door, Your Majesty," she said. "I swear!"

"Yes, you were."

Aryn's look was stricken. "All right, I was listening at the door, but I
didn't hear a thing about the Lady Grace helping you at the coun-" She
bit her tongue.

Boreas shook his head in reproach. "I'm beginning to think I failed
somewhere in the course of your upbringing, Aryn. Who taught you to lie
like that?"

The baroness hung her head. "You did, Your Majesty." "Yes," he said.
"But it's apparent you weren't listening very closely. You won't survive
a minute at court if you don't learn to lie more believably than that."
The king held a hand beside his mouth to give Grace a half-whispered
aside. "I'm afraid the poor thing has an incurable streak of honesty in
her, though I have no idea where it comes from. There must be common
blood in the House of Elsandry somewhere."

Grace did not even attempt a reply to that.

184

Aryn let out a forlorn sigh, and the king's expression softened. He laid
an affectionate hand on the young woman's shoulder. "There, there,
child. It isn't your fault. You tried your best. And I really do think
you're improving."

Aryn looked up, her face shining with hope. "You do?" "No," he said. "I
was lying. But see how natural it can sound?"

Aryn sighed again, this time in exasperation. "Does His Majesty have a
task for me?"

"As a matter of fact, he does."

Boreas treated Grace to a critical look, as if noticing her attire for
the first time. Clearly he was not pleased by what he saw. She willed
herself to vanish, but unfortunately it didn't work.

"The Lady Grace of Beckett is going to be attending the coming Council
of Kings," Boreas said. "I would be most grateful, Lady Aryn, if you
could help her to become slightly less ..." Here he fought for the
proper word. "... slightly less irregular in terms of dress and manner."

Aryn's brilliant expression returned. She nodded in excite. ment. "Of
course, Your Majesty. I'll show her everything a lady needs to know."
The baroness winked at Grace and whispered, "Don't worry. This is going
to be fun."

Grace swallowed hard. Fun wasn't exactly the word she would have chosen.
She cast a nervous glance at the king. What in the world-what in this
world-had she just gotten herself into?

185

186 m

11

m

K

pig

0

187

The four travelers set out from Kelcior in the brilliant lateautumn
sunlight to begin the long journey south to Calavere and the Council of
Kings.

.In the muddy courtyard behind the old Tarrasian keep, Travis and Falken
mounted the horses that had been King Kel's farewell gift. The bard's
steed was a jet stallion with a white streak in its forelock. Travis, in
turn, sat astride a shaggy brown gelding with intelligent eyes and a
star in the center of its forehead. Melia and Beltan mounted their own
horses, which they had ridden to Kelcior. The blond knight's horse was a
bony roan charger, while Melia, her blue kirtle artfully arranged,
perched upon a mare as pale as mist, with delicate legs and a graceful neck.

Earlier that afternoon, they had gone to find King Kel and beg his
permission to leave Kelcior. As Beltan had explained to Travis, under
the laws of hospitality, a guest could not depart-be it from castle or
hovel-without first being granted leave by the master of the house.

"What?" Kel had said with a glower after Falken had made the formal
request to depart the keep. "Leaving so soon?" They had met with the
shaggy king in his solar. This was a

cozy, if cramped, chamber located behind the curtain which crossed the
end of the great hall.

188

"Some of us have been indulging your hospitality for nearly a month,
Your Majesty," Melia had said. "Surely any longer and we will overstay

our welcome."

Kel's voice had rattled the very stones of the fortress. "Impossible!"
Then he had snapped his fingers. "Would you stay, my lady, if I were to
command a feast in your honor?"

Melia had refrained from answering, although by her expression the
effort cost her. Falken had expressed their need for urgency, and at
last Kel had acquiesced-though not without some grumbling when he
learned a Council of Kings had been called and he had not been invited.

"Just because I have a few wildmen in my court, they think they're so
much better than me." He had let out a disgusted snort. "Why, I have
half a mind to march down to Calavere and show King Boreas how a real
kingdom is run."

"Now that is something I would pay good gold to see," Beltan had
whispered to Travis with a grin.

The travelers had spoken their good-byes, then had made their way from
the keep. As they passed through the great hall, Travis had looked
around, for he had hoped he might catch one last glimpse of Trifkin
Mossberry. However, there had been no sign of the little man or his
troupe of actors. They had vanished, like a strange dream, with the night.

Now, astride his horse in the courtyard, Travis cast a sidelong glance
at Falken and Melia. He was still wounded by the way they had decided
his fate that morning in the ruined tower. For the tenth time that day,
the two were engaged in some discussion which they did not seem
compelled to share. Travis sighed and turned his attention to adjusting
the gear strapped to the saddle behind him.

Each of the horses bore a pair of saddlebags that bulged with provisions
from Kel's kitchen. The king had not been given the chance to hold a
farewell feast in their honor, so he had apparently decided to send one
with them instead. Tucked away in the saddlebags were smoked meats,
hardcrusted breads, cheeses contained in protective rinds of mold, and
clay pots of wild honey. Kel had also provided the travelers with extra
clothes and blankets.

After he tightened the straps, Travis stared at the saddlebags. He was
starting to feel like just another piece of baggage himself.

189

the sun overhead. "Are we ready yet? It's a long way to gray mount
sidesaddle-a feat she somehow made appear graceful and natural. Travis
suspected that, if he tried the

he would promptly slide into the muck below.

"What?" Grisla the witch said in her chalky voice. "LeavFalken glared at
her, annoyance written across his wolfish

an"It's in the fine script." The tatters that served as the Falken
shaded his brow with his one gloved hand, and eyed

cient woman's clothes fluttered on the wind along with her

Melia guided her mount forward a few steps. "Do you

Calavere, and we're not getting any closer just standing here in the
courtyard."

Melia adjusted her slate-blue cloak. She was seated on her same,

"I am ready," Melia pronounced, as if this were the only factor
constraining their departure.

Apparently it was. The others nudged their horses into motion, toward a
gate in the ramshackle wall, and Travis followed suit. A brisk wind
picked up, and the smoke of the castle's cookfires scudded across the
courtyard like blue mist. They had just reached the gate when a drab
figure scuttled out of a swirl of smoke and brought the horses to a
sudden halt.

ing without so much as a simple fare-thee-well?"

face. "The laws of hospitality require a guest to ask leave of a
castle's lord before departing. I'm afraid I don't recall a line in
there about hags."

scraggly hair.

know you delay our departure on a crucial errand?"

The hag clasped a gnarled hand to her cheek and affected a look of mock
mortification. "Oh, forgive me, Lady High-asthe-Moon! How foolish of me
to stand in your all-important path. Please don't punish me for being
drawn to your grandness. I am like a lowly fly, you see, compelled by
nature to alight upon all great heaps of dung."

Melia's coppery skin blanched, then her eyes narrowed to slits. "What do
you want of us, Daughter of Sia?"

The hag spat on the ground. "I want nothing of you, Lady Vitriol." She
turned her lone eye on Falken. "Nor you, Lord Calamity." She bared her
snaggled teeth in a sly grin. "I wish to have a word with the tasty
young lad, here."

The witch scampered on stick legs to stand before Travis's

190

horse, then pointed a clawlike finger at his chest. "I believe you have
a bone to pick with me, lad."

"What?" he said in confusion. "A bone, boy!"

His expression of puzzlement only deepened.

Grisla gave her head a rueful shake. "Why does Fate always shine upon
such dimwits?" She thrust out a greasy leather bag. "Go on, lad. Pick one!"

Travis eyed the lumpy sack, wary of its contents. How. ever, there was
only one way out of this situation. He clenched his jaw and slipped a
hand into the bag. He half expected to touch something wet and slimy.
Instead, his fin. gers brushed several hard, smooth objects. He drew one
out and gazed at it. It was a yellowed knucklebone, three lines
scratched into its surface.

"Humph!" Grisla said. "I wouldn't have thought you would draw that one.
One line for Birth, one line for Breath, and one more for Death, which
comes to us all." Her eye rolled toward Falken for a moment. "Though for
some of us later than sooner."

Travis shook his head. "But what does it mean?" "What do you think it
means?" Grisla said.

Travis chewed his lip and stared at the bone. He was reminded of Trifkin
Mossberry's play about Spring and Winter and the birth of Summer. "It
seems like it's about endings. Or maybe beginnings." He shook his head.
"But which is it?"

"Perhaps it's both, lad. Perhaps there's no difference between the two."
Grisla shrugged her knobby shoulders. "Or perhaps the oracle bones can
lie after all."

The witch snatched the bone from his hand and spirited the bag into the
depths of her swaddling rags.

"Are you finished with your amusement yet, hag?" Falken said.

"As a matter of fact, Lord Impatience, I am." The witch brushed Travis's
hand with her gnarled fingers. "You know, you've taken a little piece of
my heart, lad." She cackled, scuttled into a cloud of smoke, and was gone.

Travis felt something warm and damp against his skin. He looked down to
see a piece of raw meat on his palm. With a yelp he shook his hand and
flung it into the mud. He wiped

191

his hand on his tunic. "I really wish she would quit doing that V/

With the way clear once more, the four urged their horses t]irough the
gate and picked their way across the causeway that led from fortress to
shore. The air was cold, but the. autumn sunlight was warm, and it
gilded the lake like gold filigree on blue enamel. It was a fine day for
traveling.

"What do you suppose that was all about?" Melia asked Falken after they
had ridden for a time.

"You mean the hag Grisla?" The bard shrugged. "I doubt it was about
anything other than spectacle. As far as I can tell, witches derive
their chief entertainment from baffling people. But I suppose there was
little harm in allowing the old crone to indulge herself for a minute or
two."

Melia nodded at his words, but whether the regal woman agreed with them
or not, she did not say.

A question occurred to Travis. He nudged his gelding toward the others.
"Who is Sia?"

Falken gave him a piercing look. "What is Sia, might be a better
question. But I suppose you could say she is a goddess of sorts."

Travis thought about this. "Like one of the gods of those mystery cults

you were talking about before?"

"No," Melia said with a sharpness that startled Travis. "Sia has nothing
to do with the gods of the mystery cults, nor they with her."

This did little to answer Travis's question. However, given Melia's
reaction, he -decided not to press the point. The horses clambered up
the steep trail to the summit of the ridge that ringed the valley. Wind
tangled Travis's sandy hair-a wind like the one that sometimes rushed
down from the mountains around Castle City, that carried with it an ache
of longing, and a sense of infinite possibility.

Beltan cast one last wistful glance over his shoulder at the old keep
below. "So much for feasts," he said. "And I was really getting rather
used to them."

Then the horses started down the other side of the ridge, back toward
the crossroads and the Queen's Way, and the ancient Tarrasian fortress
was lost from sight.

192

All the rest of that day they journeyed south along the grassy swath of
the Queen's Way.

The four travelers soon fell into a pattern. Beltan periodi. cally
spurred his rangy charger and galloped down the ancient highway to scout
for danger. Falken and Melia rode side by side, their heads often bent
together to exchange some murmured bit of conversation. Travis kept a
short distance behind them and tried not to look as if he were leaning
forward in an attempt to catch what they were saying. However, the wind
was behind him, and any interesting items of information the bard and
the lady might have uttered were blown in the wrong direction, although
once, in the wake of a swirling gust, Travis did catch a snatch of one
of Falken's quietly spoken sentences.

"... that we shouldn't dismiss the stone in the White Tower even if it
is ..."

The wind changed again and took the bard's words with it. Travis's
frustration at not being paid any attention became unbearable. He urged
his horse forward.

"So, how long will it take us to get to Calavere?" he asked Falken and
Melia.

Falken looked up in surprise, as if he had forgotten Travis was even
there. "The Queen's Way will take us all the way, but it is a long and
arduous road. Once we cross the headwaters of the River Farwander, we
will be in the Dominion of Eredane proper. However, we must traverse all
of Eredane and cross the highlands of Galt before we reach the northern
marches of Calavan. In all, it is a journey of nearly a hundred leagues.
It will take us well over a fortnight, if the weather holds." He cast a
glance at Melia. "Of course, there is also the matter of a small detour
I intend to make along the way."

"If we have time," Melia said. "The Council of Kings is to convene in
less than a month. We're going to be slicing it rather finely as it is."

Falken ran a hand through his gray-shot hair. "It's not as if

193

I'm proposing this for the sheer fun of it, you know. It's really rather
important."

Melia's amber eyes flashed. "So is getting to the council before it's over."

"Where is it you want to go, Falken?" Travis said. "Is it a white
tower?" Instantly he regretted the question, for both Falken and Melia
fixed him with penetrating looks.

"Someone has sharp ears," Melia said.

"So it seems." Falken considered Travis for a moment. "It's not a white
tower, Travis. It's the White Tower." Travis didn't understand, but the
bard offered no further

explanation. Instead, he and Melia urged their mounts ahead, and thus
signified this was all the information Travis was going to get. Feeling
terribly sorry for himself, Travis let out a sigh. However, nobody
seemed to notice, so he turned his attention to not falling out of the
saddle.

The ancient Tarrasians had been engineers of great skill, for the
Queen's Way continued to cut across the rolling landscape. At times it
sliced through the tops of hills and at others leaped over deep ravines,
supported by stone arches that, while crumbled at the edges, still bore
the weight of centuries with ease. As the travelers progressed south,
the hills to their left grew into rugged mountains: the Fal Erenn.
Westward, to their right, the land swept away in a sea of dun-colored
waves. It was all vast and beautiful, but achingly empty as well, and
only served to remind Travis that this was not his world.

The sun had sunk into a bank of bronze clouds when Beltan rode back to
report he had found a place to make camp for the night. This turned out
to be a flat knoll a few hundred paces east of the road. The knoll was
ringed by scrub oak, which offered some protection, and a spring
trickled from beneath a rock near the, hill's top. Travis climbed down
from his gelding and groaned. The last time he had ridden a horse had
been at a county fair, and he had been eleven years old. It felt like
someone had rearranged all his muscles while he rode and wedged them
into places they did not belong.

They made camp as twilight mantled the knoll. Though Melia seemed to
feel no compunction in ordering the others around, she did not shirk her
own share of the labor. The

194

dinner fashioned from Kel's provisions was her work, and she seemed
pleased by the compliment the other three paid her efforts by eating
ravenously. Then again, she might have preferred it had Beltan not been
quite so vigorous in his praise.

"And what will you be eating for the rest of the journey, Beltan?" she
asked in a pleasant voice as he took his third helping of stew and bread.

Beltan swallowed hard and set the food back down. "You know, I'm really
not as hungry as I thought I was."

"I didn't think you were, dear," Melia said.

Travis finished his own food quietly and did not even consider asking
for more.

Night deepened around them, and they spread their blankets by the fire.
Beltan moved a short distance off, mail shirt jingling, to take the
first watch. Travis shivered with the chill, then wrapped himself in his
mistcloak and shut his eyes.

He awoke to strange stars.

They blazed against the jet sky, shards of diamond and sapphire. He
thought he could see pictures in the stars, shapes far clearer than the
sketchy, half-imagined constellations of Earth: feral beasts, winged
maidens, warriors wielding swords of cool starlight. The murmur of
conversation drifted on the air-it was this that had awakened him. His
mind was turgid with sleep, but it seemed to him Melia and Falken spoke
in soft voices by the embers of the fire.

The bard's quiet words drifted on the night air. "But surely you should
be able to tell if Travis comes from the same place."

Travis struggled to sit up. If I come from the same place as what?

He didn't think he even managed to ask the question aloud. However,
Melia turned her amber gaze upon him. Her expression was stern, though
not unkind.

Go to sleep, Travis.

Her lips did not move, yet her voice spoke clearly in his mind. Travis
tried to protest, but a wave of drowsiness crashed over him. Unable to
resist the pull, he shut his eyes and sank once more into deep and
starless sleep.

195

By the time the crimson orb of the sun rose above the horizon, it found
them already riding hard down the Queen's Way. It was midmorning, and
the autumn day had turned crisp but fine when they reached a
moss-covered stone bridge that arched over a narrow defile. At the
bottom of the gorge rushed a small, frothy river. According to Falken,
these were the headwaters of the River Farwander.

The bard spoke over the roar of the water. "It isn't much to look at
here, but this is the start of a river that stretches three hundred
leagues from source to mouth. By the time it reaches the Sunfire Sea,
the Farwander is over a league wide. Or so the stories say, for I know
of no one alive in the Dominions who has traveled to the farthest
western coast of Falengarth."

Melia arched a single dark eyebrow. "No one? Not even a great wanderer
like yourself, Falken?"

He shook his head, gazed into the distance, then spoke in a low voice
that was nearly lost in the rushing of the river. "There was but one
road to Eversea, to the Far West, and its beginning was in Malachor. Yet
that road lay in one direction only, for those who took it never

returned, and the way is lost to all of us now."

The bard smiled, and though there was sadness in the expression, there
was genuine mirth as well. "Yet that is all old history. We have our own
road to journey, and to less melancholy lands."

He spurred his mount and, hooves clattering, the dark stallion crossed
the Tarrasian bridge. The others followed after. They rode all that day
with only a few short breaks to

chew some bread and allow the horses to drink. Finally, as the sun
dipped toward the far horizon, Beltan once again rode back to tell the
others he had found a place to make camp. He seemed particularly pleased
with his find.

It turned out to be a small depression no more than twenty paces from
the road, ringed by a circle of gnarled trees. In the center of the
circle was a spring, and around this grew a

196

thick patch of herbs, still green and fragrant even this late in the
year. As they drew near, Falken explained this place was a talathrin, or
a Way Circle. The Way Circles had been made by the Tarrasians when they
built the road, and were intended as safe places for travelers to spend
the night. They picketed the horses outside and entered the talathrin
through an archway formed of branches that had centuries ago melded
together into living, braided columns.

Falken's breath fogged on the cool air as he spoke. "Some say there is
an enchantment in the trees that ring these circles, a magic that
protects those who sleep here. However, I cannot speak to the truth of
that, for I know little of Tarrasian magic."

"That's because there is little enough to know," Melia said. She allowed
Beltan to help her step over a twisted root. "The Tarrasians were always
far better engineers than sorcerers. And while there is no magic in the
talathrain, it is equally true there is a goodness that abides yet in
these places. The trees are ithaya, or sunleaf, which grow along high
cliffs above the Summer Sea, and their bark, when brewed in a tea, is
good for aches and fevers. And the plants by the spring are alasai, or
green scepter, and can be used to flavor food, as well as to remove the
taint from spoilt meat. Both are of great use to travelers."

Melia approached the spring, drew up the hem of her gown, and knelt to
part the thatch of sweet-smelling herbs with her hands. This action
revealed a figurine carved of rain-worn ivory beside the spring.

"You see?" she said with a smile. "Naimi, Goddess of Travelers, keeps
watch over this place, though her name has not been worshiped in this
land in long centuries-not since the people of Tarras dwelled here."
Melia dipped her fingers into the spring and sprinkled a few droplets of
clear water before the figurine. "I hope you don't mind us using your
Way Circle, dear one," she murmured.

Travis couldn't help thinking this seemed a little informal for a prayer
to a goddess. However, Melia knew far more about such matters than he.
Holding her dark hair behind her neck with one hand, Melia bent over the
spring and used the other to bring cool water to her lips. She drank,
then rose.

197

"We may make camp now."

They ate their supper as night fell around the Way Circle, then readied
themselves for sleep. Melia seemed to feel there was absolutely no need
for one of them to keep watch, but Beltan did so all the same. He stood
by the talathrin's gate and gazed into the night. Falken promised to
relieve him later.

Travis sat on his bedroll and used a leaf of alasai to clean his teeth.
It wasn't exactly a toothbrush, but Falken had shown him the trick, and
it worked fairly well. He would not have minded a shave as well. The
red-brown stubble on

his chin and cheeks itched to become a full-fledged beard. However, the
only blade he had was the Malachorian stiletto Jack had given him, and
that was likely to shave him a little closer than he wished. He settled
for scratching. Then he rolled up in his mistcloak and lay down.

The hard ground did nothing to ease his cramped and complaining muscles
after the long day's ride. All the same, exhaustion won out over pain,
and Travis fell asleep.

On their third day out of Kelcior the clear autumn weather gave way to
dreary clouds and cold drizzle. Rain slicked the road's paving stones
and made them treacherous for the horses, which in turn made the going
slower. The landscape was lost in a shroud of fog, and there was little
to occupy Travis's attention. He had given up even trying to 'eavesdrop
on Falken and Melia's conversations-it was impossible to make out
anything over the clatter of hooves and the constant patter of rain.
Sometimes as they rode he spoke with Beltan, for the knight was more
amenable to answering questions, but most of the time he sat in silence
on the back of his horse.

More than once Travis wished it would just get cold enough to snow.
Beltan and Melia had said that winter had come early to the Dominions,
but that didn't seem to be quite the case here. When he asked Melia
about it, the lady only shook her head.

198

"It's almost as if winter has been moved from where it should be to
where it should not."

She spoke these words to Falken rather than Travis. The bard nodded as
if he understood them, but Travis didn't, al. though he knew better than
to ask for more explanation. He huddled in his mistcloak and stared into
the drizzle.

It was late one particularly foggy afternoon when Beltan came cantering
back to the group on his roan charger. The knight wore a grave
expression on his face, but there was a gleam of excitement in his eyes
as well.

"I've got some bad news," he said. "About half a league ahead, the road
passes through a narrow gap between two hills. There's a band of outlaws
camped on top of one of them. It's a convenient location if you plan to
ambush peo. ple traveling on the road below."

Falken swore. "So how many of them are there?"

"Oh, only a half dozen or so." The blond knight grinned and gripped the
hilt of his sword. "I should have no trouble handling them."

Melia folded her arms across her chest. "Really, Beltan?" He squirmed in
his saddle, chain mail squeaking. "All right. So there might be a little
trouble. But I still say I can handle them."

Melia reached out to pat his hand. "Of course you could, dear. But why
don't we try it my way first?"

Beltan heaved a breath of disappointment, then nodded. "Now," Melia
said, "did the brigands notice you approaching?"

The knight shook his head. "I'm fairly sure they didn't. I could hear
them as clearly as if they were an arm's length away, but I don't think
they could hear me at all. Sounds carry strangely in the fog."

Melia nodded. "We'll just have to hope they don't already know we're
coming." She gazed around at the foggy air, then let out a resigned
sigh. "I'm much better with shadows than with mist, but I suppose this
will simply have to do." Her tone became crisp and commanding. "All
right, everybody gather around me. And do stay close. I'm going to have
to concentrate, and I won't be able to pay attention to make certain
none of you are wandering off."

199

Travis nudged his shaggy gelding near Beltan's charger. ,,What's she
going to do?"

"You'll see."

Melia shut her eyes, and a furrow of concentration marked her forehead.
At the same time she held her hands close to her body and made small
movements with her fingers which reminded Travis of someone knitting.
The fog closed in around them. It grew thicker and more opaque, as soft
and gray as Travis's cloak. Melia opened her eyes.

"Is this really going to be enough?" Falken said. The fog seemed to
absorb his words even as he spoke them.

Melia urged her horse into a slow walk. "There's only one way to know
for certain."

The four moved down the road, their horses huddled in a close knot. They
proceeded by sound rather than sight, for the fog remained thick as they
went. Except, after a while, Travis started to think they weren't moving
through the fog at all. Rather, the dense cloud of mist seemed to be
moving with them. On impulse, he leaned forward in his saddle and blew
against the fog with all the breath he could muster.

"Please don't do that, Travis," Melia said.

Travis jumped in his saddle, then glanced at Melia. She was not looking
at him, but instead continued to frown into the fog. He hunched down in
his saddle and after that did not attempt any more experiments.

They rode in near-perfect silence. The footfalls of the

horses, the creak of the saddles, the jingle of Beltan's mail

shirt-all were muffled by the preternatural fog.

A voice cut through the gloom. Travis clenched his jaw to stifle a cry
of alarm. It sounded as if the speaker were no more than ten paces away.

"Sulath's Balls, it's cold today!"

Another rough voice answered the first. "You think you're cold now? Go
back to camp and tell Guerneg you're too chilly to keep a lookout for
travelers to rob. Then you'll be cold all right. Stone cold, and with
his sword stuck in your stinking guts."

The first outlaw spat in disgust. "There's nothing on the road today
except this blasted fog. Look, there goes a whole

Cloud

of it, just floating by. It's not normal, this mist. It has

200

the feel of the Little People about it. We're probably being cursed just
breathing it."

"Better cursed by fog than skewered by steel," the second outlaw said.

The first grunted but did not argue with this bit of wisdom.

The voices of the outlaws fell behind and faded away. Only when he let
out a tight lungful of air did Travis realize he had been holding his
breath. The group came to a halt. With a weary sigh, Melia waved a hand.
The cloud of fog that surrounded them broke into ragged tatters and
melted away on the late-afternoon air. To the north, two shapes rose
dimly in the haze. Those must have been the hills where the highwaymen
had waited to ambush unwary travelers. Somehow the four had passed by
the outlaw encampment unseen.

Travis looked at Melia in wonderment, but he did not even consider
asking her how their safe passage had been accomplished. Sometimes
answers could be far more disturbing than their questions.

"It looks as if the fog is lifting," Melia said in a bright voice.

"What a coincidence," Falken said.

With that they continued on their way and cantered down the ancient road.

Two days later they came to a town.

The morning after their near encounter with the outlaws, the fog gave
way to sunshine that gilded the rolling landscape between plains and
mountains, and changed browns to russets and tans to bright golds.
Despite the sunlight, the weather turned cold and sharp. Winter had not
forgotten this land after all. Beltan's mail shirt jingled on the crisp
air, and the breath of the horses was white and frosty. Travis kept warm
inside his mistcloak, but his hands seemed to freeze around the reins of

his gelding, so that by day's end it was almost impossible to unclench
his stiff fingers.

They encountered more and more signs of human habita

201

tion the farther south they traveled. From the swaying back of his
mount, Travis saw thatch-roofed farms, muddy villages, and stone signal
towers atop which bonfires could be lit in troubled times to warn of
danger or invasion. They Were deep in Eredane-although, according to
Falken, the Dominion's most populous lands lay many leagues to the west,
along the banks of the River Silverflood. The eastern marches of
Eredane, where they journeyed now, were considered rough and provincial
lands these days.

The sun was high overhead when Beltan spurred his charger back toward
the others. As usual he had ridden ahead to scout the way. Now he bore
the good news.

"There's a town just over the next rise in the road." Falken shot him a
speculative look. "And just why are you grinning like that?"

Mischief sparked in Beltan's green eyes. "Where there's a town, there's
got to be ale."

Melia clucked her tongue. "You know, contrary to popular Calavaner
belief, one actually can survive for considerable lengths of time
without ale."

Beltan gave her a puzzled look. "Yes, but what would be the point?"

After a small amount of discussion, Falken and Melia concurred that,
despite their need for haste, they should spare an hour or two to enter
the town. Though generous, the foodstuffs King Kel had given them were
beginning to dwindle, and Melia wanted to replenish their supplies.
Also, Falken hoped to hear more news of affairs in the Dominions. The
matter settled, they urged the horses into a canter. Minutes later they
crested a low swell and came to a halt.

"I don't remember Glennen's Stand being a walled town," Falken said with
a frown.

Beltan shrugged. "Maybe they've had problems with outlaws or barbarians
coming down from the mountains." "Maybe." The bard sounded less
convinced. "Regardless, I

don't think Glennen would be pleased to see what has become of his
namesake."

Travis lifted a hand to shade his eyes and studied the town below.
Glennen's Stand was situated in a hollow beside a small river, no more
than three furlongs from the Queen's Way. He guessed there to be about a
hundred buildings in all.

202

Those upstream were of stone with dull slate roofs, while those
downstream were little more than shacks thatched with dirty straw. A
wall surrounded the entire town, and while a dark patina of age hung

over Glennen's Stand, the wall was pale and rough-edged, a testament to
its recent construction.

Following Melia's lead, they nudged their horses into motion and made
for the town. As they rode, Travis guided his horse toward Falken's.

"Who was he?" he asked the bard. "Glennen, I mean." The bard gave him a
thoughtful look. "You remember the war I told you about, the one that
took place long ago against the Pale King?"

Travis nodded.

"Glennen was one of King Ulther's earls. When things looked darkest for
Ulther's army, Glennen rode south to tell Empress Elsara to make haste
to Shadowsdeep. However, in this very dell Glennen was assailed by
minions of the Pale King. He defeated them, and he reached Elsara to
give her Ulther's warning. Except after he spoke his message he died at
her feet, for he had been mortally wounded."

Travis sighed.

"Given its history, this town has always been welcoming to travelers."
Falken gazed at the walled town, his eyes sober. "Or at least it used to
be."

When the travelers reached the town's gate they found it guarded by a
pair of men-at-arms in greasy leather jerkins, hands on the stubby
swords at their hips. Travis wasn't entirely certain what a town on Eldh
should be like, but he expected to see more.people entering Glennen's
Stand: farmers with a late harvest of grain, merchants bearing goods to
trade, herders bringing flocks of sheep to shear for wool. Instead, only
a handful of peasants in ragged clothes trudged through the archway,
faces grim and dirty, small bundles of rags or firewood on their stooped
backs.

The men-at-arms halted the peasants as they passed and questioned each
about his or her business. Alarm surged in Travis's chest. What would he
say if the guards stopped him? However, the men-at-arms seemed not to
notice as the travelers approached. Melia rode through the gate, regal aback

203

her pale mare, and the others followed. The guards did not even glance
in their direction.

Travis leaned toward Beltan. "I don't understand. Why didn't the guards
stop and question us like the others?" Beltan snorted. "Commoners don't
question nobles." Travis glanced at Melia but said nothing more. Together

the four passed through a rough tunnel and into the town beyond.

Outside the wall things had looked bleak. Inside they were worse. Gray
buildings leaned together overhead, all but closing out the sky. A
haphazard scattering of people picked their way through the narrow
tracts of muck and sewage that passed for streets. All of them wore the
same grim, furtive faces as had the peasants at the gate, and none
looked in the direction of the travelers. As quickly as they appeared,
the townsfolk vanished again into shadowed openings or peeling doorways.

"Cheerful place," Beltan said under his breath. Melia's nose wrinkled.

"Fragrant as well."

They rode on through the town. Soot streaked walls and roofs like a
taint of disease, and windows stared out of abandoned houses like blind
eyes. They were near the town's center when they came upon the remains
of a small wooden structure, smashed to bits. Melia brought her mount to
a halt, her expression one of outrage. Travis saw the fragments of a
statue half-trampled into the mud: a slender arm, a white foot, the
corner of a serene, smiling mouth.

"What is this place?" he whispered to Falken.

The bard shook his head, his eyes sad. "This was a shrine of one of the
mystery cults. It's hard to be certain from what's left, but I would
guess it was sacred to Yrsaia the Huntress, as well as those who follow
her mysteries."

"Yes," Melia said. "It was." A dangerous light glinted in her amber
eyes. "And I would give much to know who it was that committed this act
of sacrilege."

Falken clenched his black-gloved hand into a fist. "This doesn't make
sense. Granted, it's been some years, but last I knew, Glennen's Stand
was one of the busiest towns in eastern Eredane."

"Things change," Beltan said. "And not always for the bet

204 They were silent. Then Melia said, "Let us not linger

Melia sighed. "I'm really not going to enjoy this, am

Melia lifted the hem of her gown out o the muck Nobody

swept think there's anything else for us here."

205

The others did not disagree, and they started off through the grimy
streets. They were nearly to the town gate when they turned a corner and
came upon a group of men and and with terrible certainty he knew he and
the others were

women clad in black robes. The robed ones had just stepped from a
doorway some distance off, and they turned to walk down the street in
the direction of the four riders. As they did, Travis saw that each
one's forehead had been marked with a symbol drawn in ashes. His heart
caught in his chest, in danger.

Beltan noticed his expression, and the knight's brow furrowed in
concern. "What's wrong, Travis?"

The robed men and women continued to walk down the street. It was only a
matter of seconds until one of them looked up and noticed the riders.

"Please!" Travis said, his voice hoarse. "We can't let them see us!"

His companions hesitated, but the urgency of his expression spurred them
to action.

"This way," Beltan said.

They ducked down an alley, then waited in tense silence as the dark
procession passed by. Travis clenched his jaw and resisted the urge to
scream. When they were certain the robed ones were gone, the four
emerged into the relative light of the street.

Falken fixed Travis with a sharp look. "And now you're going to tell us
what that was all about."

Travis took a deep breath. "Did you see that symbol, the one drawn in
ashes on their foreheads? The curved lines that looked almost like some
sort of eye?" He licked his lips. "I've seen that symbol before."

In quick words, Travis explained how he had seen the same symbol
scratched onto doors all over Castle City the night when everything had
changed.

When Travis finished, Falken shook his head, a grim light in his faded
eyes. "I'm not sure what this means, but it can't be good."

"Indeed," Melia said. "Especially given the fact those peowere members
of the Raven Cult."

Falken stared at her. "What?"

The lady nodded, her jaw set in a hard line. "That symbol

206

is the mark of the new mystery cult of which I told you in Kelcior." Her
gaze moved to Travis. "Only it's not meant to be an eye. From what I've
gathered, it symbolizes the wing of a raven."

"I'm liking this less and less by the moment," Falken said. "But I still
don't understand Travis's story. What does it mean?"

"It means," Melia said in measured words, "the connection between his
world and ours runs in two directions." Travis tried to grasp the
implications of her words, but he

couldn't, not fully. Still, one thing he knew now beyond all doubt: He
was not the only one who had traveled between worlds.

"Come on," Falken said in a gruff voice. "Let's get out of this blasted
town."

The next day dawned gray and sullen. So dim was the sunrise that when
Beltan shook his shoulder to wake him, Travis blinked in confusion,
thinking it still the middle of the night. He nearly crawled back inside
his mistcloak, dawn or no dawn, but the big Calavaner pushed a steaming
clay cup into his hands. By reflex, Travis inhaled. A rich, bitter scent
filled his nose. Maddok. He gulped the hot liquid down as fast as he
could and found, if not the desire, at least the energy to get up.

They rode south all that morning-although before long Travis wasn't
certain morning was the right word, for as the hours passed, the day
seemed to grow darker rather than lighter. Droplets of moisture clung to
everything-grass, stones, trees-and beaded like tiny pearls on Travis's
cloak. Before long the sound of thunder rumbled across the landscape,
distant but drawing nearer. Black clouds, lit from within by flashes of

green lightning, rolled out of the north to mantle the sky.

Beltan slicked wet, pale hair away from his brow and glanced up at the
sky. "Isn't it a little late in the year for thunderstorms?"

207 "Yes," Melia replied in a guarded voice. "It is." Her words sent a
shiver up Travis's spine.

As if to punctuate the knight's comment, a flash of lightning rent the
clouds overhead, and the first big, cold drops of

rain began to fall upon the paving stones of the Queen's Way.

better find shelter, and soon," Falken said.

Before the bard finished speaking, Beltan had spurred his

charger ahead and vanished into the murk. The others rode

on. A frigid wind rushed out of the north, snatched at their cloaks, and
drove the rain in horizontal sheets across the

land. In moments Travis was soaked to the skin. The mistcloak did little
good, no matter how tight its weave, if he

could not keep it wrapped around himself.

Another flash of lightning revealed the silhouette of Beltan ling toward
them. The knight brought his horse to a skidding halt and shouted over
the roar of the storm. "There's a house not far ahead. I think it must
be the manor of some

lord."

Falken wiped at the stream of water that poured down his

brow. "Then I believe we should prevail upon the lord's hospitality."

They were nearly upon the manor before Travis saw it-a

blocky shape backlit by a flash of lightning. They

mounted, and Beltan grabbed the reins of their steeds.

"There's a stable over there." He pointed to a black rectan"I'll take
care of the horses." The knight led the fearful

into gloom and was gone.

Holding on to each other, Travis, Melia, and Falken stumbled toward the
manor's door. The bard pounded against the

wooden surface.

"Open up!" he shouted. "Travelers seek shelter from the

There was no answer. Falken pounded again, but still the door did not
open. Was the place abandoned? It was hard for Travis to tell through
the rain, yet an atmosphere of decay

seemed to hang over the manor. Falken exchanged grim looks with Melia,
then struck the door one more time, so

hard it rattled under the blow. His voice rang with authority.

"If this is still a civilized land, then by all the laws of

hospitality, let us in!"

His words must have had an effect, for there came the

208

sound of a bar being drawn, and the door swung inward. At the same
moment Beltan returned from the stable. Together the four stepped inside.

The door shut and sealed them in a cramped entryway little brighter than
the gloom outside. Travis's eyes adjusted to the dimness, and he saw the
one who had let them in. She was barely more than a girl, clad in a
mouse-brown dress. Dirt smudged her plain face but did not mask the fear
in her expression. A grimy kerchief was knotted around her fore. head,
and a dark stain had seeped through the center of the cloth.

"Thank you for opening your door to us," Falken said. "It is a dark day
out there."

The serving girl stared mutely and did not meet his gaze. Falken tried
again. "Can you take us to your lord, so that we may beg his hospitality?"

The girl gave a jerky nod. Without a word, she led them down a corridor
and through a doorway. They found themselves in a drafty hall. Mold
clung to stone walls, and a sullen fire sputtered in a gigantic
fireplace, giving off much smoke, little light, and seemingly no heat.
Beams-blackened with soot and time-arched overhead, and they made Travis
think of the ribs of some huge beast that had just swallowed them alive.

A rattling voice spoke. "You must forgive my serving maid for not
allowing you to enter at once. Kirtha is stupid, but I have no one else,
and so I must tolerate her."

Travis searched for the source of the voice, and only after a moment did
he realize someone sat at a rickety table near the fireplace. The man
was thin to the point of wasting. Pockmarks pitted his sallow face, and
his lank hair clung to his skull and forehead. His purple robe might
once have been fine, but was now soiled and threadbare.

With a bony hand, the lord gestured toward benches beside the table.
Though his voice was haggard, it was not unpleasant. "Come, sit beside
the fire and warm yourselves. I cannot offer you the greeting I once
would have, but you are welcome to all that I have. Things change, yet
let it not be said that Sebaris of Thale has forgotten the laws of
hospitality.11

Melia made a graceful curtsy. "Thank you, my lord." _

209

With trembling hands, Kirtha took their wet cloaks from them and hung
the garments near the fire. The travelers sat on the splintery benches,
and the lord himself poured them cups of mulled wine. Travis took a sip.

The wine tasted of vinegar and was cut heavily with water, but at least
it was warming. The lord did not ask their own names, but for all Travis
knew this was part of the laws of hospitality that .seemed so important
in this world. Or perhaps the lord was simply mad. Now that they were
closer, Travis noticed a feverish light in his eyes.

Kirtha, who had left the hall while they drank their wine, now entered
again with a tray she set upon the table. There was little enough for
her to carry: some stale bread, a few cooked turnips, and some bits of
gristly meat. Lord Sebaris gestured for the travelers to serve
themselves, and they did so without relish.

"You wonder why there is so little for my board, yes?" Sebaris said. "I
can see it in your faces. It is shameful, you think, that a lord should
live thusly."

"Not at all, my lord," Melia said. "We are grateful for your generosity."

Sebaris laughed: a forlorn sound. "You are well mannered, my lady. A few
years ago, I would have offered you a feast suited for a queen." His
eyes grew distant. "But there is so little left now. They take it, you
see. They take it all." He gripped the arms of his chair with hands like
claws. "Yet that is well, is it not? Better they take the silver, the
wine, the food. Better they take those things than your-"

His words descended into a fit of coughing. Spasms wracked his emaciated
body. At last the lord's coughing subsided. He wiped his lips with a
napkin, and the cloth came away dark with blood.

Melia regarded Sebaris, her expression solemn. "Who are they, my lord?"

He waved a thin hand to dismiss her words. His gaze was present once
again. "Forgive me, my lady. I was babbling, that's all. I've had a
fever of late. Yet it's nothing with which you need concern yourself."

After that they ate in silence.

When they had finished, the lord cleared his throat. "I see there is a
minstrel in your company."

210

Falken had drawn out his lute and now wiped the instru. ment's polished
wood with a cloth.

"May I beg a song from you?" the lord said. "It has been long since this
hall was graced by music."

Falken lifted his lute and tested the strings. "This is an old song. Yet
it is fitting for a day like this, I think." The bard strummed the lute,
then sang in a clear voice:

"With twilight to the dell they came: Glennen brave and swift Frostmane.
A hundred leagues behind them lay, Ahead long dark ere break of day.
Though weariness his heart did press, He fain would die in place of
rest. On raced the earl and noble steed,

To warn the Queen and bid her speed. When did the gloam asunder break,
And to his steed thus Glennen spake: `Run, fair Frostmane, fleet as
night, `The Pale Ones come, and fey their'

A blood-chilling shriek interrupted the bard's song. "Stop, you fool!"
Sebaris cried. "They will hear you-they

hear everything!" The lord was standing now, his eyes wild and filled
with fear. "Don't you know that song is forbidden?"

The travelers could only gape.

Several heartbeats passed, and Sebaris seemed to regain his senses. He
slumped and let out a deep sigh. Falken helped the lord into his chair,
and Melia poured him a cup of wine, which he gulped down.

Falken regarded the emaciated man. "If my song has given you offense,
then I beg your apology, my lord."

Sebaris shook his head. "No, do not apologize, good minstrel. It is
clear you have traveled from distant lands-you could not know. And let
us talk -no more about the song. Kirtha will show you to a chamber now,
where you can rest."

Melia bowed her head. "You are most kind, my lord." "Not kind enough, I
fear."

He murmured these words, as if he spoke more to himself

211

than the -others, and it seemed to Travis the light of madness shone in
the lord's eyes once more. But perhaps it was only the glow of the dying
fire. They took their leave of Sebaris, gathered up their still-damp
cloaks, and followed Kirtha from the hall. The serving maid led them
down a murky corridor. She paused before a door and gestured for them to
enter.

Melia gazed at the stained kerchief that bound the serving maid's
forehead. "I have some skill with healing, child," she said in a gentle
voice. "May I see your hurt?"

Melia started to reach for the bandage, but the girl shrank away from
her touch like a frightened animal. She shook her head, her eyes filled
with mute terror.

Melia withdrew her hand. "As you wish, dear." Only the glittering of her
amber eyes expressed her interest at this strange response.

Without asking for leave, Kirtha scurried down the corridor and was gone.

Falken shot Melia an inquisitive look. "I guess she didn't appreciate
your offer for help."

"Indeed. But why, I wonder?"

Beltan let out a surly snort. "Well, you two can stay out here and talk
about the motivations of serving girls all you'd like, but I'm going to
go inside and get out of this mail shirt before it rusts solid. Riding
all day in the rain is not good for armor."

"Or for temperaments," Melia observed.

They found the chamber as dank and chilly as the rest of the manor. The
walls were cracked, the fireplace empty, and cobwebs dangled from the
ceiling. There were a few benches for furniture, but these were so
rickety the travelers spread their cloaks on the floor and sat there
instead.

Melia smoothed invisible wrinkles from her midnightblue garment. "Well,"
she said in an exasperated tone, "what on Eldh was that all about?"

"You mean Sebaris, back in the hall?" Falken said. "That's a good
question. I would just like to know when it became forbidden to sing the
Lay of Glennen in Eredane. It doesn't make a great deal of sense." He
strummed the strings of his lute with a thumb, then shook his head. "In
fact, none of this makes sense. A lone serving girl is hardly enough to

212

make up even a provincial lord's household. There should be a dozen
servants and retainers here. What's going on in Eredane? First the town,
now this place. Something is not right."

"So it seems," Melia said. "Regardless, I don't think we should overstay
our lord's welcome."

Falken nodded. "The storm should blow over soon. We can set out at dawn.
I'm sure Sebaris will be more than happy to see us go."

They turned their attention to readying things for the journey tomorrow.
Beltan sharpened the edge of his sword with a stone, while Falken
polished the rich wood of his lute with a cloth, and Melia hummed a
faint song while she sorted through the remaining foodstuffs in their
packs. Only Travis was without a task.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked Falken. "Just stay out of
the way, Travis," the bard muttered. Travis slouched in a corner. He sat
for a time and fidgeted

with the Malachorian dagger Jack had given him, but only succeeded in
nicking his finger. At that moment he felt utterly and irrevocably
useless. He stood up.

"I'm going to go for a walk," he said.

Melia spoke without looking up from her work. "Just don't wander too
far, Travis."

Melia's quiet comment was too much. Being in this strange world was hard
enough without everyone always telling him what to do. Anger blossomed
in Travis's chest. He clenched his hands into fists.

"I'm not stupid, you know." His voice was more hurtful than he intended,
but he didn't care.

Melia looked up from her work. Her expression was neither shocked nor
outraged, but merely thoughtful. "I never said you were, dear."

Travis hardly heard her words. He turned and pushed through the doorway.
Another voice murmured something behind him. Falken, most likely.
Melia's voice countered. Then the door shut, and he was alone.

His anger cooled on the dank air. He peered into the dimness all around,
and he wasn't certain if this was the lord's manor in Eredane, or if it
was the farmhouse in Illinois

213

where he had grown up. Maybe it didn't make a difference. He would have
felt the same, whichever place it was.

Just stay out of the way, Travis. He had heard those words before. Only
it was his father's voice that had spoken them years ago, not the
bard's. That's the only job morons are good at. Leave the real work to
people who can tell left from right.

Travis shook his head. The memories of Illinois melted like shadows on
the dim air. He was in Eredane once more. "Wherever that is," he said
with a bitter laugh.

Travis knew he should go back into the chamber, but he was restless, and
he wandered down the corridor instead, past closed doors and clumps of
cobweb. After a few dozen paces, the corridor ended. A shuttered window
was set into the stone wall. He pushed against the shutters, but they
were stuck tight. He gritted his teeth and pushed harder. There was a
groan of straining wood, then all at once the shutters flew outward.

Travis leaned through the window and breathed in rainsweet air. He found
himself gazing at what must have once been a garden behind the manor
house. Now it was a profusion of nettles and witchgrass. Falken was
right. The storm had blown over. Night had fallen, and only a few
tatters of cloud drifted against the sky. They glowed in the light of
the moon.

The night air was frosty, but Travis did not mind. The cold cleared his
head. For a time he was content to stare into the moonlit garden.
Sometimes life was as tangled as the nettles, and just as stinging.

His breath clouded on the air. It was past time to be getting back to
the others. He reached out to draw the shutters closed.

Movement caught his eye. Travis froze. Deep in the garlen, a patch of
shadow stirred. It flowed toward the far wing of the manor, opposite
Travis's window, and there it joined with another, thinner shadow that
had clung close to the wall of the manor. A sound drifted on the air,
like the moan of the wind. Or like the whisper of voices.

The moon passed behind a cloud, and the garden was plunged into
darkness. Travis held his breath, afraid to move. He counted a dozen
heartbeats. The cloud drifted on,

214

and the light of the moon spilled into the neglected garden once more.

The shadows were gone.

Travis breathed out. He scanned the garden but saw nothing. Most likely
the shadows had been tricks of the moonlight. A jaw-cracking yawn
escaped him, and only then did he realize how tired he was. He pulled
the shutters closed and turned back down the hallway.

He paused when he reached the door to their chamber. No sounds came from
the other side. The others would be asleep by now. Travis-did not want
to wake them-he had caused enough trouble with his outburst. There was a
small alcove set into the wall a few paces away. It was not exactly a
proper bed, but at least it would protect him from the worst drafts, so
he wrapped himself in his mistcloak and curled up inside. Travis would
have thought sleep difficult, but weariness stole over him, and he sank
into dreamless slumber.

A sizzling sound woke him. With it came an uncomfortable heat against
his face. Travis opened his eyes. At once he sat up in terror, his back
against the wall of the alcove. He could not tear his eyes away from the
glowing iron brand that hovered before him, inches from his forehead.

Lord Sebaris clucked his tongue. His glassy eyes reflected the red-hot
glow of the brand. "Better you had not awakened, my friend," he said in
a whisper. "The pain is worse when you know it is coming." The brand
moved an inch closer.

Travis tried to speak through the fear that constricted his throat. The
stench of hot metal was sharp in his lungs. "Why?" he said. "Why are you
doing this?"

Now the look in the lord's eyes was one of regret. "I must mark you. I
must mark all of you. It is the only way to be safe." He licked thin
lips. "Don't you see? They will not kill you if they think you are one
of them!"

Sweat rolled down Travis's forehead and stung his eyes.

215

lie tried to back away but could retreat no farther. He gasped the
words. "Who are they?"

"Who else?" Sebaris said. "The dark ones! The followers of the Raven!"

The lord hesitated, then lifted his free hand to push the lank hair away
from his forehead. Two puckered lines marked the flesh of his brow. The
ragged scars formed a symbol-a symbol Travis knew well. It could almost
be an eye, but it wasn't. Instead it was meant to be the wing of a
raven. Only at that moment did Travis realize the end of the brand had
been wrought into the mirror image of that shape. He stared, his horror
renewed.

"Ah, you understand!" Sebaris's voice was a croak of triumph. "You have
seen the dark ones before. You know I must do this." He tightened his
thin fingers around the grip of the iron brand. The end glowed like a
coal. "If you do not struggle, the pain will be a little less."

Travis knew he should cry out, that he should resist, but fear paralyzed
him. With a mad grin, Sebaris tensed, ready to press the brand against
Travis's flesh. Just then the muffled sound of shouts came from behind
the door where the others were. Travis heard the dull ring of a sword
being drawn. There was a low thump, and a bubbling cry of pain.

Sebaris glanced toward the door.

Travis knew this was his only chance. The paralysis of fear shattered.
He grabbed Sebaris's arm, thrust the glowing brand aside, and knocked

the lord backward. The two rolled into the corridor, and the brand
clattered against the stone floor. Travis tried to disengage from his
foe, but Sebaris fought back with a shocking strength Travis had not
expected, given his emaciated body. With a grunt of pain, Travis found
himself on his back. Sebaris dug sharp knees into his chest and wrapped
clammy hands around his throat. Travis choked for breath. Sebaris
grinned and tightened his cruel grip. Now stars exploded before Travis's
eyes. That was when the voice spoke.

The word, Travis. Remember the word I spoke to you. Travis supposed the
voice was a figment of his oxygenstarved brain. Yet it sounded so much
like lack's-just like the voice that had spoken when he touched the
broken rune in Kelcior. The world spun around him. It would be so easy

216

to sink down into darkness. All he had to do was close his eyes, then
peace would come.

No, Travis! Don't close your eyes!

He fought to remain conscious. Sebaris frothed at the mouth now. The
sounds of fighting behind the closed door had ended.

You must speak it, Travis. Speak the word!

Travis was tired, so terribly tired. But he couldn't let Jack down. He
lifted a hand and rested it against the lord's sunken chest. The sound
that issued from his lips was a barely audible croak.

"Krond." Flame burst into being around Travis's hand. Crimson tongues
licked at Sebaris's robe, and the threadbare cloth ignited like tinder.
With a shriek, Sebaris threw himself back, away from Travis. He beat at
the flames with gnarled hands, but the effort was futile. In moments the
lord blazed like a torch. He raised bony arms above his head in a
gesture of exultation.

"I come to you, my dark king!"

He stumbled backward, into a tapestry that hung upon the wall. Flames
raced up the rotten weaving to lick the wooden beams above. Sebaris
pitched forward. By the time the lord struck the floor, there was
nothing left of him besides a charred husk.

Travis gagged, clutched his bruised throat, and pulled himself to his
knees. He looked up to see Falken in the open doorway. Melia and Beltan
were just behind him. The big knight gripped his sword, the blade dark
with blood. All of them wore looks of astonishment.

"How, Travis?" Falken asked softly. "How did you do that?"

Travis looked at his hand, but the skin was smooth and undamaged. The
flames that had incinerated Sebaris had not so much as touched him. He
opened his mouth but could not speak.

"There's no time for that now," Melia said.

Flames raced along the wooden beams of the ceiling. Falken gave Travis
one last hard look, then nodded. Beltan pulled Travis to his feet.
Together the four stumbled down the corridor. Thick smoke filled their

lungs, and blazing

217

beams crashed down on their heels. Travis wondered what had become of
the serving girl, Kirtha. Then he remembered the bandage that had
covered her forehead and knew that, wherever she was, it was already too
late to save her.

Gasping for air, the four burst into the night outside. They did not
stop running until they reached the stable. Then they turned just in
time to see the entire roof of the manor house collapse. The stone walls
cracked with a sound like thunder and sank inward. Sparks rose into the
onyx sky, winking like crimson eyes.

Travis drew a cooling breath into his seared lungs. It was painful to
speak, but the words were audible. "What happened in the chamber?"

"Two men slipped through the window," Falken said. "They were Raven
cultists. I think they would have slain us had Beltan not been keeping
watch."

"No." Travis shook his head. "They didn't come to kill." Melia gave him
a sharp look, but his throat hurt too much to explain any further. Later
he would tell them about the iron brand and Sebaris's terrible words.

Beltan wiped his sword against the grass and thrust it back into the
scabbard at his hip. "Whatever the cultists wanted, they weren't easy to
kill. I ran one through the gut, and he still kept coming. He didn't
stop until I lopped his head off. But that was nothing compared to what
you did to old Sebaris, Travis. How by Vathris did you"

Melia laid a gentle but firm hand upon the knight's arm. "Enough,
Beltan. Such things can wait."

Travis shivered. He wondered the same thing as Beltan. He closed his
eyes and saw Sebaris again, writhing as the flames consumed him,
cackling in mad glee.

"There's enough moonlight to ride by," Falken said. "Let's get the horses."

45.

The Lady Grace of Beckett's education in courtly manners and feudal
politics began promptly at dawn the day after her conversation with King
Boreas.

218

She woke to a chiming sound. On instinct her hand went to her hip and
fumbled in search of her beeper. The hospital was calling her. Probably
Morty Underwood, damn the little worm. She groped, but her blind fingers
found only soft cloth. Then the chiming came again, and it was not the
electronic whine emitted by a silicon chip, but the bright sound of
metal on metal. She threw back the bedcovers and sat bolt upright.
Memory of the previous day flooded back to her. Denver Memorial Hospital
was a world away now. The thought should have caused her alarm. Instead
a feeling like relief washed through her.

Aryn stood at the foot of the high, four-poster bed, a cheerful

expression on her pretty face. Her gown today was a lighter shade of
blue, the color of the wintry dawn sky outside the chamber's window. In
her left hand she held a silver bell.

"I'm glad you're finally awake, Grace." The baroness set the bell on a
sideboard. "I was afraid I had chosen far too small a tool for the task,
and that I was going to have to call for the king's trumpeters instead."

"Mrumph," Grace said. It was far too early in the morning for humor.

With stiff motions she climbed down from the bed, still clad in
yesterday's rumpled tunic and hose. Though a great deal had happened to
her in the meantime, it still had been only a day since the knight Durge
had found her lying in a snowdrift. Her bones ached, and she was
shivering again.

Now the mirth in Aryn's large eyes was replaced by concern. "Are you
well, Grace?"

Was she well? Grace bit her tongue to stifle a mad laugh. She had left
her apartment, her job, her life, had fled men with hearts made of
metal, and had found herself in an entirely different world. Was she well?

"I'm fine," she said. Aryn smiled.

Grace forced her teeth to stop chattering. "Now, this is my first
morning in Calavere, and I have absolutely no idea what I'm supposed to
do. What's first?"

"Bath," Aryn said, and the word was music to Grace's ears.

Grace had always thought, in medieval periods, people

219

bathed once a year whether they needed it or not. Two baths in two days
seemed-to disprove that theory. On Aryn's order, a pair of serving
maids-the same two young women in dove-gray dresses whom Grace had
glimpsed yesterdaybrought in a wooden tub and pitchers of steaming
water. She noted the serving maids seemed less fearful than the day
before. But then, yesterday she had been half-frozen, found on the
borders of a mysterious forest, and dressed in what were-for here, at
least-outlandish clothes. She supposed it was a little harder to mistake
a bony woman shivering in a tunic for a fairy queen.

Aryn and the serving maids retreated from the room, and Grace soaked in
the marvelously hot water until, one by one, her muscles unclenched.
However, at last the water grew cool, and she knew there was no more
putting it off. It was time to try the gowns again.

She dried off, shrugged on the simple linen shift Aryn had left for her,
then eyed the dusky purple gown the baroness had selected. Aryn had said
the color would contrast nicely with Grace's green-gold eyes and
ash-blond hair. Grace could only take her word for it. They hadn't
taught fashion design in medical school.

Grace shrugged the gown over her head, staggered under its weight,
recovered, then arranged it as best she could. To the gown's sash she
attached the small leather pouch that contained the silver half-coin and
the business card Hadrian Farr had given her. After a moment's thought

she added her necklace to the pouch, for the metal pendant seemed too
large and heavy given the low cut of the gown's bodice. At least, that
was what she told herself, but she remembered the way Detective Janson
had leaned toward her to peer at her necklace, interest shining in his
small, evil eyes.

With a gentle knock Aryn entered once more. Her blue eyes flew wide, but
it was a hallmark of her nobility that she did not burst out laughing.
"It's a good start," the baroness said, "but let's work with it a bit."

There was some struggling at first, but once Aryn asked Grace to stand
still and quit resisting, things went more rapidly. Aryn adjusted the
gown with deft fingers, and Grace found that, once properly arranged, it
was neither so heavy nor binding as she had thought. There was a
definite trick to

220 in

220 MARK ANTHONY

walking in the thing, and sitting was a feat in itself, but after a few
pointers from Aryn, Grace found she was not at all hopeless. In fact, it
was almost fun to feel the soft material swishing around her.

"You're doing wonderfully, Grace," Aryn said.

Grace smiled in reply and spun in a circle. Her smile became a grimace
as she tripped over a fold of cloth and flopped down into a chair.

The baroness winced. "But don't get overconfident." "Thanks for the advice."

Aryn helped her out of the chair, and they proceeded next to a breakfast
of brown bread, soft cheese, and dried fruit. The baroness used the meal
as an opportunity for a lesson. Here in Calavan-as in all the Dominions,
Aryn explainedcommon folk paid tithes of food and other goods to their
liege lord in exchange for protection and justice. In addition to being
king, Boreas was a baron and held several duchies as well, and thus
possessed fiefdoms of his own from which came the food, the wool, the
iron, and other materials that were required for the keeping of Calavere.

Grace picked up a piece of bread. "It all seems like an awfully
complicated way just to get your breakfast."

"And how does one procure food and protection in your homeland?"

Grace chewed the bread and thought. "I'm not entirely certain. We buy
food in a store. And I suppose we pay police officers to protect us."

Aryn's words were polite, but it was clear from her expression she
thought this arrangement inferior. "I see. Markets and mercenaries. I
have heard things are so in the Free Cities to the south. Perhaps you
hail from one of them?"

Grace looked away. How could she tell Aryn the truth about where she
came from? People here had been afraid enough when they thought she
might be a fairy queen. What would they think if they knew she came from
another world?

Now Aryn's voice quavered with worry. "I'm so sorry, Grace. It's none of
my concern where you come from. Can you forgive me?"

Grace turned back, forced herself to smile, and found it was not so
difficult. "There's nothing to forgive."

221

All the rest of that day, and for several days after that, Grace's
education continued. In a way, it was like being in school again.
Although even medical school-despite Grace's love for dissection and
examination-had not been so interesting as this. Most of her time was
spent in her chamber, and she sat by the fire and gazed into the flames
as Aryn lectured. The baroness would sip spiced wine while Grace favored
steaming cups of maddok. She had discovered the remarkable substance one
morning when a clay pot of it was left on her breakfast tray by mistake.
Apparently maddok was considered a vulgar drink, suitable for commoners
only, while nobles preferred wine. However, after her first cup, Grace
did not care what anyone thought of her for drinking it. In multiple
ways maddok reminded her of the coffee in the Residents' Lounge back at
Denver Memorialthick, black, and energizing-only without that battery
acid aftertaste and the accompanying shakes. It was good stuff.

Each day, Grace looked forward to Aryn's visits more and more. Before
long, by the time the baroness arrived at the chamber door, she would
discover Grace already risen and dressed. What was more, Aryn was forced
to rearrange Grace's hopelessly tangled gown only on the first two or
three occasions. After that, Grace found she could manage by herself,
albeit with some minor lifting on the part of one of the serving maids.
The first time she was able to properly don one of the gowns alone she
beamed in triumph. It was amazing what a feeling of independence it gave
one to be able to dress oneself.

Aryn, it turned out, was a good teacher.

The baroness was knowledgeable and explained things in a clear manner,
and, while patient, she was also demanding of her pupil. Though far from
perfect, a picture of this worldat least the part of it in which she had
found herself-began to form in Grace's mind. She listened as Aryn spoke
of the history of the Dominions, and of kingdoms and empires far older.
And she learned something of geography as well, when one afternoon the
baroness used bits of charcoal stolen from the hearth to draw maps on
pieces of stretched sheepskin vellum. It was fascinating, yet-just as
Grace had expected in a world without automobiles and satellites-Arvn's

222

knowledge of the land grew more vague with increasing distance from Calavan.

Of all Aryn's lessons, politics was Grace's least favorite, and the one
upon which they spent the most time. If Grace was to be at all effective
in observing the upcoming Council of Kings, Aryn explained, it was
crucial she possess a thor. ough understanding of all the players involved.

"And the ruler of Brelegond is?"

The baroness paced before the fire, her left hand on her slender hip,
and her expression serious. She had taken to quizzing Grace, who sat on
a stool, to test how well her pupil had paid attention.

Grace thought a minute. "King Lysandir."

Aryn nodded. "Good. Now, tell me the seat of Queen Ivalaine of Toloria."

That was an easy one. The names were so similar. "ArTolor," Grace said
without pause.

The baroness did not give Grace a chance to rest. "And the primary
export of Galt is?"

Grace wracked her brain but could not recall the answer. This was worse
than the gross anatomy final her first year in medical school. "Rocks?"
she said with a hopeful look.

Aryn sighed. "Close. The primary export of Galt is goat's wool."

Grace's lips twisted in a wry expression. "I should have guessed. What
with all those rocks, there are bound to be lots of goats." She looked
up at Aryn. "So, I didn't pass, did I?"

The young baroness hesitated, then shook her head. "But you were
wonderfully close, Grace."

Only Aryn could make failure sound like an accomplishment. "I don't know
how you keep track of everything, Aryn," Grace said. "You're amazing."

The baroness turned away and hunched her slender shoulders. "It's
nothing, really. It's a noble's job to know such things, that's all. It
behooves us to be familiar with our allies and rivals. Still, my
knowledge is only a poor fraction of what Lord Alerain knows. It is said
the king's seneschal can recognize every noble in the Dominions, down to
the least earl, on sight."

"He didn't recognize me," Grace said softly.

223

Her own words startled her, she hadn't meant to utter them aloud. Aryn
turned around, her expression thoughtful, although what she was thinking
Grace did not know.

"I believe it is past time for a rest," was all the baroness

said.

46.

Not all of Grace's hours were spent in study in the small stone chamber,
for Aryn had other duties to attend to besides Grace's education. As
King Boreas's ward, and as the highest-ranking lady in Calavere, it fell
to her to make the household ready for the nobles that would soon
arrive. Rooms that had not been used in a decade needed to be reopened
and aired. The stores in the cellar had to be inventoried. And there
were countless other details to oversee, from making certain there were
linens enough for all the guests, to examining every spoon in the
scullery to be certain each had been polished. Just listening to all
Aryn's activities was enough to make Grace tired. She decided she would
rather work double shifts in the ED on a full moon Friday than be the
lady of a castle for a day.

To keep Grace occupied in the times she was away, Aryn brought an armful
of books from the castle library to Grace's chamber.

"Oh!" Aryn gasped as she set the stack of books on the sideboard.
Concern touched her forehead. "You do read, don't you, Grace? I simply
assumed . . . a lady of your station, that is . . . but if you haven't
learned, that's perfectly..."

Grace held up a hand. "It's all right, Aryn. Yes, I do read. Almost
everybody reads where I come from. Well, they can read, that is. I'm not
certain they always do."

Aryn looked shocked. "Only a fool would squander such a precious gift."

"I won't argue with you on that one."

The books were like nothing Grace had ever seen. Each was lettered
painstakingly by hand and bound in leather gilded with gold and silver
leaf. She opened one of them and

224

I

turned the pages of stiff vellum with growing delight, for the margins
of every page were decorated with intricate drawings of moons, stars,
and intertwining leaves. These were not so much books as they were works
of readable art. Grace. eagerly gathered them up in her arms.

For several afternoons in a row, while Aryn saw to her various duties
about the castle, Grace curled atop the massive bed and read. The books
Aryn had brought were largely histories that described the founding of
Calavan and, in lesser detail, the other Dominions. Most of what she
read was difficult to follow, and consisted of long lists that recounted
the names of which knights and nobles had fallen in this skirmish with
barbarians or that battle with a neighboring fiefdom. Still, it was
enough to make Grace realize that, however kindly people had been to
her, these were harsh lands, carved not all that long ago out of
wilderness by sword and fire.

It was while reading one of the books that Grace discovered the secret
of the silver half-coin the strange preacher man had given her, at the
ruins of the Beckett-Strange Home for Children back on Earth.

One night she shucked off her gown and, clad only in her linen shift,
climbed into bed. She took one of the books with her, to read by the
light of a tallow candle. Except when she opened the book the words on
the page were gibberish, as if written in some ancient, alien language.
Yet she had been reading this same volume no more than an hour ago.

Wait a minute, Grace. You're a scientist, be rational about this. What's
different now that wasn't a little while ago? '

Perhaps it was intuition. Perhaps it was a leap of logic based on some
clues or evidence she had unconsciously noted earlier. Either way, a
thrill ran up Grace's spine. She moved to her cast-off gown, reached
into the leather pouch fastened to the sash, and drew out the half-coin.

After a little experimenting her initial hunch was confirmed. If she
held the coin, or if it was anywhere about her person, she could read
the books as if they were written in English, albeit a somewhat archaic
dialect. However, if she was not in contact with the coin, the words

were meaningless scribbles. When a serving maid entered Grace made an

225

other discovery. The coin affected not only written words, but spoken
words as well. At first the serving maid seemed to speak in a lilting
foreign tongue. Then Grace gripped the

coin, and the girl's words phased into meaning.

"Forgive me, my lady, but I asked if you required anything? "

"No. No, I'm fine."

The serving maid curtsied and left.

It made sense, of course. Why would the people of another world speak
English? It should have occurred to her sooner. But somehow the coin had
worked to translate the language of this land, and she had not noticed.
Grace opened her hand and gazed down at the broken coin on her palm. The
partial symbols engraved on each surface glinted in the candlelight, but
she could not guess what they might be. Whatever they were, one thing
was for certain. Whoever he was, wherever he had come from, Brother Cy
had some sort of connection with this world, with Eldh.

Knowing that left just one question. Why? Why had he come to her at the
orphanage? Or did I come to him? Grace sensed that if she knew the
answer to that question, she would understand much. She tucked the
half-coin back into her pouch.

It was not a feeling she was accustomed to, but the next morning a
strange sense of loneliness crept into Grace's chest. She wished Aryn
was there, but the baroness was off seeing to one of her myriad tasks.
She moved to the window and watched the people below through rippled
glass: squires, nobles, servants, all with names and purposes unknown.

Grace drew in a deep breath. She knew this place was a world away from
Denver. Yet it was not so different from the hospital, was it? At Denver
Memorial she had never spoken much with the other residents and doctors,
had never taken part in their impromptu hallway games or lounge chat
sessions. She had felt there just as she did now, watching the
bailey-distant, disconnected, observing but not taking part.

Grace clutched the stone sill. There was nothing for her beyond the
window. She started to turn away-then halted. There, in the upper
bailey, a figure walked toward the stable. He was clad all in black and
gray, and his mail shirt seemed to weigh down his shoulders. Even from

226

here she could see the way his long black mustaches drooped, and by that
she knew him for certain. It was Durge, the knight who had found her in
the forest.

Over the last several days, Grace had often wondered what had become of
her rescuer. Despite his gloomy demeanoror perhaps even because of
it-she had liked the Embarran knight. Though she had never been one to
make friends easily, she had been oddly disappointed the knight had not
come to visit her, if only to see how she fared. Durge was the
representative of King Sorrin of Embarr. No doubt the knight was busy

making certain things were ready for the arrival of his liege. Still, it
would be good to at least say hello.

Grace fumbled with the latch and threw open the window. A blast of
frigid air struck her. She leaned out, raised her arm, and opened her
mouth to call out to the knight below. As she did, a dread came over
her. It was that same overwhelming fear she always felt when dealing
with other people. Whole people. She froze. This is ridiculous, Grace.
There's no reason to be so afraid. He's just a man, that's all. She
steeled her will and tried again to call out, but by then it was too
late. Durge had stepped into the shadow of the stable and was lost from
sight. She lowered her arm, her hand aching with cold.

Grace stared at the empty bailey below. Why was she always so afraid of
others? She thought of the man she had shot at the hospital, the man who
had killed Leon Arlington, who would have killed the old woman in the
wheelchair if Grace had not stopped him-the man with the lump of iron in
his chest. She lifted her hand to the bodice of her gown, but her
fingers were so cold she could feel nothing. Maybe she was missing her
own heart. Maybe they had taken it from her at the orphanage all those
years ago, just like Detective Janson's had been taken from him. Maybe
that was why she couldn't feel.

Finally the cold was too great to bear, and she closed the window once more.

227

The next morning, Grace's fifth in Calavere, Aryn did not knock on the
chamber door. The night before, the baroness had explained she was to be
in audience with King Boreas for most of the day, working out details in
preparation for the council. Grace was on her own.

For a time she sat by the fire and read. She was determined to teach
herself the language of this place. The half-coin was a remarkable
artifact, and certainly it had saved her life by allowing her to
communicate with the people of this world, but she dared not count on
it. What if she were to lose the coin?

It was painstaking work. First she would read a passage of the book with
the coin in hand, then she would set it down and study the strange words
once she knew their meaning. Already she could read a few phrases
without the coin's help.

At last she blinked, eyes bleary. No amount of maddok is enough to cure
brain-death, Grace. Put it up.

She rose, set the book on the sideboard with the others, then began to
pace, restless. It dawned on her that she had not left this chamber
since her conversation with King Boreas four days ago. True, before
there had been little need. She had been content with Aryn's company,
and the books, and rest. Food was brought to her at regular intervals,
and in the corner there was a covered chamber pot, which the serving
maids replaced twice daily. However, it was more than that. Beyond the
door lay an entire world she did not understand, but within these four
walls was a small space she could control and command, like the ED at
Denver Memorial. Except now the chamber was starting to seem more like
her old apartment. Grace felt bored and trapped, her legs

ached to be stretched. It was time to leave her room. And go where?

She thought this over, then an idea occurred to her. She could go speak
with King Boreas. Certainly he would have some task for her. Perhaps
there were some in the castle who were ill or injured. While she could
not say she missed the

228

Emergency Department or Denver Memorial Hospital, she did miss the
healing-finding the places where others were wounded or hurting, and
taking that pain away.

Quickly, so as not to lose her resolve, she braced her shoulders, opened
the chamber door, and stepped into the hallway beyond. If she had
thought there would be someone there to stop her from leaving, then she
was wrong. The corridor was empty, save for a young page who was walking
past on some errand.

"Your Radiance!" he said, then bowed and hastened on. Grace winced. Even
though they did not know her rank or from where she hailed, somewhere
along the way King Boreas and Aryn had decided Grace was at least a
duchess. And, Aryn had explained, the proper term for a duchess was Your
Radiance. It wasn't much of an improvement over Your Highness, but Grace
supposed beggars couldn't be choosers.

She gazed down the corridor in either direction. One way looked much
like another. She tried to remember something of the route by which Aryn
had taken her to see King Boreas but could not, so she made her best
guess as to which way the main keep lay and started down the corridor.

After an hour she knew she was lost. By then she had made her way
through a labyrinth of passageways, stairwells, and high-ceilinged
halls. Each time she came upon a window, she would look out to find
herself gazing on an unexpected part of the castle. She passed numerous
people as she wandered-servants, men-at-arms, and, by their fine
clothes, nobles of various ranks. All bowed or nodded their heads as she
passed, depending on their station. While she might have liked to ask
some of them for directions, none paused to speak to her or question
where she was going. Apparently duchesses were supposed to know what
they were doing.

Eventually she found herself in a part of the castle that appeared
little used. Not even the occasional servant or guard walked these dim
corridors. A dusty scent hung on the air, and cobwebs dangled from the
ceiling. She was beginning to wonder if she would ever find her way back
to more traveled ways when she rounded a corner and, to her relief,
found herself gazing at a familiar face.

"Your Radiance!"

229

This time the words were uttered by Lord Alerain, the king's seneschal.
Alerain was dressed much as he had been the day Grace had first met him
by the stables, all in black and maroon, with a long vest overlying all.
For a fraction of a heartbeat Alerain seemed surprised. Then the moment
passed, and everything about him was as sharp and precise as his
close-cropped gray hair. He placed a beringed hand against his chest and
bowed toward Grace. She made her best attempt at a curtsy and did not
worry too much whether she had gotten it right. One advantage of a gown
was that it was awfully hard for others to see exactly what you were

doing inside of it.

"Pardon me for just a moment, my lady," Alerain said. He turned toward a
man who stood a few paces away. The man looked to be a servant of some
sort, dressed in a nondescript tunic and a leather cap. He would have
been completely ordinary except his eyes were of different colors: one
brown, one blue.

"You may go now and see to your task," Alerain said in a low but
commanding voice.

The man nodded-the gesture seemed a trifle curt-then started down the
corridor. As he passed Grace, he glanced at her with his peculiar eyes,
and for a moment a grin split his unshaven face. This struck Grace as
strange-none of the other servants in the castle would so much as meet
her eyes. Then the man was gone, and her attention was turned toward
Alerain as the seneschal spoke.

"I would not have expected to find you in this part of the castle, Your
Radiance."

"You're not the only one." Grace lifted her hands in sheepish gesture.
"I think I'm lost."

"Well, we shall have to correct that." Alerain extended his arm, and
after a moment's hesitation Grace accepted it. The seneschal guided her
down the corridor. For a time they were silent as they walked. At last
Grace found the courage to speak.

"I was hoping to find King Boreas." She meant to explain further, but
that was all she could get out for the moment. Alerain shook his head.
"I'm afraid-the king won't be able

to see you today, my lady. He's quite occupied with prepara

230

tions for the coming council. Do you have a request I might relay to him?"

Alerain's kindly demeanor bolstered her courage. "I was hoping to ask
the king if there was anything I could do for him." She was about to
explain she was a doctor, but Alerain spoke first.

"Are you learning about the Dominions and their various rulers and
histories?"

Grace nodded. "Yes. The Lady Aryn has taught me a great deal already."

"Good. That is all the king requires of you for now, my lady. He will be
pleased to know of your progress. And when he wishes for you to do
something else, I'm certain he will summon you."

These words caught Grace off-balance. She opened her mouth to reply, but
nothing came out. No matter what world she was in, conversation was not
one of her strengths. They had reached a well-traveled hall now, and
Alerain disengaged her arm.

"I fear I must see to other, less pleasant duties than escorting you, my
lady. Can you find your way from here?" Grace peered around. The hall
looked vaguely familiar. If

she remembered her wanderings rightly, her chamber was not far off. "I
think I can manage." She tried to sound more confident than she felt.

Alerain smiled and made a precise bow. He bade her farewell, then turned
and strode away. Grace sighed, then moved down a corridor. She was
disappointed when she found herself before the door to her chamber. So
much for adventures. But there was nothing else to do, so she opened the
door and stepped inside.

The next day a young-page came to Grace's chamber with a message from
King Boreas. A feast was to be held at Calavere that night, and the
presence of the Lady Grace of Beckett was required. At this news, Aryn
laughed in excitement. Grace, in turn, panicked.

231

"A feast?" She slumped into a chair by the fireplace. "I don't think I'm
ready for this."

"Nonsense," Aryn said. "Feasts are easy. You just have to eat a lot."

"Something tells me King Boreas isn't inviting me just for the food.
After all, I'm supposed to be his spy." Grace looked up at the youthful
baroness. "So who else is going to be there?"

Aryn scanned the remainder of the king's missive. "The feast is being
held to honor the various representatives of the kings and queens of the
other Dominions. They've all arrived now, to make the necessary
preparations for the Council of Kings before the rulers themselves get
here."

"You mean everyone at the feast is going to be a noble?" Grace asked in
growing dread.

Aryn nodded. "But it won't be so bad, really. You've already met one.
Remember? Durge of Embarr. And he's certainly the most dour of the lot."

Grace thought about the stern but kind knight. "Actually, I rather liked
that about him."

Aryn shrugged. "Well, he did rescue you from Gloaming Wood, so I suppose
you're predisposed to be forgiving." The baroness brightened then and
knelt beside Grace's chair. "I know this all seems frightening, Grace.
But it's not every day one gets invited to a feast by the king of
Calavan. It's going to be fun. You'll see."

Fun. Aryn seemed to have a fundamental misunderstanding of the meaning
of that word.

A knock sounded on the chamber door. Startled, the two women leaped to
their feet.

"Come in," Grace called after a moment. The door opened, and danger
glided through in an emerald-green gown. .

Aryn nodded, a stiff gesture. Her sapphire eyes were wary. "Lady Kyrene."

The Countess Kyrene displayed her small teeth in a smile. Her dark gold
hair fell in ringlets about her shoulders. "Lady Aryn. It is a delight

you are so eager to greet me that your manners have fled you, but may I
gently remind you this is the Lady Grace's chamber, and so it is her
right to offer first greetings?"

232

Aryn's cheeks flushed. Grace hurriedly stepped forward. "Good morrow,
Lady Kyrene." She hoped the trembling in

her voice was not entirely obvious. "It's nice to see you again."

The countess moved farther into the room, and the scent of ripe apricots
followed. "I'm so glad to see you've had time to indulge yourself with
more courtly attire, Lady Grace. I know the urgency and need of your
travel here did not allow it. And your choice of dress is so charming.
My mother always loved that style of gown."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Grace said, though it clearly was not one.

Kyrene smiled again, but the expression did not quite conceal the shadow
of dissatisfaction at the corners of her mouth. "Are you looking forward
to tonight's feast?"

Grace chose her words with care. "I've only just heard about it. King
Boreas sent a missive a short while ago." "Ah, yes, the king."

Kyrene's voice was a purr, as if Grace had unwittingly revealed some
great secret. It seemed no matter what she said the countess would read
some ulterior meaning into it.

Kyrene approached the window and gazed out. "I am certain you wish to
express your gratitude to King Boreas for the kindness he has shown you.
But then, you are a lady of noble blood. It speaks well of you to show
such concern for your host." She turned her gaze on Grace. "Yet, as I am
also a visitor to this court, and thus we are sisters of a sort, I feel
it is my place-nay, my duty-to warn you about the king."

Aryn stepped forward, her left hand clenched into a fist. Her face was
pale with anger. "Warn her? Warn her of what, Kyrene?"

The countess laughed. "Gentle Aryn, you are so guileless, and that is
only as it should be in one so fresh and young. But do try to
understand, love. The Lady Grace and I are women grown, and dare not
pretend such innocence."

Aryn opened her mouth to retort, but Grace shook her head, and the
baroness held her tongue, though she looked wounded. Grace was sorry if
she had hurt Aryn, but she sensed it was important to hear what Kyrene
had come to say. Not that she felt any kinship with the countess. She
eyed the full outlines of Kyrene's pearled bodice. I doubt

233

anyone would ever mistake us for sisters. However, Boreas had told her
to talk with the other nobles at the council, to learn what they were
thinking. She might as well start with Kyrene.

Grace stepped forward. "What do you mean, Kyrene? What do you want to
warn me about?"

A triumphant smile touched Kyrene's full lips. "Do not misunderstand me.
No one would ever say that Boreas is not a fine and good king."

They just think it a lot, Grace added the unspoken implication.

"However," Kyrene said, "it is true Boreas follows the Mysteries of
Vathris. And the Cult of the Bullslayer is a cult of warriors. One
cannot fault them for being predisposed toward conflict and violence. It
is in their blood."

Grace bit her lip. The Cult of Vathris? Was that a religion of some
sort? Knowing would certainly help her in grasping Kyrene's motives, but
she couldn't ask the countess about it-to do so would show her ignorance.

"Are you saying you think King Boreas is a warmonger?" Grace asked instead.

Kyrene clucked her tongue. "Words are such tricky things, love."

And so are you, Grace said to herself. Love.

Aloud she said, "I can't claim to care much for war, but sometimes it's
necessary in times of trouble."

"There are other methods for averting trouble. Subtler methods, but just
as powerful-perhaps even more so. Men are such obvious creatures. They
have difficulty seeing these things. But there are those who do."

Grace did not like guessing games. "And they are?"

The glint in Kyrene's eyes matched that within the large emerald in the
cleft of her bosom. "For now I believe it is enough to say there will be
those at the Council of Kings with interests different from those of
Boreas. You may not wish to sell your allegiance just yet, my lady."

"I wasn't aware that I had."

Kyrene drew near. Now the scent of apricots was cloying. It filled
Grace's head, made her mind dull and torpid. The countess spoke in a low
voice.

"Boreas is a strong king. But do not be mistaken by that

234

11

strength. He is a man, and like all men he can be controlled. A few
herbs, the proper words-I can show you the way. Why should you serve
him, my lady, when it can be the other way?"

Grace could not look away from Kyrene's eyes. They filled her vision, as
if she were falling into deep emerald seas. Then she felt it-a presence
reached for her, groped, searched for secret places. A spark of rage
flared in Grace's brain. No. She had vowed. No one would ever touch her
like that again. Leave me alone!

Grace did not speak the words, but Kyrene stumbled back as if struck a
blow. A look of shock was written across her lovely face. Then something
else crept into her expression. It might almost have been . . . admiration.

Aryn stepped forward, and her slight form trembled inside her blue gown.
"King Boreas is not a warmonger! He's simply concerned about the
Dominions. As everybody should be in these times!"

By the time Aryn finished, Kyrene had already regained her composure.
Her nod was curt. "As you wish, Lady Aryn." She paused for a moment
beside the chamber door. "Consider my words, Lady Grace. Come to me if
you wish to know more." Then with a flash of green the countess was gone.

Aryn let out a frustrated groan. "What on Eldh was that all about?"

Grace shook her head. "I'm not sure." Her mind was still vague and
dizzy. It had felt as if Kyrene had come close-too close-and she had
pushed the countess away. But how?

"She thinks she's so important." Aryn glared at the door. "I don't
recall anyone crowning her queen."

Grace hardly heard the baroness. A terrible weariness seized her, and
she sank into a chair. "I don't think I can do this, Aryn."

Aryn turned around at these quiet words.

"I don't think I can go to the feast." Grace hugged her knees to her
chest. "Or be King Boreas's spy. It's too much." "Of course you can do it."

"No, I can't. I'm not who you think I am."

The baroness sighed. "Is that what troubles you, Grace? But it doesn't
matter what kingdom you hail from, or what

235

your rank really is. King Boreas doesn't care, and neither do 1. You're
a noble lady, and you're here to help us, and that's all that matters."

"No, you don't understand, Aryn. I'm not royalty. And I'm not from any
kingdom. I'm not even from this ..."

It rushed out of her before she could stop it. "... I'm not even from
this world."

Aryn gazed at her, confusion apparent on her face.

Now, Grace. You have to tell her. You have to end this game before it's
too late, before it starts getting dangerous. If it hasn't already.

Still curled in the chair, Grace gazed at the coals on the hearth, and
the words tumbled out of her. She spoke about the hospital, and the man
with the iron heart, and the weird preacher who had shown her the door
at the old orphanage. She spoke about everything-everything except her
true connection with the Beckett-Strange Home for Children. Because if
she talked about the orphanage, then she would have to talk about the
hands that had reached out of the dark, and the fire that had consumed
them, and she could never talk about them. Never.

"Grace . ?"

The word startled her, and only then did she realize she had fallen
silent. She looked up and expected to see disbelief-or mocking, or even

disgust-on the oval of Aryn's face. Instead she saw tears. They traced
shining trails down the baroness's cheeks.

"You . . . you believe me?" Grace whispered.

Despite her tears, Aryn smiled. "How could I not believe you, Grace?
You're my friend." She let out a deep breath. "No, I don't pretend to
understand everything you've told me. Yet, from the moment I saw you, I
knew there was something different about you, an otherworldly air-if not
from the Twilight Realm of the Little People, then from this Earth of
which you speak. While I find great wonder at your story, I confess I am
not altogether surprised by it."

Grace opened her mouth to reply, but she could manage no words. She had
never expected to find this kind of trust, this kind of acceptance.
Certainly not here, a world away from the life she had always known.

"Now," Aryn said, her tone brisk, "we still have a feast to

236

get ready for. No matter who you are or where you're from tonight, here
in Calavere, you're the Duchess of Beckett, and the king is expecting
you." She opened the wardrobe and drew out a pair of gowns. "Tell me,
does Her Radiance prefer green or violet?"

Grace laughed as sunlight poured through the window.

That afternoon, Aryn was called away to help Lord Alerain with
preparations for the feast, and Grace began to contemplate escape. She
stared out the lone window of her chamber at the cobblestones two dozen
feet below and finally decided facing a room of strange lords and ladies
was in fact preferable to plummeting to her death, although only just
barely, She donned the violet wool gown Aryn had chosen for her,
fastened the leather pouch containing the silver half-coin and her
necklace around her waist, and sat down by the fire with a book. to
study. At sundown a young page whose haircut spoke volumes about the
bowl which had inspired it came to her door, and she nodded wordlessly
when he asked her to follow him.

They paused before a set of double doors. Low sounds emanated from the
other side. Just don't faint, Grace. It would be very unduchesslike.

The doors swung open and created such a draft that Grace was whisked
into the great hall of Calavere before she even thought to take a step.
A trumpet to either side let out a piercing note, and she cringed as if
a gun had gone off by her ear.

"Her Radiance, the Duchess of Beckett!" announced a booming voice.

The dull roar of conversation that had filled the hall dropped to a
murmur. A hundred pairs of eyes turned in Grace's direction. She froze
like a deer in the headlights of a car. What was she supposed to do? She
searched the hall in panic for a face she recognized-someone, anyone she
could pretend she was glad to see, move toward, and in the process
extricate herself from the scrutiny of the crowd.

237

There was no one. Every face in the great hall-knight and noble, servant

and attendant alike-was a stranger's. Grace could not remember the last
time she had felt so utterly alone.

"Come with me," a deep voice growled in her ear.

Grace was too relieved to be startled. A strong hand gripped her elbow
and steered her toward a nearby alcove. She blinked and found herself
gazing at the handsome face of King Boreas.

"Your Majesty!" She began a flustered curtsy. He scowled. "Didn't I
order you not to do that?" "I don't think so, Your Majesty."

"Well, I am now. I hate the way everyone is constantly bowing and
curtsying around me. It makes me seasick." Grace snapped up straight.
She had forgotten just how imposing the king was. He was clad all in
black and silver, and his black hair and beard shone in the torchlight.

"As you wish, Your Majesty."

This elicited a bullish snort. "If only people would do as I wished.
Then I wouldn't have had to call this damnable council in the first
place. So, have you found out where the nobles of the other Dominions
stand?"

"I only just arrived at the feast."

The king grunted, as if he found this a poor excuse. Grace hurriedly
continued. "You asked if I had found out where the other nobles stand.
Where they stand on what, may I ask?"

He clenched a big hand into a fist. "On war. What else? I need to know
which of the Dominions are ready and willing for war, and which are not."

"War against who, Your Majesty?"

His steel-blue eyes narrowed. "Who do you think, my lady?" he asked in a
perilous voice. "Against those who would threaten the Dominions, of course."

She took an instinctive step back. "Of course, Your Majesty." Even as
she said this, she could not help thinking about Kyrene's words. Why was
the king so interested in war? While Aryn had spoken of an early winter,
and disease, and outlaws roaming the highway, Grace had heard nothing of
an organized threat such as one might fight with an army.

"I'll leave you to your task," Boreas said. "I have guests I

238

must attend to before Lord Alerain starts scolding me like a mother hen."

The king stalked away and left Grace to catch her breath. Aryn appeared
a moment later. Clearly she had been watching from a short distance. The
baroness was wearing the same gown she had the day Grace had first met
her-a sapphire blue that matched her large eyes-and her dark hair was
braided and coiled beneath a net of fine cloth studded with small gems.

"Isn't this exciting, Grace?"

Grace raised an eyebrow. "That's a word for it-though probably not the
one I would have chosen."

The baroness sighed. "I wish I could be like you, Grace." "Why would you
wish for a thing like that?"

"You're so noble, so regal. Even that first day, in a servant's tunic,
Alerain and Kyrene and King Boreas took you for royalty. And now . . ."
She shook her head and halted Grace's protest. "Yes, I know what you
told me earlier. I know on . . . on your world, on Earth you're a
doctor, but that doesn't change what you look like, the way when you
entered the hall just now you commanded everyone's attention."

The words left Grace dumbfounded.

Aryn whispered in amazement. "You really don't know, do you?"

She took Grace's hand and led her toward a corner. A mirror of polished
silver had been hung upon the wall, so- that courtiers might check and
adjust their attire during the course of the feast. Grace did not
recognize the woman in the mirror. She was tall, clad in a trailing gown
the color of winter violets, with a slender neck and high cheekbones.
Her hair was short but elegant, swept back to reveal small ears, and her
eyes shone like sun on leaves. She looks like a queen. Only then, with a
start, did Grace realize the image was herself.

Was that why everyone had stared at her? Not out of mockery, but out of
. . . ? It was too absurd. She was an overworked resident from an
underfunded city hospital. That was all. Grace turned away from the
mirror. She opened her mouth to speak, but at that moment a voice rose
over the noise of conversation.

239

"Aryn of Elsandry!" The baroness winced.

Grace gave her a wry smile. "It sounds like the king wants you."

, "However did you guess?" Aryn started to move away, then hesitated.

"Go," Grace said. "I'll be fine. Really." She tried to sound as if she
meant it.

Aryn gave her a small wave. "I'll come find you again when I can."

For the first time since she had entered the hall, Grace was both alone
and out of the glare of attention. She took the opportunity to look
around and get her bearings.

The great hall of Calavere had been decorated to resemble a winter
forest. Boughs of evergreen and holly hung from the soot-blackened beams
high above, and more had been heaped along the base of the walls. Their
icy scent mingled with the smoke of torches. Leafless saplings stood in
the corners of the hall, to suggest the edges of a sylvan glade, and
even the tapestries on the walls added to the illusion with their scenes
of stag hunts and forest revels, woven in colors made dim and rich with
time.

Only one object countered the forest illusion and seemed out of place.
It stood against one wall, not far from the doors, a hulking thing of
dark stone. Grace drew near. It was a massive ring as wide across as she
was tall. It hung over a wooden base, parallel to the floor, balanced

between two thick posts. Now that she studied it, Grace was not certain
if the artifact was hewn of stone or metal. Unable to guess what purpose
it could serve, she moved on.

The floor of the great hall was strewn with fresh rushes, and a dozen
long trestle tables stood at right angles to the king's table, which
rested on a dais at the far end of the hall. A score of servants still
scurried about. The feast proper had not yet begun, and the gathered
nobles wandered the hall, goblets of spiced wine in their hands, and
paused here and there to make conversation. Grace was oddly reassured.
Except for the archaic costumes and the stone walls, it didn't look much
different from the annual Christmas party at Denver Memorial, and she
had survived enough of those.

240

Besides, medieval nobles couldn't possibly be more arrogant and scheming
than hospital management.

She was right. The moment she started wandering the great hall she knew
that, given a tunic and a feathered hat, Morty Underwood would have fit
right in. What she had forgotten was, at Denver Memorial Hospital, she
had been a lowly resident. Here she was Grace, the duchess of Beckett.
In moments they had her cornered.

"Good eventide, Your Radiance." This was from a severe woman in a red
gown. A thick coating of powder could not disguise the pockmarks that
scarred her cheeks. A countess most likely. "I see you prefer to make
your entrance last, so all others will witness your arrival. An
interesting choice."

Grace shook her head. "It wasn't a choice, my lady. The page must have
come for me late."

Her eyes glinted like hard stones. "Is that so?" "Pardon me, Your
Radiance," said a young lord.

An earl, Grace guessed by his fine but relatively uncomplicated clothes.

"Can I have one of the servants get you something to drink? I imagine
your journey to Calavere was a long one." A sly light crept into his
eyes. "Or was it not so very long at all? Let me see, the road you would
have taken from Beckett is . . . ?"

"I'm afraid I didn't come by any road," she said.

The young lord acted as if she had slapped him, and he skulked away.
Apparently he had forgotten about her drink. Grace was sorry. She could
have used it.

Several other nobles pressed forward to take his place. Boreas had been
right. Simply being here was enough to make the lords and ladies talk.
Their questions all seemed polite and innocuous enough, but it was
obvious all of them wanted to find out who she was, where she was from,
and what her agenda was.

A short man in a gaudy tunic of crimson and gold approached, and by the
way the other nobles parted he was of a higher rank. He sketched a half
bow in Grace's direction. It was doubtful the significant girth of his
waist would have allowed anything more.

"I am Lord Olstin."

He pronounced this as if Grace should know immediately

241

who he was, and after some thought she found she did. Aryn had told her
the names and ranks of the various representatives of the kings and
queens who would be coming to the council. Olstin was seneschal to King
Lysandir of Brelegond. "My lord," Grace said.

Olstin fidgeted with the empty goblet in his hand. His plump hand was
cluttered with rings. "King Boreas did not tell us he would be hosting
other noble guests at Calavere during the council." His voice rose, so
that all around might hear. "What else, I wonder, has he failed to tell us?"

The other nobles looked on with interest. "I'm sure I wouldn't know,"
Grace said.

Olstin's beady eyes glinted. With his free hand he stroked the short
beard that speckled his jowls. "Is that your stance on the matter, my lady?"

"It isn't a stance, my lord. It's simply the truth."

A murmur rose all around, as if she had just uttered some biting insult.
Grace resisted the urge to groan aloud. Couldn't she say anything?

Olstin opened his mouth to make some reply, but Grace beat him to it.
"My lord, I will take my leave now. I don't wish to keep you from your
pressing appointment with another goblet of wine." Olstin's jaw dropped,
and the onlookers gawked. Grace did not wait for further reaction. She
turned and moved away, feigning great purpose. Only when she stopped did
she realize she was trembling.

"A drink, my lady?"

Grace looked up. The speaker was a tall, elegant man clad in a
pearl-gray doublet. He looked to be forty, by the silver at his temples
and the chiseled lines around his mouth. A thin scar ran along the
length of his right cheekbone, but the effect was striking rather than
detracting. He steadied her with a strong hand. She accepted the goblet
of wine and drank. Her encounter with the nobles of Boreas's court and
with Lord Olstin had been more of an ordeal than she had thought.

"Thank you," she said at last.

He smiled and took the empty goblet. "That was skillfully done, my lady.
How did you know Olstin is a drunkard?

242

There are some few of us who do, yet it is something he goes to great
lengths to keep a secret, even from his liege."

"His eyes," Grace said. "The whites were yellow. That told me his liver
isn't functioning well. The broken blood vessels on his nose are another
sign. It was enough to tip me off, along with the bad teeth-wine is
acidic, and that's how I guessed it was his preferred habit."

"You have great knowledge, my lady."

"Not really. I just see it all the time in the ..." She caught herself.
"... that is, I've seen it before."

The man gave a deep bow of appreciation. Warmth flushed Grace's
cheeks-the wine must be stronger than she

thought. The stranger offered her his arm, and they walked through the hall.

"Lord Olstin is an ostentatious fool," her companion said. "Of course,
he's a Brelegonder, so that's very nearly a requirement on his part. Yet
he does voice some concerns that others of us share."

"Concerns?" Grace tried to make the question sound natural.

"I would not wish to place you in an awkward position with your host, my
lady."

"He's your host at the moment as well, my lord," Grace pointed out.

He laughed, a rich sound that thrummed in Grace's own chest.

"Truly spoken, my lady. Very well, then. It is simply that no one is
certain of Boreas's motives in calling the Council of Kings. The missive
he sent to the other Dominions was far from forthcoming. My queen was
quite . . . distressed by this."

Grace suspected this was a milder word than he might have chosen.
"Couldn't she-your queen, that is-couldn't she simply refuse to come?"

"No, my lady. There is much custom and history bound up in the calling
of a council. Even Boreas, quick to anger and action as he is, would not
call the council lightly. And for a Dominion to refuse to come would be
an act of war."

Grace thought about his words. They seemed important somehow, but she
wasn't certain exactly why.

243

With a deft motion he slipped her arm from his. "I must

take my leave, my lady. There are others I must speak with this night.
Though none, I fear, as charming as yourself. I trust we will meet again."

Grace opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out, which was
probably just as well. He gave an elegant bow, then started away.

Panic gripped her. "Wait! I forgot to ask you your name." A flash of
white teeth. "Logren of Eredane." Then he was lost in the throng.

Perhaps it was the wine, or perhaps it was her little victory over Lord
Olstin, but after that Grace started to feel positively brave.

Once she had a moment to think, she knew who Logren was. Aryn had
mentioned his name, along with those of the other representatives.
Logren was high counselor to Eminda, Queen of Eredane. It was a
fortunate encounter. Or had it been chance at all? Grace wandered on,
and soon she had spoken with nearly all the representatives of the other

six Dominions. There was no need to seek them out. They seemed to find
her first. And each, to one degree or another, echoed Olstin of
Brelegond's concerns: They all wondered at Boreas's true motive for
calling the Council of Kings.

Still, despite all her encounters, there was one noble Grace did not
see, though she looked for him more than once.

A trumpet fanfare sounded, signaling that the feast proper was to begin.
At once people took their places at the trestle tables. Uncertain
exactly what she was supposed to do, Grace sat on the nearest bench.

It was a strategy she might have thought through a little more thoroughly.

"You can butter my trencher anytime, my lady,- if you know what I mean,"
said the lord seated to her left with a leering wink. He was a grizzled
man with lank hair and fewer teeth than' fingers, of which he had
something less than ten. His tunic was stained with grease, and a fetid
atmosphere hovered around him.

Earlier that day, in preparation for the feast, Aryn had given Grace a
crash course in table manners. Two people customarily shared a single
wine goblet. One did not use the

244

tablecloth to blow one's nose. And it was expected of a lady to sprinkle
salt from the bowl for the gentleman on her left. However, there had
been nothing in the lesson about buttering trenchers, or putting up with
lewd suggestions.

She reached for the wine goblet. "You know," she suggested a moment
later, "we might find drinking more cone. nient if we tried it one at a
time."

"Ah, but it wouldn't be nearly so fun." He tightened his

three-fingered hand around hers, so that she could not let go

of the goblet.

A note of alarm rose in her chest. For the first time that night she
felt she was truly in danger. He started to lift the goblet.

"Come, my lady, let us drink together and-"

His eyes bulged in their sockets and went dull, then he slipped beneath
the table.

"He must have dropped something down there," spoke a gloomy voice.

Grace looked up and felt a surge of relief. "Durge!"

The Embarran knight had traded his chain-mail shirt for a smoke-gray
tunic, but she would have recognized his drooping black mustaches and
melancholy brown eyes regardless of what he was wearing.

Durge made a solemn bow. "I believe you are wanted at the king's table,
my lady."

He offered her a hand, and she gratefully accepted it. She wasn't
certain just what the knight had done to her dinner companion, but she
was happy to leave Lord Seven Fingers to sleep it off under the table.

"That's twice now you've rescued me," Grace said. "I'm afraid I hadn't
been counting."

They made their way to the long table that rested on the dais at the end
of the great hall. Logren, Olstin, and the other visiting seneschals and
counselors were all seated there, as were Aryn and Alerain. Grace might
have liked to sit with the baroness, but the seats to both sides of her
were occud Ol ' I d i s ak omethin in A n's ear

pie . stm cane over o Fe s g ry , and she gazed forward with a pained
expression. Grace felt a pang of sympathy, but there was nothing she
could do.

Durge guided her to the two remaining chairs at the far

245

pany than me at table, but I'm afraid these are the only seats ,,on the
contrary," she said, and took one of the chairs.

hands, and spoke a single, peculiar word: Krith.

"Who were those men?" Grace asked after the two had departed.

end of the table. "I'm certain you would prefer better comleft."

'There's nowhere else I'd rather sit."

Durge raised an eyebrow in a bemused expression, but there was nothing
for the knight to do save sit. Pages brought platters of meat to the
table, and the scent elicited a growl from Grace's stomach. As Aryn had
instructed her to do, she split the trencher of hard bread that rested
between her and Durge, placed a few slices of meat on her half, and
placed a good number more on the knight's.

Durge nodded to her in thanks. "I trust you have been enjoying your stay
in Calavere, my lady?"

"Yes, very much," she said, and was startled to realize it was the
truth. Despite the strangeness of it all, despite her fear at meeting so
many new people and not knowing what she was supposed to do, she felt
more alive than she could ever remember.

She took a sip of wine from a goblet, then used a napkin to wipe the rim
so Durge might drink. He did.

"I never had the chance to thank you, Durge, for finding me in the
forest and bringing me to Calavere. You never came to see me after that."

"I asked Alerain daily how you fared, my lady. There was no need to
disturb you with my presence. I am certain the Lady Aryn was far
brighter company."

So Durge hadn't forgotten her. This made Grace smile. "Your presence
would never disturb me, Durge."

His look was skeptical, but he was plainly too polite to disagree.

Pages approached the table with more platters of food: whole swans
cooked with their feathers still on, lampreys floating in thick sauces,
steamed puddings of blood and raisins. And those were just the things
Grace recognized.

Once the food was served, two men-one gray and stern, one broad-faced
and smiling-moved down the length of the high table. They paused before
each platter, raised their

246

"They are the castle's runespeakers," Durge said. "I had heard Boreas
kept some men of the Gray Tower at Calavere. It's good to see he pays
attention to the old ways."

"But what were they doing?"

"I believe they spoke a rune of wholesomeness over the food," Durge
said. "It is a small magic, to be sure, but a useful one. One is more
likely to die from a bit of rotten meat than a robber's sword."

Runes. Grace thought of Hadrian Farr's words back in the police station
in Denver. Hadn't Farr said the ironhearts were interested in runes?
Yes, but they were a world away . . . weren't they? She touched the
pouch that contained her necklace and could not suppress a shiver.

As the feast progressed the entertainments began. Jugglers, fools, and
minstrels all plied their trade before the king's table, then wandered
around the hall. Desserts were served, including a kind of paste that
had been sculpted into all sorts of fantastical forms. Durge called them
subtleties. As far as Grace could tell, subtleties consisted mainly of
sugar and lard, and were surprisingly reminiscent of the stuff in the
middle of an Oreo cookie. She ate two unicorns and half of a castle.

After that, she let her gaze wander across the hall. She halted when she
caught two glints of emerald. Kyrene. The countess sat at a nearby
table. She raised her goblet, as if in toast, and treated Grace to a
knowing look. Grace felt a prickling on her neck. She turned in time to
see King Boreas scowl at Kyrene. The countess's smile merely deepened as
she returned her attention to the handsome lord seated beside her. Grace
could feel Boreas's scowl turn on her, but she did not meet his eyes.
There was some contention between the king and Kyrene, and Grace had
managed to land herself in the middle of it. She had grown bold during
the course of the evening, but now she realized how dangerously little
she understood about the politics of this place. She let out a troubled
breath.

"Is something amiss, my lady?" Durge said.

Grace made a decision. "I'm supposed to find out where everyone stands
on the Council of Kings, but I'm afraid I'm not very good at being a spy."

247

"I see."

She went on before she lost her nerve. "I've spoken with the counselors
and seneschals and advisors here, and they've all told me what they

think about the council, but it still doesn't seem like I've learned
anything."

"Truly?" "No. Yes. I mean, everyone seems to think King Boreas has some
hidden reason for calling the council. I suppose that's something. But
it doesn't really tell me where anyone stands. After all, they had no
choice but to come to the council. Logren said that to refuse would be
an act of-"

Then it hit her. She looked at Durge. "-an act of war," he said.

She nodded. The thought was so disturbing she almost didn't want to
think it. What if Boreas had hoped one of the other Dominions wouldn't
come to the council?

Durge stroked his drooping mustaches. "I can't say I know much about
being a spy. However, I suppose the first rule is to be suspicious of
everyone. That includes me, of course." Now he frowned. "Which means, I
suppose, that you really shouldn't listen to my advice."

Grace shook her head. "No, it's good. Your advice, I mean. You're
right-if I've learned one thing tonight, it's that I can't trust
anybody." Even King Boreas, she added to herself. "You mean I was a help
to you, my lady?"

She touched his hand. "Yes, you were."

After this the feast began to wind down, and Grace found herself
yawning. The sounds of conversation turned to a low drone in her ears,
and the smell of smoke made her mind dull and hazy. She sipped her wine
and stared absently at a .heap of evergreen boughs in a corner.

The heap of evergreen boughs stared back.

Grace sat up straight in her chair. There, among the tangled branches-a
pair of nut-brown eyes gazed straight at her. Something moved and shook
the branches. She caught a glimpse of a round, bearded face and small
hands. However, that was not the strangest thing. For face, hands, and
beard alike had all been as green as the boughs of fir themselves.

Grace turned and grabbed Durge's arm. "Look!" she whispered. "Over in
the corner!"

248

But even as she turned back she knew it was gone. The heap of branches
was still.

"I see nothing, my lady."

She shook her head. "I'm certain it was there. A small man, with brown
eyes and green skin...."

Even as she said it she realized how absurd it must sound. "Perhaps it
was simply the wine," Durge said.

Grace sighed and gripped her stomach. "Maybe it was the subtleties."

Either way she decided to call it a night. She bade Durge good-bye, gave
her farewells to the king, and found a page who was willing to take her

back to her chamber.

And all that night she dreamt of subtleties shaped like small green men.

The day after the fire at the mad lord's house, Travis received his
first lesson in runecraft.

They left the glow of the burning manor far behind and rode all the
remainder of that night. Shortly after dawn, weary from the night's
ordeal, Falken decided they should stop to rest, but then Beltan rode
back from scouting ahead. The big knight had seen a robed procession of
men and women approaching on the Queen's Way. The others exchanged
frightened looks. Perhaps the Raven cultists were on the road by chance.
But perhaps not-for Travis had told the others of the hot brand Sebaris
had tried to use to mark his forehead. The four travelers hid in a
tangled thicket beside the road and watched the cultists pass. Some
carried staves decorated with black feathers, and all wore the sign of
the Raven traced in ashes on their foreheads.

When the way was clear they emerged from cover, then rode south all the
rest of that morning and well into the afternoon. At last they came upon
a talathrin hidden in a hollow beside the road. The cool scent of alasai
was a balm to their fire-scorched lungs.

"The Raven priests will not trouble us here," Melia said.

249

Travis was not sure if she meant this was because of the

innate goodness of the Way Circle, or because of something the
amber-eyed lady had arranged herself. Either way, when they dismounted
and entered the tangled circle of trees, his fear receded.

They made camp and ate a small meal in silence. They had just finished
stowing away the cooking gear when Falken spoke the words Travis had
been dreading all day.

"I think it's time we had a talk, Travis."

Travis didn't need to look up to know Melia's gaze was turned in his
direction. Beltan sat a short way off. The knight sharpened his sword
with a stone, a task that appeared to absorb him, but from the way his
head was cocked it was clear he was listening.

"You want to know how I did it, don't you?" Travis knew his tone was
defensive, but he couldn't help it. "You want to know how I set him on .
. . how I started that fire."

Falken nodded. "As a matter of fact, I do."

Travis shut his eyes and saw the mad lord again, his hands curling like
the claws of a black bird as he writhed in the flames. He opened his
eyes and shook his head. "I don't know, Falken. I don't know how I did it."

"I do."

They turned toward Melia. She had been plaiting the blueblack wave of
her hair. Now she gave it a final twist to bind it neatly at the nape of
her neck. When she spoke again it was to Falken, not Travis.

"Just as we opened the door to our chamber, at Sebaris's manor, I heard
him speak it."

"Speak what?" "The rune of fire."

Falken let out a low oath. "He spoke a rune? But how could that be? It
takes apprentices in the Gray Tower a year before they can invoke the
simplest of runes."

Melia's eyes glittered. "Unless one is a wild talent."

"A wild talent? They've never been anything more than a

legend-stories to make apprentices feel inadequate and study harder."

"You saw the flames as well as I." The bard only grunted.

250

"Then there was the incident in Kelcior with the bound rune," Melia
said. "What else might explain both occur. rences?"

Falken looked unhappy, but he did not disagree. "So what are we going to
do with him?"

"I'm not entirely certain. But I think you had better teach him
something about runes before he incinerates himself and the rest of us."

Travis winced. Once again the bard and the lady were speaking about him
as if he wasn't even there. He let out an exasperated sound, and they
turned their gazes toward him. He opened his mouth to protest, but one
look at the set of their faces and he knew there was no use. He slumped
his broad shoulders inside his baggy green tunic.

"So, when do I start my lessons?"

Falken's expression edged into a wolfish grin. "Now seems as good a time
as any."

Despite the lateness of the year, the tall sunleaf trees that ringed the
talathrin still bore the radial, yellow-green leaves for which they were
named. Travis and Falken sat together beneath one of the ancient trees.
The bard's faded blue eyes bore into Travis.

"Before we can begin, there is one thing I must know, Travis. How did
you learn the name of the rune of fire?" "I didn't learn it. At least, I
didn't know I had." He took a

deep breath, then in a rush explained how the voice had spoken the word
in his mind when he touched the broken rune Falken had found in
Shadowsdeep. What he didn't say was that it was the same voice that told
him to speak the rune at the manor, and that both times the voice had
sounded exactly like Jack Graystone's.

Falken rubbed his stubbled chin. "I am no expert on the craft of runes.
My knowledge is not a tenth that of the master of the Gray Tower, and
his not a tenth of what the Runelord.s mastered long ago. What the
nature of the voice that spoke to you is, I don't know. But over the
years I've learned some small amount concerning runes, and J think I

know enough to teach you how not to harm yourself or others should the
voice speak again."

The bard smoothed the dirt between them with his blackgloved hand. He
drew a symbol with a finger:

251

"This is the rune of fire. Its name is Krond."

Travis bent closer to peer at the three lines in the dirt.

symbol was the same as the one on the broken rune disk he

had touched.

"When the name of a rune is spoken, its power is invoked," Falken said.
"By speaking Krond you called upon

the je ust a power of second fire.

mumble it, The

" Falken said, "there would be little need for the Gray Tower, and every
peasant in the Dominions would be a runespeaker.

out of fashion these days, they still would be rare enough. To call upon
a rune's power, one must will it to be invoked as it

is spoken, and learning to focus one's will properly takes

years of practice." He gave Travis an appraising look. "For

most people, that is."

re. I believe you saw the result."

rune of fire, I mean. Why didn't you invoke it when you said Travis
Travis sdidhuddnotered, then interrupt loothkeebd bard's up 's as lesson
a thought again. struck him.

ago?" ""If Wait all a it took minute. to How invoke a can you rune's
speak power it was now, to Falken?

"Good, Travis. You're paying attention. Now shut up and listen."

gut that is not the case, and even were the Runespeakers not Travis
squirmed under the bard's scrutiny but held his tongue.

"I have heard tales of apprentice runespeakers invoking runes beyond
their reach under great duress," the bard went on. "My guess is your
fear last night was enough to invoke the rune Krond. That means it's
crucial you learn to control your will, Travis. The next time it might
be yourself you set on fire, or Melia, or Beltan, or me."

Travis hung his head. He had not thought of that. A cold knot tied
itself in his stomach. I don't want this power. I don't want any power.
But what he wanted seemed to matter as little in this world as it had in
the last.

"Then teach me, Falken," he said. "Teach me so I don't ever hurt anyone
again."

252

Falken gave Travis a questioning look. Travis only stared forward. There
was no point in explaining. Only one person would have understood.
Alice. And she was much, much more than a world away.

The bard nodded. "Very well, Travis. I'll teach you." The lesson
continued for a time, until Melia called to them. Supper was ready.

"Where did they come from, Falken?" Travis said as they stood. "The
runes, I mean."

The two approached the campfire and sat beside Melia and Beltan, and
Falken answered Travis's question.

"Legend tells that the god Olrig One-Hand stole the secret of runes from
the dragons long ago," the bard said, "and he gave them as a gift to
mankind."

"Olrig? Is he a god of one of the mystery cults?"

'.'No," Falken said, "there were gods long before those of the mystery
cults."

Melia dropped the spoon with which she had been stirring a pot. She shot
Falken an annoyed look.

"Well, it's true," he said.

She sighed. "I know. It's just not one of my favorite topics."

After that Travis said nothing, except to tell Melia that the stew was
delicious.

Over the next several days, as they journeyed south through Eredane,
they came upon a dozen more towns and villages. All of them showed the
same signs of decay and malaise as had Glennen's Stand. And all showed
evidence of the Raven Cult as well. Here and there the symbol of the
raven's wing was scratched on a stone wall, or carved into a wooden
beam, or-once-painted in rust-red blood on the door of a darkened building.

It was a gray afternoon, two days after their flight from Sebaris's
manor, when they came upon the pikes.

Tall wooden poles had been driven into the ground along either side of
the road, stretching like bony fingers toward the sky. But it was not
the poles themselves that had made the four riders stop-that made them
choke and clasp their hands to their mouths. It was what had been lashed
to each.

Falken broke the terrible silence. "There must . . . there must be a
score of them."

253 "More," Beltan said.

"By all the Seven, who would do such a thing?"

Sorrow shone in Melia's eyes. "It is not by any of the seven mysteries
that this act was done."

Against his will, Travis gazed up at the nearest pole. It was little
more than a skeleton that dangled there, held together with dried sinew,
bound to the wooden shaft by the hands and feet. Dark, familiar lines
were etched above the skull's empty eye sockets: the sign of the Raven.
They had marked this one so cruelly that the hot brand had burned
through flesh to char the bone below. Travis hoped the victim had been
dead by then, even though he knew this was not the case, that death had
come only days after, here atop the pole, while carrion birds, impatient
for the feast, swooped down to feed before their time.

Each of the poles bore a similar burden. They rose above the road like a
grisly forest, with tatters of cloth and flesh to flutter on the air for
leaves. Look away, Travis. You've got to look away. But he couldn't. A
sight this horrible demanded a witness.

"There's a sign nailed to this pole," Beltan said.

They nudged their nervous horses closer. The words on the board were
crudely drawn, as by one barely literate:

"Poor thing," Melia whispered. "She probably never even heard of Sia.
Most likely she was just a village wisewoman."

Beltan pointed to another pole. "Or maybe a cripple, and different, like
this one." Despite decay, the corpse's clubfoot was apparent.

They rode farther down the line of poles. Beneath one was a heap of
half-burned books.

Falken sighed. "So reading books is a crime as well. What's going on here?"

They found something of an answer on the last of the poles. The corpse
bound to the top was so mangled as to appear hardly human. Another crude
placard had been nailed below.

254

Travis gave Falken a fearful look. "I don't understand. Why did they do
this?"

It was Melia who answered him. "I think we've just learned another tenet
of the Raven Cult. It seems that, to followers of the Raven, magic is
heresy. As is reading books. Or being different."

Beltan gripped the hilt of his sword. "Why hasn't Queen Eminda put a
stop to this? A few dozen knights sticking their swords in the right
hearts, and this new cult would be a dead one."

"Politics and religion aren't a good mix," Falken said. "Eminda may be
keeping out of it for a reason. All fanatics need to become militant is
a martyr. If Queen Eminda tried to put down the Raven Cult, she might
end up with a dirty little rebellion on her hands."

Beltan grunted but did not argue the point.

"Regardless," Melia said, "from now on I think we had better avoid towns
and villages altogether."

She did not look at Travis, but he knew what her words really meant. He
rubbed his right hand. The rune that had once shimmered on his palm was
invisible now, but he could still feel it there, like a prickling
beneath his skin. What would happen if it ever shone again and the Raven
cultists were there to see it? Would he still be alive when they lashed
him to the pole?

Why, Jack? Why did you do this to me? Didn't you know what would happen?

"Let's get going," Falken said.

They nudged their mounts, and the horses started into a brisk trot,
eager to escape. After a minute, Travis looked

back over his shoulder. Now a dark shape perched atop the

pole that bore the dead runespeaker. He turned his gaze forward again,
and tried to believe the shadow was not watching him with small black eyes.

255 Travis's lessons in runecraft continued as the four travelers made
their way ever south, toward Calavere and the Council of Kings. Each
night, in whatever hidden hollow or Way Circle in which they camped,
after they had eaten dinner, Falken and Travis would sit together.
Travis would watch as the bard drew runes in the dirt with a stick, and
would speak the name of each in turn, being careful to control his will
so as not to invoke the power of any.

Soon Travis had memorized the shapes and names of over a dozen runes.
There was Krond, which was fire, and Gelth, which stood for ice. Sharp
was water, Tal the sky, and Lir, light. The names felt strange yet
somehow comfortable against his tongue. However, he never repeated them
in more than a whisper, and he kept his thoughts neutral when he did. He
did not want a repeat of events at the manor house.

Then one golden afternoon in a talathrin where they had stopped, Falken
handed Travis the stick.

"Here, you try."

Travis hesitated. Was he ready for this? However, Falken did not
withdraw the stick. Travis swallowed hard, then accepted the instrument.
The bard smoothed the dirt between them.

"Show me the rune of fire, Travis."

He thought a moment, then before he lost his nerve drew three quick
lines in the dirt.

"Very good."

Travis let out a sigh of relief.

"Although the angle on the second ascending is a bit shallow, and the
prime descending should extend down a trifle farther."

Travis's sigh turned to one of dejection. "Now, show me the rune of sky."

Tal. That one was easy enough. Travis drew a dot with a line above it.
Falken studied it, then grunted. Travis took

256

that as a good sign, and he found his mood brightening. Maybe he wasn't
such a bad student after all.

"How about one more before Melia calls us to supper?,, Falken said.
"Show me the rune of light."

With a grin, Travis drew a line with an angled stroke corn. ing off it
like a branch and a dot below.

Gloom descended over the Way Circle. The air turned to ice, and Travis
could not breathe. A cry of pain came from the other side of the
talathrin, followed by a single word shouted in fear.

"Melia!" Travis clawed at his throat. His fingers were numb stumps. The
gloom deepened, thickened, like a shroud of shadows. His mind grew as
murky and muted as the gloom. A few more moments and he would be a
shadow himself.

Something registered on his dimming senses: a grunt of effort, a
struggling in front of him, then a scratching in the dirt. The gloom
vanished, and coppery sunlight streamed into the Way Circle once more.

Travis drew in a ragged breath, filling his lungs with good air. The
sparks before his eyes faded. Across the circle Beltan held Melia in his
arms. The lady's face was pale, and shadows clung to the hollows of her
cheeks. However, it seemed she was well enough, for she pushed the
knight away with gentle but firm hands and stood on her own. Falken
still leaned on the hand he had used to scratch out the rune Travis had
drawn in the dirt. The bard lifted his head and looked at Travis.

"You're a mirror reader, aren't you?"

Travis didn't understand what had just happened-as usual-but this was
not the time to hide things. "They call it dyslexia in my world."

Falken swore and struggled to gain his feet. "Why didn't you tell me
before?"

Travis almost laughed. The bard couldn't know what he was asking. The
laughter stopped short at the lump in his throat.

Melia approached. The lady seemed to have regained her strength,
although Beltan hovered behind her. He cast a dark look at Travis.

Melia arched an eyebrow. "A mirror reader?"

257

"I should have seen it earlier," Falken said. "The signs were there, but
I didn't realize it until now. I asked him to draw the rune of light. He
did, only he put the ascending

branch and the dot on the left side, not the right." "He drew it
backward, you mean?"

The bard nodded. "And the rune of light backward is Sinfath-the rune of
twilight."

Melia sighed and lifted a hand to her temple. "Well, that explains my
headache. Sinfath never has agreed with me." "As they say, like repels
like."

This comment won the bard a scathing look. "That isn't funny, Falken.
You know perfectly well all runic magic affects me."

"It nearly affected all of us, although I'm not sure how. It's almost as
if he started to bind the rune. Except that's impossible."

Beltan scratched his throat. "What would have happened if he had bound it?"

Falken looked at the knight. "This Way Circle would have

been forever darkened, a place of mist and shadow. And there would have
been no escaping it."

"I'm not sure I really wanted to know that."

"You asked." Falken shook his head. "But the art of runebinding has been
dead and lost for centuries. It must

have been something else that caused this."

Melia paced a slow circle around Travis. "Perhaps." Travis held his chin
up and stared forward, even though his instinct was to curl into a ball
and try to disappear.

Melia spoke again, and although her voice was brisk, now

there was a gentle light in her eyes. "Well, whatever happened, no harm
was done, and that is something for which to be thankful. We can talk
more about this later. Right now supper is nearly ready. I'll put a pot
on the fire while we wait for the stew. I think we'll all feel better
after a cup of maddok."

Travis gave Melia a grateful look. She nodded, then led the way back to
the campfire. The maddok was hot and good, And Travis's spirits lifted.
However, none of them could help shivering as the sun dipped below the
horizon, and twilight-cool and purple-fell upon the Way Circle.

After that Travis's lessons in runecraft focused not so

258

much on knowledge as on control. Yet while the lessons in runecraft
occupied his evenings in camp, the long days atop the swaying back of
his gelding were more tedious. The muscles of his legs were getting used
to life in the saddle, but his back ached constantly, and the landscape
did little to take his mind off the pain as the travelers progressed
south. The plains stretched in dull brown waves to the west, and the
tumbled slopes of the Fal Erenn rose to the east. Sometimes Travis
wished they could ride into the mountains, or race across the wide
plains, it didn't matter which, just so they could leave behind this
in-between land, and the old Tarrasian road which led over hills and
through shallow vales with unswerving and maddening predictability.

He spent most of his time in the saddle trying to stay warm. There was
little need for him to hold the reins-the gelding was content to follow

after its companions-so he kept his hands tucked beneath his mistcloak.
It only took him three falls into the muck before he learned how to hold
on with his knees. Usually he rode by himself. Beltan was always
spurring ahead or dropping back to keep an eye out for danger, and
Falken and Melia kept their horses together a dozen paces ahead.

Their reticence rankled. Why was it no one would ever tell him what was
really going on? Jack hadn't explained anything that night at the
Magician's Attic. And neither had Brother Cy at the weird revival tent.
What did they think he'd do if he knew the truth?

Maybe they're afraid.

He wasn't sure where the thought came from. It wasn't the voice that had
spoken to him, the voice that had sounded so much like Jack's. Maybe it
was just instinct, but it seemed right. Melia and Falken were afraid of
something. Jack had been, too. And the weird man in black? Travis had no
idea what Brother Cy had thought. But even the preacher had been
unwilling to touch the iron box Jack had given him.

For the first time in days, as they rode, Travis drew out the small box.
He had forgotten how heavy it felt in the palm of his hand. With a
finger he traced the intricate runes that covered the surface. He
recognized a few of them now. The

259

largest of them, in the center of the lid, was the rune Sinfath: twilight.

Travis chewed his lip. Somehow, everything revolved around this box and
the stone inside. Jack, Cy, Falken, Melia-everyone,who knew anything
about what was going on had been interested in the box, yet had been
reluctant to touch it.

He started to lift the lid, then hesitated. He glanced up. The bard and
Melia had ridden some distance ahead. They wouldn't see, and he would
only open it for a moment. He just wanted to see the stone again, maybe
feel its smooth touch against his skin, just for a second or two.

Before he changed his mind he lifted the lid. A calm came over him. The
mottled green stone glistened on its cushion of velvet. He closed his
fingers over its surface. Guilt crept through his pleasure, and with
great reluctance he placed the stone in the box and slipped it back
inside his tunic.

However, several times over those next days, he took the stone out
again. He did not mean to. He would just find himself letting his horse
drop back, and before he knew it the stone was in his hand. It was easy
to lose himself in its iridescent surface, and the leagues seemed to
pass more quickly when he held it in his hand-although he always placed
it back in its box and caught up to the others before they noticed he
was lagging.

It was near evening on their eleventh day out of Kelciortheir fourth
since the incident at the mad lord's housewhen Falken raised his
black-gloved hand and brought the group to a halt.

From the back of his jet horse the bard gazed at two large stones that
stood in the bracken beside the road. The stones were thrice as tall as
they were wide, and the patterns carved into their wind-pitted surfaces

were only faintly visible. Beyond them Travis caught a glimpse of what
looked like a path winding up into the foothills of the Dawning Fells.

Melia flicked her braided hair over her shoulder. "I thought we had
agreed we didn't have time for this little detour of yours, Falken."

"And I thought we had agreed to discuss it when we got here."

260

"You're getting old, Falken. Your memory is starting to

The bard laughed. "Oh, you're a fine one to talk about age, Melia."

Her smooth visage darkened. "So how are we going to solve this?"

"I don't know. How are we?"

Beltan cleared his throat. "Excuse me. I know it's rather ironic, but .
. . I actually have an idea."

Melia and Falken turned toward the big knight. Both wore curious
expressions.

Now that Beltan had gained their attention, he looked uncomfortable.
"Why doesn't Falken just go where he needs to go while the rest of us
keep riding down the Queen's Way?"

Falken crossed his arms. "Ditching me is not really a viable option,
Beltan."

"Oh, I don't know," Melia said. "I rather like the notion." "You would."

"Wait a second," Beltan said. "That's not the whole plan. The rest of us
will ride at half our usual pace, and when Falken is finished doing
whatever it is he needs to do, he can ride hard to catch up with us.
That way Falken gets to take his detour, and we make some progress
toward Calavere at the same time."

Travis grinned at Beltan. For someone who claimed not to be much of a
thinker, it was an awfully clever plan.

Falken and Melia studied each other, as if to predict what the other
would say.

"The plan has its merits," Melia said.

The bard snorted. "It might be acceptable."

Beltan let out a breath of relief. "Why don't you both think about it?
It's getting dark, and either way we won't be able to do anything until
morning."

This the two were actually able to agree on, and they made camp beside
the road.

That night it was Travis's turn to take the first watch. Normally he
might have minded, exhausted from the day's long ride. However, for some
reason he couldn't name, he was restless. He sat on a rock a short way
from the dying campfire, gazed into the night, and listened to the

steady breathing of the others.

261

Boredom stole over him. Before he even thought about taking it out of
his pocket, he found the iron box in his hand. He looked up and for a
moment watched the shadowy forms by the fire. Neither Falken nor Melia
moved. He opened the box.

A sigh escaped his lips. The stone was even more beautiful in darkness.
It caught the starlight and wove it into a graygreen aura that shimmered
just above its surface. He bent over the box, enraptured.

A low thrumming brought him out of his trance.

Travis shook his head. Although it only seemed a minute or two since he
had last looked up, the stars had shifted in the sky above. How long had
he been gazing at the stone?

The thrumming sound grew, and a chill danced along his spine. He closed
the stone in the iron box, shoved it back into his tunic, and stood to
peer into the gloom. Then he saw it: A pale glow shone against the
distant dark. Twice before had seen the same light: once at Jack's
antique store, when the intruders had attacked, and once again on the
highway north of Castle City, just before he stepped into the
old-billboard. Even as he watched, the light drew nearer.

Travis ran back to the campfire and shook Falken's shoulder.

The bard groaned in annoyance. "What is it, Travis?" He whispered a
single word. "Danger."

Falken sat up, at once alert. "Wake the others." Moments later they
gathered around the remains of the campfire, which Beltan had
extinguished with a flask of water.

"It seems, Travis," Melia said, "the enemies of your wizard friend Jack
have found you. I suppose it was only a matter of time. Though I wonder
why now, and here, and not before."

Travis lifted a hand and touched the iron box through the coarse fabric,
of his tunic, but he said nothing.

Beltan's hand slid to his sword. "What do we do? Fight?" "No," Falken
said. "We ride."

Scant minutes later they nudged their mounts forward, onto the broad
swath of the Queen's Way. The glow was closer now, a ghostly blue-white
to the north. They turned

262

away from the light, but before they could spur their mounts down the
road, Falken swore an oath.

"What's wrong?" Melia said. "Look."

Faint but clear, another patch of light glowed against the darkness to
the south. Travis's hand crept inside his tunic, and his fingers brushed
the iron box. A powerful compulsion to open the box filled him, and he

started to draw it out.

Melia turned in her saddle, and her amber eyes bored into him. He
clenched his jaw, resisted the strange urge, and withdrew his hand.

Falken moved his horse near Melia's. "What do you think they are?"

"I know of only one thing that comes in such light. But it can't be. It
has been so long."

"Well, I'm not exactly eager to wait and see if you're right."

Beltan's charger pranced a nervous circle. "Now what do we do?"

"We can turn west and travel overland," Melia said.

The big knight shook his head. "There's nothing to the west but open
plains. We would be completely exposed." Melia made an exasperated
sound. Evidently this wasn't

the response she was looking for. "There is another way."

It was Falken who spoke.

Melia gave him a withering look. "How did I know you were going to say
that?"

Falken eyed the approaching patches of light. "This isn't the time to be
stubborn, Melia. The mountains offer our best chance at finding cover."

"This isn't fair, you know." "Fair has nothing to do with it."

Travis tried to swallow the panic that clawed its way up his throat. Was
he imagining it? Or were those thin silhouettes he saw against the
approaching light?

Melia crossed her arms and glared at the bard. "Very well, Falken. We'll
take your detour. But if we're late to the council, it's on your head."

"As if it wouldn't be anyway."

263

They turned away from the road, guided their mounts between the two
timeworn standing stones, and cantered up the winding path beyond.

52.

All through the night they picked their way up the treacherous trail,
deeper into the shadowed mountains. Travis clung to his mount's back and
dug his fingers into the gelding's mane each time the horse stumbled on
an unseen stone. Neither moon nor stars shone in the cloud-cloaked sky,
yet Melia led the way with confidence. Her mare drifted through the
gloom like a ghost, and the other horses followed their companion by
scent. From time to time Travis thought he glimpsed two sparks of amber
light ahead, piercing the dark like the gleaming eyes of a cat, but he
couldn't be certain his own eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

At first, as they rode along the narrow trail, Travis looked back over
his shoulder every few minutes, and each time he expected to see

blue-white light rending the night behind them. However, all he saw was
unblemished blackness. There was no sign of his mysterious pursuers.
Finally weariness stole over him and blunted the edges of his fear. In
the end he slipped into a sort of waking dream: a dull trance filled
only with darkness and the ceaseless clop-clop of the horses' hooves.

He woke with a start to the sound of murmured voices on the chill,
moisture-laden air.

"Whatever you did to conceal our trail, it seems to have worked. I don't
think they've followed us." That was Falken's low, musical voice.

"How much farther is it?" Water over copper. Melia. "Actually, I believe
we're nearly there. Though I grant you, it's been a long time since I
last journeyed to this place. A long time indeed."

"Should we rest here a while?"

"No, let's press on. I think it might be safer to make camp once we're
there."

Travis blinked, and only then did he realize he could see.

264

A pearly luminescence had crept into the fog, and all around them he
made out the muted outlines of rugged mountains: dimmer patches of gray
against the glowing air. The trail passed between the outstretched arms
of two horned peaks, and they entered a valley bounded on all sides by
forested ridges. A crisp morning wind rushed into the vale and tore the
mist to tatters. The white-gold light of the dawning sun broke through
the shroud of fog.

That was when they saw it. It stood like a pale sentinel atop a mound in
the center of the valley. They brought their horses to a halt.

Even in ruin the tower was glorious. Smooth walls of ivory, soared
skyward in a single, tapering spire. There were no windows in its
surface, nor ledges, nor turrets-nothing that might mar the perfect
symmetry of its form. Yet time had not been so mindful of the tower's
airy perfection as had its creators. The summit of the spire, which
should have risen to a slender point, ended abruptly in a jagged crown
of broken stone. Heaps of dirty white rubble, overgrown with moss and
weeds, surrounded the tower. Dead vines clung to the walls like veins.

Travis's breath conjured ghosts on the cool air. "Where are we, Falken?"

The wind tugged at the bard's black-silver hair. "This was the White
Tower, the tower of the Runebinders. It was one of three bastions of
runic magic founded after the fall of Malachor, over seven hundred years
ago, by the followers of the Runelords."

Travis nudged his horse forward. "The Runelords?" Falken nodded. "The
Runelords were the greatest wizards Falengarth has ever known. Much
knowledge was lost in their passing, knowledge that will never be
regained. But some of their students fled the destruction of Malachor.
They raised three towers in exile, to preserve the arts of speaking,
binding, and breaking runes."

"But what happened to them?"

"Both the White Tower and the Black Tower fell many centuries ago, and
the arts of runebinding and runebreaking were lost from the world. Of
the three, only the Gray Tower stands today, and even so the power of
the Runespeakers is but a faint shadow of what it once was. No more than a

265

fraction of what is carved upon the runestone in the Gray Tower is
understood by the Runespeakers today-and it is but one of nine
runestones that were created by the Runelords long ago." The bard's
words drifted away on the wind.

Melia laid a gentle hand on his arm. "All things must rise and fall,
Falken. It is simply the way of the world. Of all worlds."

A smile touched his lips. He shrugged, as if to say, I know. But the
sadness in his blue eyes did not fade altogether. "Come on," he said in
a gruff voice. "Let's find a place to

make camp. If I don't have a hot cup of maddok, and soon, I'm going to
get very testy."

The four travelers rode into the valley, and the ancient spire loomed
higher above them. They made camp in a grassy depression not far from
the base of the tower. Soon they sat around a cheerful fire, bellies
full from the breakfast Melia had prepared, and sipped hot maddok from
clay cups.

"How nice that everybody is so comfortable they feel no pressing need to
clean the dishes," Melia said in a voice that was dangerously pleasant.

The others leaped to their feet and set to the task.

Weary after the night's forced ride, they spent the remainder of the
morning resting. Travis curled up in his mistcloak, and when he finally
woke the sun was already near its zenith. He rubbed bleary eyes and sat
up. Beltan sat nearby, clad in his green tunic, polishing his mail shirt
with a cloth. Melia and Falken stood by the fire, speaking in low
voices. "You're certain you should go alone?" Melia said.

"I'm not expecting any trouble inside, but it's been centuries since
anyone set foot in this place. There's no telling what's in there. I
think it's better for one person to venture in and see rather than all
of us. Besides, studying the stone is a one-person job."

Melia did not look pleased. "Be careful, Falken."

She and the bard locked gazes, and it seemed some unspoken message
passed between them. Falken nodded. Without further words he left the
hollow where they had made camp and walked toward the ancient tower.
Travis watched until he stepped into the mouth of an arched doorway and
disappeared into the ruin.

266

I

Melia turned around and regarded Travis and Beltan, her expression
critical. "There's soap in one of the saddlebags, and I believe there's

a stream over that hill." Her nose wrinkled. "You two may wish to take
advantage of it."

Travis and Beltan exchanged looks. "I'll get the soap," the knight said.

The day had turned warmer than usual, which was to say it was merely
brisk rather than frigid. However, the sun was bright and the air still,
and Travis could imagine worse bathing conditions-although these would
likely involve chipping a hole in ice first. He and Beltan crested a
rise and found the stream Melia had seen. It was little more than a
brook that tumbled over polished stones, but in one place it formed a
clear, sandy-bottomed pool, several feet deep in the center, and perfect
for washing. They shucked off their clothes and, before they lost all
their nerve and body heat, plunged in.

The water was bone-achingly cold, but after a minute or two numbness set
in, and after that the pain was almost bearable. They scrubbed with the
soft, brown soap, then dived under to let the current wash away the
sweat and grime of travel. After several seconds of submersion, the cold
threatened to crack Travis's skull, and he stood up and gasped for air.
A moment later Beltan broke through the surface in a spray of
crystalline droplets.

"By the balls of Vathris's Bull!" the knight roared.

Travis cringed. "You know, that's probably not the most appropriate oath
for bathing in cold water."

The other man snorted in agreement. He slicked his long, thinning hair
back from his brow. That was when Travis noticed the knight's scars.

In stark contrast to his bright demeanor, Beltan's body spoke of a life
of hard and violent work. The Calavaner was muscular, but not at all
like some gym-toned magazine model from Earth. More like a wild
Serengeti lion, hungry and feral and ribs showing, a patch of tawny hair
in the center of his chest. Countless fine white lines crisscrossed the
knight's fair skin, along with a number of pink welts. Travis raised a
hand to his own chest. True, he had sacrificed most of the old layer of
fat to the rigors of this world, but beneath the sandy brown coils his
skin was smooth and unmarked.

267

How had he ever dared to think he had known hardship in his life?

"What is it, Travis?"

Beltan's high forehead was furrowed in a frown. Travis fumbled for words.

"I'm sorry. It's just . . . your scars . . . I didn't know." The blond
man shrugged. "I'm a knight. It goes with the territory."

"Doesn't it ever make you want to stop? Being a knight, I mean."

"Not really. You get used to bleeding." "I don't think I ever would."

"You might be surprised. I think you'd make a fine knight, Travis."

Travis laughed and tried not to notice how hollow the sound was. "I
don't think anyone on this world will ever mistake me for a knight,

Beltan. The worst scar I have to show is from a paper cut."

It had been meant as a jest, but Beltan didn't laugh. "Not all wounds
leave scars that show, Travis."

Almost any other words he might have expected. Not those. Travis took a
step backward in the pool and stared. Had the knight guessed something
about him? But how could Beltan know? He had never told another.

I love you, Travis.

I love you, too, Alice. Now go to sleep. You have to sleep for the
medicine to work.

Will you be here when I wake up? I promise.

Cross your heart?

Cross my heart and hope to die. Okay. Good night, Big Brother. 'Night, Bug.

Travis opened his mouth. The knight's blue eyes pierced him like a
blade. In that moment he almost told Beltanalmost told him everything,
how he had broken his promise, and how afterward the stifling silence
had mantled the Illinois farmhouse.

A chill wind rushed down from the ridges above the valley, its touch icy
against his wet skin. He shivered and swallowed the words he had been
about to utter.

268

"We'd better get out of this water if we want to thaw before spring," he
said instead.

Beltan only nodded.

After that they washed their tunics, breeches, and undergarments in the
brook, draped them on bushes, then lay on flat rocks and sunned
themselves while their clothes dried. It was late afternoon by the time
they returned to camp, now clean and warm. Melia glanced up as they
approached.

"Well," she said, "it's an improvement." Beltan looked around. "Where's
Falken?"

"He isn't back from the tower yet." The tightness around Melia's mouth
belied her calm tone.

Beltan made a small gesture by his hip, where his sword was usually
belted. "Perhaps I should ..."

Melia gave her head an almost imperceptible shake. "Not yet, Beltan.
Give him time." She stood and affected an air of briskness. "Now, I
imagine Falken would appreciate dinner being ready when he returns, and
the fire is running low." "I'll go find some more wood," Travis said.

"Of course you will, dear."

By the time Travis returned to camp with an armful of sticks and
branches, the sun had dipped behind the western rim of the valley, and

Falken was still not back. Beltan stoked the fire, and Melia heated a
pot of stew, but they picked at their bowls without eating. Twilight
flowed down from the folds of the mountains.

Melia stood, her fine-boned features chiseled in resolution. "I'm going
in there."

"Going in where?" asked a low voice.

The three spun around, and a figure stepped into the ring of firelight.
Travis let out a relieved breath.

"Falken!" Relief turned to concern. The bard's face was lined with
weariness, and his eyes were haunted in the twilight.

"I was about to come look for you," Melia said. "It is well you did not."

Falken staggered. Beltan gripped his arm and helped him sit on a log.
Melia pushed a clay cup of maddok into his hands, and Falken gulped some
of the liquid. He set down the cup and drew in a deep breath.

"It's worse than we thought," he said.

269

Melia smoothed the folds of her gown. "Did you find the runestone?"

"Yes." "And could you read it?"

"Only after much work, and then only a few fragments. But they were enough."

"Enough for what?"

"Enough to tell me my darkest suspicions have come to pass." Falken
flexed his gloved hand into a fist. "Blast it, but sometimes I hate
being right."

Melia laid a small hand over his fist. "I must know, Falken. Tell me."

He nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but the words were never uttered.

Metallic white light split the gloaming.

Falken lurched to his feet, and the others followed suit. The brilliant
light crested the rim above the valley like terrible dawnfire. Only it
came, not just from the east, but from every direction. Even as they
watched, the light sped down the slopes to the valley floor and
approached the ruined tower with preternatural speed.

Beltan unsheathed his sword: "It looks as if Travis's friends have found
us after all."

Travis took an involuntary step forward, drawn by that which he dreaded.
He could not look away from the now too-familiar light. Who were these
things that had pursued him across two worlds? And what would they do to
him when they finally caught him?

The eerie illumination drew closer. It formed a ring around the tower,
encircling it completely, while the rest of the world dimmed to shadow.
There would be no escape this time. Travis could see them now, as he had

twice in Castle City, impossibly tall and thin, moving with terrifying
grace: silhouettes in the light.

"By all the Seven," Falken whispered. "Wraithlings." Melia glanced at
him, amber eyes wide. "But that's impossible. All of the Pale Ones were
destroyed!"

Falken pointed toward the approaching light. "Then what do you call those?"

Melia opened her mouth, but she said nothing as the willowy beings
closed in from all sides.

270

I

Travis gazed into the light. Wraithlings. So that's what they're called.
He wanted to look away but could not.

The four travelers drew closer together, and Beltan kicked out the campfire.

"How did they find us?" Falken said.

Melia eyed the approaching light. "A few moments more, and you'll be
able to ask them yourself."

Travis lifted a hand to the pocket of his tunic. He had been unwilling
to admit it to himself, yet he had an inkling of how his strange
pursuers had followed him all this time. But it couldn't be. All that
day he hadn't even opened theHis hand slipped into his pocket, and his
fingers brushed against slick stone.

How? Travis's mind raced. He had taken the iron box out of his pocket
when he washed his tunic. The latch must have come undone when he put it
back. Before he even thought of what he was doing, he drew out the
stone. It glowed gray-green in the dimness.

The shadows within the light reached out slender arms. Falken grabbed
his wrist with violent strength. "Put that away, you fool!"

Travis fumbled with the stone, shoved it back into the box, and shut the
lid.

Melia glanced at Falken, her expression grim. "Perhaps we know after all
how they followed us here. Wraithlings were created for but one purpose."

Falken grunted but did not reply. "So, what now?" Melia said.

Beltan pointed his sword toward the light. "Whatever it is, you'd better
decide soon. I always thought wraithlings were just stories, and I
really don't want to find out I've been wrong all these years."

"The tower," Falken said. "It's our only chance."

There was no time to mount the horses. The beasts pranced and strained
against their picket lines. Beltan slashed the ropes with his sword, and
the horses thundered

271

away into the gloom. On foot the four humans fled toward the base of the
spire. Their own shadows splayed out before them, as spindly as the
things in the light that followed. The archway in the stone wall yawned
like a ravenous maw. Falken plunged into the opening, the others on his
heels.

The darkness was a thick, suffocating blanket. Travis stumbled, his
blind hands groped for anything to hold on to. There was a moment of
sheer panic, then his fingers brushed cold links of metal over something
broad and solid. Beltan. Big hands gripped Travis's shoulders, steadied him.

"I'm afraid, Beltan," he whispered. "It's all right, Travis. I'm here."

"But you shouldn't be. Don't you see? It's me that they're after." It
was true-the others were in danger because of him, and if they were
harmed it would be no different than if he had done it himself. He
couldn't allow that. "I have to go back out there, Beltan. Otherwise,
they'll take you, too."

Travis started to pull away, but the knight encircled him with powerful
arms.

"No, Travis. I will not let you go."

Travis struggled, but Beltan's arms might as" well have been bands of steel.

Now Beltan's voice was a low rumble in his chest. "Do not fear, Travis.
I am Melia's Knight Protector, and she is your charge. That means I am
your protector as well. No harm will come to you while I am alive. I
swear it.

But what harm will come to you? Travis did not speak the words.

Blue light sprang into being and drove back the shadows inside the
tower, if only for a few paces in any direction. Now a nimbus hovered
across the archway, like a gauze woven of moonlight. Melia lowered her
arms and glanced at Falken.

"It will not hold them for long." "Then let's get moving."

The bard led the way deeper into the tower. After a few dozen paces
Travis realized he could still see. The blue-silver radiance had
followed them. No, that wasn't right. It hadn't followed them at all.

Melia was glowing.

The silvery light danced along the edges of her lithe form,

272

like the corona Travis had once glimpsed shining around her in the ruins
of Kelcior, only far brighter. What was Melia doing? And how had she
managed that trick with the door? Was it the same thing she had done
last night, along the narrow mountain path, to keep the beings in the
light-the wraithlings-from pursuing them? She noticed his expression of
awe and frowned at him.

"Don't even ask," she said.

Travis snapped his jaw shut. They moved down a dustshrouded passageway.

Melia drew alongside Falken. "Where are we going?"

The bard did not slow his pace. "The White Tower was built nearly seven
centuries ago, when things such as wraithlings were not yet forgotten.
The Runebinders wove enchantments of warding into the very stones of
this place. If we can find a way to awaken those defenses, we might have
a chance."

Beltan gave the bard a sharp look. "If the tower had defenses of old,
then why did it fall?"

Falken only pressed onward.

The interior of the tower was a twisting maze of stone, and the walls
were peculiarly curved, so that looking at them made Travis dizzy. Melia
still shone in the gloom, but the shadows parted only grudgingly for the
blue radiance, and the air grew more oppressive as they went, as if all
the bulk of the tower above weighed upon it.

Travis did not notice when they first began to spiral inward. For some
time they had been bending steadily to the left. The corridor was
descending as well, at a shallow but detectable angle. Falken did not
slow his pace. They kept moving while the passage curved in on itself in
evertightening arcs, down and in, deeper and deeper.

They nearly collided with the bard as he halted. Travis felt a stirring
of air-dry as death-against his face. They stood on the edge of some
great space. Perhaps it was their spiraling path, perhaps it was
instinct. Either way Travis knew what this place was. The heart of the
White Tower.

"Melia," Falken said quietly. "Light."

She shook her head. The azure nimbus that surrounded her flickered and
deepened in hue, like a dying flame. Darkness closed in.

273

"No," she said, her voice strained. "My power is limited here. It is an
older magic that holds sway in this place."

Falken swore. "Well, I can't very well read any runes if I can't see.
Can't you manage something?"

"There may be no need. Will not this place know the presence of one of
its own?"

"I hadn't thought of that." "There's one way to find out."

Sweat trickled down Travis's sides. What were those two getting at?

Falken turned toward him, barely visible in the murk. "Take a step
forward, Travis."

He wasn't certain what he had expected the bard to say, but that wasn't
it. "Why?"

"If Melia's right, you'll see."

That sounded more than a little ominous, but as usual he seemed to have

no choice in the matter. He braced his shoulders, held his breath for a
moment, then stepped forward. Lir.

It was as if someone spoke the word in his mind, but this time the voice
was not jack's. Instead the voice was larger, deeper, and far more vast.
A heartbeat later it happened.

Without sound, a thousand sparks of light appeared against the blackness
and filled the air with shimmering radiance. Travis took another step
forward and craned his neck back. The others followed after him into the
domed chamber. It was like standing inside a globe of stars. Only they
weren't stars at all. Travis drew in a breath of wonder.

"They're runes," he murmured.

Countless runes had been carved into the stone of the walls and ceiling,
and each of them shone with soft radiance. Even the floor was alive with
blue firefly lights, except for a circle in the very center of the
chamber, and this was as black as night, its edges so sharp they hurt to
gaze upon. In all, the effect was like that of a brilliant night sky
with runes for stars, reflected in a black lake below.

"It's beautiful," Beltan said.

Melia grimaced and lifted a hand to her temple. "Everyone's entitled to
his own opinion."

Falken prowled deeper into the chamber. "Where is it? It's got to be here."

274

Travis tagged behind him. "What's got to be here, Falken? What are you
looking for?"

"The Foundation Stone. It's the key to the tower. Or the heart, anyway.
It should be here, at the very center, bound with Orm, the rune of
founding. Two strokes crossing each other. We have to find it."

Travis joined in the search. He peered at floor, walls, and ceiling,
examined numberless glowing runes, and recognized barely a handful of
them. None was formed of two crossed strokes.

Melia called from across the chamber. "I think I've found something."

It was not the Foundation Stone but something else: a glowing panel in
the wall covered with angular drawings. Travis cocked his head. When
examined from left to right the pictographs seemed to tell some sort of
story. Then it struck him.

"It's the history of the White Tower," he said.

"Yes," Falken said. "Here the Runebinders are coming to the valley. And
here they are laying the first stones of the tower." He pointed to a
group of stick figures gathered in a circle.

"But who is this person?" Melia said. "The one in the center of the
circle, on his knees? I can't quite translate the runes written above
him." She frowned in concentration. "Dead One. Is that what they read?"

Falken drew in a hissing breath. "No, not Dead One. Together those two

runes mean Lord of the Dead."

Melia looked at Falken. "A Necromancer? But they were all destroyed in
the war against the Pale King. How could one have been here, more than
three centuries later? And better yet, why?"

Falken rubbed his jaw. "I don't know, but this gives me a bad feeling. I"

"Falken, Melia, you'd better come over here." It was Beltan. The knight
stood some distance away, near the center of the chamber. "I think I've
found your Foundation Stone."

The three hurried toward the knight. He stood on the edge of the
lightless circle in the center of the chamber. Travis gazed at the floor.

275

Of course. That's why we didn't find it, even though it's huge. It's so
dark.

Falken swore an oath of dismay. The Foundation Stone was a great disk,
as wide as the reach of Travis's outstretched arms, set into the floor.
Two crossed lines were etched into its-surface-the rune of founding:

Only, the lines did not glow like the other runes in the chamber.
Instead they were dark as soot. The reason was obvious: A jagged crack
ran right through the center of the disk. The Foundation Stone was broken.

Travis swallowed hard. "Falken, you said the Foundation Stone was the
key to the tower's defenses."

The bard nodded.

"But the stone is broken."

"Yes."

"Then that means-"

"It means," Falken said, "there is no hope after all." The four gazed at
the darkened rune in silence. "Your dagger, Travis," Beltan said. "It's
glowing."

Travis glanced down at the stiletto tucked into his belt. The ruby in
its hilt pulsed with a crimson light, faint but growing brighter each
second. He had seen the dagger glow like this once before. In Castle
City, at the Magician's Attic, when the intruders were near. Very near.
He looked up at the others, licked his lips, and whispered the words.

"They're coming."

A metallic hum resonated on the air. Light poured through the archway
into the domed chamber. The runes above dimmed under the livid illumination.

The four travelers stood shoulder to shoulder. Beltan unsheathed his
sword, and Travis drew the stiletto from his

276

belt. The blade was laughably small in his grip. The ruby in the hilt

blazed like fire.

The hum rose to a maddening whine. One by one they appeared against the
white-hot glare that filled the archway, and slipped into the chamber
with fell grace. Wraithlings. The light dimmed, and for the first time
Travis saw the willowy beings as more than silhouettes.

He knew now why they were called the Pale Ones. Their skin was smooth
and silvery-white, like the skin of a shark. They were tall and
impossibly slender, with large heads, and necks that belonged on
featherless swans. Huge eyes-black as obsidian-dominated their smooth
faces. Their nostrils were no more than thin slits, and as far as Travis
could see they had no mouths.

He choked on the words. "What do they want?"

"The Stone," Falken said without taking his eyes from the advancing
creatures. "That is why the Pale Ones were created. To seek the Great
Stones."

Even as Falken said this Travis realized his hand was in his pocket,
that his fingers clutched the iron box. He pried them away, pulled his
hand out, and forced it to join the other in gripping the stiletto. The
Great Stones?

The wraithlings drifted closer, and glowing trails hovered on the air in
their wake.

"Stop!" a clear voice commanded.

A slight figure stepped forward and raised a forbidding hand.

Beltan reached out. "Melia!"

Falken grabbed the knight's shoulder, held him back. "No, let her try."

The corona around Melia had brightened again, far beyond what it had
been before. The blue-silver radiance drove the murk back to the edges
of the chamber. The wraithlings hesitated and gazed at her with
unblinking eyes. Whatever she was doing it was working, but her visage
was lined with strain-the effort was costing her.

"They're staying back," Falken said.

Melia spoke through clenched teeth. "We must not let them get the Stone."

"Maybe if we can hold them at bay long enough, they'll leave."

277

Melia did not answer the bard. She pressed her eyes shut, and the corona
brightened a fraction around her small form. The wraithlings milled
together in a tangle of willowy limbs and lidless eyes. Beltan raised
his sword and stood behind and to the right of Melia, while Falken drew
the knife from his belt and stood to Melia's left. Travis started to
follow after him.

"No, Travis. Keep behind us. You're the holder of the Stone. It's you
they want."

He opened his mouth to protest, but a sharp look from Falken rooted him
in place. Sweat trickled down Melia's brow, her hair clung to her
cheeks. The wraithlings began to fan out to either side. Melia could not
hold them from every direction. If the creatures circled around the
chamber, all would be lost.

One of the beings moved within striking distance of Beltan. The knight
lashed out with his sword, and metal clove flesh. A mouthless cry on the
edge of hearing pierced the air, and the wraithling fell back. The
creature clutched the wound on its arm, and white light welled through
its thin fingers instead of blood. At the same moment Beltan cursed in
pain, and his sword clattered to the floor. The blade was covered with
frost. He grimaced and rubbed his hand, the flesh where he had gripped
the sword blue as ice. The wraithlings stirred like lithe trees under a
gale.

"I think you've made them mad," Falken said.

Beltan groaned. He picked up his sword in stiff fingers. Falken raised
his dagger. The wraithlings kept clear of the blades, yet at the same
time continued to circle around to either side. Melia was trembling, and
the corona had darkened to a flickering violet. Now the wraithlings had
circled around a third of the chamber, now half.

Travis clutched the stiletto in a sweating hand. He could not watch the
wraithlings advance. The light that emanated from their bodies was too
painful to gaze upon. He turned his eyes instead to the circle of
darkness at his feet. The Foundation Stone. He stood on the edge of the
broken rune. His terror was tempered with a kind of sadness. So this was
where all his drifting had finally led him: to death at the hands of
glowing creatures on an alien world. If only the

278

rune of founding were not broken they might have had a chance against
the wraithlings.

Then bind it.

Travis stiffened at the sound of the voice. He knew there was no use in
looking around for the speaker. The voice had come from within.

Jack? For a frantic moment his mind was filled only with silence.
ThenYou must bind it. Quickly, while there is time. He shook his head in
confusion. Bind what?

By Olrig's hand, must you always be so dense, Travis? The broken rune,
of course!

It was Jack. Only his old friend would swear an oath like that. But what
did Jack mean? Travis sank to his knees and gazed at the sundered rune.
How was he supposed to bind it? You will know. But you must hurry!

And the voice was gone. Travis gazed at the black circle on the floor
before him, then a terrible sound jerked him out of his trance.

"Melia-no!" It was Beltan.

Out of the corner of his eye, Travis saw the corona that surrounded
Melia flicker and wink out of existence. She slumped to the floor, and

the wraithlings rushed in to caress her with pale hands. She shrieked, a
sound of agony, and her back arched off the hard stone.

"Get away from her!" Beltan shouted.

He swung his sword in a whistling arc. The fey beings leaped back at the
fury of the mortal man. Falken grabbed Melia and dragged her motionless
form back toward Travis. Sword aloft, Beltan retreated after him.
Tracing their shining paths on the air, the wraithlings followed.

Terrible as all this was, it seemed distant to Travis. He turned his
gaze back to the broken rune. Bind it. He reached out a hand toward its
surface. White light shone before him. The wraithlings had closed the
circle. He looked up and found himself gazing into huge, lidless eyes.

For a moment the two gazed at each other, two worlds come face-to-face.
Then a slender hand reached toward Travis. There was death in that
touch. Fear propelled him to

279

action. He slashed outward with the stiletto, the ruby flared crimson,
and the tip sank easily into translucent flesh. Somehow Travis knew it
was for just such a purpose that the knife had been forged long ago, in
the smithies of ancient Malachor.

Again came the soundless wail. The wraithling fell back. Light streamed
outward from the wound in its hand, only this time the light was tinged
with crimson. Travis heard his companions scream behind him. The
wraithlings were everywhere, there was no more time. He dropped the
dagger, pressed his hand against the dark circle of stone, and shouted
the word in his mind.

Orm! In the space between two heartbeats everything went black. The glow
of the wraithlings was extinguished, as was that of the runes that
scattered the walls and ceiling of the chamber. Time and sound were
suspended. Then two crossed lines appeared and shone in the dark like
molten silver.

The blackness shattered.

Travis stared at the floor. The Foundation Stone was dark no longer.
Instead it shone like the moon, its surface cool beneath the touch of
his hand. All signs of the crack that had marred its surface were gone.

Each of the runes carved into the walls and ceiling of the chamber
blazed with new blue-silver light. They began to spin like a sky of
stars gone mad. The wraithlings flung their slender arms up and covered
their huge eyes with willowy fingers.

The rune-stars spun faster yet, weaving a gauze of azure brilliance on
the air. The wraithlings turned to flee but were caught in the gossamer
net. Travis shut his eyes against the light and clutched at his
companions, the only solid things in the room. There was a final cry: a
chorus of mouthless voices merged into one chord of fear, agony, and-it
almost seemed-release. Then, so sudden it was deafening, silence closed in.

Travis opened his eyes. The runes in the ceiling were motionless now and
bathed the heart of the White Tower in a gentle radiance. The
wraithlings were nowhere to be seen. "They're gone," he murmured.

280

Falken struggled to his knees. "Yes," he said, "they are." The bard
gazed at the Foundation Stone, now whole and smooth. Then he turned his
faded eyes on Travis. "You did this, didn't you?"

Travis could give only a jerky nod.

Falken opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by Beltan's
anguished words.

"I can't wake her up, Falken! She's breathing, but only just barely."
The knight had risen also and now shook Melia's shoulders, his grip
gentle but fierce. "Wake up, Melia. Please!"

The bard moved toward them. "Let me see, Beltan. Maybe I can"

. A sound like thunder shook the air. Travis's eyes snapped back to the
Foundation Stone. Even as he watched a black line snaked across the
Stone's surface, cleaving it in two once more. The rune of founding
dimmed. At the same moment a dark substance welled forth from the crack
and spilled over the surface of the stone. Travis pulled his hand back.
It came away stained with red.

"Blood," he whispered. "It's blood."

Falken stared. "By the Seven, the blood of a Necromancer. So that was
what they did. Oh, the fools! The poor, cursed fools!"

The floor jerked beneath them as a tremor shook the tower. The runes
above flickered.

Falken looked up. "I don't think the bones of this place can bear this a
second time."

As if to punctuate his words, a chunk of stone dropped from the ceiling
and crashed to the floor a dozen paces away. Beltan lifted Melia in his
arms. "We've got to get out of here!"

The others did not argue. Falken helped Travis to his feet. Together
they ran from the chamber as the glowing runes crashed down behind them.

281

The four travelers huddled around a fire as night cast its cloak over
the valley. A frigid wind hissed through dry grass. The remains of the
White Tower were no more than a ghostly heap of stones in the distant gloom.

When they fled through the archway, light had streamed from the tower,
and had poured through cracks in the stones to slice like thin knives
into the fabric of night. Then the light had ceased, and the tower had
slumped in on itself. With a terrible din it had collapsed into a great
cairn of rubble, forging its own burial mound even as it died. No one
would ever set foot within the White Tower of the Runebinders again.
They had stumbled back to their campsite, and there had found one bit of
good fortune: Their horses stood in a knot next to their slashed
pickets, whickering softly.

Travis clutched his mistcloak around himself and surveyed the firelit

faces of the others. Neither Falken nor Beltan seemed the worse for
their ordeal, though Beltan's sword hand was still cold and stiff. And
although he felt drained and hollow, and his head buzzed, Travis noticed
no other ill effects from his actions in the rune chamber. It was Melia
who had been most devastatingly affected. They had wrapped her inside
all the extra blankets and had placed her as close to the fire as they
dared. She had awakened shortly after their return to camp, but shivers
wracked her slight form, and her usually coppery skin was gray as ashes.
She stared into the fire, a stricken expression upon her visage.

"It touched me," she said, her voice a whisper of remembered horror. "It
was so cold. So horribly cold."

The others shot Falken looks of concern, but he did not see them. The
bard's gaze was upon Melia, his weathered face lined with care. Then he
turned his eyes toward Travis and spoke in a soft voice.

"Would you bring me my pack, Travis?" Travis nodded and did so.

Falken rummaged inside his pack and pulled out a handful

282

of dried alasai leaves, taken from one of the Way Circles in which they
had stayed. He crushed the leaves into a cup, filled it with hot water
from a kettle over the fire, and let the fragrant herbs steep. Then he
moved to Melia.

"Drink this, dear one," he said and held the cup to her lips. Melia took
a hesitant sip from the cup, then drank the remainder. A hint of color
touched her lips, and her shivering eased, though it did not end
altogether. She blinked, and her amber eyes grew focused once more.

"Thank you, Falken. I'll be all right now-I just need to rest." Shadows
still clung to her cheeks, and her voice remained quiet, but it was no
longer full of the hopeless despair. She glanced at the tumbled remains
of the tower, and shock registered in her expression. "What happened
back there?"

"Travis bound the rune of founding," Falken said. "The wraithlings were
driven back by the tower's magic."

"He bound the rune? Are you certain?" Falken gave a solemn nod.

"So the art of runebinding is not lost from the world after all." Melia
tightened her grip on the blankets they had wrapped her in. "That
explains what happened in the talathrin, when Travis drew Sinfath backward."

"Yes, it seems our little complication is not quite out of surprises yet."

Travis flexed his right hand, and he could feel a slight tingle against
his palm.

In quick sentences Falken explained to Melia the remainder of what had
happened after the wraithlings had assailed her.

"It was blood, Melia," he finished. "When the rune of founding broke
again, it was blood that welled forth from the crack."

She gazed at the distant heap of skeletal stones. "I think we know now

why the White Tower fell long ago."

Falken sighed with the night wind. "I always believed all the Pale
King's wizards were slain when their master was defeated. It seems that
wasn't so. I don't suppose we'll ever know how the Runebinders came to
capture a Necromancer. Certainly the Dark One's power would have been much

283

weakened after the War of the Stones. Yet it seems the final victory was
his."

Travis edged closer to the fire. "I don't understand, Falken. Why would
they have killed a . . . a Necromancer at the founding of their tower?"

"Blood sorcery is a crude and primal magic," Falken said. "But it is
powerful as well. Long ago, barbarian kings drank the blood of their
vanquished enemies, and mixed more blood into the mortar of their keeps,
in the belief that the power of the dead ones would be transferred to
the stone walls, strengthening them. I suppose the Runebinders believed
the same."

Though still weak, Melia's voice shook with anger. "They were wrong. The
arrogant fools."

Falken gazed into the fire. "The evil of the Necromancer could not be
bound by their magic, not truly. There was no way Travis's binding could
have done the same."

Travis shivered. He could almost see the scene in his mind, the proud
Runebinders in robes of ivory, gathered around the foundation of their
new tower, a figure in black on his knees before them. Then the flash of
a knife, and blood flowing crimson against the new white stones, not a
blessing, but a curse.

"Who were the Necromancers, Falken?" Travis said.

"It was told they were once minor gods from the far south, that the Pale
King gave them bodies of mortal flesh in exchange for serving him."

Melia cast a sharp look at the bard. "It was hardly so simple as that."

Falken shrugged. "What do I know of the affairs of gods?" "Little
enough, it seems."

The bard ignored her comment. "It was the Necromancers who created the
feydrim, the slaves of the Pale King, of which the wraithlings were the
most beautiful, and the most terrible. The Pale Ones, the wraithlings,
were made for just one purpose: to seek out the Imsari, the three Great
Stones." He looked at Travis. "It is said, to their eyes, the Stones
leave trails of light that linger on the air, marking their passage.
Only when a Stone is encased in iron does it leave no trace they can
follow."

Travis drew out the iron box-the box the beings in the

284

light, the wraithlings, had destroyed the Magician's Attic in an attempt
to gain. Every time he had opened it he had left a trail for them to follow.

Melia extended still-trembling hands toward the fire. "It seems your
guess about the nature of Travis's Stone was correct, Falken."

Beltan stared at the box in Travis's hand. "You mean it's really one of
the Great Stones?"

"Yes," Falken said. "And given that the rune inscribed on the lid of the
box is Sinfath, I would guess this to be Sinfathisar, the Stone of
Twilight, most subtle of the Imsari, yet still a thing of terrible power
to one who knew the secret of wielding it." His voice dropped to a grim
whisper. "One, it seems, who searches for it even now."

Falken reached into his pack, drew out another object, and unwrapped the
covering cloth. It was the broken rune, the one Travis had touched in
the ruins of Kelcior to alarming effect. The two halves of the ivory
disk glowed in the firelight, and the sundered rune embedded in its
surface gleamed silver. Krond. Fire.

"Ever since finding this in Shadowsdeep," Falken said, "I have had my
suspicions about it. However, I could not be certain those suspicions
were founded, not until I studied the runestone in the tower. Now I
have, and it has confirmed all my fears."

Beltan made a nervous rumble in his throat. "And those are?"

"After the Pale King was defeated a thousand years ago, a great gate
forged of iron was raised above Shadowsdeep. The gate covered the Gap of
the Teeth, the only pass through the Ironfang Mountains, and the only
way into and out of Imbrifale. The first Runelords bound the gate with
powerful runes, and thus assured that the Pale King could never ride
forth from his dominion again. Or for so long we believed, those of us
who still remembered. But we were wrong." Falken brushed the broken disk
with a finger. "I know now that this is one of the three binding seals
placed by the Runelords upon the door of Imbrifale. Now, somehow, it has
been broken. The Rune Gate is weakening."

Melia and Beltan stared at the bard. Travis shook his head, filled with
an unnamed dread.

285

"But what does it mean?" he whispered.

"A Stone has come to light, wraithlings stalk the land, the Rune Gate
itself falters. It can mean but one thing." Shadows played across
Falken's face. "After a thousand years of imprisonment, the Pale King
stirs once more."

The night wind rose to a keening howl.

56.

By Grace's tenth day in Calavere, the novelty of living in a castle had
begun to wear off.

It was a sure sign one was growing accustomed to a place when one
started to notice every small annoyance. There was the cold, to begin
with. Everyone in the castle spoke of how winter had come early that
year, and the cold was a constant, gnawing presence. It radiated from

every stone of the castle, sliced like a knife through thin cracks in
the walls, seeped into joints and bones until Grace ached with it. Even
the heavy wool gowns she wore were no proof against the chill, and her
hands especially were always cold.

The frigid temperature was worsened'by the dampness of the air. The
Dimduorn, the River Darkwine, was no more than a league from Calavere-a
league, she had gathered, was something on the order of three miles-and
nothing in the castle ever seemed completely dry. But both cold and damp
she might have endured. It was the smells that got to her.

Everything in the castle smelled. Everything. The privies, the torches,
the bedclothes, the food, the tapestries, the chamber pots, the candles,
the corridors, and a vast majority of the people. All were foul, or
pungent, or rancid, or some overpowering combination of the three. Two
weeks ago she would never have believed it possible, but now she longed
for the antiseptic odor of Denver Memorial Hospital. She had always
hated that smell, but at least it had been the only one, designed by
chemists to mask the scents of blood, vomit, and death. Here in Calavere
there were times when she was tempted to take a hot poker from the fire
and cauter

286

ize her nose just so she wouldn't have to smell anything anymore.

It didn't help that she and Aryn had been forced to curtail their time
together. Aryn still came to Grace's chamber whenever she could, but
much of the baroness's time was engaged in readying guest chambers,
overseeing servants, and keeping an eye on the castle's kitchen, all in
anticipation of the arrival of the kings and queens of the other Dominions.

"Is there anything I can do to lend a hand?" Grace had asked the
baroness one day.

Aryn's expression had been scandalized. "Grace! You're a guest of the
castle and a lady of noble birth. It wouldn't be proper!"

"Really?" Aryn had given an emphatic nod. "Nobility," she had said,
"does not lend a hand."

Grace had sighed. "No, I don't suppose it does." It wouldn't be boring
enough. But she hadn't said the words aloud, and had only smiled as Aryn
squeezed her hand and hurried away to some other task.

Nor had King Boreas paid Grace much attention since the morning after
the feast, three days ago. She had awakened to a summons from the king,
brought to her door by Lord Alerain himself. She had thrown on the first
dress she could find and had dashed through the castle corridors to the
king's chamber. By the time she had stumbled through the doorway, her
gown was askew, her hair clung to her damp cheeks, and she was gasping
for breath.

King Boreas had taken in her appearance with his fierce gaze. "I see
Lord Alerain came upon you in the midst of your morning constitutional."
He had given an approving nod. "By Vathris, good for you, my lady! As
the sages say, a weak body houses a weak mind."

Grace had simply nodded, and had declined to mention that her run
through the castle was the most exercise she had gotten in months. She

had eyed the king's powerful chest and arms. What did he do for sport?
Juggled lesser nobles, perhaps.

"Now, my lady," he had said, baring his big teeth in what

287

wasn't quite a grin, "you are going to tell me all you learned at the
feast last night."

For a quarter of an hour the king had paced back and forth in front of
the black mound of mastiffs heaped beside the fire while Grace had stood
in the center of the room-he had not asked her to sit-and had spoken of
her conversations with the various seneschals and counselors in the
great hall. When she had finished, Boreas had given a bullish grunt, and
his blue eyes had sparked with interest, but he had made no comment
regarding her report. Instead he had twirled a dagger in his hand, his
expression thoughtful, as if trying to decide whose heart to stick it in
first. It was the table that had gotten it instead. Grace had been
unable to take her eyes off the quivering knife embedded in the wood.
The motion had been so quick, so easy, she had hardly seen him do it.
"You may go now, my lady," Boreas had said.

Grace had retained enough of her wits to know this was not a request.
She had started to curtsy, caught herself, and had nodded instead. "I'll
keep observing as best I can, Your Majesty."

"Yes," he had said, "you will."

Afterward, she had replayed her audience with the king in her mind. Much
as she disliked to admit it, Boreas's behavior had only served to fan
the spark of her suspicion. Why was he so eager to muster the Dominions
for war? The Lady Kyrene had said Boreas followed the Mysteries of
Vathris. Grace didn't entirely understand what all a mystery cult
entailed, but it was clear Vathris was some sort of war god. Perhaps
Boreas was looking for an excuse to conquer one of the other Dominions,
either for personal gain or for the satisfaction of his god.

Grace considered telling Aryn of her concerns, then remembered the
baroness's loyalty and reconsidered. There was no point in getting Aryn
upset. She could tell the baroness when-and if-she learned anything more
concrete.

Not that this seemed likely. Over the last three days, she had found
little opportunity to talk with the other nobles. All were too busy with
preparations for the arrivals of their respective lieges to engage in
gossip, which meant they were busy indeed. She did pass Lord Logren once
in a corridor. He pressed a hand to his chest and made a fluid bow, but
he did

288

I

not stop to speak to her. Even the Countess Kyrene was curiously absent.

Left to her own devices, Grace had tried to content herself by exploring
the castle. However, every passage seemed to lead, in the end, either to
the privy or the kitchens, and she soon got the impression these were
the two most important places in Calavere, with the great hall running a

distant third.

By that tenth day in the castle, Grace found herself gazing out the
small window of her chamber and feeling utterly trapped.

From this vantage she could just glimpse the tops of the two towers that
stood to either side of the castle's main gate. She remembered the
peasants she had seen trudging in and out of the archway, on that snowy
day when Durge had first brought her to Calavere. It was ironic, but
right then she envied the peasants. Yes, they were downtrodden
serfsoverworked, uneducated, and malnourished chattels of a capricious
feudal system. But at least they could leave the castle if they wanted.

Grace let out a resigned breath. There was that small side corridor she
had noticed near the great hall the other day. Maybe there was a chance
it led somewhere besides the privy or the kitchens. She was tired of
studying the convoluted words in the books Aryn had brought. At least
exploring would give her something else to do. Resolved, she started to
turn away from the window.

A spark of emerald below caught her eye.

She moved closer and peered down through the flawed glass. There. She
,could' not see the lady's face, but the burnished-gold hair and the
green gown were unmistakable. Lady Kyrene. The countess walked across
the upper bailey alongside another figure: taller, broader, clad in
pearl-gray. Grace recognized the fine clothes, the sleek hair gone to
steel at the temples. Logren, High Counselor to Queen Eminda of Eredane.
The two bent their heads toward each other as if in conversation. Grace
felt a tightness in her chest. Logren hardly seemed the type to let
himself be tangled in Kyrene's web of intrigue and innuendo. What could
the two possibly be talking about?

The odd pair approached the hedge maze in the center of

289

the courtyard. They paused a moment-did Logren look from side to
side?-then slipped through an arch woven of leafless wisteria and
disappeared into the maze.

Grace bit her lip. She knew from Aryn that, in this world, a host's
permission was required before a guest could leave his house. She should
ask Boreas, or at least Alerain. But venturing into the courtyard
wouldn't really be like leaving Calavere. Before she had time fully to
consider what she was doing she dashed from her chamber.

It was colder outside than she had thought.

Grace had neither coat nor woolen cape, as she had seen Kyrene wearing,
and the wind sliced right through the fabric of her gown. The side door
shut behind her-it was a servant's entrance, little used, and out of
view of the main keep, which was why she had chosen it. Her time spent
exploring the castle had not been wasted after all. She clasped her arms
over her chest and hurried across the cobblestones of the upper bailey,
toward the tangled wall of the hedge maze.

She paused and looked over her shoulder when she reached the arch of
withered vines that formed the entrance. There was no one else about the
upper bailey, save a squire leading a horse toward the king's stable,

and he did not so much as glance in her direction. She drew in a deep
breath, braced her shoulders, and-before she could reconsiderplunged
into the maze.

After a few dozen paces Grace began to think it might not be such a good
thing after all that no one knew where she had gone. Already she had
lost track of the number of turns she had made-four lefts and two
rights, yes? Or was it the reverse?-and she had no idea in which
direction the entrance lay. Nor was there any chance of cheating and
cutting through the walls of the maze. The hedges were a dozen feet high
and formed of dense, thorn-covered branches. If she tried to force her
way through, she would be torn to shreds before she had gone a foot.

Come on, Grace, think. You're a doctor and a trained scientist. Surely a
conundrum created by some medieval gardener is not beyond you.

She clenched her jaw and forged on, deeper into the maze. Then she began
to detect a pattern. Yes, that was it: two

290

lefts, then a right. Each time she made the turns she found herself in a
new passage that-she was almost certain of itled toward the heart of the
maze. She lifted the hem of her gown off the damp ground and quickened
her pace, she had to be close to the center now. A left. Another left.
Then a right. And-a dead end.

Grace stared at the wall of thorns. She hadn't expected that. She bent
her head and retraced her steps in her mind. Had she made a misstep
somewhere? No, she had followed her formula exactly. There was only one
logical conclusion. The pattern she had thought she detected wasn't a
pattern at all. Which meant .. .

"... I'm lost," she whispered.

Her breath fogged on the air. In the exertion of running through the
maze she had begun to sweat, but now she shivered inside her gown. She
walked back down the dead end until she reached a crossing of paths. Now
which way? At this point one direction was very like another, and
neither was likely to get her back to the castle by suppertime. Would
Aryn miss her? Or would the baroness be too busy with her tasks?

Left, she decided after a minute and started down that path. She rounded
a corner, then suddenly clasped a hand to her mouth.

Turn around, Grace. Turn around now!

But fascination was stronger than fear. She peered around the corner of
the hedge-wall and gazed into the small, circular grotto.

Despite the cold they were naked. He had spread his cloak on the ground,
and they lay upon it, limbs tangled like the winter wisteria. Her arms
were coiled around his neck, white as ivory against his olive skin. The
lean muscles of his back and legs rippled as his hips moved with hers in
slow, easy, familiar motions. His eyes were closed in ecstatic
concentration, but not hers. They glittered like emeralds as she gazed
past his shoulder. A satisfied smile coiled around the corners of her
pink mouth.

Grace tried to back away, but her legs would not respond. Her mind felt

dull and soft, the scent of apricots filled her lungs. Seemingly of its
own will her hand moved away from

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her mouth, slid down her throat, down over her breasts and stomach. . . .

As if sensing the presence of another, the emerald eyes turned in
Grace's direction. Grace froze. For a heartbeat surprise flickered in
those eyes. But only for a heartbeat. Then a new light shone in them, a
glow that was almost . . . approving. The white arms tightened around
his back, and the smile about her pink lips deepened.

No! Grace shook her head, as if waking from a spell. She snatched her
hand up, gripped it with the other, and stumbled away. Without looking
back she turned and ran headlong through the maze. The sound of rich
laughter followed after her.

She shut the sound from her mind and ran on.

57.

The next morning Aryn threw open the door of Grace's chamber and rushed
inside. Her large blue eyes shone with excitement.

"She's coming!" the baroness exclaimed.

Grace stood from her seat by the window, and her heart raced in her
chest. For a panicked moment she thought Aryn meant the Lady Kyrene. Had
the countess come to confront her about what she had witnessed?

Aryn seemed not to notice her startled look. "It's Queen Ivalaine of
Toloria," the baroness said. "She's the first to arrive for the council."

"Ivalaine?" Aryn gave a vigorous nod. "The guards in the tower spotted
her entourage crossing the old Tarrasian bridge over the Dimduorn. They
know it's her by the pennants."

She unfolded a bundle she had been carrying in the crook of her left arm
and held it out. It was a cloak of fine wool. "Well, don't just stand
there, Grace. Put this on. You'll be cold if you don't."

Grace took the cloak in numb fingers and wrapped it

292

around her shoulders. It was heavier than she would have guessed. "Where
are we going?"

"To the battlements, of course. I want to see the queen the moment she
arrives. People say there isn't another woman in the Dominions as
beautiful as Ivalaine. Come on."

Grace opened her mouth to respond, but Aryn grabbed her hand and tugged
her out the door. After that she was forced to forgo questions and
concentrate instead on keeping up with the light-footed baroness.
Breathing hard, they climbed the last steps of a spiral staircase,
pushed through a door, and found themselves atop a high wall above the
upper bailey.

Grace glanced down and saw the hedge maze below. From this vantage it
was easy to trace the twists and turns that had confounded her
yesterday. There-that was the grotto where she had spied Kyrene and
Logren, and from which she had fled. She had thought it simply luck that
after only a few dizzied minutes of running through the maze, she had
stumbled upon the exit. Now she wasn't so certain. The place where she
had run from had been deep in the heart of the maze, surrounded by a
webwork of paths so convoluted she could hardly follow them even now
with her eyes. Yet somehow she had managed to navigate them without once
having to backtrack. How else to explain it except luck?

And if it was good luck that had helped her escape the maze, then it was
cruel fortune that had caused her to stumble upon Kyrene and Logren. She
would never have guessed a liaison between the two. At the feast Logren
had seemed so intelligent, so sophisticated. It seemed impossible he
would fall prey to Kyrene's wiles. Or was it? Grace thought back to that
moment in her chamber when Kyrene had spoken about the king.

He is a man, and like all men he can be controlled. Grace saw again the
countess's white arms coiled around Logren's muscular back. Was that how
Kyrene worked her magics? Or had there been something more to it? She
recalled the odd torpor she had felt that day in her chamber, and the
presence that had reached out to touch her. A few herbs, the proper
words . . . Had Kyrene used something more than simple desire to bring
Logren to her? Before she could think of an answer, Aryn tugged her hand.

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"This way, Grace. We'll get a better view of the castle gate from the
south battlements."

Hand in hand, the two women picked their way along the wall. When they
reached the crenellated top of the south battlement, high above the
lower bailey, they found they were not the only ones with this idea. A
sizable crowd had gathered to watch the coming of the queen: petty
nobles, squires, servants. However, the throng parted without a word for
Grace and Aryn, and the two women moved to the front of the battlement.
Grace took in the clear view of the castle gates below and smiled. At
least being nobility was good for something.

At that moment the call of a horn rose on the icy air: high and distant.
The sound of it thrummed in Grace's blood. She lifted a hand to her brow
to shade her eyes from the bright midday sun. Then she saw the line of
horses crest a distant rise between castle and river, and her breath
caught in her chest.

Ever after Grace could recall little of what actually transpired that
afternoon. Feelings, images-these were what stayed with her for the rest
of her life. Banners, yellow on green, that snapped in the wind.
Sunlight on burnished breastplates and steel helms. Horses prancing to
the music of their silver barding. White hunting dogs with muddy paws.
Nobles in black, and red, and purple. The sound of horns.

Most of all Grace remembered the queen.

Ivalaine rode, not in a litter, but upon a chestnut horse. Her gown
trailed nearly to the ground, and was the color of ice, as were her
eyes. She was tall, fair, and regal. Her only crown was her hair, fine
as flax, woven with jewels, and

coiled upon her head. Aryn had been right. Even from a distance Grace
knew she had never seen a woman more beautiful than Ivalaine.

In all there were more than fifty riders in the queen's traveling party,
and another hundred on foot, bearing bundles and pushing carts.

Grace whistled softly. "Queens don't travel lightly, do they?"

"No," Aryn said. "They don't."

Ivalaine's party halted before the castle gate, and a group

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of King Boreas's knights rode out to meet them. Words of greeting were
exchanged, though Grace could not hear them. Then horns sounded, the
castle gates opened, and the long line of horses and carts started through.

The throng on the walls began to disperse, and there was a tug at
Grace's sleeve.

"Come, Grace. Let's be going."

Grace raised a hand to her temple. Her head still thrummed with the call
of the horns. "What?"

"There's nothing more to see. And it's getting cold. I swear, I'd think
this was Midwinter's Day if I didn't know by the calendar it was only
the middle of Sindath."

Grace hardly heard the baroness's words. She could not take her eyes off
the road below the castle, even though it was empty now. She wasn't sure
what it was, but she felt different somehow. What had she been thinking
just a moment ago? It had something to do with the royal entourage, and
the way the queen had ridden so proudly at the fore. "Grace?"

She tore her gaze away. "Yes, of course. I'm sorry, Aryn, let's go."

The baroness gave her a curious look, then shrugged and started back
along the wall. Grace followed. They had just reached the door to her
chamber when she remembered what it was she had been thinking as she
watched the queen ride toward the castle.

That should be me.

No. That was impossible. She shivered, forced the thought from her mind,
and shut the door.

58.

Those next days, Grace felt more trapped than ever by Calavere's stone
walls. Ivalaine's arrival had sent the entire castle, already bustling,
into a fevered pitch of activity. Not all of the queen's traveling party
was staying in the castle proper, which was well, as with five more
rulers to come Calavere would have burst at the seams trying to hold
them and all their courtiers, attendants, and servants. The major

295

ity of the new arrivals were staying in the town below the castle.

Still, it was work enough for Aryn, Lord Alerain, and the rest of the
castle's people to situate just Ivalaine and her immediate court in
their chambers.

It was odd, but the busier everyone in the castle became, the less Grace
had to do. The second morning after Queen Ivalaine's arrival she found
herself fingering the fine wool cape Aryn had given her. Before, the
outdoors had been largely off-limits because of the freezing air and her
desire not to perish from hypothermia. The cape, however, changed
everything.

She picked up the garment. She should ask, she knew it. But Alerain
would be too busy, and there was no chance of her seeing the king.
Besides, no one had told her that she couldn't and, after all, wasn't
she a duchess?

You're rationalizing, Grace.

But she didn't care. She was bored, and boredom more than anything else
made her feel dangerous. Before she could change her mind, she threw the
heavy cape over her shoulders and slipped out her chamber door.

Ten minutes later, Grace stood at the gate that led to the castle's
lower bailey. She pulled the cape around her shoulders and pressed
herself against the inside of the stone arch. Maybe this wasn't such a
good idea after all. It had been nearly two weeks since that day Durge
had brought her to Calavere, two weeks since the first and last time she
had been in the castle's main yard, and then she had been safely above
it, on the back of the knight's horse. Now she was on foot, and she had
forgotten just how busy the lower bailey was.

"You wanted to do this, Grace," she said through clenched teeth. She
took a bold breath and stepped forward.

The mud was deeper than she expected. It squelched around her boots and
nearly sucked them right off her feet with every step. People jostled
past her: peasants bearing baskets of bread or apples, squires dashing
on errands for their masters, merchants selling beer and candles and
bolts of cloth. Once Grace found herself engulfed by a flock of bleating
sheep, and it was all she could do to keep from getting trampled into
the mud by four dozen cloven hooves.

No one in the bailey greeted her or paid her any attention.

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The cape covered her gown, and most likely nobody had mistaken her for a
duchess. Besides, Grace doubted noblewomen ventured here without the
company of attendants. Most of the people around her were the serfs and
freemen who worked the land and did the lowly chores that made a feudal
kingdom work.

She moved deeper into the bailey and wound her way through the confusion
of stalls and carts and horses. Many things caught her eye: bowls of
beaten copper, knives of bright steel, wooden boxes inlaid with ivory
and lapis lazuli, beeswax candles, and spools of dyed thread. A man
horribly scarred by disease displayed on twisted fingers the exquisite
silver rings he was selling. Ragged children wound their way through the
bailey, begging or selling crude wooden charms on strings, carved into
various shapes: a woman holding a hunting horn, a man with the face of a

horse, a black bull.

"Mysteries!" the children cried. "Mysteries for sale!" Grace blinked in
realization. Of course-the bull charm must represent the beast
associated with Vathris, god of the warrior cult. Which meant the
hunting woman and the horse-man represented other mystery cults.
Apparently, in the Dominions, there was not just one religion.

She halted and gazed at something at her feet. It was one of the charms,
trampled into the mud where someone had dropped it. She picked it up and
brushed away the soil. One of the crude bulls. A needle-sword was stuck
into its back, and red-painted blood flowed down its black wooden
flanks. She brushed the needle-sword with a finger. So this world
sacrificed its gods as well. She slipped the charm into her leather
pouch and moved on.

A delicious scent filled her nose-warm and sweet and spicy-and all at
once she was hungry. She followed the scent to one corner of the bailey.
At the base of a tower, between two wooden buildings, a man stood beside
a clay oven. His face was red, but whether from the heat of the oven or
from shouting it was impossible to say.

"Spice cakes!" he cried above the roar of the throng. "Spice cakes, warm
and toothsome, favored by the king himself!"

He turned and saw Grace before him, and a grin split his ruddy face. By
the poor state of his teeth he had sampled his

297

own wares more than a few times. He held a small brown cake toward her.

"Come, Your Highness," he said, "try one."

Your Highness? So much for her disguise. She clutched her cloak around
her throat and shook her head.

His grin broadened. "Ah, but you will find it delicious. Made with rare
spices of the mysterious south, from AlArmin, far across the Summer Sea."

"I shouldn't," she said.

"And why not, Your Highness? Don't you deserve as much as anyone
something sweet and good?"

Grace opened her mouth, but she found no words for a reply. How could
King Boreas think she could pry secrets out of royalty? She could hardly
speak to a commoner.

He held the cake out farther. "Here, Your Highness. You take it."

She hesitated. Was he giving her a gift? Or did merchants in the market
often give nobles samples of their wares, in hopes of winning their
patronage? More likely the latter. Either way, she decided, it would be
an insult not to accept.

Grace reached out and took the cake. It was warm in her hand. A rich
scent, like cinnamon and nutmeg yet not quite either, rose from it. She
brought the cake to her mouth and took a tentative bite. Then she took
another, and another, until the cake was gone.

The man beamed in satisfaction. "You liked it, Your Highness?"

Grace nodded. "Yes, very much. Thank you." With that she turned and
started away.

A callused hand gripped her wrist and jerked her back around. She let
out a gasp.

"Just a moment, little sister. The cakes are a silver penny apiece." The
man's expression was no longer friendly. His small, black eyes burned
into her like hot stones.

She shook her head. "A silver penny? But I thought . . . I thought you
gave it to me."

He did not let go of her wrist. "Gave it to you? Now why should I give
you a cake, little sister?"

She licked her lips. "Because . . ." Now that she voiced the words they
sounded utterly absurd. "... because I'm a duchess."

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He let out a harsh laugh. "Oh, of course you are, Your Highness. And I'm
a duke, so we'll get along just fine. If you give me my money, that is."

She stared at him, then it struck her. Your Highness. Little sister. He
did not think she was royalty-it had been a nickname, nothing more. He
had not given her the cake, but expected her to pay for it.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "I didn't ... I didn't realize. I don't have
any money. But I'm sure I can get some, if you let me go to the keep."

"You're not going anywhere, little sister, not until I get my money."
His breath was sweet and fetid, a mixture of spices and decay.

"But I told you, I don't have any-"

The swiftness of his action stunned her as much as the impact. He
whirled her around and shoved her back against a stone wall. The air
rushed out of her lungs in a sickening whoosh.

"So you're a thief then?" he said. "Do you know what we do to thieves
here, Your Highness? We cut off their hands, so they can't steal again."

He tightened his grip around her wrist, and she could feel the bones
inside grind together. People in the crowd passed by as if they did not
see-or did not care-what was happening. Now he smiled again. The
expression was more horrible than his anger.

"It's all right, little sister." His voice dropped to a croon. "I'm a
fair fellow. If you've got no money, I can think of a way for you to pay."

He pressed her against the wall with his body. Rough stones dug into her
back. Heat radiated in stifling waves from the oven a few feet away. He
pawed at her cloak with one hand, while the other reached down to hike
up the front of his soiled tunic.

Grace stiffened. Fear and pain gave way to rage. Her mind grew terribly

clear.

No. I swore it. Never again.

She locked her green-gold eyes on his. He hesitated, and his leer gave
way to puzzlement.

Never! It happened too fast to see. One moment he held her

299

against the wall. The next he was screaming. The merchant stumbled away
from her and beat at the flames that licked up the back of his tunic.

Now people stopped and stared. The merchant fell into the mud and clawed
at his blazing tunic with blistered hands. The crowd closed around him,
though whether to help or to watch Grace could not tell. She slid
sideways along the wall, turned, and fled across the bailey.

She was brought up short by a flash of emerald. "Lady Grace, are you well?"

The world reeled. Only by force of will did she manage to keep from
falling into the muck. She clenched her jaw and forced things back into
focus.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, Lady Kyrene."

"Her Majesty is looking for a bolt of cloth for a new gown," Kyrene said
with a smug expression. "She asked me to help her. And why are you in
the market today, Lady Grace?"

"I . . ." Grace glanced over her shoulder. The crowd had already
dispersed, and there was no sign of the merchant. Perhaps he had
stumbled away, or perhaps others had carried him off. "I just came out
for a walk, that's all."

The countess of Selesia displayed her white kitten teeth in a smile.
"Really? Like the other day?. I never did have a chance to tell you how
nice it was to see you, love."

Despite her rattled state, Grace was aware enough to wince- at these
words. She fumbled for a response but could do no more than stutter.
Then another voice spoke.

"Do not make small conversation, Lady Kyrene. Can you not see our sister
is distressed?"

Only at the sound of the clear voice did Grace realize Kyrene had a
companion. She was tall, as tall as Grace, and clad in blue-gray. Gems
sparkled in her hair. What had Kyrene said? Her Majesty . . .

"Queen Ivalaine!" Grace hurriedly attempted a curtsy. "Please, sister.
Rise."

Sister. The merchant who had tried to . . . the merchant had used the
same word. But it sounded so different when it came from the queen's
lips. Not mocking, but warm and secret and inviting. Grace looked into
her ice-colored eyes. The woman's beauty stole away her fear.

300

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Grace said.

She now saw she had been right-noble ladies did not venture into the
lower bailey unescorted. Behind the queen were several men-at-arms, as
well as a red-haired woman. She was plump and pretty, and her face was
touched by fine, wise lines. Grace recognized her from the queen's
entourage. She was Tressa, Ivalaine's first lady-in-waiting and, Aryn
had said, her closest advisor.

"Tell me, Lady Grace, has something ill befallen you?" Grace froze. Like
a wounded animal, her first instinct was to hide her hurt, to nurse it
in a dark and private place. If you told another, how could you ever
pretend it didn't happen? But something in the queen's voice calmed her.

"There was a merchant selling cakes . . . I ate one, but I didn't have
any money ... he was angry, and tried . . . he tried to stop me but . .
. a spark from the oven must have landed on him . . . his tunic caught
fire and ..."

The queen's eyes grew hard, and she nodded, as if she understood far
more than Grace's disjointed words alone had told.

"Do not worry, sister," Ivalaine said. "If the flames did not take him,
then another end will be found for him. I will make certain of that."

The queen spoke the words in a cool tone-not angry, not vengeful, simply
matter-of-fact. She made a slight nod toward one of the men-at-arms. He
bowed, then moved purposefully through the crowd. Grace shivered. She
did not doubt the queen's will would come to pass.

She licked her lips. "Shouldn't we tell King Boreas what happened? It is
his castle, after all."

"But we are women, love," Kyrene said in a purr. "There is no need to
concern Boreas with this affair. Men mete out their justice, and we our
own. Is that not so, Your Majesty?"

Ivalaine did not acknowledge Kyrene's words. Instead she regarded Grace,
her eyes intent, as if looking for something. "Walk with us, sister,"
the queen of Toloria said.

Grace wanted nothing more than to go back to her chamber. But, little as
she knew of politics and courtly manners, she guessed one did not
decline a polite request from a queen. She bowed her head and walked
beside Kyrene and

301

Ivalaine. Tressa and the men-at-arms followed some paces behind.

"Your words skillfully avoided it, Lady Grace," Ivalaine said, "but I
know what you did."

Grace glanced at the queen, startled. "I'm afraid I didn't even think,
Your Majesty. I didn't know he expected me to pay for the cake.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have even-"

"That is not what I meant, Lady Grace. You know it as well as I. A
single spark could not have set a man's tunic to flame so quickly."

"But" Ivalaine halted and laid a hand on Grace's arm. "You know what
truly happened, sister. You have only to allow yourself to believe it."

Grace remembered-the call of owls, the darkened corridors, her nightgown
torn. Then the fire, the fire and the screams. Once before flames had
taken hands that had. touched her, once before fire had set her free.
But it was chance, that was all. It had to be. Grace shook her head,
forced the memories away.

Now Ivalaine clasped Grace's hands between her own. "You are right, Lady
Kyrene," the queen said. "She has the Touch."

Kyrene gave a triumphant smile.

"It is strong in her hands. Far stronger than in any I have seen in some
time."

Kyrene's expression faltered. She cast a startled look at Grace, then
her eyelids descended over her emerald eyes, turning them to slits.

Grace snatched her hands back. "The Touch? What do you mean?"

Ivalaine's visage was solemn. "The Touch of healing, Lady Grace-of
control, of power."

Grace gazed down at her hands, long and slender, just like the queen's.
The Touch of healing. How many people had these hands brought back from
the brink of death in the Emergency Department? How many hearts had they
coaxed into beating again, how many pains had they soothed? But there
was nothing miraculous about any of that. It was emergency medicine,
that was all. It was IV drips, and chest

302

tubes, and crash carts, not something strange and special. Not . . . magic.

"Grace!" She looked up at the sound of her name and caught a blur of
sapphire-blue. Aryn pushed her way between two merchant stalls and
rushed toward the three women, oblivious to the hem of her gown trailing
in the mud.

"Grace, are you all right?" The baroness's blue eyes were wide with fear.

Grace lifted a hand to the bodice of her gown and stared at her friend.
"Yes, Aryn, I'm fine. Why?"

"I just . . . I just had a feeling that something was wrong." Now she
sighed. "It's silly, I know. I shouldn't have bothered you. But the
feeling was just so strong for a moment."

Grace shook her head. If Aryn only knew the truth of it.... "It's not a
bother," she said. "But how did you know to find me here?"

Aryn opened her mouth, then shut it and frowned, as if not entirely
certain of the answer.

"You simply knew she was here, didn't you?"

It was Ivalaine who spoke the words. Aryn looked up in startlement, as

if only just noticing the queen and the countess stood there. She bowed
her head.

"Yes, Your Majesty. It almost does seem like that. But it was just a
good guess, I suppose."

Ivalaine did not answer her. Instead she turned her iceblue gaze on
Kyrene. "Why did you not tell me about this one?"

Kyrene gave a languid shrug. "She is a child, sister." Ivalaine rested a
hand beneath her chin. "She is young, yes, but more than a child, I
think." Her eyes flashed. "And here, in this place, you may yet call me
Your Majesty. Sister."

Kyrene's green eyes went wide. "Yes, Your Majesty!"

For a moment, next to the queen, she looked not like the lush countess
Grace knew, but rather a spoiled, chubby child who only now realized she
had overstepped her boundaries long ago. Grace understood little of what
had just transpired, but this made her smile all the same.

303

"I think I'd like to return to my chamber now," she said. "If I may take
my leave, Your Majesty."

Ivalaine gave a nod. Grace curtsied and with Aryn made her way through
the crowd, back toward the sanctuary of the upper bailey. She did not
need to look over her shoulder to know that two glints of emerald
watched her as she went.

Two kings arrived at Calavere the next day.

Sorrin, King of Embarr, rode to the castle gate just after dawn,
accompanied by an austere entourage of no more than five wagons, ten
courtiers, and a dozen knights, each one as dark of hair and grim of
face as Grace's rescuer, the knight Durge. King Sorrin himself was a
tall man, but hunched over, thin almost to the point of emaciation, and
unexpectedly disheveled for royalty. His hair was lank and tangled, his
black garb threadbare and unkempt. Yet he was a king all the same, and
even gaunt and sharp-boned there was a stony handsomeness to his face,
and his brown eyes were keen and intelligent-although, it seemed to
Grace from her position on the battlements, there was something haunted
about

them as well.

The horns blew again near-midday to announce the arrival of King
Lysandir of Brelegond.

Lysandir's company stood in vivid contrast to Sorrin's and was even
larger and brighter-if not necessarily granderthan Queen Ivalaine's
entourage. Lysandir himself was a

plain, balding, soft-looking man of middle years who was all

but invisible within the vast tonnage of scarlet, blue, and gold he
wore. Most of the members of his extensive traveling

court were clad in only slightly less ostentatious fashion,

and even the horses wore peacock feathers in their bridles.

Although painted in bright colors, the king's wagons seemed to be in
poor repair, and one lost its wheels as it rattled through Calavere's
open gates. Grace laughed aloud at the sight of three gaudy courtiers
spilled into the mud by the

wagon's fall, their mouths open in circles of dismay.

After the brief and pleasant respite with Aryn on the bat

304

tlements watching the kings arrive, Grace was left to her own devices
once more as the baroness hurried off to see to her duties.

Grace lingered along the route to her chamber. She did not feel like
going back to her room and studying the books there, but the day outside
had darkened, and although it was not quite cold enough to snow, it
would most likely sleet. Besides, her two recent forays outside the
castle's main keep had both ended in unqualified disasters. It was safer
to stay indoors. So, with no particular destination in mind, she wandered.

Usually when she walked, Grace fidgeted with her necklace, the one that
had been found with her as a child. Since she had come to Eldh, she had
kept it safe in the leather pouch she wore at her waist. Now she drew it
out and slipped it around her neck. The trapezoidal piece of metal was
cool against her throat. She lifted a hand and brushed the angular
symbols etched into its smooth surface. Runes. That was what Hadrian
Farr had called them. Farr had said the ironhearts were interested in
runes like the ones on her necklace. But why?

"I wish you were here now, Farr," she said. "Something tells me you
would understand everything that's been happening better than me."

But Farr was a world away. It was doubtful she would ever see him again,
or Denver for that matter. The thought should have made her shudder, but
somehow it didn't. She felt no more remorse at leaving Earth than she
had at leaving North Carolina after medical school.

What's wrong with you, Grace? Can't you. feel anything a normal person
should?

She tucked the metal pendant beneath the bodice of her gown and walked on.

Grace was just thinking of returning to her chamber when, from around a
corner, came a crash followed by a scream. A second crash jerked her out
of paralysis. She dashed around the corner and took in the scene before her.

A serving maid in a brown dress knelt on the stone floor surrounded by
broken crockery. Tears streamed down her face, and the red outline of a
hand showed clearly against her cheek. Above her stood a rotund man in
gaudy crimson, his

305

face twisted in rage. He raised a ring-encrusted hand, and the serving
maid cringed.

People terrified Grace. Violence, however, she had dealt with daily in
the ED.

"Stop, Lord Olstin."

She did not raise her voice-shouting was not effective and, she had
discovered, could actually spur people to do the opposite of what one
wished. Instead she spoke the words in a low-pitched, precisely
enunciated voice. The man snatched his jewel-covered hand back and spun
around. For a moment his beady eyes darted about, then they locked on
Grace. He unclenched his fingers, smoothed his rumpled garb, and
inclined his head.

"Your Radiance."

The curl of his upper lip belied his polite tone. She ignored him, moved
to the serving maid, and knelt beside her. With precise movements she
examined the young woman's face, searching for other signs of injury.

"Does it hurt anywhere when I touch you?"

"No-no, my lady," the serving maid said. "Only my cheek." She was no
longer crying, and her brown eyes were wide.

Grace nodded. The blow to the young woman's cheek did not appear
serious-there was no damage to her facial bones-but it was going to
bruise, and badly. She helped the serving maid to her feet. The young
woman adjusted the gray cap on her head and straightened her dress.
Grace turned on Olstin.

"Why did you do this?"

The seneschal of Brelegond jumped backward. "I commanded this . . . this
insolent wretch to bring a pitcher of goat's milk to King Lysandir's
chamber. My liege is feeling indisposed, and it soothes his stomach. But
the milk she dared to bring was curdled-an insult to my king."

The serving maid shook her head. "I told you, my lord. The milk was
sweet when I poured it. The Little People must have gotten to it when I
turned my back for a moment. They're the cause of such mischief."

"You dolt!" A spray of spittle accompanied Olstin's shrill words. "There
are no such things as Little People, only stu

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pid serving wenches. I'll have you flogged for what you've done!"

Olstin lunged toward the maid. Grace stepped into his path.

"Go, Lord Olstin."

He glared at her. She did not move. "Now!"

Olstin hesitated, licked his lips. Uncertainty crept into his beady
eyes, and he backed away.

"King Boreas will hear of this, my lady." "I'll tell him myself," Grace
said.

He shot her one last poisonous look, then turned on a heel and was gone.
Grace slumped against a wall. Something told her she had just made an enemy.

A soft touch on her hand. She looked up, and the serving maid gave a shy
smile.

"Thank . . . thank you, my lady."

Grace drew in a breath, and managed a faint smile in reply. "What's your
name?"

"Adira, my lady."

"I'm sorry I didn't come around the corner sooner, Adira. My name is-"

"Why, the Lady Grace, of course!" The young woman's face brightened.
"I've seen you many times, my lady. Indeed, I saw you only just
yesterday in the bailey, talking to Queen Ivalaine." Her eyes shone.
"She's a witch, you know, like the Lady Kyrene, only far more powerful
they say. Are you going to be a witch, too?"

Now Grace felt like she was the one who had been slapped. She could only
stare.

"I want to be a witch," Adira said. "I'm going to ask the queen." Now
her eyes narrowed, and a sly smile touched the corners of her mouth.
"Then Lord Olstin will be sorry for what he did to me."

Adira picked up the pieces of broken crockery, thanked Grace again, then
sauntered down the corridor, hips swaying. Grace hardly noticed her
leave. She clutched the cold wall and gazed into the dim castle air.

A witch? Was that what Ivalaine intended for her?

307

It was a drizzly afternoon four days later when Grace and Aryn stood on
the battlements and watched the last of the kings arrive at Calavere.
They clutched their cloaks around their shoulders against the sleet and
late-Sindath wind, which was as chill as anything a Denver November
could muster, and far more cutting.

King Persard of Perridon had come with sunset the day before, and Queen
Eminda of Eredane had arrived at Calavere only that morning. Now Kylar,
King of the Dominion of Galt, approached the castle gate. Kylar's
entourage was by far the smallest of all the kings' and queens'-even
smaller than King Sorrin's austere traveling court-and the party
appeared more roadworn and ragged than any of the others that had come
before. A number of the horses were lame, and many of the courtiers
limped along on foot, clad in mud-flecked browns and grays rather than
rich golds and purples.

Grace gave Aryn a puzzled look. "I thought you said Galt was the nearest
Dominion to Calavan."

"It is."

"Then why is Kylar the last to arrive? And why does his company look so
. . . bedraggled?"

Aryn sighed. "I'm afraid it's to be expected. It's well known that King
Kylar is the unluckiest man in Galt, and without doubt Galt is the
unluckiest of all the seven Dominions. Which I suppose would make Kylar
the most unfortunate man in all of Falengarth."

Grace watched the last of Kylar's company hobble through the archway
below. At that moment the rain ceased, and a flood of golden sunshine
spilled through a break in the clouds to gild Calavere's nine towers.

Grace glanced at Aryn. "You weren't kidding, were you?" The baroness
shook her head.

They headed back inside and strolled together toward Grace's chamber. On
the way, as she had for the last three days, Grace searched for the
courage to tell Aryn of her en

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counter with the serving maid Adira. But it was all so ridiculous. Queen
Ivalaine couldn't really be a witch. Could she? True, Kyrene seemed to
think she had some sort of power over others, and it was clear she
looked to the queen as a model. And there were many things about this
world Grace didn't understand. She opened her mouth to speak the words
aloud.

"Lady Aryn, may I have a moment with you?" a man's voice said.

Grace snapped her jaw shut. The two women turned to see Lord Alerain
walking toward them. As always the king's seneschal was trim and neat in
his black-and-maroon attire.

Aryn touched Grace's hand. "I'm sorry, Grace. Alerain no doubt needs my
help. There's to be a revel tonight."

"A revel?" Grace said. "What's that?"

"Oh, didn't I mention it?" The baroness's expression was a shade too
innocent.

Grace narrowed her eyes. "No, you didn't." "It's rather like a feast,"
Aryn said.

"So all I have to do is eat a lot?"

"Oh, no! Don't do that, Grace. Then you wouldn't be able to dance."

"Dance?" Grace started to say more, but by then Alerain had reached
them, and the baroness only smiled as she took the seneschal's arm.
Alerain made a stiff bow toward Grace, then baroness and seneschal
departed down the corridor.

Grace grumbled under her breath. "Would Her Radiance prefer to dance
tonight, or to hurl her body off the castle wall? Oh, I believe we'll go
with the castle wall this evening, thank you. Yes, Your Radiance,
whatever you wish, Your Radiance."

But there was no one to hear her little performance, and she trudged
back to her chamber to start getting ready. That night, as the revel
commenced, Grace paused in a

corner of Calavere's great hall and made certain her newest possession-a
slim dagger, given to her by Aryn earlier that day-was still secure in
its sheath inside her doeskin boot.

"No proper lady should be without one," Aryn had said when she stopped
by Grace's chamber to give her the weapon. However, Grace suspected her
encounter with the

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merchant in the bailey, rather than fashion, was the true reason for the
gift. She was beginning to think there was steel beneath the young
baroness's gentle demeanor.

Grace drew out the knife. The dagger's jeweled hilt was ornate yet fit
smoothly into her grip. Without doubt this knife had been made to suit a
woman's hand, and although the blade was slender, it was sharp and
deadly. She slipped it back into its sheath. She doubted she would have
need of it, yet all the same the dagger felt reassuring against her skin.

She straightened and noticed again the dark stone-or was it
metal?-artifact that hulked nearby. She had asked Aryn about it the
other day, but the baroness had known little, other than that it had
been in the castle for centuries, and that some believed it was a relic
of ancient Malachor. Grace started to reach out, curious to touch its
smooth surface, when a voice called out behind her.

"Grace, there you are! I've been looking all over for you." Grace turned
and smiled at seeing Aryn. "And now that you've found me, you have to
keep me company."

Aryn did not argue the point, and the two walked together through the
crowded hall. Grace saw King Boreas near the cavernous fireplace, in
conversation with Queen Ivalaine of Toloria. Kyrene hovered just behind
the queen, a haughty cast to her lips. Ivalaine's visage was as
beautiful as before, while the king could not seem to stop frowning.

"Why does King Boreas seem so unhappy to see her?" Grace said. She
thought back to her lessons in history and politics. "Aren't Calavan and
Toloria allies?"

"Historically, yes." Aryn took a goblet of wine from a servant, handed
it to Grace, then took one for herself. "But King Boreas subscribes to
the Mysteries of Vathris, and there has long been a rivalry between the
Cult of the Bullslayer and those with whom Ivalaine consorts."

Grace frowned. "And who are they?"

Aryn licked her lips before she whispered the words. "The Witches."

An electric jolt surged through Grace. The Witches? So Adira had been
right. Ivalaine was a witch-whatever it was that truly entailed. And no
doubt Kyrene considered herself one as well. Grace gripped her goblet
and downed the wine in one long swallow. Then, before she lost her
nerve, she

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told Aryn everything: the strange things Ivalaine had said about the
Touch, and Adira's hope to become a witch by talking to the queen.

Aryn's eyes grew rounder as Grace spoke, then she took a step backward.
"Grace, is it true? Do you . . . do you have it, then? The Touch?"

Grace groaned. "How would I know? I don't even know what it is."

Aryn took another step in retreat. Grace shook her head. No, Aryn
couldn't pull away from her. Not now, not after everything that had
happened.

"Don't you dare be afraid of me, Aryn," she said. "Ivalaine was
interested in you, too. Remember that."

The baroness blinked, then her look of alarm was replaced by one of
regret. She reached out and took Grace's hand. "I'm not afraid of you,
Grace. Just for you, for both of us." Grace managed a weak smile.

"But we must not let King Boreas learn any of this," Aryn said.

Grace squeezed the baroness's hand in firm agreement. As long as she had
Aryn beside her, things didn't seem quite so terrifying.

As they continued through the hall, music floated down from a wooden
gallery where a troupe of minstrels worked their craft: Flutes trilled
over a buzzing drone accompanied by a gentle drumbeat. Many of the
nobles took partners and danced to the music in stiff, intricate
patterns. Grace saw Logren among them. He was clad again in pearl-gray,
his dark hair swept back from his forehead. In contrast to his height
and elegance, his dancing partner was a diminutive yet sturdy young
woman, with a plain face and kind brown eyes. Grace recognized hex-she
was Kalyn, advisor to King Kylar of Galt, and Kylar's twin sister. The
two whirled in Grace and Aryn's direction, and Grace turned her head.

Aryn raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong? I thought you said before you
liked Logren of Eredane."

"He's busy at the moment, that's all."

Before Aryn could question her further, Grace pressed on. Then Aryn
clutched Grace's arm, and they halted.

"There, do you see him?" the baroness whispered.

She nodded obliquely toward a young man with broad

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shoulders and a short blond beard. He stood nearby, talking to several
older men. They laughed at something he said, and he gave a dashing smile.

"Who is he?" Grace said.

"His name is Leothan. He's a noble in southern Toloria, only an earl,
but he has high standing in Ivalaine's court and is no doubt destined
for more. I was hoping he might ride here with his queen."

"Why?// "In two years, when I am twenty-one, King Boreas will release
Elsandry into my care, and I will need to marry, so there will be a
baron to help me in caring for the king's fief." Aryn's blue eyes shone.
"Leothan is most handsome, don't you think?"

Grace mentally kicked herself. "Yes," she said, "he is." The group of
noblemen broke up, and Leothan turned and walked in their direction.
Aryn hesitated, then squared her shoulders and stepped directly into the
young earl's path. He came to a halt before the two of them, smiled his
brilliant smile, and bowed.

"Good eventide, Your Highness, Your Radiance." Grace nodded, and Aryn
made an elegant curtsy. "Good eventide, my lord," the baroness said.

He made a broad gesture toward the dancers. "A fine revel, wouldn't you
say, my ladies?"

"Indeed it is." Aryn took a deep breath. "Would you care to dance, my lord?"

Leothan's smile never faltered, but a queer light crept into his eyes,
making them hard and flat. "I'm afraid this dance requires two hands, my
lady."

Aryn stared, uncomprehending, then she glanced down, and her face went
white. The elegant fold of cloth that draped her right shoulder had
fallen aside, and her withered right arm had slipped free, twisted and
delicate as the broken wing of a dove. She looked up with an expression
of horror.

Leothan bowed again. Somehow it was a mocking gesture now. "If you'll
excuse me, my ladies?"

Aryn managed some reply, and the young earl moved away through the dancers.

Grace stared after the earl in a fury. He was so beautiful outside, but
she could almost see it-the ugly blot that was

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his heart, as cold and hard as the lump of iron she had found in the
dead man's chest at Denver Memorial Hospital. Beauty made a perfect mask
for evil. That was why it was allowed to walk the world, why people
sought it out, invited it in, and embraced it.

Grace heard a sigh, and her anger drained away. She moved to Aryn and
redraped the fold of cloth over the baroness's right shoulder.

"Aryn, he's not even worth-"

"No, Grace, I'm all right." She pulled away. "Really. Look, isn't that
your friend, Durge?"

Grace glanced across the hall. Sure enough the Embarran stood against a
wall, arms crossed over his deep chest, black mustaches drooping, brown
eyes somber.

Grace brightened at the sight of the dark-haired knight. She had not
seen Durge since the last feast, and she had missed him. If only she
could convince the knight that a visit from him would be anything but a
bother. Durge didn't make her feel like other people did, like there was
something broken inside of her, something of her own to hide, if not
with a fold of her gown, then with silence.

She waved at Durge and steered Aryn toward him, and although the knight

did not smile, it did seem the gloomy air around him lessened a bit.

"Durge, it's so good to see you," Grace said. "My ladies."

The knight started a stiff bow, but Grace reached out and took his hand
instead. He fumbled a moment, recovered, then kissed her hand-a bit
clumsily, but the gesture was a thousand times more charming than all
Leothan's elegant poses put together. Grace supposed Durge might be
considered homely. His face was angular, his nose craggy, his forehead
furrowed by years of sober expression. But to her he was far
better-looking than any Leothan.

An idea struck her. She looked at Aryn. "Perhaps Durge would dance with
you."

The knight cast a startled glance at Aryn. "I'm certain the baroness
would much prefer to rest than dance with me." Aryn gave a hasty nod.
"Yes, I would. Thank you for understanding, my lord."

Grace frowned. She opened her mouth, but just then horns

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heralded the start of supper. Durge bowed and begged his leave.

"But aren't you eating at the high table?" Grace said. "Now that the
kings and queens have arrived, Boreas does not need the likes of me to
fill his board." The knight did not seem disturbed by this, merely
matter-of-fact.

This news disappointed Grace. She almost told Durge she would sit
wherever he did, but Aryn tugged her hand, and she was forced to make a
hasty farewell instead.

"I don't see why you like Durge so much," Aryn said as they walked
toward the high table. "He's old. And so gloomy. And not handsome at all."

"Really?" Grace said. "And here I was thinking he's the kindest man I've
ever met."

Aryn opened her mouth, but by then they had reached the table, and the
baroness was forced to take her seat to Boreas's left, while Grace moved
to an empty spot at the table's end. Once seated she found herself next
to King Kylar of Gait. Now that she saw him at close quarters he was
even younger than she had thought, no more than twenty-five, with an
open face and hazel eyes that seemed too gentle to belong to a monarch.
She took a sip from the wine goblet that rested between them, wiped the
rim with a napkin, then-feeling bolder-introduced herself to the young
king. His smile was shy but genuine, and he took the goblet when she
handed it to him.

"It is g-g-good to meet you, m-m-my lady."

He fought the words valiantly to get them out, then looked away, his
cheeks red beneath the soft down of his brown beard.

Yes, of course. He had raised the goblet in his left hand. He fit all
the typical categories then: male, left-handed, a twin. On Earth he
would have undergone speech therapy, as well as counseling to help him
overcome his anxiety at speaking. Most likely he would have spoken

normally by age ten or twelve. But here . . . here he would probably
stutter his whole life. Grace sighed. She was starting to think, just
maybe, she hated this world.

Her hand crept across the table and touched his: cool, reassuring, a
doctor's hand. "May I pour you some more wine, Your Majesty?"

314

He gazed at her, then his smile returned, crooked and grateful. "Yes,
th-th-thank you, Your R-r-radiance."

Grace almost winced at his gratitude. What would Kylar think if he knew
she was this kind, this assured only because he was damaged? She pushed
the thought aside and poured.

As Kylar drank, Grace surveyed the high table. The kings and queens of
the Dominions all sat in sharp contrast to one another. There was King
Sorrin of Embarr, Durge's liege, at the far end of the table, gaunt and
sallow, hunched over his plate, not touching his food. Queen Eminda of
Eredane sat next to him, a thick-waisted woman of middle years who might
have been comely in a matronly way were it not for the perpetual frown
into which her mouth was cast. Beside Eminda was King Persard of
Perridon. He was by far the eldest of the royals-thin and frail, with
only scant wisps of hair left to float above his skull-but his eyes were
bright and mischievous. When he saw Grace gazing at him, he winked,
grinned, and made a gesture with his hands that could have only one,
lewd, meaning. She moved her gaze quickly down the line.

Aryn and Alerain flanked King Boreas, who looked bored and restless, and
drank entire cups of wine where others had sips. Near the dark and
bullish king of Calavan was Ivalaine. The Tolorian queen gazed in regal
silence over the hall, her eyes glittering like mysterious gems. Last of
all, between Ivalaine and King Kylar, sat King Lysandir of Brelegond. Or
at least Grace assumed it was he amid the-masses of crimson and gold.
She could hardly see the balding king of Brelegond for all his finery,
though she could certainly hear his constant demands upon the servants,
shouted in an impatient, nasal tone. Grace moved Lysandir to the bottom
of her list of the kings and queens. Those who acted the most important
seldom truly were.

Servants came to the table, bearing steaming platters of food, and-as
they had at the last feast-the castle's two runespeakers approached the
table. Starting one at each end they moved down the length of the table
and spoke a rune of wholesomeness over each plate. They were halfway
down the table when a shriek rose above the din of conversation. "Keep
your filthy magic away from, me!"

315

As one, those at the high table turned and stared as Eminda of Eredane
leaped to her feet. The young runespeaker before her gave Boreas a look
of confusion. The king of Calavan scowled, then gave a flick of a
finger, indicating for him to move on, which he quickly did. Eminda
seemed embarrassed now, and her cheeks glowed red as she sat once more.
Logren moved from his place at a lower table to his queen's side. He
spoke with her for a moment, then turned to address King Boreas.

"My queen asks that you forgive her, Your Majesty. She is weary from her
journey and is not used to all the customs of your castle. Runespeakers

are not . . . common in Eredane these days."

Boreas grunted. "Of course. Her Majesty should not be concerned. And she
has my word my runespeakers will not trouble her again."

Logren bowed and returned to his seat, and the course of the supper
resumed. Grace and Kylar spoke little as they ate, but they smiled much,
and it was not at all unpleasantexcept when Kylar spooned up an insect
from the bottom of his steamed pudding.

"Please d-d-don't worry, my lady. I'm quite ac-c-c-I'm quite used to it."

He smiled, as if just because one was used to hardship it made it all
right somehow. Grace smiled in return, although she did not feel like
doing so, and stirred her own pudding. She almost hoped she would find a
beetle as well, but she did not.

Once dinner was over the music and dancing resumed, although Lord Logren
led Queen Eminda from the great hall, and King Sorrin had disappeared at
some point during the meal. King Persard left as well, a plump serving
maid on each of his scrawny arms and a grin on his wrinkled face.

Boreas approached the corner where Grace and Aryn stood. "Would you care
to dance with your king?" he asked the baroness.

"Your Majesty, I'd rather have my feet trod upon by a herd of wild horses."

Boreas clapped his hands together. "Lady Aryn, I'm proud of you! That
lie almost sounded convincing." The king

316

glanced at Grace. "Perhaps there's hope for my ward yet." He gripped
Aryn's hand. "Now let's dance."

The baroness shot Grace a pleading look, but Grace knew her friend was
lost beyond hope. Boreas dragged Aryn into the throng and began tossing
her around in a series of dizzying circles.

Grace watched all the nobles in the great hall dancingmoving in
complicated patterns she couldn't hope to understand. She sighed. "I'm
never going to figure out how to do this."

"The dance is not so difficult as you think, my lady." She lifted a hand
to her chest and turned around. Durge stood in the dimness beside a
stone column.

"I wasn't talking about the dance, Durge."

The Embarran knight stepped forward. "I know."

Grace shook her head and wished she could believe him. She gazed again
at the dancers. The great hall seemed a stormy sea of color in which she
could all too easily drown. If only she had something to help keep her
afloat, something

or

She turned back toward the knight. "I can't do this alone, Durge. I
can't be King Boreas's spy at the council. Not by myself." It was not

like her to do so, but she didn't care, not now, not in her desperation.
She reached out and touched his shoulder. "Will you help me, Durge? Not
just tonight, but tomorrow, and the next day, and through all of this.
Please?"

His face seemed carved of stone. Grace thought he was going to pull
away. Then he shrugged.

"Now that my king is here with his favored servants and counselors,
there is little enough for me to do. I'm afraid I'm a far better fit on
the road than I am at court." He gave a solemn nod. "Yes, my lady, I
will help you, but not out of any desire to further King Boreas's
causes. I will help you for your sake, and your sake alone."

Grace surprised herself then-she laughed, and for the first time in days
she felt a sense of hope. The sea still churned around her, but she was
not lost yet.

"That makes three times you've rescued me, Durge."

To her surprise, embarrassment, and-strangest of all-her delight, he
knelt before her and bowed his head.

"At your service, my lady."

317

It was late.

Grace woke to moonlight streaming through the window of her chamber. She
sat up in bed, grimaced, and lifted a hand to her temple. Her head
throbbed-the aftereffects of too much wine. She was still clad in the
woolen gown she had worn that evening, now bunched up and rumpled. She
forced herself to think back. After her conversation with Durge she had
felt bold enough to walk around the great hall in the knight's company.
She had spoken with some of the nobles, and even a king or two. Only it
seemed every third person had thrust a full goblet into her hand. The
last thing she remembered was Durge leading her back to the door of her
chamber, and then . . . she must have climbed into bed without changing
and fallen asleep.

But what had awakened her? It had been a sound: distant, yet high and
silvery, a sound almost like . . . bells. Yes, that was it, a sound like
far-off church bells on a still winter night. But she had noticed no
bell tower in all her wanderings about Calavere. And even if there were,
who would ring the bells so late at night? Urged on by curiosity, she
slipped from the bed, padded to the chamber door, and stepped into the
corridor.

The stone floor was cold against her bare feet. She had gotten her boots
off at least. She glanced down the corridor in both directions. The
castle was silent. Now what?

She was just beginning to feel foolish, just beginning to think she
should go back into her room, drink some water, shuck off her gown, and
slip back into bed, when she heard them again. Before, in her
sleepiness, she couldn't be certain. Now she was wide-awake, and there
could be no doubt. The faint sound had not come from outside the castle,
but from within.

Bells. She hastened down the corridor in the direction of the sound. A
minute later she heard them again, closer this time. She quickened her
pace until she nearly ran down

318

twisting passageways. Then a blast of cold air brought her to a halt.
The corridor ended in an alcove set with a single round window. The
window hung open, and frigid air streamed in. Grace approached the
window, shivered, and peered through. It had snowed outside, but now the
clouds had parted, and the land glowed under the light of the rising
moon. She looked down, and that was when she saw them, at least twenty
feet below: a line of small depressions dinted in the newfallen snow.
Footprints.

The trail led to the edge of the hill on which the castle rested, then
vanished over the edge. Grace lifted her eyes and peered in the
direction the footprints led. Her gaze crossed white, glowing plains to
a dark line on the horizon. The eaves of Gloaming Wood.

How long she gazed out the window she wasn't sure. A shiver jolted her
back to the present. Whoever-whateverhad jumped out the window was now
long gone. She shut the window, then turned and started back toward her
chamber.

She was halfway there when she rounded a corner and let out a gasp. In
front of a door, not a dozen paces away, stood a man. At least Grace
assumed it was a man, for she could not see his face, as he was clad
from head to toe in a robe as black as night. He held a knife in his
hand and was using the tip to carve something into the surface of the door.

Grace drew in a breath, unsure what to do, then called out. "Hello."

The robed figure froze, then the cowled head snapped in Grace's
direction, although she could not glimpse the face within. She took a
step forward. The figure turned and fled, his robe billowing behind like
black wings. Something fell with a clatter to the stone floor.

Grace held out a hand. "Wait!"

It was too late. The stranger turned a corner and was gone. Grace shook
her head. Why would anyone be afraid of her? She walked to the door the
stranger had been standing before. There. It was so small she probably
never would have noticed it had she not seen him doing it. A symbol had
been scratched into the wood of the door near the upper left corner,
formed of two curved lines:

319

No matter how much Grace stared at it the symbol made no sense. She
sighed-she was far too tired to think. Tomorrow she could bring Aryn or
Durge here. One of them might know what the symbol meant. Perhaps it
related to one of the mystery cults.

Grace turned away from the door, and a flash of silver caught her eye.
She bent and picked up the object. It was a small knife with a black
hilt. The stranger must have dropped it when he fled. She tucked it into
her belt as she started down the corridor. Grace wasn't sure why, but
the knife seemed important for some reason.

She reached her chamber without seeing another soul and slipped inside.
Quickly-her room was cold-she shucked off her gown and, navigating by
the brilliant moonlight, climbed onto her bed. She started to pull back
the bedcovers, then gasped. With a trembling hand she reached out and
picked up the object that rested on her pillow.

It was a sprig of evergreen. She remembered a pair of nutbrown eyes
gazing at her, and she saw again the small footprints in the snow. Then
Adira the serving maid's words echoed in her mind. The Little People
must have gotten to it. . . . Grace tightened her grip on the twig. She
didn't know what it all meant, but one thing was certain.

Strange things were prowling the halls of Calavere.

320

321 I

322

323

On the last day of Sindath, the day before the Council of Kings was to
convene, a curious traveling party arrived at the gates of Calavere.

The news-along with Aryn-found Grace in the east wing of the castle's
main keep, in the company of the knight Durge. A week had passed since
the evening of the revel, when Grace had felt herself adrift in the
subtle sea of power and politics in the great hall and Durge had pledged
his help to her. During the intervening time Grace had learned a great
deal about the art of intrigue.

"The first rule of any conflict," the knight had said in Grace's chamber
the morning after the revel, "is never wait for your enemy to come to
you. Rather, go to him first."

Grace had stopped dead in her pacing to stare at the knight. "Even when
you're at a disadvantage?"

Durge had regarded her with his usual gravity. "Especially when you're
at a disadvantage. If you're going to perish, better at least to choose
the place."

Grace had resisted the urge to scream. She was never going to best the
other nobles at their own game-she might as well have embroidered the
word amateur on her gown. Yet the alternative to taking Durge's advice
was to tell Boreas she couldn't help him at the council. And the only
thing that

U

324

terrified Grace more than the prospect of playing Boreas's spy was
facing the wrath of the bullish king of Calavan.

She had sighed like one condemned beyond reprieve. "Let's get started."

However, a week truly did make a difference. In the days since that
uncertain morning, Grace's confidence had grown-tentatively at first,

then by great strides.

One by one, she and Durge had questioned the nobles attending the
council-the courtiers, the counselors, the seneschals. The two would
wait until the most opportune moment, usually when the object of their
attention was alone, then as one they would pounce. To Durge this may
have been a war, but to Grace it was more like medicine: Observe,
diagnose, then go in with a sharp scalpel. All she had to do was think
of the nobles, not as people, but as cases to be solved, and it was not
so different from a shift in the ED at Denver Memorial.

On that particular afternoon their chosen target was Lord Sul, High
Counselor to Persard, the ancient-if sprightlyking of Perridon. Sul was
an inherently fretful man and had proved an elusive quarry. They had
followed him nearly an hour before they saw their opportunity and seized
it. The two split up and came upon the counselor from opposite
directions, trapping him in a corridor. Sul was a mouse of a man with
big ears and a whiskery mustache that was in constant motion. His black
eyes darted from knight to lady and back to knight again. Grace bit her
lip to conceal a smile.

"Tell me, Sul," Durge said, "is it true what they say of your king?"

Sul fingered the neck of his tunic. "I'm sure I don't know what you
mean, my lord."

"Don't you?" The Embarran knight backed the counselor up against a wall.
"I've heard Persard will petition the Council of Kings to cede all the
lands along the north bank of the Serpent's Tail River to Perridon. But
you know as well as I the north bank of the river belongs to Embarr."

Sul batted his eyes. "But my king has no such plan!" "You're lying, of
course," Durge said. "I know you can't help it, Sul. You're a
Perridoner, after all. Telling the truth goes against your basic nature.
But in Embarr we have ways,

325

of convincing liars to speak the truth, and most of them involve heating
iron tongs in a bed of coals first."

The counselor's eyes bulged as he struggled for words. Now it was
Grace's turn. She laid a hand on Durge's arm and did her best to look
imploring.

"My lord, can't we resolve this with words rather than violence?"

Sul nodded in vigorous agreement.

Durge reached up and over his left shoulder to grip the hilt of the
Embarran greatsword slung in a leather harness strapped to his broad
back. "You cannot understand, my lady. Yours is too gentle a soul."

"Please, my lord. Allow me to speak with the counselor. Just for a moment."

Durge hesitated, then nodded. "Very well, my lady, but only a moment.
Then I will deal with him my way."

The knight stepped aside, and Grace approached the trembling Sul.

"I beg you, my lady," the counselor whispered. "You seem to have some
influence on this madman. Call him off!" Grace gave her head a regretful
shake. "I'm so sorry, my

lord. It is beyond me to influence the earl of Stonebreak. You know how
Embarrans are when angered. It's the dreary landscape of their homeland.
It makes them a trifle insane, I think."

Sul was frantic now. "But you have to do something, my lady! My lord
cares nothing for the north bank of the river, I swear it."

This wasn't surprising, given that Durge had made the rumor up on the
spot. Grace tapped her cheek. "Well, perhaps if I knew what your liege
really intended at the council, I might be able to convince the earl he
is in error."

Sul licked his lips. "My king's only concern right now is Toloria, my
lady. Ever since Ivalaine came to the throne three years ago, Persard
has been concerned about his southern neighbor. The queen has refused to
sign any of the treaties he has offered her. So Persard intends to
support Boreas at the council in hopes of solidifying his alliance with
Calavan chnnld lip ever need airl avainct Tnlnria "

knew at once the little man was telling the truth.

326

She could not quite prevent the hint of a smile from touching her lips.

"Now please, my lady," Sul said. "Speak with the earl of Stonebreak!"

"I'll see what I can do."

As it turned out, the duchess of Beckett was indeed able to calm the
earl of Stonebreak, and a much relieved Sul scurried down the corridor.

Durge regarded Grace with somber brown eyes. "You've made an ally, you
know."

Grace shook her head, half in amusement, half in regret. "Poor Sul. I
suppose the gods of this place will strike me down for having so much
fun tormenting him."

Durge shrugged. "I know not how things are in your homeland, my lady,
but it is my experience that the gods seldom mete out punishment to
those who deserve it."

Her smile faded, and she gazed at the knight. "Don't you believe in the
gods, Durge?"

The knight seemed to think, his eyes distant. "My father used to say the
wind in Embarr was so harsh it blew all the gods away. It is true you'll
find more masons and engineers in my homeland than you will priests of
the mystery cults." He looked again to Grace. "But to answer your
question, my lady, I believe there are gods. I just don't necessarily
believe in them."

Grace slipped a hand into the pocket of her gown and touched the crude
wooden bull she had found in the bailey, the symbol of the Warrior Cult
of Vathris. For some reason she couldn't name she had kept it close to

her these last days, although she had always favored science over religion.

"Sometimes I think the wind might blow us all away, Durge," she murmured.

The furrows that marked the knight's brow deepened in concern. He
reached out a hand, as if to comfort her, but he changed the movement at
the last moment and gestured clumsily for them to start down the
hallway. "Come, my lady, this is a dim part of the castle. Let us return
to more lighted ways.'

While they walked Grace kept her eyes open, as had become her habit, but
she saw nothing unusual as they went. In fact, she had seen no signs of
the mysterious persons

327

skulking about the castle since the night of the revel. She had
told,Durge and Aryn of the black-robed man she had glimpsed. For days
after, the three of them had searched Calavere, but they had found no
traces of the robed one, or of whoeverDon't you mean whatever, Grace?

-had made the tiny footprints in the snow.

Grace turned her mind to more mundane mysteries, ones she had at least a
slim chance of solving. She had spoken now with nobles belonging to the
courts of nearly all the kings and queens of the Dominions, and day by
day a clearer picture formed in her mind of the positions held by the
various rulers.

As far as Grace could tell, Boreas had nothing to worry about with
regard to Kylar-the young king of Galt was by his own admission a
staunch supporter of Calavan. Persard of Perridon struck Grace as a bit
more sly and unpredictable, but Lord Sul's words supported Grace's hunch
that Perridon would follow Calavan's lead at the council-as long as
Persard believed he would gain by it.

Eminda was another matter altogether. Grace had not gotten remotely
close to the queen of Eredane, but from conversations she had overheard
among some of Eminda's courtiers, she was beginning to think that if
Boreas said the sky was blue, Eminda would issue a proclamation stating
it was green. Eredane was a realm on the rise, and-as the oldest and
strongest of the Dominions-Calavan was its chief rival. Grace suspected
Eminda would perceive any action Boreas took as a direct counter to
Eredane's progress. Grace had said as much to Boreas in one of their
brief meetings over the course of the last week. However, the king had
only grunted, and whether he thought this-or any of the information
Grace had given him-was useful, he had not said.

Still, Grace had done her best at the mission Boreas had assigned her,
and she had largely succeeded. With at least some degree of certainty,
she now knew where all the rulers stood on the issue of war.

All, that was, except Queen Ivalaine.

Grace had not dared to try to speak to the beautiful queen of Toloria
again. The thought of those ice-colored eyes gaz

328

ing into her-as if they could see things no other couldmade her feel

naked and sick.

Why, Grace? What are you so afraid she'll see? Are you terrified she'll
see you're a witch? Or that there's nothing inside of you at all?

She pushed the question from her mind. It was not as if there had been
opportunity to speak to any of the nobles in Ivalaine's court. Most were
like their queen-fair, faultless of manner, and far more likely to
conjure secrets with their words than answer them.

A thought occurred to Grace. There was one other ruler whose motives she
had learned little about in the last week. She gazed at the knight
walking beside her. "What of your own king, Durge? Except for Ivalaine,
I think I know the least about him of all."

Durge blew a breath through his mustaches. "There is no need for you to
waste your time spying on King Sorrin, my lady. I can tell you all you
need to know of him. I'm afraid my liege is dying."

"King Sorrin is ill?" Her doctor's instincts replaced all other thoughts
in her mind. "Has it been going on long? What are his symptoms?"

"No, my lady. It is no illness you might cure that ails King Sorrin.
Indeed, I imagine he will live to a great age, and that makes it only
the more bitter."

Grace halted in mid-stride. "I don't understand."

"It is a malady of the mind that has struck my king. He dwells in
constant fear of death, and so every day he is dy ing. "

Durge moved to a narrow window-an arrow loop, through which archers
might fire out but not in-and peered at the thin strip of sky beyond.
"Sorrin's mortal fear has become a prison, stronger than any made of
stone. Nor do I think he will ever escape it. His dread of death
consumes him so that he thinks of nothing else. All day he pores over
books about disease, and speaks only to his leeches, and drinks the
potions they concoct. He has little time for others, or for running a
kingdom."

The knight was always solemn, but now there was a note of sorrow to his
weatherworn face. Grace tried to draw in a breath, but her chest felt
tight. It was the gown, of course. It

329

was so constricting, she shouldn't wear it, even if Aryn did say the
winter violet suited her.

She opened her mouth to say something-anything-that might make the
knight feel better, but no words came out. If he were wounded, she would
have known exactly how to help him. But this sadness .. .

"Lady Grace!" a clear voice called out.

Grace glanced up and saw a flash of sapphire rush toward them. "Lady
Aryn," she said, and tried not to sound too grateful for the interruption.

"Grace, I'm so glad I found you." The young baroness's cheeks glowed
from exertion.

"Good morrow, Your Highness," Durge said in his rough but gentle
baritone. He made a stiff bow. "Though I warrant it won't stay good for
long. It looks like rain."

Aryn blinked as if only now noticing the knight, and indeed his tunic
and cloak were the exact color of the stone wall. She made a hasty
curtsy. "Lord Durge." She started to turn back to Grace, then glanced
out the window. A frown crossed her pretty face. "But the sky is
perfectly clear."

Durge made no reply. He clasped his hands and gazed forward with deep
brown eyes.

"Aryn, what is it?" Grace said.

Aryn's blue eyes shone. "You'll never guess who rode up to the castle
gates only a few moments ago."

"No," Grace said, "I probably won't."

"Then you'll just have to come see. If we wait outside the great hall,
we might get a glimpse of them." With her good hand she grabbed Grace
and tugged her down the passage. "Oh, and you as well, Durge," she added.

The Embarran hesitated, then gave a wordless nod and followed the two
ladies down the corridor.

63.

Travis stuck close to Beltan as they followed Falken, Melia, and a pair
of stocky men-at-arms through the winding corridors of Calavere. He felt
a little safer next to the big knight. But only a little.

330

The men-at-arms had greeted them when they rode up to the castle's
gate-if being met with hard gazes and sharp spears, then being ordered
to leave their horses and follow, could be called greeting rather than
accosting.

"It looks as if someone saw you coming, Falken," Beltan had said, and he
had drawn the hood of his green cloak up over his head, casting his face
in shadow.

Falken had only grunted, and Travis had not taken this as a favorable
sign. The bard hadn't been exactly welcome at the last castle whose door
they had knocked on. Did he expect better here? Or worse?

They came to a halt before a set of double doors.

"King Boreas is expecting you," one of the men-at-arms said and gestured
to the doors.

Melia gave Falken a speculative look. "You did say you were on King
Boreas's good side, didn't you?"

Falken adjusted his cloak. "Is this on straight?"

"A little to the left." Melia's eyes flashed. "And don't think I didn't

notice that you failed to answer my question." Falken shot her a wolfish
grin. "Shall we go beg hospitality of the king?"

Melia rolled her eyes but said nothing.

Travis leaned toward Beltan. "Does he know what he's doing?"

"Not nearly so often as he acts like he does." Together they pushed
through the doors.

The great hall of Calavere was not unlike King Kel's hall, except it was
twice the size, the walls did not look as if they were about to crumble,
and there were no wildmen in sight. A number of trestle tables stood
folded against the walls, leaving the floor-strewn with fresh
rushes-wide-open. A dais dominated the far end of the hall, and this in
turn was dominated by the king of Calavan. Travis knew at once that,

for all Kel's swagger, Boreas was to the shaggy ruler of Kelcior what a
bonfire was to a torch. This was no petty king.

Boreas sat on the dais in a folding wooden chair. The chair was gilded
with gold, and its feet carved like lion paws. The king was a muscular
man but not bulky, clad in close-fitting black trimmed with silver. His
short beard gleamed with oil, and his eyes-more steel than sky-glinted
in annoyance.

331

An older man with a neat gray beard stood a pace beside and a pace
behind the throne, and several men-at-arms were arranged below the dais,
along with a heap of gigantic black dogs-any one of which looked as if
it could have comfortably housed Travis's entire skull in its maw, and
gladly would have done so.

Boreas turned his stormy gaze on the four travelers as they approached
the dais. His voice rumbled over the hall like thunder.

"Well, Falken Blackhand, I know these are dark days indeed if you show
up at my gate."

"Greetings, Your Majesty." Falken's rich voice filled the hall. "It is
good to see you are well."

"And through no work of your own. But do not feign interest in my
health, Falken. Tell me, why have you come to Calavere? I thought I was
rid of the Grim Bard."

Falken laughed. "You know well enough why I'm here, Your Majesty. I have
come to speak to the council."

Boreas snorted. "To bewilder the council with fanciful stories, isn't
that what you mean?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, stories. And, as a bard, I know that

stories sometimes come true."

The king appeared unimpressed by this statement. "Don't try to muddle
things with your riddles, Falken. I would have had my knights ride you
back over the Darkwine Bridge were it not for the Lady Melia in your

company."

Melia made an exquisite curtsy. "Your Majesty, I see your manners are as
elegant as ever."

The king winced, and Travis bit his tongue to stifle a laugh. Something
told him Boreas had thrown people to his dogs for less.

Boreas turned his attention back to the bard. "I don't have time for
this. Tell me why I shouldn't just turn you away, Falken-Lady Melia in
your company or no."

Falken took another step nearer the dais. "We have ridden hard on a long
journey, Your Majesty, and we humbly beg your hospitality."

Boreas grunted but did not immediately refuse Falken's request. From
what Beltan had said, Travis knew even a king was bound by the laws of
hospitality.

332

"Besides," Falken went on, "there is one with us I think you will be
glad to see."

Travis frowned at the bard. Who was Falken talking about? Even as he
wondered this, Beltan stepped forward and pushed back his hood.

"Hello, Uncle."

Travis snapped his head around to stare at the tall knight. Uncle?

Boreas sat up straight on his throne. His eyes lit up-not with annoyance
now, but with delight.

"By Vathris! Beltan!"

The king leaped from his chair, rushed down from the dais, and caught
the knight in an embrace. Travis suspected the power of that hug would
have crushed him to jelly. However, Beltan, if not as strapping as the
king, was the taller, and he returned the embrace with equal strength.

Travis tried to understand what had just happened. How could Beltan be
royalty? He was just . . . Beltan. But that wasn't true, was it? Now
that they stood together, Travis could see the family resemblance. Both
of their faces bore the same strong nose, the same sharp and slightly
dangerous lines. Travis's heart soared for his friend-then as quickly it
sank in his chest. Who was he to be friends with royalty?

Boreas stepped back from the blond knight. "So, you can't be bothered to
visit your uncle once in a while, can you, Beltan? How many years has it
been since you last made your way here? Two? Three? Too long at any
rate." He cast a look of displeasure at the bard. "And what are you
doing in the company of this scoundrel? I had not thought you'd throw
your lot in with the likes of Falken Blackhand." He raised a hand to
shield his mouth and nodded toward Melia. "Though I warrant you, she's
worth hanging around."

"Uncle," Beltan said in a chiding tenor.

A clear voice interrupted the king and his nephew. "You still have not

given us an answer, Your Majesty."

Boreas turned away from Beltan, scowled, and advanced on the bard. "By
Vathris, you know perfectly well I'm going to grant you hospitality,
Falken. As if I had a choice." He glanced at Beltan, and this time it
was not only fondness in the look. "Though I still can't understand why
you've fallen in with this motley bunch, Beltan of Calavan. Then again,

333

even as a boy you always had your head stuck inside a helmet of your own
forging."

"In that I had a good model to follow, Uncle."

Travis cringed, afraid this would only enrage the king further, but
Boreas let out a great laugh and clapped Beltan on the back.

"Welcome home, Beltan. And yes, welcome to all of you, even to you,
Falken Blackhand. I will not let you ruin this happy occasion, no matter
how much you might try."

Falken bowed and said nothing.

Boreas gestured to the gray-haired man on the dais. "My seneschal, Lord
Alerain, will see to your needs. I'm afraid I have other matters to
attend to. Keeping a kingdom running and all that-I'm sure you wouldn't
understand, Falken."

The king did not wait for a response. He nodded to Beltan and Melia-but
not to Falken or Travis-then strode from the great hall. A weight lifted
from the air like the passing of a storm.

Melia raised a hand to her slender throat. "I won't say that went well,
but at least we still have our heads."

Falken nodded, then laid a hand on Beltan's shoulder. "So, is it good to
be home?"

The knight shot Travis a look of concern and opened his mouth. -However,
Travis turned his back before Beltan could answer the question.

The doors of the great hall flew open, and as one, Grace, Aryn, and
Durge leaped back from the place where they had been waiting. King
Boreas stalked through, then strode past the three without even glancing
in their direction. A trio of stern-faced men-at-arms hurried after him
as he marched down a corridor and disappeared through an archway. Grace
thought she had seen Boreas angry before, but now she was forced to
downgrade any previous displays she had witnessed to merely perturbed.

"Oh dear," Aryn said, her left hand pressed to the bodice of her blue gown.

334

Grace met the baroness's startled gaze. "All right, Aryn. Who exactly is
this person who showed up at the gate?"

Durge stared after the king with sober brown eyes. "Given the king's
demeanor, I believe I have an idea."

Grace shot the knight a questioning look, but he only gestured to the
open doors.

"After you, my lady."

She stepped through the opening, and Aryn and Durge followed.

Grace saw at once there were four travelers, not one. They stood at the
far end of the hall, speaking with Lord Alerain in low voices. They were
an interesting band.

The one doing the most talking was a wolfish man, his black hair shot
with silver, clad in a cloak the same faded blue as his eyes. A wooden
case hung over his shoulder by a leather strap. Grace guessed it to
house some kind of musical instrument. To the man's right stood a woman
with hair even darker than Boreas's, and Grace knew Alerain would mark
her as royalty. She was not tall, and her midnight-blue kirtle was
simple, but she carried herself with an air of authority. Her skin was
burnished copper, her eyes polished amber.

On the other side of the wolfish man stood a knight. He was tall and
rangy, with amazingly broad shoulders, clad in a mail shirt, and with a
sword belted at his hip. His thinning blond hair fell about his
shoulders. The fourth member of the party stood behind the three. He
seemed out of place compared to the others. He was tall enough-though
not so tall as the knight-but slouched inside his baggy tunic. His beard
was unkempt, his sandy hair shaggy, and he wore a glum look on his face.
Grace supposed he was their servingman, though he looked rather
disheveled for such.

Aryn leaned toward Grace. "Look, it's the king's nephew." "Which one?"
Grace said, even as she guessed the answer. The fierce profile was a
dead giveaway. Although he was as light as Boreas was dark, and not as
handsome, the knight was obviously related to the king of Calavan.

"The fair one," Aryn said. "His name is Beltan. I remember him from when
I was a girl. He's as tall as I thought." The baroness chewed her lip.
"Although he has less hair, I think. And more scars. At any rate, Beltan
is the bastard son

335

of Beldreas, Boreas's elder brother, who was king of Calavan."

Grace was taken aback by the matter-of-fact tone with which Aryn spoke
the word bastard. However, this was a world where heritage and nobility
went hand in hand with rank and power. To the baroness it was not an
insult, merely a statement.

"What happened to Beldreas?" Grace said.

Aryn's usually cheerful face fell solemn. "He was murdered seven years
ago in this very hall. It was an awful time for Calavan, for the line of
succession was not clear. Even though he is a bastard, Beltan might well
have made a play for the throne, but he swore a vow to Vathris never to
rest until he found his father's murderer, so the throne went to Boreas,
who was Beldreas's younger brother."

Grace studied the rawboned knight. Furrows were etched into his high
forehead, far too deep for one who was certainly no older than herself.

"Did he ever find him? His father's killer, I mean."

"I'm afraid not. I've heard it said he still quests so, even to this day."

Grace shook her head. Why was it so hard for the living to forget the
dead? I'm sure the dead have no problem forgetting us. However, she did
not speak these words. "Who are the others?" she said instead.

"The dark-haired man is the bard Falken Blackhand," Aryn said. "And next
to him is the Lady Melia. I've never seen them before, but I've heard
stories."

Stories? Grace started to say, but before she could form the word she
felt a light tap on her shoulder.

"Come," Durge said in a quiet voice.

"Where are we going?" Grace had almost forgotten about the Embarran, he
had stood so stonily behind them.

"I want to introduce you to the bard."

Aryn's mouth dropped open, and she turned toward Durge. "You know Falken
Blackhand?"

Durge nodded. "I traveled with Falken once. But that was long ago, when
I was young and frivolous."

Grace clenched her jaw shut. It's not funny, Grace. It's not even
remotely funny.

"He won't remember who I am, of course," the knight

336

said. "I imagine he'll just stare at me blankly, then tell me to be off.
But it wouldn't be polite if I didn't try."

Aryn seemed not to hear these words and only stared at the knight. Durge
led the way across the hall toward the curious travelers. As they drew
near, Lord Alerain made a neat bow toward Falken, Melia, and Beltan.

"I will have chambers readied for you at once, my lady, my lord, and
your old chamber for you, Lord Beltan."

"Thank you, Lord Alerain," the Lady Melia said.

The king's seneschal hurried off, and Grace examined the travelers with
scientific interest. Beltan was royalty, and it was clear from Lord
Alerain's deference that the bard Falken and the Lady Melia were
important personages as well, though exactly what their rank and
position was Grace didn't know. Their servingman-he wore wire
spectacles, she saw now, which seemed odd for some reason-skulked behind
the three. He kicked at the rushes that covered the floor with mud-caked
boots, shoulders hunched inside his tunic. Shouldn't he have been seeing
to the needs of his masters?

Durge hesitated, then cleared his throat, stepped forward, and spoke in
a gruff tone. "Lord Falken, I'm sure you could never remember me, but I-"

The bard spun around, and his wolfish face-a moment before lined and
weary-was bright and youthful. "By Olrig! Durge!" Falken clapped the
knight's shoulder with his bare hand, then winced.

Durge's expression was at once concerned. "Falken, are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine." The bard shook his hand. "I just wish you knights would
learn to warn the rest of us when you're wearing a mail shirt beneath
your cloak and tabard."

Durge eyed the bard's hand. "I imagine you've crippled it permanently.
You'll never play the lute again."

Falken frowned at the Embarran knight. "What kind of talk is that? I
thought you had forsworn the ways of your countrymen, Durge. You were a
man of good cheer, last I knew."

Now it was Grace's turn to stare at Durge.

He shifted from foot to foot. "I was a boy when you knew

337

me, Lord Falken, my mustaches barely begun. I am a man well past his
middle years now."

A sadness crept into Falken's expression, and he gazed at the knight, as
if just now noticing Durge's deeply chiseled face and the gray that
streaked his hair. "Of course," the bard said. "Of course, I forget. It
must be over twenty years."

Grace thought this response odd. She had seen elderly people similarly
struck by the passage of time, but surely Falken was of an age with
Durge, who could not.have been more than forty-five. That was hardly
old. Except in this world it is, Grace. You yourself are middle-aged
here, and you're only thirty. No wonder Aryn thinks Durge is so old. To
her, at nineteen, he's ancient.

Now Falken's smile returned, and if it was not as bright as before, it
was at least as fond. He gripped the Embarran knight's hand. "All the
same, it is good to see you again, Durge."

The dark-haired knight nodded. "And you as well, Falken."

Falken turned toward his companions. "Everyone, this is Lord Durge of
Embarr. Durge, this is Lady Melia, and this is

Beltan of Calavan."

Melia curtsied, and Beltan gave a broad grin. Grace gasped,

for when he smiled the knight was every bit as handsome as his uncle.

"I've heard of the earl of Stonebreak," Beltan said. "Your skill with
the Embarran greatsword precedes you, my lord." Durge took a step back.
"I'm sure the stories must be in error, my lord."

Melia lifted the hem of her gown and glided forward. She

nodded toward Aryn and Grace. "And who are your companions, Lord Durge?"

Though Melia was small-even tiny-for the second time next to another
Grace felt like a girl. Only it was not the same as when she had stood
next to Kyrene. Melia did not make her feel inadequate, only that there
was far more to the world, to life, and to experience than she could
possibly imagine.

Durge cleared his throat. "This is Her Highness, Aryn, the Baroness of
Elsandry, and ward to King Boreas."

Melia smiled at the young baroness and nodded in greet

338

ing, and Aryn responded with an elegant curtsy Grace could never hope to
duplicate.

"So," Beltan said, his blue eyes dancing, "the mischievous girl I
remember has grown into a pretty young woman. King Boreas is right. I do
need to visit more often."

Aryn blushed and bowed her head, but her smile was unmistakable. Grace
knew at once she liked the rangy blond knight, bastard or not.

"And this," Durge said, "is Her Radiance, Grace, the Duchess of Beckett."

Melia's amber eyes flashed. "Beckett? I've never heard of a duchy called
Beckett."

A spike of panic pierced Grace's chest. "It's very far away," she blurted.

. Melia nodded. "Yes, of course it is." Her eyes locked on to Grace, and
Grace had the terrible sensation she was transparent, that the Lady
Melia could gaze inside her and see every secret, every hope, every fear
Grace was trying to hide, fluttering like moths trapped inside a bell jar.

Grace lifted a hand to her throat. It was hard to breathe. The air in
the great hall was suffocating. Melia's servingman stood just behind the
lady. Grace glanced at him, and caught his gray eyes behind the
wire-rimmed spectacles. "Please," she said. "Could you bring me a cup of
wine?"

He stared at her like she had just asked him to jump from the highest
tower in the castle.

"What?" he said.

Grace was taken aback. None of the servants in Calavere would dare show
such rudeness. "Wine," she said. "It's on the table over there. Could
you bring me a cup? Please."

The man grimaced at her. "I'm not a servant, you know." Melia turned her
gaze on him. "Then why don't you be a gentleman, Travis?"

The sandy-haired man gaped at Melia, opened his mouth, then seemed to
think better of it. He turned to retrieve the wine, though none too
quickly, and he grumbled as he went.

Inwardly Grace groaned. Once again she had misread another, and to
disastrous result. There was a long and awkward moment of silence. At

last Aryn made a valiant attempt at a smile.

"Welcome to Calavere, everyone," she said.

339 ,,You can set those over there, Travis," Melia said.

Travis dropped the heavy saddlebags on the floor of the chamber. He
straightened, and his back made a peculiar noise, something akin to an
especially energetic horse prancing on a field of crystal.

Falken frowned at the saddlebags. "Did you break something, Travis?"

"Not in those," he said through clenched teeth.

At Melia's request he had carried the saddlebags from the castle's
stable, down a long corridor, and up a spiral staircase that had turned
him around so many times stepping off it was like stepping off the
Tilt-A-Whirl at Elitch Gardens.

"Now, don't forget the four you left at the bottom of the stairs," Melia
said in a pleasant tone.

Travis shot Melia a wounded look. "You're punishing me, aren't you?"

"Yes, dear, but only because I care about you."

Travis groaned as he headed for the door. It wasn't his fault the woman
in the great hall had been so rude. He didn't mind getting her a cup of
wine, but the way she had looked at him-like an object, not a
person-even the crassest tourists in the Mine Shaft Saloon had never
talked to him like that.

Beltan strode into the room, a pair of bulging saddlebags in each hand.
He swung them up with ease and set them on a sideboard, then looked around.

"Is that everything?" He dusted off his hands. "That wasn't hard at all."

Travis stared at the knight. There were times when he liked Beltan just
a little bit less than others. Still, he was grateful he didn't have to
make another trip down the stairs. He never had been able to ride the
Tilt-A-Whirl twice without losing his cotton candy.

"Well, Melia." Falken set the case that contained his lute on the window
ledge. "What do you think of the king of Calavan's hospitality?"

340

Melia circled the room, her kirtle trailing the rough carpets on the
floor. The chamber the king's seneschal, Alerain had led them to was
large enough for them all to gather in at once. Tapestries draped the
walls, their colors deep with smoke and time, and helped to stave off
the chill along with the fire crackling on the hearth. A side door led
to a smallei bedchamber that would grant Melia a degree of privacy.

"Well, it's not the largest chamber in the castle," Melia said. She sat
in a plump chair by the fireplace, and a smile coiled about her lips.
"But I'll manage."

Falken lifted his lute from its case and strummed a melan. choly chord.
"The world will be ever grateful for your sacri. fices, Melia."

"Well, I should certainly hope so."

Travis folded his cloak and set it on one of the two narrow beds in the
main room, where he and Falken were to sleep, then sat beside it. Molten
sunlight spilled through the chamber's window. He counted five stone
towers through the rip. pled glass, sharp against the sky, and knew that
was only half of what Calavere had to offer. Riding toward the castle,
it had loomed high on its hill, so craggy it had reminded him of the
mountains of Colorado. He had felt a pang of loss then and had faced
into the wind, as he always did when thinking about his home.

Everyone in Castle City has probably forgotten you by now, Travis. Maybe
you should forget, too. He sighed and gazed at the high battlements. In
all, Calavere made King Kel's fortress look like a rubble heap.

"Don't worry about those, Beltan," Melia said in a bright voice. "Travis
volunteered to unpack them."

Travis looked up. "I don't remember saying that." Melia's eyelids
descended halfway. "Try very hard." Travis gulped. "Oh. I think it's
coming back to me." "I knew it would, dear."

Travis knelt beside the saddlebags. It had been a long journey from the
tower of the Runebinders. As he pulled blankets, extra garments, and the
remnants of foodstuffs from the bags, the leagues rolled by again in his
mind.

They had not stayed long in the vale of the White Tower. The morning
after the attack of the wraithlings, Melia still had been wan and
chilled, but she least of all had not wished

341

to linger in that place. They had packed their things in the steely
light before dawn and had ridden from the vale. Travis had cast one last
glance over his shoulder at the ruin. It had shone like bones in the
half-light: a tomb to bury the folly of those already centuries dead. He
had shivered, then they had rounded the spur of a ridge, and the remains
of the tower had been lost from view.

They had ridden hard through southern Eredane. For speed's sake they had
kept to the Queen's Way, but not without caution. Beltan continually
scouted ahead, and more than once the knight had come pounding back
toward them on his roan charger to warn that a group of Raven cultists
approached. Each time they had fled the road to hide in a bramble
thicket, or behind a knoll, or under the arch of an old Tarrasian bridge.

One time the cultists had been mere moments away, and there had been
nowhere to seek cover, only bare plains for a league in either
direction. In sharp words they dared not question, Melia had instructed
them to stand perfectly still beside the road and to hold tight to the
bridles of their horses. She had made a series of odd motions with her
hands, splaying them out flat, and moving them in a single plane before her.

The Raven cultists had come into view, marching down the Queen's Way. It
was the largest such procession they had seen, nearly a hundred, all
clad in robes of black, the wing of the Raven drawn in ash on their
foreheads. Queer words tumbled from their lips, and Travis had realized
it was a prayer.

"breathe the wind walk the fire

Raven be your master chain the flesh

free the heart Raven flies forever"

As the cultists passed, Travis had clenched his jaw to keep )m
screaming. He was sure that one of them would turn to ire at him at any
moment. The mask of dull-eyed compla

342

cence would twist into one of madness and rage, and the cultist would
shriek, pointing an accusing finger at hire marking him as the man who
had burned one of their own'

And what will you do then, Travis? Set that one on fire, too? Why stop
there? Why not burn up the whole lot of them?

However, the cultists had marched by with their strange, lurching
cadence, gazes blank and fixed ahead. Whatever Melia had done with her
hands, it had worked.

That was the last they had seen of the Raven Cult. The next morning a
great plateau had thrust up before them. The Fal Erenn, the Dawning
Fells, bordered the highlands to the east, and to the west and south
Travis had glimpsed a line of mist-gray peaks, which Falken named the
Fal Sinfath, the Gloaming Fells. With no other route available, the
Queen's Way had cut into the steep side of the plateau. The horses had
labored to carry the travelers up the incline, and Travis had marveled
at the way the ancient Tarrasian engineers had carved the narrow road
from sheer rock. It might have been a thousand years old, but it had
looked as solid as any paved mountain pass in Colorado.

While the others had ridden cautiously here, Travis had pushed his
shaggy gelding ahead despite Falken's admonitions. Mountains didn't
frighten Travis. They were dangerous, yes, and he had known people who
had died on them. If you tried to fight a mountain, you would surely
lose, but if you gave yourself to it, sacrificed some of your own blood
and sweat, then the mountain would bear you to the sky.

When they had reached the top, the land they found was not much like
Colorado. This was the Dominion of Galt, situated in the highlands
between Eredane and Calavan. It was a small and stark land, all sharp
edges and treacherous crevices. As they rode south they had passed few
villages, and these had been as hard and uninviting as the stone from
which they were hewn. Few crops grew in this land, and the main
livestock was a kind of wiry goat. What the animals found to eat among
the tumbled boulders Travis didn't know.

Although the landscape of Galt was harsh, its people could not have been
more different. The travelers did not campthe night wind would have
scoured them from the ground if

343

they hadn't frozen first-so they had stayed in taverns three nights in a
row. At each one the people had been kind, redfaced, and of good humor.
The food they had served had been scant and simple, but it was served

generously and alongside large tankards of ale. Travis had sipped his
tentatively at first, then had joined Beltan in taking large gulps.
Unlike the not-quite-oatmeal he had drunk elsewhere, the brews of Galt
were brown, rich, and smooth as molasses.

They were also of a strength he had never encountered before, as he had
discovered upon waking that first morning in Galt.

"I remember my first tankard of Galtish ale," Beltan had said with a
grin, standing over his bed. "Feels like dark elfs are digging their
newest mine inside your skull, doesn't it?"

"Mmmph," Travis had said. It was the only word he could manage.

Melia had cast a smug glance at Falken. "I told you Galtish ale would
addle his wits."

The bard had handed her a gold coin. "I should know better than to wager
against you, Melia."

Fortunately, the ale had not actually addled Travis's wits, only dulled
them temporarily. By that evening, at the next tavern, he had felt
better and had taken smaller sips from his tankard.

For two more days they had made their way across Galt. Then the
highlands had ended, and the Queen's Way had plunged down to gentler,
foggier lands. These were the northern marches of the Dominion of
Calavan. Though the air was still toothed with the bite of a premature
winter, it seemed balmy compared to the dry, frigid air of Galt. At last
they had crossed a Tarrasian bridge over a swift river-the Dimduorn,
Falken called it-and Travis had taken in his first sight of Calavere.

It had been a week since they left the White Tower of the Runebinders.
The Council of Kings was to convene tomorrow. They had made it with less
than one day to spare.

"I've heard King Boreas keeps runespeakers at his castle," Falken said.

Travis paused in his unpacking and looked up.

Beltan nodded. "He did, last I knew. One of them was named Temis. I think."

344

From her chair Melia raised an eyebrow in Falken's direction. The bard
met her gaze. Somehow those two could hold entire conversations without
ever speaking a word.

"Good idea," Falken said. "I'll see if I can find this Jemis tonight and
ask if he can take over Travis's tutoring. I'm afraid Travis has learned
about all he can from me."

Melia's eyes glinted. "Excellent."

Travis held his tongue-there was no point in complaining. He gazed down
at his hands and remembered the power that had flowed through them at
the heart of the

White Tower. He could not see the silver rune, but he could feel it
there, beneath the skin of his palm.

I don't care what Melia wants. I'll never use this power again, lack.
I'll learn about it, but only so I can control it. Only so I don't hurt
anyone again.

"Do you think King Boreas will let you address the council?" Melia asked
the bard.

"He'd better," Falken said. "Besides, even if I can't count Boreas among
my best friends, he is the one who called the Council of Kings. He
wouldn't have forced the rulers of all the Dominions to journey here had
the troubles stirring in Falengarth not concerned him."

"Then again, kings can have many reasons for their actions." She glanced
at the knight. "Beltan, what do you think of your uncle?"

Travis winced. It was still hard to think of Beltan as royalty. It
seemed everyone he knew here was a person of importance-except for himself.

Beltan scratched the golden fluff on his chin. "Boreas is a good man,
but he's a good disciple of Vathris as well. I've heard it said he's
gained the Inner Circle of the Mysteries of Vathris. Whether that's the
case or not, he's certainly not afraid of war."

"Might he even crave it?" Melia said in careful tones. Beltan shook his
head. "I can't say. I'd be lying if I said Boreas and I were all that
close, and it has been three years since I last saw him." He snorted.
"Besides, I'm hardly the person you want to ask about court politics."

Despite the knight's words, Travis thought Beltan had summed things up
rather well. A thought occurred to him. "You could have been king,
couldn't you, Beltan?"

345

Beltan turned on Travis. His voice was as sharp and flat as his sword.
"No," he said. "I could not."

With that the knight stalked from the room.

Travis recoiled as if struck a blow. What had he done? "I only meant he
was the last king's son."

Falken nodded but said nothing.

"Don't worry, Travis," Melia said, her voice gentler now. ,,you said
nothing wrong."

Then why had Beltan stormed from the room? However, he only went back to
unpacking while Melia and Falken continued discussing their plan for
addressing the council.

Then the room fell quiet, and Travis looked up. Falken and Melia had
taken their conversation into the side chamber, leaving him alone. His
eyes moved to the door. He knew it was wrong, but no one had told him he
couldn't. Besides, he felt restless and trapped. He had to move, had to
walk somewhere, anywhere.

Before his common sense could convince him otherwise, Travis stood up,
opened the door, and slipped into the corridor beyond.

Grace walked down the dim corridor, accompanied only by the soft sigh of
her violet gown. It had been more than an hour since she had left the
great hall, and she still had not made her way back to her chamber.

Not that she was lost. It had been nearly a month since the day she came
to Calavere, and with time the castle's myriad halls and galleries had
become familiar to her. There were still many parts of Calavere she had
yet to explore, and things grew hazier once she left the main keep, but
she could now traverse from the keep's west wing to the east with
confidence. If she closed her eyes she could navigate the

twists and turns in her mind, just as she could the branching patterns
of nerves and arteries inside the human body.

. If only the labyrinth of human interaction were so easy a thing to
master as hallways or medicine. However, that was a maze she doubted she
would ever be able to traverse with

346

out error. As if her scientific mind needed any more evidence, the
incident in the great hall was one more case study she could add to her
research. How could she have mistaken the bard's companion for a servant?

She brushed the fabric of her gown. You've almost let yourself believe
this is real, Grace. But it's easier to be royalty, isn't it? You don't
actually have to speak to other people. You can simply order them around.

Grace cringed as she remembered the wounded look on the man's face. How
many other people had she hurt with her errors of perception, her
inability to understand what others were feeling or thinking? How many
more people would she? The man in the great hall, the man with the
spectacles, was only one in a long line of casualties, caught like the
others in the flying shrapnel of what once had been her heart.

She lifted a hand to her chest and almost expected to feel the same
bitter cold she had felt when she reached inside the dead man's thoracic
cavity at Denver Memorial, but her heart fluttered warm and weak beneath
the bodice of her gown. She drew in a shuddering breath. Maybe it would
be better if she did have a heart of iron. Maybe then she wouldn't
always have to try to feel, and fail. It was all so absurd she almost
laughed. She could dissect its four chambers with steel-scalpeled
precision, but the human heart was a labyrinth she would never
comprehend. Just like the maze in the castle's garden, it led her
inevitably to places she could not escape and sights she did not want to
witness.

As she walked, Grace's thoughts turned to Kyrener She had studiously
avoided the green-eyed countess these last days. Now she felt a peculiar
desire to see Kyrene, to speak to her, to ask her questions about
Ivalaine and the Witches. Kyrene would tell her, she was certain of it.
The countess of Selesia would delight in showing Grace how much more
knowledgeable she was. Nor did Grace care, not now.

A few herbs, the proper words . . .

A shiver coursed through her, and it was not only from the castle chill.
She pictured him in her mind: lean, dark, elegant. Yes, perhaps next
time Logren of Eredane will walk in the garden with me.

That was ridiculous. On Earth Grace had shunned inti

347

Macy. She could never let another get close to her. Because if they were
close, then they might see everything about her. Everything. She
couldn't let that happen. Not in this world-not in any world.

Grace came to a halt and shook her head, like a sleepwalker waking. She
knew this corridor. It led toward the sleeping chambers of many of
Calavere's nobles. One more turn and she would find herself standing
before Kyrene's door. She stared, frozen. Then she snatched up the hem
of her gown, not caring one whit how unnoble the action was, and ran
back down the corridor.

Grace rounded a corner-and collided with something tall and green that
let out a low oof! She caught a flash of silver out of the corner of her
eye, then heard a chime, as of metal striking stone. Grace stumbled
back, caught herself against the wall, blinked to clear her rattled
vision, and at last saw what-no, whom-she had run into.

Her heart sank in her chest. It was a sandy-haired man with wire-rimmed
spectacles. His arms were folded across his ill-fitting tunic, and he
hunched over his stomach. It was clear she had knocked the wind out of
him. Too bad you didn't break a few of his ribs, Grace. At least then
you would know what to say.

She winced at this thought, then cleared her throat and forced herself
to speak. "Are you all right?"

He craned his neck up. "Oh. It's you."

She took a tentative step forward and held out a hand. "Can I help?"

With a grimace he unhunched his shoulders and stood straight-or at least
as straight as she had seen him stand in the great hall earlier. Grace
could never understand why some tall men were afraid of their own height.

"I think you've helped me enough today."

Grace winced again. "I'm sorry." She forced the words out one by one.
"For running into you. And for thinking you were a servant. Back in the
great hall. That was stupid."

He cast his gray eyes toward the floor. "No, it wasn't stupid. You're
right. I might as well be their servant. It seems like they always have
plans for me, but they never bother to tell me what they are."

348

Again she did not know what to say. "Are you lost? I can help you back
to your chamber."

He lifted his gaze and glared at her. "No, I don't need your help. I
don't need anyone's help. You've said you're sorry, and I've accepted,
so just leave me alone, all right?"

Indignation rose in Grace's chest. Didn't he know who she was? But then,
she wasn't really anybody. Besides, the dry, clinical voice inside her

spoke, you've heard those same words a hundred times before in the ED.
The frightened will never ask for help. It means admitting they're hurt,
admitting they're lost. You know that, Grace.

He had turned from her now, and he bent over, searching the floor.
"Where is it?" he muttered. "It's got to be here.". She remembered the
flash of silver, then picked up the

hem of her gown and moved toward him. "What was it you dropped?"

"You wouldn't understand." "Why not?"

"I can't . . . I can't explain it. But it's important."

She crouched down beside him. "Then let me help you." He ran a hand
through his tangled hair and looked up at her. "Look, I already told
you, you don't need to-"

He stopped, and his gray eyes went wide. Grace shook her head. What was
he staring at?

"I can understand you," he whispered.

Grace frowned. For one simple almost-servingman, he certainly had the
ability to confound her.

"What are you talking about?"

He leaped to his feet and pointed at her. "There. That. What you just
said-I understood it!" He shook his head. "But that's impossible...."

She rose. A queer feeling crept into her chest. "Why shouldn't you be
able to understand me?"

Their eyes met, then as one they glanced down at a small glint of silver
in the corner of a nearby alcove.

"There," Grace murmured. "What you dropped, it's in the alcove."

He moved to the recess in the wall, bent down, then stood and turned
around. Somehow Grace wasn't surprised at what she saw. The spectacles
were an obvious clue, of course. She had seen no others on Eldh. And his
boots, now

349

cleaned of mud, were not the flat-soled boots the peasants wore. They
were cowboy boots. She forced her eyes down to the object in his hand.
It was a half circle of silver, engraved on both sides. One edge was
jagged and broken.

'What is it?" he said, quiet now. Yes, he sensed it. She was certain.

Grace approached, and from the pouch at her waist she drew out her own
silver half-coin. He stared, then held his coin out. She brought hers up
to meet it. Grace had no doubt the two broken edges would match
perfectly, but she let out a gasp all the same when they did.

"The man in black?" he said, not really a question. She nodded. "Brother
Cy."

"Then you're from Earth, too."

A tremor ran through Grace. It was wonder. And joy. And relief. "Yes,"
she said. "I am."

67.

The words had rushed out of them in a flood. Eldh. The coin. Brother Cy.

They had fit their half-coins together, but the symbols on either
side-though now whole-had still made no sense, just like so much about
this. Then they had gone to her chamber. For a moment, at her door,
Travis had hesitated. After all, he didn't know this woman. She seemed
to be someone here in this world, someone important. What was he doing
even talking to her? He should get back to his own room before Melia
noticed he was gone. Yet in that same way two Americans-who would have
passed each other without speaking on any New York street-could become
instant friends when meeting in a Paris cafe, he felt an instant
connection with this woman. He had taken a breath and stepped through
her open door.

"'I,

"Travis," he said. "Travis Wilder. And I ..." Saying it

m Grace Beckett," she said. "I'm from Denver."

Only when she spoke these words did he realize they had been staring at
each other for well over a minute.

350

seemed to emphasize the impossibility of it all. "I'm from Castle City.
It's a small town up in the ..."

Grace nodded. ". . . the mountains. Of course, it makes perfect sense.
Where else would you be from?"

"You know it?"

She moved to a sideboard and picked up a pewter flagon. "I hope you want
a drink, because I certainly do. And this time I'll pour."

Travis scratched the back of his neck. "I'm sorry about that, too."

"Don't be. It doesn't matter. Here, drink."

She pushed a goblet into his hand. He gripped the cup in two hands and
took a sip. Cool smoke and warm cherries. No peasant's wine for her. He
gulped the rest of it down.

"Thanks," he said, breathless.

Grace paced before the fireplace now, her violet gown whispering like
secret voices. She seemed at home in the garment-assured, even regal-far
more at ease than he felt in his rough tunic after a month of living
inside it. Was she really from Earth? Yet she had to be-there was no
other answer.

"Have you been here long?" he said. "In Eldh, I mean." The question
sounded absurd, but she would understand. "Just under a month." She
locked her green-gold eyes on

him. They were vivid and striking. "It's been the same for you, hasn't it?"

Travis nodded, amazed again. How did she know?

"We probably met Brother Cy on the same night. It's the simplest answer.
One thing I've learned as a doctor, the simplest diagnosis is almost
always the right one."

"I don't think there's anything simple about this."

She took a gulp of her own wine. Now she did look unnerved. Somehow that
made him feel better.

"No," she said. "No, I don't suppose there is."

She gestured for him to sit by the fire. It felt a little strange. They
were both from Colorado-there was no reason he should be uncomfortable
with her. Yet she was dressed like a noble lady, and he wore the clothes
of a commoner. It was hard not to slip into the role ascribed by one's
costume. He forced himself to sit, and she took the chair opposite him.

351

"So, who should go first?" he said with a nervous laugh. "This is my
chamber, so that makes you my guest," she

said. "I'm not really used to entertaining, but I suppose you should go
first. That would be polite, wouldn't it?"

She looked at him, her expression truly uncertain, which he found odd.

"All right," he said. "I'll start."

Grace smoothed her gown, obviously relieved.

Travis thought a moment. Where could he possibly begin? He opened his
mouth, and to his surprise words came to him.

"It all started when I heard bells."

When he finished she said nothing. She only stared into the fire. He
started to fear she would not speak at all, then she spoke in a quiet voice.

"I've seen it, too."

He clutched the arms of the chair.

"The symbol." She looked up at him. "The one that looks like an eye. I
saw a man in a black robe carving it into a door in the castle.".

"A Raven cultist," he said, more to himself than her. So they were here,
too, in this castle. That couldn't be good. "Maybe you'd better tell
your story now, Grace."

She nodded, then licked her lips. "I was in the Emergency Department at
Denver Memorial. I'm a-I mean, I was-a resident there. It was just a

night, like any other night. A few burn victims, that was all. Then I
met the girl in the park, the girl with purple eyes."

A chill coursed up his spine. "Child Samanda," he whispered.

"So that's her name." She drew in a deep breath, then continued her story.

By the time Grace was done the fire had burned low on the hearth. Travis
closed his eyes a moment, trying to take it all in-the man with the
heart of iron, Hadrian Farr of the Seekers, Grace's own flight into the
mountains, and her wintry rescue by the knight Durge.

"So they think you're a duchess." He couldn't help a wry smile. "And
here I get mistaken for a servingman."

Grace bit her lip and shrugged. "Sorry."

Travis shook his head. It was hardly her fault, and he was

352

glad to have met her. Yet in some ways it had been easier when he was
the only one, the only Earthling on Eldh. Easier to believe it was just
some fluke, or that maybe he was dreaming, or lying in a padded cell
somewhere hugging himself inside a straitjacket. Now he had met another
traveler from Earth, and that changed everything. If he wasn't the only
one, then it couldn't be a dream, and it couldn't be chance. There had
to be a reason they had sent him here, and her as well-the dark ones at
the revival.

Travis stood-he felt trapped. He rushed to the window and threw it open.
Frosty air billowed into the chamber. He should have asked Grace if she
minded, but he wanted to feel the wind against his face. No, he needed
to feel it, to feel that sense of possibility, that maybe everything
would be all right somehow. He gulped in the cold air, then turned to
face her. "So what do you think we should do?"

She rose from her chair. "I don't know, Travis. I think .. . I think
maybe this world needs us. Why else would we be here?"

They gazed at each other in silence, then a flat voice spoke a single word.

"Judgment." Travis guessed his own expression was as shocked as hers. He
didn't know where the word had come from, or what it meant. He hadn't
even thought about it.

"It's late, Grace," he said. "I should go. We can talk more tomorrow-if
you want to, that is. And I'd like to see the door you found, the one
with the Raven symbol."

She shut her eyes, then opened them. "All right, Travis." He moved to
the door, and she opened the way for him. Then the door shut, and he was
alone in the corridor outside. Travis listened to the silence of the
castle. A crisp wedge of moonlight spilled through a high window onto
the stone floor. He supposed Melia would be angry with him. Then again,
what was new about that? With a bitter sort of half smile he turned to go.

A crash sounded from the other side of the door.

Travis turned back and stared at the flat plane of wood. There was

another noise-sharp, like something breaking. Terror plunged a stake
through his body, into the floor, and

353

pinned him cold and rigid to the spot. What should he do? He didn't
know. It was so hard to decide... .

A muffled scream pierced the wood and shattered Travis's paralysis like
glass. Instinct replaced indecision. He threw his body against the door,
ignored the bright flash of pain in his shoulder, and burst into Grace's
room.

It scuttled toward her from the open window. Travis's first reaction was
to turn his head and vomit. The creature was utterly alien. The only
image his groping mind could hold on to was that of a blurred
juxtaposition of a wolf and a monkey. The thing was malformed, like a
breeding experiment gone awry, its limbs twisted and trailing lank hair.

Despite its ungainly shape it moved quickly, alternating between loping
on all fours and hobbling on its hind legs. The thing stretched spindly
arms toward Grace and opened a blunt muzzle to display a mouthful of
fangs. Fey light shone in its round eyes. It had backed her into a
corner. Spittle flowed from its mouth.

"Hey!" Travis waved his arms. "Over here!"

It was a stupid thing to say, but there wasn't time to think of anything
witty. Grace looked up, shock written on her face, and the creature
whirled around, hissing. Now that he had its attention he wasn't sure he
wanted it. He fumbled for the stiletto at his belt-the gem blazed with
crimson lightbut before he could draw the blade the creature sprang onto
the high four-poster bed and peered down at Travis. He could not rip his
gaze from it. The thing licked the mucus from its muzzle with a gray
tongue and tensed its hind legs.

"Travis-run!" Grace's shout spurred him to action. He stumbled to the
side, barely out of the thing's path. A hot line sliced down his arm
where its claw caught him. He tried to lurch around the farside of the
bed, but a long arm snaked out, and thin, strong fingers caught his
boot. He went down hard on the floor. The air rushed out of him with a
painful grunt, and a fetid scent washed over him. He gagged and managed
to roll over.

The creature crouched above him. Its matted hair brushed his face. He
gazed into its eyes-they were hungry, and tortured, and horribly
intelligent. Then it lunged for his throat.

Before teeth contacted flesh, the creature squealed and fell

354

back. Dark blood oozed from a wound in its side. Travis jerked his head
up. The iron poker that had been propped on the hearth a moment ago now
dropped from Grace's hands. She watched as, enraged, the creature sprang
toward her.

Now Travis did have time to grab his stiletto. In one swift motion that
surprised even him, he pulled himself to his knees and brought the knife
down. The Malachorian steel sank easily into the thing's flesh. It let

our a shriek and arched its back. However, the blow had missed its
spine. It whirled and jerked the knife from Travis's hand. Twisted as he
was on the floor there was no way to move quickly enough. He braced
himself for the sensation of fangs ripping into his throat.

The beast went limp and, without a sound, slumped to the floor.

Travis looked up. Grace stood behind the creature, her face a marble
mask, her hand smeared with black ichor. The hilt of a small knife
protruded from the thing's neck. With anatomical precision she had
slipped the blade into the base of its skull and up into its brain.

"I guess medical school paid off," Travis managed to say. Grace only
gave a jerky nod.

The sound of booted feet rang out. Travis staggered to his feet in time
to see several figures rush into the room. First was the dark-haired
knight Durge, followed by Beltan, Falken, and Melia.

"By the blood of the Bull!" Beltan said. "Are you safe, Travis?" He
gripped Travis's arm to steady him.

"I'm all right," Travis said.

"No, you're not," the blond knight said, the line of his jaw hard.
"You're bleeding."

Travis managed a wan smile. "It goes with the territory. Wasn't that
what you said?"

Beltan scowled. "You're not a knight, Travis. I am. I should have been
here."

Travis didn't know what to say. He was just grateful for the big
knight's grip.

Durge had moved to Grace. Now he saw the blood on

hand, and his brown eyes widened in dismay. "My lady! You bleed as well.
And it is a fatal wound, no doubt." He sank to his knees before her and
bowed his head. "It is my fault, of

355

course. You cannot possibly forgive me, and now it is too late."

Grace let out a breath, and her trembling ceased. "Durge, I'm not going
to die. It's not even my own blood. I'm fine." The Embarran knight
looked up at her, blinked, then

cleared his throat. "Oh. Well, then. I am glad you are safe, my lady."
He stood and glanced at Beltan. "But like my fellow knight, I should
have been here."

Melia breezed past the two warriors with a soft rustle. "Actually, it
seems Travis and the Lady Grace did well enough without you two."

Travis glanced at Grace. Impossible, but somehow they both managed to
exchange a smile.

A thought occurred to Travis. "Melia, how did you all know to find us here?"

The small lady gave him a sharp look. "When you did not return to our
chamber, Falken, Beltan, and I set out to discover what had become of
you. Nearby we ran into Sir Durge, who was on his way to call on the
Lady Grace."

Travis frowned. Something about this story didn't add up. "But how did
you know I would be here, in Grace's chamber?"

Melia only arched an eyebrow and said nothing. Travis knew not to press
the point.

Falken knelt beside the hairy tangle of the dead creature, and Melia
followed him.

"How can this be?" she said with a furrowing of her brow. "Feydrim,"
Falken said in disgust. He stood again.

Melia cupped her chin in a hand. "First wraithlings, now feydrim." She
regarded the bard. "What creature is going to step out of legend next to
trouble us?"

"I don't know. And why was it even here?"

Now Melia turned her amber gaze on Grace. "Perhaps Lady Grace can tell
us that."

There was a long moment of silence as all turned their attention on
Grace. She stood frozen, a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car.
Travis decided he was steady enough. He moved away from Beltan to the
sideboard and poured a cup of wine. He took it to Grace and pressed it
into her hands.

356

"It looks like someone isn't happy about your playing the king's spy,"
he said.

Grace could only nod as she gulped down the wine.

68.

Dawn slipped over Castle Calavere, hard and gray as a knight's mail
coat. Through a crack in the shutters that covered the window, Grace
watched the dawn come. She had not slept.

Hours earlier, after Travis and the others had left her alone, Durge had
said he would stand outside her door for the remainder of the night. The
knight's offer had embarrassed her,- but not so much that she hadn't
accepted. It dulled the edge of her panic to know the somber Embarran
stood, greatsword ready, just on the other side of the wall. However,
rest was an impossibility. Grace's eyes flickered to the wardrobe. How
could she rest knowing that thing was in there?

She tried not to picture it but could not stop herself: its fur-like the
rank, mossy coat of a tree sloth-and its spindly limbs, curled beneath
it as if it were merely sleeping. She had started to protest when Falken
told the knight Beltan to put the dead creature in the wardrobe, then
she had bit her tongue. After all, she could understand the bard's

interest. She was a scientist. She knew the value of a rare specimen,
knew that it had to be saved and protected.

Then again there was a difference between an abnormal organ floating in
a jar of fixative in a medical laboratory and the still-warm carcass of
a creature that had tried to rip her throat out with three-inch fangs.

She shivered. You should get the fire going, Grace. It

would be a little ironic if you survived an attack by some mythical
creature only to freeze to death because you were too stupid to put a
log on the coals.

Bare feet soundless against rough carpet, she padded to the fireplace
and tried not to notice the sticky substance on the end of the poker as
she stirred the embers.

Once the fire was going Grace opened the chamber's win'

357

dow, lifted the bar from the shutters, and threw them back. purge had
closed the shutters last night, but she supposed it was safe enough now
to open them. Wasn't it?

She leaned out the window, looked down, and breathed in air tasting like
sooty snow. It was a long way down to the cobbles that paved the upper
bailey, and the wall offered few cracks, fewer ledges, and no vines. Yet
somehow the creature had climbed up and crawled in her window. She
leaned back and pulled the casement shut.

Now what? It was still early, and the serving maids would not come by
with breakfast for at least an hour. She decided she might as well get
dressed. Not that there was any rush. Today was the first day of
Valdath. The Council of Kings was to convene this midmorning. The nobles
in the castle would be far too busy to speak with her. However, if she
was lucky, she might get a chance to talk with Travis Wilder.

Then again, her record with her fellow Earthling was dismal to this
point. First she had insulted him, then she had nearly gotten him
killed. Experience told her she should just leave him alone. Yet she
wanted to know more about the symbol she had seen carved on the door-the
symbol he had said belonged to the Raven Cult. And about his
conversations with Brother Cy and the purple-eyed girl, Child Samanda.

Grace moved to the chair where her gowns were heaped. At least Beltan
had had the courtesy to take her clothes out of the wardrobe before he
stuffed the body in. She chose a yellow gown she had not worn before,
partly because the color was bright and cheerful, and mostly because it
rested on top of the stack.

She was still adjusting the gown-a task that seemed -never-ending-when
she heard the sound of voices outside her door. One was gentle and
lilting, the other a solemn baritone. The voices fell silent, then the
door burst open, and something blue rushed into the room.

"Oh, Grace, I'm so sorry . . . if only I had known! Please tell me
you're well!"

Aryn's pretty face was distraught, and her cornflower eyes bright with

alarm. She ran and caught Grace in the half circle of her left arm.
Durge stood in the doorway, his usual '*tOny expression altered by a
touch of surprise.

358

"I apologize, Lady Grace," he said. "I should have knocked before Her
Highness opened the door."

Grace embraced her friendYes, my friend. Is that so impossible?

-and shot the knight a wry smile over Aryn's shoulder. "It's all right,
Durge. You were supposed to guard against monsters, not baronesses.
You've done more than I ever could have asked. I'm grateful-thank you."

The knight gave a stiff bow.

Grace pushed Aryn away. She led the baroness to the win. dow bench, and
in calm words described what had happened the night before. Aryn's face
grew paler as she listened, and she gripped Grace's hand.

"You were so brave," the baroness said after Grace finished. "I don't
think I could have done what you did." Grace's gaze dropped to the swath
of blue cloth that

draped Aryn's shoulder and hid her withered arm. No, it was Aryn who was
the brave one.

"Still, I don't understand. Certainly this thing was sent to harm you
and no other." The baroness chewed her lip. "But why?"

It was a good question. "I'm not sure, but I think maybe it has to do
with my spying for the king."

Now Aryn sighed. "That could be. It is hardly common for an assassin to
be sent to do away with one who has learned too much at court, but it is
not unheard of either-although I should think it far more likely to
happen in Castle Spardis in Perridon than here in Calavere." Aryn's eyes
flickered to the closed wardrobe. "Yet even in Spardis, where every sort
of skullduggery is practiced, I doubt they have ever witnessed an
assassin like the one you describe. Who could have sent such a thing to
harm you, Grace?"

"I think I can tell you that."

Grace and Aryn looked up to see the bard Falken stride into the room.
Behind him came Lady Melia, the knigb' Beltan, and, clad in the same
shapeless tunic as the day before, Travis Wilder. Grace rose to her feet
and glanced at Durge, who still stood beside the open door.

"No monsters, my lady," he said. "Only Falken BlackhaDd and his companions."

She slapped a hand to her forehead. "Yes, Durge.

359

course. Thank you." Grace made a mental note. Perhaps a few more
instructions wouldn't hurt the next time Durge offered to stand outside
her door.

Aryn rose beside Grace. "Lord Falken." Her words were breathless but
bold. "The Lady Grace has told me what transpired here last night, yet I
warrant King Boreas has heard nothing of it. We must tell him at once."

Melia glided past the bard, toward the baroness. "Indeed? Must we?"

Aryn took an unconscious step back, even though she was the taller of
the two and royalty. "Of course! The king must know of violence that has
occurred in his own keep."

Melia said nothing, her coppery visage as unreadable as it was beautiful.

"Don't worry, Lady Aryn," Falken said. "I plan on telling Boreas about
the feydrim-him and all the other kings and queens. The Council of Kings
needs to make a decision, and I'm hoping the body of this thing will
help convince them of that. But it's important the other rulers don't
think Boreas knew about it first, that he had information they didn't.
They all have to decide together in this." The bard fixed his faded blue
eyes on Aryn. "Will you agree, Your Highness?"

I Aryn shook her head. "I don't . . . but the king . . .

really should ..."

Grace reached out, took Aryn's good hand in her own, and gripped it.
"No, Aryn, don't tell Boreas. Not just yet." Aryn stared at her. Grace
was surprised herself. It wasn't

as if she knew the bard. Yet maybe she did a little, through the things
Travis had told her. Certainly Falken was wise and knew things the
others didn't. She kept her gaze on Aryn, then the baroness let out a
breath and nodded. Grace squeezed her hand.

Falken grinned-he really was handsome in a wolfish sort of- way-and made
a bow toward Aryn. Then the bard glanced at Beltan. "Why don't you
retrieve our little friend?"

Beltan moved to the wardrobe. Grace didn't want to look, but she craned
her neck all the same as Beltan pulled the W'ardrobe's doors open.

It was empty.

' "By all the Old Ones!" Falken swore, then he looked at

360

anyone come to your chamber last

fumbled for words. "No-no one. I was awake

visitors came to Her Radiance's door until your' Durge said. "And I
barred her window myself."

it is gone all the same," Melia said. She ran a slender ver the wood of
the wardrobe, as if feeling for some. dthough for what Grace couldn't guess.

who could have taken it?" Falken said. ,be he did."

lone looked up. It was Travis who had spoken. He had lent the whole
while, but now he stepped forward. iy eyes were strange behind his

spectacles: distant,

o do you mean, Travis?" Grace said. "Who took it?" ,exed his right
hand-the arm rested in a sling. Grace ndaged the cut from the feydrim
herself. It had not serious, but she did not want to take a chance with
)n, not in this world.

. The Pale King. In Imbrifale."

e did not understand these words, but they sent a D her spine all the same.

s looked at the bard. "Wasn't this thing one of his :s? Like . . . like
the others, at the White Tower?" n gave a slow nod. Travis pressed his
eyes shut.

t a minute," Beltan said. "What's this?" The knight id retrieved
something from the bottom of the wardstood, and Grace gasped. In his
hand was a sprig of

en. didn't remember stumbling, didn't remember Durge ig her in strong,
rough hands and easing her into the to her hand. The next thing she knew
she was talky the fire, didn't remember Aryn pressing a cup of

words tumbling out of her, as she spoke of the night I awakened to the
sound of bells, how she had wanhe castle and had spied small footprints
in the snow,

returned to her chamber to find on her pillow

e lifted the sprig of evergreen from her lap. "A serve nan I met . . .
she spoke of Little People in the cas. I thought somehow . . ." She
looked up at Falken.

361

~~ ut that's foolish, isn't it? They couldn't have taken the

body, could they? The Little People?" Neither Falken nor Melia said
anything.

Beltan looked from one to the other, then groaned. "But that's
ridiculous! I'm all for stories, and I believe more of them than is
probably good for me, but even I know the Little People are a myth."

Melia cast her piercing gaze on the knight. "A myth like wraithlings and
feydrim?"

The blond knight blinked, opened his mouth, then evidently thought
better of it. He slunk to the fringes of the room.

"There might be more truth to the Lady Grace's words than she knows,"
Falken said.

Grace clutched her wine to keep from spilling it. "How do you mean?"

Falken rubbed his chin with a hand-the one with the black glove. "The
feydrim are monsters, you've seen that, but they were not always so.
They were Little People oncegnomes and greenmen, dwarfs and fairies. The
children of the Old Gods were queer. They could be ugly as they were

beautiful, and their mirth was often cruel, but they were not

evil. Not until the Pale King imprisoned some of them and

all of Falengarth. Now the prison that holds him grows weak. That is
what I came to tell the council."

Grace lifted the sprig to her nose and breathed its wild forest scent.
Her mind cleared a bit, and she glanced at the bard. "You say the
feydrim was a slave of the Pale King, Falken. But why would the Pale
King send one of his servants to ... to kill me?"

It was Melia who answered. "Only if they stood together

d the Dominions have a chance of defeating the Pale were he to ride
forth again. I imagine he desires nothing than to see the Dominions
divided against each other. ms King Boreas hopes the knowledge you gain
will help

B his Necromancers twisted them for his own use." "The Pale King?"

Falken moved to the fire, scarlet light played across his face. "A
thousand years ago, the Pale King rode forth from Imbrifale a sea of
feydrim behind him and nearly conquered

362

him unify the council in war. That is exactly what the

69.

King cannot allow."

No, that wasn't enough. Grace crossed her arms, hugged her chest. "But
how did it . . . how did he know to find me here?"

Behan gripped the hilt of the sword at his hip. "That is something I
would like to know. There isn't a castle in 4 the Dominions stronger
than Calavere. I don't like how easily that thing got in here."

A shudder coursed through Grace. There was so much to sort out, and she
needed help. She looked up at Travis. "g was hoping . . . while the
council convenes . . . maybe we could ..."

He started to nod.

"Ohl" Aryn clapped her hand to her cheek. "I completely forgot. Grace,
you have to get ready. That's why I came here this morning. King Boreas
has requested your presence at the council."

She glanced at Aryn. "But I was going to talk with . . ." It was no use.
She looked again at Travis, but he had already turned his back and
stepped through the door.

"I'll be ready," was all she said.

Travis surveyed the council chamber-crowded with lords and ladies-and
felt utterly out of place.

He hadn't expected to be here. After they had left Grace's chamber,

Melia and Falken had headed down the corridor without so much as
glancing at him. No doubt they had plans to make for the Council of
Kings. Plans he was not a part of. He had started back to his own room,
then a big hand on his shoulder had halted him.

"Come on, Travis," Beltan had said. "The council is this way."

He had been too stunned to protest, and had followed the blond knight
through the castle.

The council chamber was contained within one of Calavere's nine towers,
at the end of the main keep's west

363

At first there had been some difficulty getting Travis

"Commoners are not allowed in the l;ouncii of Kings," a

at-arms had said, eyeing Travis's shabby tunic. He had his halberd
across the doorway.

Beltan's voice had dropped to a perilous growl. "Do you

make some comment about my parentage, captain?"

The man-at-arms had taken a step back. "No, Lord Beltan!

no such thing. I was referring to your . . . to your

companion. He is not . . . that is, he does not appear to be

noble, and .. .

Beltan had waved a hand, silencing the man-at-arms. "First of all, he's
more noble than most of the lords in this chamber. Second, it wouldn't
matter if he were the basest servant. He's with me. Do you really want
to argue about it?"

Blood had drained from the other's face, and he had moved his halberd
aside. "There's a space waiting for you over there, Lord Beltan," was
all he had said.

Travis had shot Beltan a stunned look-he had never heard the knight
speak in such a hard manner. But Beltan already had been moving. Travis
had given the man-at-arms a sheepish look, then had followed Beltan into
the council chamber.

Now, from his seat, Travis gazed around. The chamber was ringed with
tiers of stone benches like a Greek amphitheater. The benches were
crowded with nobles who, by their varying manner of dress, represented
all seven of the Dominions, and every moment more nobles poured through
the doorway. In the center of the chamber was a circular table hewn of
dark stone. Around the table were a number of chairs, and embedded in
the center of its surface was a disk of paler stone, incised with an
angular shape. Travis recognized the symbol from his studies with
Falken. It was Var, the rune of peace: ,

He glanced at the knight who sat next to him on the stone bench.
"Thanks, Beltan. For vouching for me, I mean."

Beltan gazed forward. "There is more to being noble than

I

364

who whelped you." He drew in a deep breath, turned toward Travis, and
grinned. "Besides, I always enjoy ruffling a few

feathers."

Travis did his best to grin back. Whatever melancholy had

gripped the big knight the day before, it seemed to have ened its hold a
bit-but it was not gone altogether. F

looked different somehow. More serious. But maybe it was

just his clothes. He had changed into fine but

garb of green, and he had shaved his beard, leaving only a

line of gold above and on either side of his mouth.

Travis let his gaze wander back over the chamber. He

counted the chairs around the council table, then frowned. "I thought
there were only seven Dominions in Falengarth, Beltan."

"That's right."

"So why are there eight chairs at the table?" "The eighth chair is for
the king of Malachor."

Travis's frown deepened. "Malachor? But I thought

said Malachor fell ages ago."

"Yes, it's over seven centuries since a king sat on

throne of Malachor, and almost as long since anyone dwelt; I

within that land's borders."

Travis scratched his red-brown beard. It was getting w "Seven hundred
years. That seems like an awfully long ti to keep setting a place at the
table."

Beltan laughed. "Yes, but it's tradition. The Dominic have always looked
to the memory of Malachor for tr heritage, even as they try to match its
lost glory. So tl keep a chair at the table, to honor the past, and to
invoke greatness-perhaps in hope a little rubs off on them."

Travis gazed at the empty chair. It was carved of silv wood like the
other chairs at the table and inlaid with stol and leather. However, its
edges were sharper, the leather 1 worn and polished. It reminded him of
the artifacts he 1 seen at the Magician's Attic in lack's secret room.
The of'. chairs had been used for centuries, but not this one.

"Will anyone ever sit in it?"

"The stories say a witch cursed the chair long ago, that any who dares
to sit in it will be struck dead, unless is the true heir to Malachor."

365

Travis looked at the knight. "That doesn't really answer ,,y question."

Beltan shrugged his rangy shoulders. "I don't hold much stock in witches
or curses, but I suppose only a fool would sit in Chair Malachor. Or a
legend come to life-and despite what Falken might say, the first is a
great deal more common than the second."

Travis couldn't argue with that.

A horn sounded, a hush fell over the crowd, and everyone stood as the
kings and queens of the Dominions entered the chamber. Beltan leaned
over and whispered their names in Travis's ear as each approached the table.

First came Queen Eminda of Eredane, her bearing more proud than regal.
She was followed by Lysandir of Brelegond, or at least a moving heap of
brocade and jewels in which Travis supposed there was room enough to
conceal a royal person. Next came a gaunt man with sunken eyes whom
Beltan named Sorrin, King of Embarr. Ancient King Persard of Perridon
came next, and after him King Kylar of Galt. As he entered, the young
king of Galt tripped on a fold in the earpet that seemed to have
appeared only as he approached. Lord Alerain, King Boreas's seneschal,
dashed out to help him to his feet, and Kylar waved as he stood to
indicate he was unharmed. A sigh of relief ran about the chamber.

The sigh became a gasp when a woman as radiant as sun on ice stepped
into the room. Travis watched, transfixed, as Queen Ivalaine of Toloria
glided to her place at the table. Her gown was the color of shadows on
snow at twilight, and white gems frosted her hair. In contrast to the
ethereal Tolorian queen, King Boreas stalked into the chamber like a
hull. However, he was as handsome as he was fierce, and Commanded
attention as surely as Ivalaine did. Travis had a feeling he would do
anything Boreas told him to do. He suspa ted most people did.

The rulers each stood behind his or her chair, then each fted a hand to
the breast and bowed his or her head toward eighth and empty chair. The
kings and queens lifted

rtheir heads, and Boreas spoke, the thrum of his voice rising the
rafters high above.

"Let the rune of beginning be spoken!"

om opposite edges of the room, two men in mist-colored

366

robes approached the stone table. Eminda of Eredane watched them with
suspicious eyes. One of the robed men was older, his face severe and his
gray hair shorn close. The other was younger, short and obviously
muscular beneath his robe, his face broad and cheerful. They stopped
short of the table, bowed in unison, and rose. Then, as one, they spoke
a single word.

"Syrpt The word echoed around the chamber like a note of music: clear
and thrilling. Travis's right hand tingled, and he could feel the magic
that had been released by the speaking of the rune, could see it. The
air in the chamber shimmered, like the air over a hot desert highway... .

Travis adjusted his spectacles. The air in the chamber was still once
more. The runespeakers were already walking away from the table. He
flexed his hand. The tingle had faded into an itch. However, he knew it
would not fully vanish. It never did. The power was always there,
waiting. He wondered. What might he look like in a soft robe all of gray?

Travis returned to the moment. Boreas was speaking

again. ". . . and the shadows that threaten not just one Do minion, but
each of them, and all of Falengarth besides.

Some of the rulers shifted from foot to foot,

Thus this Council of Kings has been summoned, under the aegis of all
laws and traditions, and thus you have journeyed here to Calavere. You
are well met, each and every one."

Boreas picked up a large chalice from the table. It was filled with
crimson wine. "I ask that we each drink from this cup," the
black-bearded king said. "It is a relic of Malachor, and in drinking
from it we will remember the legacy of the tower that shines no more.
And also we will show that we are one in our desire to challenge the
darkness that would challenge us."

notably Lysandir of Brelegond. Not everyone agreed with Boreas's sentiment.

Boreas took a drink from the cup, then passed it to his right, to Kylar.
The young Galtish king took a sip, managing. to spill a little bit on
the table, which he dabbed at with thep corner of his cloak after
passing the cup on. Travis watched with interest as the other rulers
drank from the chalice. So

367

rin of Embarr took the scantest of sips, while Lysandir drank deepest,
but without any sense of ceremony, as if he simply needed the wine. He
passed the cup to Eminda.

The queen of Eredane frowned into the cup, as if she expected to see a
dead rat in it, or perhaps the taint of poison. The other rulers watched
her, and Lysandir fidgeted with the edge of his frilly tunic. The
chamber held its breath. Still Eminda did not drink.

Boreas spoke in a voice that, although low, filled the great space.
"Know all of you that the rune of peace rests at the center of this
table. It was bound into the stone long ago, when the art of runebinding
was still known to the world. Because of the rune's magic no act of
violence can be done in this hall, either openly or deceitfully, no
matter how strong the hand that would attempt it."

Eminda shot a black look at the king of Calavan. Travis guessed she
cared little for his reassurance. She lifted the chalice, took a small,
swift sip, and shoved it toward Ivalaine. Somehow the Tolorian queen
managed to accept ,the cup smoothly. She drank, like a swan bending its
neck to the surface of a lake, and passed the cup to Boreas. He lifted

it high, then set it back on the table, and his voice rang off the stones.

"The Council of Kings has begun!"

The rulers took their seats, and those watching did the same. Travis
leaned toward Beltan. "I don't get the feeling Queen Eminda cares much
for Boreas."

Beltan gave a snort. "That's like saying oil has a slight dislike for
its old friend water. But she seems thick enough with Lysandir."

"If you say so. I'm not convinced there's actually anybody 'i8 all those
clothes."

Beltan grinned and gripped Travis's hand. The gesture surpised Travis,
but he was glad for the contact. Maybe he was nobody in this world, but
at least he had one friend-royal or not. He returned the grip on the
knight's big hand, and they dyed that way for a while.

,,,A,~~shrill voice pierced the chamber air. "Well, Boreas." ;:Eminda
glared at the king of Calavan. "Now that you've All_

vP,ftvened this council, perhaps you will deign to tell us the n why.
We've all suffered hard winters and brigands

368

before. I can hardly imagine that's the only reason you've forced us all
to journey here. Or has Calavan grown so weak that a few robber barons
have cast the Dominion under a pall of terror?"

The air pressure in the chamber seemed to change as ev eryone drew in a
breath. Even from a distance Travis could see Boreas's knuckles go white
as he gripped the edge of the council table. Eminda was wasting no time.
Boreas opened his mouth to speak, but his words were drowned out by a
crash as the chamber's double doors burst open. All eyes turned as a
figure strode into the hall.

It was Falken.

Several men-at-arms approached, halberds raised, but at a glare from the
bard they fell back. Travis had never seen Falken like this. The air of
weariness and melancholy he usually wore was gone. Now his eyes flashed
like lightning in a clear blue sky.

"What's he doing?" Travis whispered to Beltan.

"Besides making that vein on Boreas's forehead explode? I think we're
going to find out."

Boreas rose to his feet, his coal-black eyebrows merged into one
brooding line of anger. "You are going to tell me the meaning of this
insolence, Falken Blackhand. And then you

are going to leave, before I have to put the rune of peace to the test."

Falken stood before the table. In his hand was an object

wrapped in a cloth. "As a citizen of Malachor, I invoke my power to
speak to the council."

The rulers exchanged questioning glances. Boreas slapped

a hand down on the table: thunder. "You will do no such

thing, Falken Blackhand! The council will not allow it!" Falken did not
so much as flinch. "Yes it will, Your Majesty. It is my due and
privilege. I have lost my home, and I have lost my hand, but this you
cannot deny me, King Boreas. None of you can. Ask your Lord Alerain. He
knows the ancient laws better than any other."

Boreas glanced at his seneschal, who stood against the far wall. Alerain
gave a reluctant nod. The king of Calavan let out a grunt and returned
his glare to Falken.

This didn't make any sense. Hadn't Beltan just said Malachor fell seven
hundred years ago? But maybe Falken

369

was one of the few who could trace his lineage directly back to the
ancient kingdom.

Boreas spoke, his voice a low growl. "Very well, Falken. It seems the
council cannot forbid you to speak, but neither will it forget your
actions this day."

"Nor should it. Let these words I say ring on in your minds, so they are
with you always. For the twenty kings before you have not faced such
dark times as you do, King Boreas of Calavan-not even Calavus the Great."

The bard drew the cloth from the object in his hands and slammed the
thing down on the table. It was Krond, the broken seal from the Rune
Gate. Falken's voice rose like a call to arms to fill the chamber. "The
Pale King has awakened!"

There was a moment of perfect silence.

Then the Council of Kings erupted into chaos.

Grace thought she had seen King Boreas angry before.

She was wrong. A babble of excited voices filled the council chamber,
along with jeers and catcalls for the bard. Several of the rulers tried
to speak, but their voices were lost in the roar. Boreas glared at
Falken, and his eyes smoldered with an anger that was far greater than
one mere man was capable of: the fury of a king. Even from where she
sat-in the first tier of benches next to Aryn-Grace could see Boreas
shaking. She expected him to spring to action at any moment and toss
Falken aside, a mad bull goring a hapless matador.

Yet Falken did not flinch under the king's royal rage, even as the scorn
of the onlookers grew in volume, and she started to think perhaps Boreas
would not be able to dispatch the bard so easily. She knew the hard,
impassive expression Falken wore. She had seen the same look countless
times in the ED-in the eyes of children undergoing their fifth round of
chemo, in the gazes of handsome young men who were far too thin, on the
battered faces of women who had just shot their husbands. Something told
her Falken had seen things

370

neither she, nor King Boreas, nor anyone in this chamber could imagine.

The catcalls ended. The roar became a murmur, then a whisper. The nobles
sank back to their benches. Even Bo, reas, although his visage remained
angry, lowered himself into his chair. The interior of the tower fell
silent.

Now all eyes gazed at the bard. Still Falken did not move. Misty gold
light drifted down from the rafters above, along with a soft rustle: the
wings of doves. Then another sound rose on the air. In a low but clear
voice Falken began to sing:

"Lord of the skyWhere has the wind gone, that snapped my banners Olrig,
father,

You have forsaken me.

Lady of EldhWhere lies your soft bower, in all its secret green?

Sia, mother,

Your soil shall cover me.

Father, come! Mother, come! You have forsaken

The bard's voice merged with the calls of the doves. Despite the press
of wool-clad bodies around her, Grace shivered. She did not know what
the bard sang of, but never before had she heard a song so forlorn. Next
to her Aryn sobbed quietly, tears streaking her smooth cheeks. Grace
might have cried, too, if that was something she thought she still knew
how to do.

Falken lifted his head. "It is called Ulther's Lament, that song. Few
remember it now, but King Ulther of Toringarth sang those words a
thousand years ago. He sang them as he knelt in the scarlet-stained snow
before the very door of Imbrifale-cold and wounded and beaten. A
thousand lay dead around him. They were Wulgrim, or had been:
wolf-warriors, the most fearsome fighters of Toringarth. With Ulther they

371

had come across the Winter Sea, to stand before the Pale king. They had
been cut down like so much chaff. Ten thousand more men lay dead in the
vale of Shadowsdeep behind hire, slain by a horde of feydrim that
clawed, and bit, and tore at the bodies long after they fell, long after
their screams ended. But such was the pain of the Pale King's servants.
If the feydrim did not tear at another, then they would surely tear at
themselves."

Falken began to walk now, and he paced around the council table as he
spoke. "Save for a small guard of men-his remaining earls, his
standard-bearer, his fool-Ulther was alone. He had failed. None would
stand against the Pale King now. Falengarth was lost. And even as he
thought this in despair, he looked up, and through the Gap of Teeth he
looked into the land of Imbrifale and saw the Pale King coming.

Falken's voice rose, until it filled the tower to the rafters. The doves
flew from their roosts, out high windows, into blue shards of sky.

"On a black horse he rode, its hooves striking sparks against the stony
ground, but the Pale King himself was white from head to toe. Three
lights gleamed on his snowy breast: one gray, one blue, one red. These
were the three Great Stones, set into the iron necklace Imsaridur, which
he stole from the dark elfs. With its magic the Pale King could enslave
all of Falengarth. And all of Eldh after that. Nothing stood in his way.
Only one broken king, and a handful of men, and a fool with crooked legs
who sang of stupid goodmen and bold goodwives even as his tears fell to
the ground and froze there."

Falken paused, and another voice spoke: deep, gruff. It was Boreas.
Anger no longer colored his face, but his expression was hard
nonetheless. "You tell a sad tale, Falken. But then telling tales is
your trade, and one at which you excel. What do your words have to do
with this council?"

"Everything." Falken brushed his fingers over the broken rune and
continued his tale. "In dread Ulther watched the Pale King ride near.
His heart turned to ice. Here was his doom, and all the world's. Then a
radiance shone upon him. Across the battlefield three fairies drifted
toward the king. They were tall and slender, shining as starlight, and
clad all

372

in gossamer. When he looked upon them his fear was replaced by wonder,
and the king of Toringarth bowed his head.

"'The Pale King comes,' the three light elfs spoke. 'Yet still it is not
too late. Lift up your sword, Lord Ulther, and hold it before you.'

"Such was his awe that Ulther did as the fair ones bid. He gripped his
sword Fellring, forged in the same dwarfin smithies as the magic
necklace Imsaridur, and held the bloody blade before him. As he did the
fairies clasped each other and, as one, threw themselves upon Fellring.
Ulther cried out in dismay, but it was too late. The three had been
pierced through. Yet the fairies did not shed blood. Instead a brilliant
light welled forth from their wounds, so bright Ulther was forced to
turn his head. When at last he looked again the light elf s were gone,
and,Fellring-stained by blood no longer-shone as if it had been forged
anew from the stuff of stars.

"There was time no more for wonder, for then the Pale King was upon him,
his steed snorting fire. Behind the Pale King stood thirteen whose faces
were hidden by black hoods, and whose feet left no imprint on the snow.
They were the Necromancers, the Pale King's wizards, who had forged his
army of feydrim.

"With brave battle cries, Ulther's earls rushed forward, but the Pale
King struck them down with his icy sword. The last to stand was Ulther's
fool, still singing songs of good cheer for his master. Then he too
fell, his song silenced, to spill his blood upon the snow. Now indeed
was Ulther alone.

"Leaving his wizards, the Pale King approached. He did not fear Ulther,
for such was the power of Imsaridur that no mortal hand might wound him,
dark elfin blade or no. Nor did Berash have a mortal heart to pierce,
for his had died long before, and had been replaced in his chest by an
enchanted' heart of cold, hard iron."

Grace drew in a hissing breath and sat up straight on her bench. Aryn
gave her a puzzled glance, as did Durge and Melia, who sat just beyond
the baroness. No, it can't be! This is all a story. A myth. Damn it, a
myth from a world that's not even Earth. It can't be the same, Grace. It
can't.

Even as she said these things to herself, Grace knew it was

373

the same. Somehow the dead man in the ED, and Detective Janson-and the
other ironhearts Hadrian Farr knew ofwere connected to this world, to
this story. But how? She gave Aryn's hand a squeeze to reassure the
young baroness, even though her heart pounded in her throat, and leaned
forward to hear the bard's story.

"The Pale King descended from his mount and stood above Ulther.
Imsaridur blazed upon his breast. He lifted his sword to strike off
Ulther's head.

"'None can stand before me,' spoke the icy king. "'Then kneeling I shall
strike you!' Ulther cried.

"The king of Toringarth gripped the hilt of Fellring and thrust up to
smite the Pale King. Berash's white eyes flew wide. Enchanted by the
sacrifice of the fairies, the shining sword sank into the Pale King's
breast, and there it clove his iron heart in two. At the same moment
Fellring shattered in Ulther's grip, and a great chill coursed up his
arms, deep into his own breast, striking his own heart. The Pale King
fell to the snowy field, but Ulther kept his feet, the broken hilt of
Fellring in his hand. He stumbled to the Pale King and took the necklace
Imsaridur from around his foe's throat. Then Ulther fell to his knees on
the cold ground. He glimpsed the Necromancers approaching, their robes
fluttering like black wings. Now his end would come.

"All at once a sound pierced the frigid air, high and clear: the sound
of horns. The sun broke through the shroud of mist that hung over the
vale, and the horde of feydrim, disheartened by the fall of their
master, quailed before the light. The sun glinted off the tips of fifty
thousand spears. Again the horns sounded, closer now, as a bright army
marched into Shadowsdeep, led by a proud woman on a horse of white.
Elsara, Empress of Tarras, had come at last. Ulther laughed, then fell
forward and knew no more."

Falken's voice grew quiet, and the council chamber came back into focus.
For a moment Grace had been there; in the snowy vale, and had seen the
Pale King, colorless as ice upon his midnight horse. Yet the story
couldn't be over, Falken hadn't finished.

"But how did it all end?"

'In belated shock Grace realized the voice was her own. She ,had only
meant to murmur the words, but such was the

374

silence in the wake of the bard's tale that the words carried across the
council chamber. Boreas glared at her, and Grace shriveled inside her gown.

"End?" Falken said. "How did it end? But the story did not end, my lady.
It goes on even today, and now we are all players in it, whether we wish
it or not. Without their mas. ter's magic to bind them, the feydrim were
no match for Elsara's army. To the last they were destroyed. When Elsara
reached the Gap of Teeth, she found Ulther in the snow, clutching the
broken hilt of Fellring and the necklace IM. saridur. However, the Pale
King was gone. The Necroman. cers had borne their fallen master back
into Imbrifale.

"Although at first Elsara feared Ulther dead, he was not, and after many
days under the care of her healers he was able to stand again. He walked
back to the Gap of Teeth with a hundred runewielders, the strongest in
all of Falengarth. With the help of Elsara's army they raised a great
gate of iron across the door of Imbrifale, and the runewielders bound it
with three powerful runes, so the Pale King and his servant$ might never
ride forth again. The runewielders became the first of the Runelords,
and Ulther gave them the necklace Imsaridur for safekeeping. Then came a
hundred witches to Shadowsdeep, and they wove enchantments of illusion
and madness over the mountains, so that none might cross into or out of
Imbrifale that way.

"Finally, Ulther and Elsara forged a new kingdom to keep watch over
Imbrifale, to make certain the dark Dominion never rose again. They set
their children upon the throne in marriage, and thus was Malachor born.
For a long age peace and light ruled Falengarth. For an age ..."

Falken shook his head. "That age is over. Malachor fell centuries ago.
The Runelords are no more. The Imsari, the three Great Stones that once
graced Imsaridur, are scattered and lost: And now"-he pointed to the
broken rune on the table-"now the Rune Gate weakens."

There was silence. Then-harsh and jarring-laughter.

It was Eminda of Eredane. "You tell a glorious tale, Falken Blackhand.
For a moment I half fancied I believed it. However, if there is any
enchantment here, it is simply the spell of your voice, and nothing
more. Now the humor drained from her face, replaced by annoyance. "We
are here to dis'.

375

cuss real troubles that face the Dominions. We do not have time for
tales meant to frighten children by the fire."

Other heads around the table and chamber nodded at this. "Don't we?"
Falken said, his voice rising. "Perhaps children have more sense than
we. The Pale King stirs, there can be no doubt. The Dominions must take
action, and take it swiftly. They must raise an army as strong as that
of Ulther and Elsara of old, and they must do it now." Falken raised his
black-gloved fist on high. "By the blood of Malachor in my veins, I
demand a reckoning of the council!"

Eminda stood, her broad face crimson. "This is ridiculous!"

King Sorrin, who had hardly moved throughout the bard's tale, now lifted
his head. His sunken eyes were unreadable. "Let the bard have his
reckoning. Then we shall be done with it."

The other rulers nodded in agreement. Eminda sank back into her chair.
Boreas motioned to Alerain, and the seneschal hurried over with a

leather pouch. Boreas emptied the pouch onto the table. In it were seven
white stones and seven black stones. He passed one stone of each color
to each of the rulers.

"The question stands before this council whether to muster the Dominions
for war," Boreas said. He held up his white stone. "White signifies
agreement, and a mustering for war." The king lifted his black stone.
"Black signifies disagreement."

Each of the rulers held their two stones beneath the table, then drew
one out, hidden in the hand. They rested their hands on the table before
them. Grace held her breath. She barely knew Falken, but his tale had
affected her in a way

she could not explain. She did not pretend to understand everything
about this Pale King. However, she had seen a thing of evil-a man with a
heart of iron in his chest-and she had seen the feydrim as well. She
knew there was danger, and greater than any of them could imagine.
However, as the kings and queens opened their hands, Grace knew before
she saw each stone what color it would be.

On the open palms of Boreas, Kylar, and Persard rested a white stone:
war. Revealed on the hands of Eminda, Lysandir, and Sorrin were stones
of black: no muster. Only

376

Ivalaine was a mystery to Grace. The beautiful queen of Toloria sat
still, then she too opened her hand.

There was no stone upon it. "I abstain," Ivalaine said. Boreas's eyes
flashed in rage, but before he could speak Eminda stood.

"Then it is a deadlock," she said. "And a deadlock means no muster!"

Falken gazed at the queen of Eredane and the rest of the council. His
face was gray and haggard. Grace started to reach out a hand, then
snatched it back. What could she possibly do to help? If Falken could
not sway the council, she hardly could. Falken gathered up the broken rune.

"Then there is no hope for Eldh," he said, and walked from the tower.

The next morning, Durge came to Grace's chamber to teach her how to use
the knife Aryn had given her.

"There has been one attack upon your person, my lady," the knight said
when she opened the door. "That makes another all the more likely. I do
not expect to let you far from my.sight, but I cannot be with you every
moment."

Grace gave a tight smile. "You could, Durge. I just don't think I'd
appreciate you quite as much as I do now." Durge stepped into her room
and asked if he might see her

knife. Grace gave it to him. She had cleaned the feydrim's blood from
it, and its edge glinted in the sunlight streaming through the window.
The knife was small, but its blade bore a sensual curve. It seemed
alive, but then knives could be living things. Grace knew that from the
ED. Sometimes a scalpel could jump out of her hand. Other times it
seemed to guide her fingers, as if it knew better than she the incision

that needed to be made.

"It is old and of a good make," Durge said. "As good as any blade from
the forges of Embarr, although I would say this blade was fashioned here
in Calavan. Third century after Founding I would hazard, which means it
is nearly two hun

377

dyed years old. Of course, it's been hafted to a new hilt since."

"How do you know all that, Durge?"

The knight shrugged. "I have a passing interest in metals and other
elements, my lady. Do not be too impressed. Certainly my speculation is
quite wrong."

Grace doubted that. She took the knife back and gazed at it with new
wonder. How many hands had held it before her?

"One can study for years to learn how to wield a knife properly," Durge
said, "and we have but a morning. However, I can teach you some moves
and positions. They are simple enough, but they will make an enemy think
twice about attacking you again."

Grace steeled her shoulders. "Show me."

For the next hour Grace concentrated, knife in her hand, as Durge showed
her how to position her body to guard her most vulnerable areas-the
stomach, the throat, the face. He taught her to make, not large slashes,
but quick, short thrusts. The goal was not to kill the opponent, only to
stick him, to slow him down, and make him hurt. That would give Grace
time to run, or to call for aid.

By the end of the hour Grace's cheeks glowed with effort, and the
shoulder of her knife arm ached. However, when Durge made a feint at her
from behind, she was able to crouch quickly and thrust behind her.

A strong hand clamped around her wrist. "Very good, my lady."

She looked back over her shoulder. The tip of the knife was no more than
an inch from Durge's thigh.

"I knew that blow was coming. Your enemy would not. I

think he would have felt that sting."

Grace stood, her heart pounding, and grinned. Could she really do it?
Could she really harm another to save herself? Why not, Grace? You've
done it before.. Remember the baker in the lower bailey. And that was
not the first time. That was not the first. . . .

Her grin faded.

Durge cocked his head. "I think that is enough for today. you are a
swift learner, my lady, although I would that I

378

could teach you how to use a larger weapon. Even in close quarters, I

prefer my greatsword . . ."

". . . but this is a little easier to fit in one's boot," Grace said.
She bent and slipped the knife into the sheath inside her deerskin boot.
It was foolish-she shouldn't let herself feel this way-but she did feel
more confident with the knife snug against her skin.

She rose, and a thought occurred to her. "Durge, what does King Sorrin
think of your spending so much time with me?" Durge was in the act of
strapping on his sword harness,

which he had removed for their exercises. She could not see his
face-only his broad back, his stooped shoulders.

"Do not concern yourself with Sorrin, my lady. I have pledged my sword
to you, and in Embarr the word of a knight is stronger than steel, more
enduring than stone."

Grace opened her mouth, but any words she might have uttered were
preempted by a knock on the door.

"Grace!" Aryn said as she rushed into the room. "I'm so glad you're
here. King Boreas wants to see you."

Grace crossed her arms over her gown-the paler lavender today. She had
known it was only a matter of time before the king summoned her,
although she had not expected it this soon. After the disastrous
reckoning of the council yesterday, a recess had been called. She had
thought Boreas would want to be alone with his thoughts.

Aloud she said to Aryn, "When did Boreas want to see

"He said at once."

Grace swallowed hard. Boreas always assumed everyone would carry out his
orders immediately. That he had specified at once did not bode well.

She glanced at Durge. "I think I'd better go." "No, my lady. I think you
had better run."

Moments later she and Aryn dashed through the corridors of the keep.
Servants and petty nobles scurried to get out of their way. One
red-cheeked page dropped a bowl of apples, and they went bouncing and
rolling away across the floor. Grace shot him a look of chagrin as he
ran after them. She hoped he wouldn't be beaten. However, if she didn't
hurry, she wasn't sure her own fate would be any better. She

379

thought Boreas was above throwing her over his knee and spanking her,
but she wasn't perfectly certain.

"Do you think the king is still angry with me for asking Falken that
question at the council yesterday?" she asked Aryn as they ran.

Aryn shot her a look that was halfway between smile and grimace. "Don't
worry, Grace. There hasn't been a beheading at Calavere in months."

Grace didn't waste her breath with a response. She quickened her pace.

"My ladies, can you delay a moment in your haste?" Grace and Aryn
stopped as though they had hit an invisible wall. Nor was Grace so
certain they hadn't. She may have lived her entire life in a democracy,
but there was a power to royalty that could not be denied. They turned
to gaze into the ice-blue eyes of Ivalaine, Queen of Toloria.

At once they affected hurried curtsies. "Your Majesty!" "Rise," the
queen said, and they did.

Ivalaine stood in an alcove, her arm resting upon a pedestal, as if she
had been standing there for some time, waiting. But waiting for what?

Don't you mean waiting for whom, Grace?

She looked over the queen's shoulder and expected to see a flash of
emerald. However, Kyrene was nowhere in sight. Only Tressa stood behind
the queen, a serene expression on her plump, pretty face. The queen's
lady-in-waiting looked like an angel. Except angels didn't have long red
hair, did they? Grace returned her gaze to Ivalaine. On the pedestal
against which the queen leaned was a bronze ewer filled with water, and
next to it was a cup of horn. The medieval version of a drinking fountain.

"How can we assist you, Your Majesty?" Aryn said between gasps for breath.

"Drink," Ivalaine said. "You are thirsty."

Grace lifted a hand to her throat. Yes, she was thirsty, terribly so.
Her throat burned with thirst. She took the cup, filled it from the
ewer, and drank greedily. Aryn fairly snatched the cup from her hands
and did the same. Grace wiped at her damp chin with the back of her
hand. The water from the ewer had been cold and sweet, but already her

380

throat was growing dry again. She started to reach for the cup. A
slender hand on her wrist stopped her.

"The thirst is not so easily quenched, is it, my sister?" Grace thought
her touch would be like ivory, but instead the queen's hand against her
own was warm and light, the touch of a bird. She could feel a pulse,
like a tiny, fluttering heart.

Grace licked her lips. "We should go." Her voice was a croak. "King
Boreas is waiting for us."

Aryn nodded. "The king." She could seem to speak no other words.

Ivalaine's gown was the color of water. The air seemed to ripple. "Look
into the ewer," she said. "I think you will find something there."

"What do you think we will see?" Aryn said, but Ivalaine did not answer.
She only watched, and her eyes glittered like secret gems.

Grace and Aryn peered into the water.

What are you doing, Grace? You have to go. Boreas is going to feed you
to his mastiffs if you don't get moving. Besides, there's nothing in the
water. . . .

Grace drew in a sharp breath. If there was nothing in the water, then

she should have been able to see the bottom of the ewer. She couldn't.
The inside of the vessel was black. The darkness claimed her vision,
dragged her down, until she could see nothing else. A queasiness came
over her, as though she drifted on a choppy ocean.

"I see a castle!"

It was Aryn's voice, although she sounded too far away. Her words were
bright and excited, like a small girl's on her birthday, opening presents.

"There are seven towers-I can see them so clearly-and a hundred knights
with banners tied to their lances. The banners are as blue as the sky.
There's a woman riding before the knights, on a horse as white as
clouds. She must be their queen. She's all in blue as well, with a sword
belted at her side, and her dark hair streaming behind her on the wind.
She's so proud, so proud and . . . oh!"

Aryn's words ended. What had she seen? Grace could not glimpse the
castle or the proud queen. She saw only blackness.

381

No, that wasn't true. There was something in the blackness after all.
They were faint, but she could see them. sands. Some were long and
slender. Others were thick and rough. They reached out, pale against the
darkness. Dozens of them. Hundreds of them. And they were all reaching
for her.

No! The water in the ewer changed from black to crimson. Flames shot out
of the darkness. Engulfed by the fire, the hands curled like dying
spiders. She thought she heard screams. Then there was only the fire.
Pure, hot, cleansing fire....

"Lady Grace!"

The voice was stern but not alarmed. Grace snapped her head up. Next to
her Aryn blinked, her expression bewildered. Ivalaine still watched them
both, but now her gaze was calculating. Behind the queen Tressa nodded,
a knowing look on her broad angel's face.

Aryn shook her head. "What . . . what happened?" "There is a power in
water, a life," the queen of Toloria said. "It has the ability to
reflect both past and future, if one knows how to look." Ivalaine
stepped toward them and caught their hands in her own. Her expression
was exultant. "There can be no doubt of it now. The Touch runs strong in
both of you."

Aryn cast a frightened look at Grace. Yet there was something else in
the baroness's gaze. A hungry light. Grace tried to swallow-her throat
burned with thirst.

"What if we don't want it?" she said. "What if we don't want this Touch?"

Ivalaine's gaze was as distant and frosty as a winter sky. "Then do not
come to my chamber this evening at sunset." The queen released their
hands and without further words moved down the corridor, Tressa silent
in her wake. The Tolorian women vanished around a corner. As if waking
from a spell, Aryn slapped her forehead.

"The king!"

Grace didn't move. She kept staring at the ewer. Small bubbles rose in
the water, and a faint wisp of steam curled from its surface. Except
that was impossible.

A tug on her sleeve. "Come on, Grace. We have to go.".

382

Still Grace didn't move. "What did you see, Aryn? In the ewer, when you
stopped speaking." She looked at the baron. ess.

Aryn blushed and hung her head. "It's foolish. A whim, a fancy. It can't
mean anything."

"Tell me."

She drew in a deep breath and lifted her head, and now her blue eyes
shone. "It was me, Grace. The queen with the sword, going to war on the
white horse. It was me."

Of course. Ivalaine had said the water could reflect the future.

"What about you, Grace? What did you see?" The future ... or the past.

Grace swallowed. Her mouth tasted like ashes. "Nothing, Aryn. I saw
nothing. Come on, we'd better go see King Boreas."

She did not glance at the ewer again as she turned and started down the
passageway.

Travis rested his bearded chin on his hands and watched through the
window as clouds rolled from the west to blanket the fields, hills, and
copses of Calavan. The leaden sky descended until the castle's towers
scraped it and shreds of mist whirled around their turrets. Below,
peasants and serving maidens and men-at-arms went about their business
in Calavere's two baileys. Life seemed hard in this place, but Travis
envied the castle folk. At least they had something to do, even if it
was only pushing a cart of peat through the muck.

". . . but I managed to catch him for a few moments yesterday evening,
outside the king's chamber," Falken was saying. He paced around the
chamber, strumming his lute, which hung from a leather strap over his
shoulder.

"And what did he tell you?" Melia said.

She sat near the fire, a shawl over her shoulders. A fluffy black kitten
played on the rug near her feet. Travis had no idea where it had come from.

383

"Alerain said that, after any reckoning, the council must recess for
three days."

"Three days!" Melia's coppery skin darkened. "How many more feydrim will
be prowling the castle in three days? And how much closer to freedom
will the Pale King be?" She picked up the kitten and set it in her lap.
It instantly began attacking the tasseled end of her sash.

"It's frustrating, I agree, but you know how Calavaners are about
regulations."

"Rabid?" Falken gave a snort. "That's one word. Anyway, blame it all on
King Indarus. He's the one who set down the rules for calling a council."

Melia stroked the kitten, and her eyes narrowed to gold slits. "I have
half a mind to make this Indarus regret writing all those rules and
regulations."

"He's been dead three centuries, Melia." "That's not necessarily a problem."

Travis started to ask what that had meant, then clamped his mouth shut.
What was he thinking? That Melia or Falken would actually tell him what
was going on? He had followed the two all those leagues, believing that
once they got to Calavere the bard and lady would find a way to send him
back to Colorado. However, since they had arrived at the castle two days
ago, neither had even mentioned Travis's home. It might have been
bearable if Beltan were here, but Travis had not seen the knight since
yesterday at the council.

You could go talk to Grace.

A thrill passed through him at the thought, but he dismissed it. He had
seen Grace from a distance at the council. She had seemed so at ease
with her noble friends, like the knight Durge, or that young baroness
with the blue eyes. What was her name? Aryn?

Just because Grace is from Earth doesn't mean she's like you, Travis.
She fits in here.

A soft but demanding mew reached his ears, and he looked down. The black
kitten had tumbled and rolled across the floor to land at his feet. He
lifted it up and set it on the windowsill. The kitten regarded him with
golden eyes. They looked just like Melia's.

384

"Has she sent you here to spy on me?" he said.

The kitten only purred and began exploring the sill. When it reached the
window, it stiffened and let out a hiss. The hair on its back stood up.
Travis peered out.

"It's only a dog," he said with a smile. "It's all the way down in the
bailey. It can't hurt you."

He started to pick up the kitten. It hissed again and slashed with tiny
claws. A thin red line appeared on Travis's skin. He snatched his hands
back.

"Even you?" he murmured.

Now the kitten sat calmly, daintily licked a paw, and regarded him with
those moonlike eyes.

"Traitor." The. kitten leaped lightly to the floor and pranced back
toward Melia. Travis picked up an empty pitcher from a table and followed.

". .. was utterly disastrous," Melia was saying now. "We have to find a

way to break the deadlock."

"And while there are still Dominions left to fight for." Falken strummed
a minor chord.

Travis cleared his throat. "I'm going to get some water." He wasn't
really thirsty. It was just the only excuse he could think of to leave
the room.

"All right, Travis," Melia said in an absent tone.

He frowned. "And then I'm going to fling myself from the battlements and
count how many seconds it takes before I splatter against the cobblestones."

"That's nice, dear." She picked up the kitten and set it back in her lap.

It was no use. Travis walked from the chamber, leaving the bard and the
lady to their machinations. He set the pitcher on a sideboard and headed
down a corridor.

As always, Travis didn't decide what direction to take. He wandered the
castle for a time, and when he found himself at a door that led outside,
it felt right enough. He opened the door and stepped into the lower
bailey. Cold air slapped his cheeks, and woke him after the smoky
dullness of the castle.

The bailey was thronging, and Travis felt odd not having an obvious task
to do. He hurried across the courtyard-past short, powerful men with
pockmarked faces and smudgefaced young women with toothless smiles-and
hoped that

385

would make him look like he had purpose enough. He didn't want to be
mistaken for an errant servant again.

A chorus of bleating erupted behind Travis. He glanced over his shoulder
and saw a flock of goats bearing down on him. The beasts were small, but
there were a lot of them, and something told him he wouldn't-enjoy the
sensation of all their little cloven feet prancing across his back. He
lurched out of the way and pressed himself against a wall. The shaggy
animals trotted by, along with their switchwielding master: a man every
bit as shaggy as his charges.

Once the 'stench settled, Travis peeled himself from the stones. His
dash for safety had taken him to a dim corner of the bailey. He looked
up, and above him loomed a tower he hadn't really noticed before. It was
smaller than the castle's other towers, and of all the nine it was the
only one that seemed in ill repair. A hole gaped in the side where
several stones had fallen out, and the slate roof slumped at an odd
angle. Most likely it had been abandoned. Perhaps the tower was
dangerous. Travis shrugged, then turned to move on.

Something caught his eye, and he froze. There. He walked to the tower's
door of wood, weathered the same gray as the stones it was set into.
They had fashioned it of silver inlaid in the wood, and although
tarnished with time he could still make it out: three intersecting
lines. It was the same symbol that had glowed on his right hand in the
ruins of Kelcior:

Travis lifted his hand and reached toward the rune. "Can I help you?"
asked a masculine voice behind him. Travis snatched his hand back and
turned around. The

man was young-younger than Travis by several years. His face was broad
and homely, and his nose flat, but a cheerful light shone in his brown
eyes. He wore a robe of unassuming gray, but the garment did not quite
conceal his short, maslive frame. Travis recognized him-he was one of
the two ttnespeakers who had spoken the rune of beginning at the Council
of Kings.

III 'm sorry," Travis said. "I was just looking at the . . . I

386

mean, I was just looking." How could he explain to this stranger what,
even at that moment, itched beneath the skin of his right palm?

The man only nodded. He seemed neither suspicious not angry. "It's
beautiful, isn't it?" He pointed to the symbol on the door. "Do you know
it?"

Travis shook his head. "No, what is it?"

"It's a rune-the rune of runes. See? There are three lines." He traced
them with a thick finger. "One for the art of runespeaking, and one for
the two arts which are lost."

Travis forgot his trepidation. He gazed at the rune on the door in new
wonder. "The arts of runebinding and rune. breaking," he murmured.

The young man cocked his head and gave Travis a penetrating look. "Not
many people know those words these days. Few are interested in runes
anymore."

"Why not?" Travis said.

He gave a wistful shrug. "Old ways are forgotten in the wake of new."

Travis opened his mouth to speak, but another voice interrupted him.

"Hello there, Travis."

He and the young man turned around. Travis wasn't certain why he felt
like a child who had just been caught in an illicit act, but he did. He
crunched his shoulders inside his tunic.

"Hi, Melia. Hi, Falken."

The young man glanced at Travis, surprise in his brown eyes, but Travis
said nothing. The bard approached, and the lady drifted behind him. I

"I'm surprised to find you here, Travis," Melia said. Amusement touched
the corners of her mouth. "I thought" you were going to count how long
it took to fall from tha battlements."

Travis winced. "How did you find me?"

Falken grinned his wolfish grin. "No, Travis, we weren" looking for you.
This was simply Lady Fate again, tan our threads as she has before. We

came to the bailey to bu bolt of cloth for Melia."

"I'm quite overdue for a new dress," the lady said.

387

Her kirtle, as always, was without stain or rent or stray thread, but
Travis said nothing.

Falken nodded toward the young man in the gray robe. "It's good to see
you again, journeyman Rin."

The man bowed. "And you as well, Master Falken." Travis tried to reel in
his dangling jaw. "You know each other?"

"I spoke with Rin the other day," Falken said. "I asked him if he could
take you on as an apprentice."

Rin smiled at Travis. "And that solves a mystery for me. It is not every
day someone who knows about runes comes to our tower door."

"Will you be able to teach him, Rin?" Melia said.

The young runespeaker's face grew solemn. "I discussed the topic with
Master Jemis yesterday. Usually apprentices must make a petition to
All-master Oragien at the Gray Tower."

Melia opened her mouth to protest, but Rin held up a hand and laughed.

"No, great lady, I would not presume to argue with you. I think we will
be able to make an exception in this case. We will take Travis as an
apprentice. However, at the earliest chance, he must journey to the Gray
Tower and present himself there."

Melia's visage grew placid again. "Thank you, Rin."

He bowed again. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to see to my own
studies. I'm afraid I'm not a master yet. I'll see ,-you tomorrow at
dawn, Travis."

With that Rin opened the door of the ramshackle tower find disappeared
within.

"Well," Melia said to Falken with a pleased look, "that's fettled."

Travis frowned. "Wait a minute. Don't I get a choice about s??

`` - Amber eyes locked on him. "And what would you choose, Be opened his
mouth to make an angry reply, but he could of no words to say.

ken laid his gloved hand on his shoulder. "It's all right, is. Rin and
Jemis can teach you better than I can." ravis gave a wordless nod. Melia
and Falken started to

388

continue on their way, then the lady halted and glanced back at Travis.

"By the way, Travis," she said. "I haven't had a chance to tell you this
yet, but you were very brave the other night, when you helped Lady Grace

against the feydrim."

He could only stare as the bard and the lady walked away and vanished
into the throng.

Travis shook his head. Maybe Brother Cy was right. Maybe he did have a
choice after all. He glanced up at the tower of the runespeakers and
rubbed his right hand.

Just maybe.

Grace stared at the flat expanse of wood before her. She had been
standing at the door for what seemed an eternity, although in truth it
had been no more than five minutes. Still, she was lucky no servant or
noble had turned down this corridor. If someone saw her standing there,
she would have to knock. After all, that's what normal people did at doors.

And why can't you, Grace? It's not as if your doom is waiting for you on
the other side. It's just a man, that's all. Except it wasn't just a man
on the other side of the door. This chamber belonged to Logren of
Eredane. She lifted her hand but could not bring her knuckles to bear on
the wood.

This was all Aryn's fault. Earlier that day, after their encounter with
Ivalaine, Grace and the baroness had careened through the castle to
Boreas's chamber. Grace had expected to find him in a rage, stamping
about the room, snorting curses like fire, and tossing aside any objects
unlucky enough to get in his path-chairs, tables, small noblemen.
Instead the king had sat near the fireplace, still and composed, and
somehow this had frightened Grace even more. At least one could see a
mad bull coming.

Their audience had been brief. Boreas was displeased with Falken's
outburst and the council's premature decisionGrace had never before
heard anyone make the word displeased sound like cause for murder. The
council was to meet again in three days to begin anew, and Boreas wanted;

389

to discover why the first reckoning had gone as it had, so that the
second would not go the same. Grace, needless to say, was going to help him.

It was not so hard to understand the choice of some of the rulers.
Sorrin's decision could be explained by his madness. And Lysandir
obviously followed Eminda's lead. That left the queen of Eredane as the
real mystery-aside from Ivalaine, of course, but Boreas seemed to have
his own idea about that.

"A witch always determines what is right and reasonable and then does
the opposite," he had said in a growling voice. Grace had only bit her
tongue and listened to her orders.

Some time ago Aryn had told the king about Grace's conversation with
Logren of Eredane. Now Boreas wanted her to pay Logren a visit and try
to determine why Queen Eminda had decided against war, what she hoped to
gain at the council, and-most of all-what she feared.

Grace had protested. However, trying to explain that she and Logren had
spoken only once, and had exchanged greetings with each other only a few
times after that, and were anything but friends, was futile. She had

given Aryn an exasperated look, the baroness had given a sheepish shrug
in return, and Grace had bowed her head and murmured the only three
words that guaranteed it would remain attached to her shoulders for
another day. "Yes, Your Majesty."

The sound of booted feet jerked Grace out of her paralysis. Someone was
coming down the corridor. She rapped on the door so hard her knuckles
hurt. She waited, heart thudding in her throat. No answer. The footsteps
fell silent. False -alarm on that account. She knocked again, but still
the door did not open. Relief washed through her. Logren must have been
away from his room-she had gotten a reprieve. With a ;grin, she knocked
one more time, just so she could tell Boreas she had done her best.

"Can I help you, my lady?"

The voice was deep and rich and came, not from behind the door, but from
behind her. Grace whirled around, and her breath caught somewhere
between lungs and lips. He 'as even more handsome than she remembered.
Not since

390

the night of her first feast in Calavere had she stood so close to him
and gazed into his intelligent eyes.

Recognition flickered in those eyes, and he smiled. He has good teeth.

She almost laughed at the absurdness of the thought, but so many people
in this world had terrible teeth, if they had any at all. Yet his were
white and straight, and his skin was smooth and unmarked by any trace of
disease. Only the fine white scar that ran across his cheek, and this
was like the off-center vase in an otherwise exquisite Japanese room-the
one small imperfection that made the rest seem all the more flawless.

He arched a dark eyebrow. Grace realized she had been staring too long.
She had to say something, anything. "Lord Logren, I was hoping I would
find you here." "Indeed, Lady Grace? And who else might you expect to
find behind my door?"

A wave of panic rippled through her. What did he mean by that? Had he
seen her that day, standing there in the garden, watching the two of
them? No, she was overreacting. Mirth glinted in his eyes. He was only
making a jest.

Thankfully he spoke again. She was not certain she could have found words.

"I've just come from a meeting with my queen, and I was intending to go
for a ride with Lord Olstin. He's been asking me to accompany him for days."

"Then you had best go, my lord," she said.

He cocked his head. "My lady, you would so quickly condemn me to such a
fate?"

"Nobility has its price." She sucked in a breath. Where had that come from?

"True enough," Logren said. "But this is Lord Olstin of Brelegond we are
speaking of, my lady. I know you know him. He rides with the reins in
one hand and a goblet in the other. I imagine I'll have to stop every
few minutes just to pick him up off the turf. Although I warrant his

finery will make an excellent cushion when he falls."

"I imagine you could use any one of his outfits to stuff several
good-sized chairs," Grace said.

He clapped his hands and laughed. To her amazement,

391

Grace laughed in reply, and it was a genuine sound. Like that night in
the great hall, he seemed to take her fear away, leaving her at ease,
not only with him, but with herself.

'What are we going to do to save you from this awful fate, my lord?" she
said, braver now.

He stroked his chin with long fingers. "As you've noted, my lady, I have
no choice. Unless ..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless I was ordered by another not to go. Of course, that would take a
noble of higher rank than myself."

"And who might outrank a high counselor, my lord?" "I'm afraid it would
take at least a duke," he said in a grave tone.

"What about a duchess?"

He snapped his fingers. "That would do."

"Then, my lord, I forbid you to go riding with Lord 01stin."

He pressed a hand to his chest and bowed. "As you wish, my lady."

A thrill coursed through her. It was foolish. This was all just a game.
Logren wasn't obeying her orders, he was just looking for an excuse.
Still, it almost felt real.

"May I invite you inside, my lady?"

He gestured to the door, and only then did she realize that, in her
earlier trepidation, she had backed up against it. She hurried aside and
let him open the door. Before she even thought about what she was doing,
she was inside. The door shut behind her, and now uncertainty crept back
into her chest. She was not here to exchange pleasantries with the high
counselor of Eredane. She was here to spy on him. "Wine?"

Grace accepted the cup and gripped it with both hands. He raised his own
cup to her and drank. As he did she took in her first glimpse of his
room. In size and brightness it was only a fraction of her own chamber.
The narrow window faced a blank expanse of stone, and the scant
furnishings were sturdy but far from ornate.

Logren noticed her gaze. "Do not worry, my lady. The room is no affront
on King Boreas's part. I asked for a more austere chamber. I prefer to
keep my surroundings simple. It sharpens my mind, and allows me to focus
on my tasks. I'm

392

afraid it is too easy to get distracted by the trappings of nobility and
forget what it really means."

Grace sipped her wine. Interest began to replace fear. "And what does it
really mean, my lord?"

"Being a noble is a privilege, but it is also a duty. Those beneath us
depend on us to make wise decisions for them, to keep their lives
ordered, productive, and safe."

"Don't you mean to keep them oppressed?"

He set down his cup. "One cannot have safety without giving something
up, my lady. That is the way of the world. The commoners work for us, it
is true. But in turn we protect them, feed them when food is short, and
build them shrines for their mysteries."

Grace knew this idea should have filled her with repugnance. All the
same Logren's words resonated in her. It was wrong, and impossible, but
in a way they made sense to her. Why shouldn't those who were stronger
lead-as long as they were good, benevolent, and wise?

She thought of something. "And who protects you, my

lord?" He shook a finger at her. "No, my lady. That's not the way

the game works. Power is peril. No one protects those who are on top.
They have to protect themselves. Or fall."

A jolt ran through her. Now was her chance. She took another sip of wine
to appear nonchalant, but mostly to wet a throat gone dry. "You mean
like Queen Eminda did?"

He gazed at her, then his applause filled the small room. "Well done, my
lady. Well done, and subtly. I very nearly didn't notice, and I have an
ear for such things."

Horror flooded her. "What do you mean?"

Logren drew near. He smelled of spices. "You know what I speak of, my
lady. Clever questions disguised as beguiling talk. No, don't be
alarmed. I admire your skill, and I understand. You are King Boreas's
guest, and he would not be a very good king if he did not use all means
available to himincluding yourself-to learn about the intentions of the

other kings and queens at the council."

Grace worked her jaw but could find no words. She like a butterfly
pinned to a child's piece of cardboard. "Don't worry, Lady Grace. You
saved me from riding

393

Lord Olstin. I will not send you back to King Boreas emptyhanded in
return. I will tell you freely why Eminda chose as she did at the council."

All she could do was nod.

"There are two possibilities, my lady. The first is that the Pale King

is a myth-a story to frighten children or to excite bards. The second is
that Falken Blackhand is correct, that the Pale King indeed stirs again
in Imbrifale. Now, if the first possibility is true, and the Pale King
is a myth, then it is folly to send the armies of all the Dominions
marching into the northern wilds. There are real enough dangers
herebandits, barbarians, famine-without having to tramp across
Falengarth in search of false ones."

Grace licked her lips. "What if Falken is right?"

Logren studied her. "You believe him, don't you?" He lifted a hand to
halt her words. "No, do not protest. I cannot say whether Falken
Blackhand truly is what he claims to be, but whatever people say of the
Grim Bard he is not to be taken lightly. Yet if the Pale King does stir,
it is every bit as foolish to send all the forces of the Dominions
north. We cannot hope to raise so great an army as the stories say
Ulther and Elsara did. Better, then, to remain here, to protect the
Dominions, and to search for the Imsari, the Great Stones that the myths
say hold the key to the Pale King's power."

He took a decanter of wine and refilled her cup. "So you see, my lady,
either way there is no reason to muster the Dominions for war. Queen
Eminda can be abrupt, I know that better than anyone, but she chose as
she did to protect Eredane and the other Dominions, not to harm them."

Grace lifted the cup in trembling hands and drank. She had to admit,
once again Logren's words made sense. Boreas seemed to want war at any
cost, without exploring other options. She wasn't so certain she would
have chosen differently from Queen Eminda.

The warmth of the wine filled her, and now Grace let her eyes drink in
Logren. She had never met another man who seemed so calm, so governed by
reason. Yet she had seen

in the garden. How could one so wise let himself get rnsnared by
Kyrene's petty magics? Even as she asked the

394

question she knew the answer. Logren was tall, handsome, and strong. His
duties and his austere room could not possibly occupy him always.

Grace set down her cup. At any rate, it was a relief to have the truth
of her intentions out in the open, and she had indeed gotten an answer
to take back to Boreas. "I'm so sorry to have bothered you like this,
Lord Logren. I'll go now."

A hand on her arm kept her from turning away. "I did not ask you to go,
my lady."

Grace stared at his hand as if he had struck her. His skin was darker
than hers, and large veins traced lines beneath. Once again she saw him
in the garden, naked in the frosty air, white limbs twining about his
back. Only this time, when the woman looked up, her green eyes were
tinged with gold.

Grace snatched her hand back. "No. . . ."

He stepped away and bowed. "As my lady wishes. I apologize for any insult."

No, that wasn't what she had meant. It wasn't him. He was a gentleman in
every way. It was herself she had spoken to. But how could she tell him
that?

"I have to go," she said.

She didn't remember opening his door. The next thing she knew she rushed
down the corridor, heedless of which way she turned. When she had
pictured Logren in the garden the woman had not been Kyrene. It had been
herself.

And why not, Grace? Why shouldn't it be you? They stole it from you, and
for so many years you've been afraid. Why shouldn't you be the one to
take power from it now?

She shook her head, cleared her vision, and realized she had come to a
halt. She stood before an arched door. A banner hung on a stand beside
the archway, yellow on green: Toloria. This was Queen Ivalaine's
chamber. Grace glanced up at a high window and saw a slice of
slate-colored sky., Somewhere doves sang their mourning song. A shiver
danced along her skin-it was just now twilight.

A soft rustling beside her. Grace glanced to her right, into. a pair of
large blue eyes.

"I didn't think I would come," Aryn said in a quiet voiced;' "Neither
did I."

Their hands found one another and held on.

395

"What on Eldh are we doing, Grace?"

She drew in a deep breath. "I don't know."

They tightened their hold on each other. The door and together they
stepped through.

Travis began his studies with the Runespeakers the morning after his
encounter with Rin. Falken woke him in the cold gray light before dawn.

"It's time," the bard said.

Still half-asleep, Travis shrugged on his tunic, wrapped his mistcloak
around himself, and stumbled outside. He trudged across the frozen mud
of the lower bailey-empty at this early hour-to the lair of the
Runespeakers. Travis hesitated at the door, teeth chattering. At last
the chill won out, and he knocked. The door opened, and smoky light
spilled onto the ground.

Come in said a sharp voice.'

He did, and the door shut behind him.

There was one good thing about runespeakers, Travis soon discovered.
They drank a lot of maddok. There was always a

pot of the liquid, hot and dark, bubbling over a copper brazier in the
tower's shabby main room. He downed a half-dozen cups of it that first

day, until his whole body tingled, and his mind was as light and clear
as a bauble of spun glass. Not that it did him much good.

"Do you know what this is?" Jemis pointed to the lines he d drawn with a
stylus on a wax tablet. Jemis was the elder the two runespeakers, a thin
and harsh-faced man well

ast his middle years. His threadbare robe was not so much y as it was grimy.

Travis pushed his spectacles up his nose and studied the

blet in the glow of the brazier. The tower was drafty, and

sat on rugs as close to the fire as they dared. Yes, that

as one of the runes Falken had shown him. He opened his

"It's the rune of-ouch!"

e nearly bit through his tongue as Jemis rapped him

396ARK

on the hand with the metal stylus. Travis snatched his wounded hand
back. That had hurt.

"Wrong," Jemis said in a voice every bit as stinging as the blow. "You
know nothing, apprentice.' Whatever you have been taught before, forget
it. Whatever knowledge you think you have, heave it out of your skull
like rubbish. You know only what we teach you. Never forget that,
apprentice."

Rin handed Travis a steaming cup of maddok. "I know you probably have a
lot of questions, Travis. But you have to trust us. Apprentices in the
Gray Tower have been taught in the same way for centuries. The lessons
may not always make sense to you. They didn't make sense to me when I
was beginning. Later, after I learned, I could see it really is the best
way."

The young runespeaker's face was plain and crooked, but his brown eyes
were kind, and his smile genuine. Travis accepted the cup, drank, then
set it down.

"Teach me," he said.

That first lesson was a simple one: He listened. As doves rustled in the
rafters high above, Jemis told the tale of Olrig Lore Thief, the Old God
who stole the secret of runes from the dragons, along with the tricks to
making ale and poetry. Travis stared at the brazier and let himself
drift back to an age lost in the haze of time. The world was young then.
The Old Gods dwelled in stone, river, and sky, and their children, the
Little People, laughed and sang in the forests. The dragons were there
as well, lurking in their pits, ancient even then at the dawning-cruel
and terribly wise.

The tale ended. Firelight flickered across Jemis's face. "But what are
they?" Travis said. "Runes, I mean. Why are they so important?" He tried
not to run a finger over the palm of his right hand.

It was Rin who answered. "Before the world there was nothing. Or, more

properly, there was everything. Light and dark, fire and ice, night and
day-all were merged in a sea of twilight, without end, without time.
Then the Worldsmith spoke the First Rune, the rune Eldh, and all was
changed."

"Eldh?" Travis frowned-this didn't make sense. "But isn't that the name
of this . . . of the world?"

"Yes, it is. But it is also the name of the First Rune, and by speaking
it the Worldsmith forged the world and set it spin

397

within the mists." Rin drew a box on the wax tablet, divided the box in
two with a line:

"After this, the Worldsmith bound the rune Eldh within the Dawning
Stone, that the world might know permanence. Then he spoke the runes of
sun, and moon, and stars, and these too came into being. That was only
the beginning. Sky and mountain, river and ocean, tree and stone-as the
Worldsmith spoke their names, they appeared, and for each name there was
a rune which he bound within the Dawning Stone, so that all things in
the world would never fade."

Understanding crept into Travis's mind, and along with it a growing
excitement. "So everything in the world has a name? And a rune to go
with it?"

Rin nodded. "Yes. And when you speak a rune you invoke its power, just
as the Worldsmith did at the beginning." Travis scratched his beard and
tried to take in everything

Kin and Jemis had said. It was a wonderful story, but it was all just a
myth, wasn't it?

A myth like wraithlings? Like feydrim?

"There's one thing I don't understand," he said. "You say the secret of
runes came from Olrig. But I thought Falken said . . . I mean, I thought
no one believed in the Old Gods anymore."

Jemis slammed a hand down on the tablet and knocked it to the floor.
Both Travis and Rin stared, jaws agape.

"They are fools!" The elder runespeaker's eyes burned in the glow of the
brazier. "The First Ones retreated into the mists long ago, back into
the Twilight Realm. They let the loud and brash New Gods of Tarras march
across Falengarth. It was not their time anymore. But though they are
distant now, do not think the Old Gods are gone." He was rigid now,
'trembling. "Eldh was theirs once, and it will be again!"

A shudder coursed beneath Jemis's gray robe, and he Passed a hand before
his eyes. They glowed no longer, but were dull like stones. "Your first
lesson is over," he said in a

398

flat voice. He turned, scrambled up the stairs that spiraled around the
inside wall of the tower, and disappeared through a door.

Travis looked at Rin. "I'm sorry."

Rin shook his head. "Don't worry, Travis. I think sometimes when you
grow old it's hard to see things change, that's all."

"Do you think he's right?" Travis looked into the ruby heart of the
brazier. "Do you think the Old Gods will come back?"

"There is some cheese and bread for our lunch," Rin said. "You should
eat something before I show you how to use the stylus and the tablet."

Travis nodded and said nothing more as he moved to help Rin with the food.

75.

Travis stepped from the dilapidated tower of the Runespeakers and
grabbed for the edges of his mistcloak as wind sliced through his tunic.
Every day the weather was colder than the last. Even in the Winter Wood
it had barely seemed as frigid as this, but there the valsindar had
offered some protection from the brooding clouds that swept out of the
Fal Threndur.

Travis glanced up at the sky. It was hard and brilliant, with no sign of
dark clouds. But they'll come here eventually, won't they? They're his
clouds, the Pale King's. Right now they're staying close to Imbrifale.
That's why Falken and I couldn't see them when we left the Winter Wood,
when we headed for Kelcior. But that won't last, will it?

He shivered, wrapped his cloak around himself, and tried not to wonder
how long it would be before he looked up again to see iron-black clouds
reaching out of the north to swallow Calavere's nine towers.

As usual, when Travis stepped into the chamber he shared with Falken and
Melia, the two were deep in discussion over the Council of Kings. From
what Travis gleaned, the council had reconvened that morning, even
though Falken had al

399

ready forced a reckoning. According to the bard, no reckoning was final
until all the kings and queens made a choiceand so far Ivalaine had
abstained. Now each of the rulers was to make a report on the state of
affairs in his or her own Dominion. Each king or queen was granted two
full sessions. With recesses, it would be over a fortnight before this
phase of the council was finished-a fact which clearly did not please
Falken.

The bard ran a hand through his shoulder-length hair. "We can't just sit
here and wait while every petty advisor of every ruler speaks in deep
and excruciating detail about the health of this year's calves in every
single province of the Dominion in question."

"Actually, I can," Melia said. "Especially in this chair. It's really
quite comfortable. Horsehair I think. I wonder if King Boreas could have
one made for me."

Falken glared at her.

"Besides," Melia said, "sometimes patience is necessary, Falken. I would
have thought you of all people would know that."

"And sometimes, if you wait too long, you wake up and realize everything
that's important to you has crumbled to dust."

Melia looked up at the bard. Now concern touched her visage, and her
voice was gentle. "Do not fear, Falken. Only the first seal on the Rune
Gate is broken. We still have time, and the council may yet decide on a
muster. In the meantime we can keep doing what we have been
doing-watching, and learning. That knowledge will help us."

Falken grunted, but he did not answer.

Travis took off his cloak and set it on his bed. Melia eyed his
mud-caked boots.

"How thoughtful of you to bring a little of the bailey into the chamber,
Travis, knowing how I so dislike going out when it's cold."

He gave her a sheepish look. "You're welcome?" Melia's expression was
not quite as soft as granite. "I'll get a rag?" he tried again.

She smiled and leaned back in her chair. "I believe you're beginning to
catch on, dear."

400

"You're off early," Falken said as Travis scrubbed at the mud on the floor.

"King Boreas summoned Rin and Jemis," Travis said from his hands and knees.

"Probably to see what their runes say about the council." The bard
raised an eyebrow. "So how are things going?" "All right. Except I
haven't spoken a single rune yet. Jemis

just makes me practice using the stylus and tablet all day." "Good."

Falken didn't need to say anything more. Travis would never forget the
incident in the talathrin, when he misdrew Lir, the rune of light.

The black kitten had appeared in Melia's lap again-the tiny creature
seemed to be able to leap out of shadows and disappear into thin air at
will. It also seemed to have a penchant for biting at Travis's ankles.
He kept an eye on it.

"Well," Melia said, "I'm certain we can find something for Travis to do."

"Have you seen Beltan?" he said in a hopeful tone. Melia gazed into the
fire but said nothing. Maybe it was the flickering light, but her regal
face seemed sad.

"He's around," Falken said in a gruff voice.

What did that mean? Beltan had been acting strangely ever since they had
come to Calavere, and as usual no one wanted to talk about it. Travis
missed the big blond knight. He sighed and bent back over his scrubbing.

Everyone looked up when a knock sounded at the door. Travis thought it
must be Beltan, but when Falken opened the door it was not the rangy
knight on the other side.

"Lady Grace," Falken said. "Will you come in?" "Yes . . . thank you."

Once more Travis was struck by how much she seemed to belong here. He
tried to imagine her in surgical scrubs and a mask, a scalpel in her
hand. It was possible, but the image of the lady in the purple gown kept
getting superimposed over the image of the doctor.

Melia rose to her feet, and the kitten landed on the floor with a brrt!

"Good morrow, Lady Grace." Melia's eyes glinted with curiosity.

None of them had spoken with Grace since the first morn

401

ing of the council four days ago, when they had discovered the feydrim
gone from the wardrobe in her chamber. Travis had told Falken and Melia
what he had discovered: that Grace was from Earth, just like he was. The
two had clearly found this of great interest, and had asked him many
questions-had he ever met Grace before, did they know any of the same
people, did they go to the same places? However, what they thought about
Grace or his answers they had not shared with him.

"Would you like something to drink?" Falken said. "No," she said. She
took a breath. "That is . . . thank you . . . I mean . . . I was hoping
I could speak with Travis."

The rag fell from his hand and plopped on the floor. Only when Falken
spoke did Travis realize he had been staring. "Are you going to answer
the lady, Travis?" Falken said.

Travis leaped to his feet and wiped his hands on his tunic. "Of course.
I'd be happy to, Grace." He glanced at Melia. "If it's all right?"

"I'm sure we'll find a way to manage without you, Travis." "We won't be
long," Grace said.

He followed her out of the chamber, the door shut, and they were alone
in the hallway.

"It's good to see you, Grace," he said.

Grace frowned at the door. "She makes you scrub the floor?"

Travis was taken aback. Her voice sounded so hard.

"It was my fault," he said. "I tracked the mud into the chamber. Really,
Melia isn't so bad. Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't come to talk to you,
Grace, but I've been busy. I've been studying with the castle's
runespeakers."

She turned her gaze on him. "It's all right. I've been learning . . . I
mean, I've been busy, too. But I didn't forget what you said, about
wanting to see the door, the one with the symbol I told you about." Her
gaze was tentative now. "Do you still want me to show it to you, Travis?"

A chill crept up his spine. He wasn't certain he wanted to see anything
that might be associated with the Raven Cult, but he nodded all the same.

"Take me there."

Travis followed Grace as she led the way through the cas

402

the. Servants scurried out of their path, although she hardly seemed to
notice. She moved confidently, navigating the twists and turns with
ease. More than once Travis glanced out of the corner of his eye at her
in amazement. She really did belong here.

It was only when they stopped that he realized they had come to a
quieter part of the castle. The corridor ended in an alcove into which a
narrow window was set. Beyond was a fragment of blue quartz sky. It
could almost have been Colo. rado, even though he knew it wasn't.

"It was here," Grace said.

He looked at her. "What was here, Grace?" "The bells."

A shiver danced up his spine. She didn't need to say anything more.

She tucked a few strands of short, ash-blond hair behind one ear and
approached the window. Travis followed and peered over her shoulder.
Through the glass he saw fields bounded by stone walls. Some leagues
away the fields dipped down, and though he couldn't see it, he knew that
was the valley where the River Darkwine flowed. Beyond were Calavan's
northern marches. He could just make out a deep green line hovering on
the horizon. Falken had pointed it out to him one day from the
battlements: Gloaming Wood.

Grace turned around. "It couldn't have been very far from here. I'm sure
of it." She started down a left-hand passage, then backed up and
continued on straight. After a short distance she tried another left
turn, then nodded and quickened her pace.

"There," she said as she came to a halt. "That's where I saw him." She
pointed to a door on the right. It was shut. "The man in the black
robe?" Travis said.

"Yes. He left this behind." Grace reached into the pouch at her waist,
drew out an object wrapped in felt, and unfolded the cloth. It was a
knife with a polished black hilt.

Travis studied the knife, then handed it back to her and peered at the
door. The symbol scratched into the wood was incomplete, but there was
no mistaking the two curved lines.

"It's the sanie as the symbol you told me about, isn't it?" Grace said.
"The one you saw on your journey here."

403

Travis gave a wordless nod. He forced himself to study the mbol. Yes, it
looked as if the maker had started to scratch

crossed lines beneath it. An X.

'What did you say it was?" Grace said behind him. "The symbol of some
sort of cult?"

He turned around. "The Raven Cult. It's a mystery cult, like the Cult of
Vathris, only it's new. I haven't seen any of

followers here in Calavan, but there were a lot of them in

Eredane, and in the other Dominions, from what Melia and

Beltan said."

"I wonder what's in this room?" Grace started to reach for the door's
handle, then halted and looked up. "Maybe we should ask Lord Alerain for
permission first."

"And what will we tell him we're hoping to find in here when he asks us?
Little people with jingle bells?"

Grace bit her lip. "Good point."

She turned the handle. There was a click, and the door opened. They
glanced both ways down the corridor, but no one was in sight. Together
they stepped through the door.

The room was dim-there was no window, only the light that filtered in
from the corridor outside-and it took Travis's eyes a moment to adjust.
Shapes loomed all around them, some round, some square, others squat and
lumpy. "A storeroom."

Even as Grace said this Travis realized she was right. The

room was filled with barrels, crates, and sacks-the shapes he had glimpsed.

He scratched his scruffy beard. "What's so important about a storeroom?"

Grace shook her head.

They searched the storeroom for a few minutes more, but they found
nothing special. The crates contained rotten linens, and by their odor
the barrels were filled with some kind of salted fish. The air was damp,
and Travis soon discovered the source. Water dripped from an opening.
The opening was Perhaps two feet across and angled up into the thick
stone wall. When he peered in he felt a cold puff against his face. It
was a ventilation shaft. He remembered reading a book about castles as a
kid, one that showed slices taken at various points throughout the
structure. Medieval castles were Upposed to be riddled with ventilation
shafts. Otherwise, in

404

damp climes, everything inside them would have molded instantly.

Travis and Grace stepped back out into the corridor and shut the door
behind them.

"There doesn't seem to be anything important in there," Travis said.

Grace crossed her arms over the bodice of her gown. "But the man I saw,
the Raven cultist, he had to have picked this room for a reason."

Travis shrugged. He didn't disagree, but whatever the cultist's purpose
it wasn't clear from the contents of the storage chamber. A thought

struck him. "Maybe this isn't the only room, Grace. After all, if the
cultist marked one door, he could have marked others. If we found more,
we might be able to figure out why he was doing it."

Grace's eyes shone, and she opened her .mouth to reply. Just then the
call of a dove drifted through a high window. Both glanced up. The sky
had faded from blue to slate.

"Oh!" Grace said. "I need to go, Travis. I have . . . I have to be
somewhere."

"It's all right," he said. "I should be getting back, too. We can look
for more doors later."

She nodded, started to turn away, then turned back and clumsily reached
for his hand.

"Thank you for coming with me, Travis." "Thanks for asking." She
squeezed, then let go of his hand and hurried down the corridor. He
smiled as he gazed after her. It had been almost fun to wander the
castle with Grace. Then his eyes flickered to the symbol on the door,
and his smile faded.

Grace was certain it was no accident Kyrene had chosen this,

place for their meeting. She rounded a corner in the hedge maze and
stepped into a sheltered grotto.

"There you are, love. I was beginning to think you had changed your mind
and had decided not to come. Or that

perhaps you had gotten lost in the labyrinth...."

405

Grace planted her feet on the frozen ground and resisted the urge to
turn and run as she had the last time she had come upon this place. "I'm
here," she said.

Kyrene moved toward her. The countess was wearing a fox cape, its silver
fur turned inward. Her cheeks were bright with the cold. "Come, sister."
She held out a hand. "I have much to teach you."

I'm sure you do. Love. However, Grace did not speak the words. She
hesitated, then accepted Kyrene's hand and stepped into the grotto.

It had been five days since the evening Grace and Aryn had gone to
Ivalaine's chamber, and Grace wasn't certain she had any better idea
what it meant to be a witch. Once she and Aryn had stepped through
Ivalaine's door, they had been eager to learn, eager to hear the truth
about who the Witches were-what they wanted . . . and what they could
do. They had expected revelations. What they had gotten were more mysteries.

"How do we begin?" Grace had asked Ivalaine that first evening,
breathless, thirsty.

The queen of Toloria had seemed hardly surprised at their arrival in her
chamber. "Do you know how to weave, Lady Grace?" she had asked.

Grace had shaken her head.

"Then that is where you will begin."

Grace had spent the remainder of that evening, and many hours after
that, seated before a loom in the queen's chamber, learning how to
operate the pedals, and how to pass the shuttle back and forth through
the strands of the warp. She had worked until her back ached and her
head throbbed. Not since the first days of her internship at Denver
Memorial did she remember being this tired, this dizzy, this consumed
and overwhelmed. Yet she was good at it. Weaving was not so different
from closing incisions, stitching wounds.

"Watch each thread," Ivalaine would murmur as Grace worked. "Follow its
line, see how it runs beside the other threads. Each is separate, yet
all are intertwined as well. Together they create something far stronger
than a single strand, yet every bit as supple."

Soon the queen's words would merge with the whir of the

406

shuttle, the clack-clack of the pedals. At night Grace would close her
eyes and dream she was caught in the loom.

Aryn already knew how to weave-evidently that was something noble ladies
were supposed to learn in this world-so she had been spared that
particular task. However, Ivalaine had other work in mind for the
baroness. That first evening the queen's lady-in-waiting, the red-haired
Tressa, had led Aryn away. When Grace saw Aryn next it was late, and
they both had been exhausted. The baroness's left hand had been dirty,
and her cheeks and gown smudged.

"Gardening," Aryn had said with a mixture of outrage and amazement. "She
had me gardening."

Grace hadn't known how to respond. "What did you plant? Medicinal herbs?"

"No. Turnips."

The last several days had offered little more in the way of
explanations. The Council of Kings had reconvened two days ago, so that
left only the evenings for their studies. Grace and Aryn would come to
Ivalaine's chamber when they could-and when they did not think King
Boreas would notice. But it wasn't as if Grace was betraying the king.
At least, that was what she told herself. However, once in Ivalaine's
chamber, she never seemed to find the chance to ask the Tolorian queen
about her motives for abstaining at the council. There was so much else
to occupy her.

Like weaving. At first Grace had feared her hands would be crippled from
the loom, then they had grown calluses, and the shuttle had seemed to
barely touch them as it flew back and forth. A picture had begun to form
beneath her fingers. It was a garden at twilight, purple-green and
secret. Yesterday, when she arrived at the queen's chamber, she had
almost looked forward to weaving.

The loom had been gone.

"It is time for new lessons," Ivalaine had said. "Lady Aryn, you will
continue to study with Tressa, though you are finished with gardening, I

think. And since I am occupied by the council, you will have a new
teacher, Lady Grace."

Only at that moment had Grace noticed the other figure that stood in the
room. She moved forward with a rustle of emerald wool and parted coral
lips in a smile.

407

"It's time to learn what it truly means to be a witch, Lady Grace."

Grace shivered and returned to the frosty garden. "What do I need to do?"

Kyrene made a lovely frown. She must have practiced the expression many
times before a mirror. "That is the wrong question, Lady Grace." She
moved closer. "What do you wish to do?"

Grace started to shake her head. What did Kyrene mean? It didn't matter
what she .. .

No, she did know. Everything around her, it was always so distant, so
removed. But she wanted to touch it, like the threads of the loom
beneath her fingers-the lushness of the winter garden. "I want to feel,"
she said. "I want to feel everything."

A 'smile coiled around the corners of Kyrene's pink mouth. She took
Grace's hand, led her deeper into the grotto. They stopped, and the
countess started to untie the sash of Grace's gown.

Grace pulled back. "What are you doing?" "You have no need of this garment."

"But it's freezing out"

Kyrene's eyes flashed, and her usually soft face was stern. "I am your
teacher, sister."

Grace tensed. Kyrene was vain, and maybe even dangerous. Yet she knew
things-things Grace wanted to learn. She lowered her arms and stepped
forward.

The countess moved supple hands over Grace's gown, loosened ties, pulled
straps. Grace stood stiff and stared forward into the hedge-wall. Ever
since her time at the Beckett'Strange Home for Children, the thought of
being naked before others had terrified her. It was logical enough, the
clinician in her knew. Even long after the marks faded the fear had
remained, as if others still would be able to see the places where they
had touched her, like shadows against her skin.

Her gown slipped to the ground, and a soft cry escaped -Grace as the
winter air wrapped a new, frigid cloak around her body. She began to shiver.

"It's cold," she said through clattering teeth. "It doesn't have to be,
love."

408

"What . . . what do you mean?"

Kyrene gestured to the tangled garden walls. "There is no need to be
cold when there is so much life all around you." "I don't . . . I don't

understand." The air was damp. In

this environment it would take mere minutes for the first symptoms of
hypothermia to set in. She had nearly frozen once in this world-she did
not intend to again.

Kyrene only gazed at her, and her smile coiled in on itself like a red
serpent.

"Tell me," Grace said. She knew it was what Kyrene wanted, for her to
beg, but Grace didn't care. She had to know. "Tell me, please."

The countess's eyes glowed in satisfaction. "But of course, sister. You
had only to ask."

Kyrene stood behind Grace and murmured in her ear. "Close your eyes, love."

Grace did this.

"Now reach out and touch the evergreens in front of you." This seemed an
odd request, but Grace lifted her arms to obey.

"No, sister, not with your hands. You have the Touch. Reach out with
your mind, touch them with your thoughts." What was Kyrene talking
about? Grace shook her head. "I can't touch something with my mind."

Kyrene's whisper was soft and cold as snow. "Then you will freeze, sister."

Convulsions wracked Grace's body now, yet she knew they would stop soon
enough, and an irresistible sleepiness would wash over her. That would
be the beginning of the end. Grace tried to move her feet, but Kyrene's
words buzzed in her head, and she felt rooted to the spot, as if she
were a tree herself, slender and pale, leafless in winter.

"Touch them, Grace. Do it. . . ."

No, it was impossible. Or was it? There was that day in her chamber, the
day she first met Kyrene. She remembered now. It had felt as if
something-someone-had come close to her, too close; and she had pushed
the presence away.

Her shivers faded, she had to try. Grace concentrated and tried to
remember how she had felt that day, only this time, instead of pushing,
she reached.

Her mind was dark, all she felt was coldness.

409

"Do it, sister." The voice was an icicle in her brain. She hated it,
wanted it to go away. "Reach."

She couldn't do it, her whole being was brittle, she was going to freeze
here in the garden. She stretched, flung her mind out, but there was
nothing to touch. Only ice, and blackness, and .. .

... warmth. Green, golden warmth. It brushed across the surface of her
mind, like a candle in a darkened room, then was gone. Desperate, she
cast her mind back. There-there it was, a beacon in the barren murk. It
was so beautiful, so gentle and bright. How could she have missed it

before? She smiled, and it seemed so easy.

Grace reached out and touched the light.

Her eyes flew open. The air of the garden was still frigid, she could
sense that, but she was warm-wondrously, deliciously warm. Like a balmy
breeze from a summer forest, it rushed over her, and through her, until
her skin glowed. She drew in a deep breath and smelled green.

"Yes, that's it, love," a triumphant voice purred in her ear. "I knew
you had the strength."

"But what is it?" Grace had never felt so much a part of something before.

"It is the Weirding."

Kyrene stood before her. Grace hadn't noticed when the countess's fur
cape and gown had slipped off, but she was naked now, her skin flushed
with warmth.

"The Weirding?"

"It is the power that resides in all living things. In the evergreens,
in the hedges, in the moss between the stones. It dwells in everything
alive, and it flows between them in a great web, vast beyond imagining."

- Grace closed her eyes again. "Yes, I can feel them. The evergreens
there. And the tall tree on the edge of the grottoits leaves are gone,
but I can see the life still moving inside it. And there! There's a
mouse hiding in the stones, watching us. I've never . . . I've never
felt anything like this before."

"But I think you have, Lady Grace. Are you not a healer?" She started to
shake her head, but even as she did she knew there was truth in Kyrene's
words.

Kyrene reached into her fallen gown and pulled out a small

410

clay pot. It was oil, scented with herbs. She rubbed the oil over
Grace's body. At first Grace stiffened-it had been so long since she had
let another touch her, she wasn't certain she could bear it-but the
countess's fingers were deft and soothing. Grace relaxed, and warmth
encapsulated her in a gold haze. She knew now how the two of them had
been warm that day in this grotto, despite the cold and their naked skin.

"Yes, you have sensed it before, sister. That is what it means to be a
witch-to have the Touch, to feel the Weird. ing, to reach out to it, and
to shape it." Kyrene's voice became a low croon. "Hear me, sister. Once
we were crones: hags and hedgewives and madwomen. We were ugly and
despised. People threw stones at us and burned us on piles of sticks.
But now . . . look at who we are now, sister."

Kyrene gestured to a puddle on the ground, melted in the heat that
flowed from them. Two women gazed up from the silvery water, naked and
fey, eyes glowing emerald and jade. They were ethereal beings-beings of
power.

"Yes, look at us, sister," Kyrene whispered in an exultant voice. "We

are hags no longer. Now we are women of rank and power-beautiful,
radiant, and strong!"

Grace drew in a shuddering breath. The trees, the vines, the moss. How
dull and dead the rest of her life must have been, for at the moment,
for the first time in her life, Grace felt as if she were indeed alive.

"More," she said. "I want to feel more." She shut her eyes, started to
reach out, farther, deeper.

Her eyes flew open as, like a black curtain, cold descended around her
and shut off the golden warmth. In a heartbeat the fey being was gone,
and she was merely Grace again, naked, bony, and shivering.

Kyrene's gaze upon her was calculating. "I think that is enough for
today, sister. It does not pay to drink too much too soon."

Grace's teeth nearly broke as they clattered against one another. You
enjoyed that, didn't you, Kyrene? Giving me something, then taking it away.

However, Grace said nothing. She shrugged her gown over, her against the
chill and left Kyrene and the garden behind, to step again inside the
castle's walls of lifeless stone. -_-A

411

It was a cold afternoon, two days after he had gone with Grace to look
at the door, when Travis learned about kennings.

"There is always danger in speaking runes," Jemis said. A soft snow fell
outside the tower's narrow window. The doves huddled together for warmth
in the rafters of the drafty tower. Travis and the two runespeakers did
the same around the brazier.

Rin continued. "Even when you whisper a rune's name, if you are not
careful, you might invoke some fraction of its power. That is why we use
kennings to speak about runes."

Travis tightened his grip on his mistcloak. "Kennings?" Rin pointed to a
rune on Travis's tablet. Sindar. Silver. "This is Ysani's Tears." He
pointed to another rune. It was Fal. Mountain. "And this is Durnach's
Bones."

Ysani. Durnach. Travis recognized those names from some of Jemis's
stories about the dawning of Eldh. They were Old Gods, like Olrig
One-Hand. Understanding sparked in his mind. Why not use a code to speak
about runes? That way there was no danger of invoking their power, no
chance of hurting another.

"Tell me more," he said.

Rin did so. Sharp, the rune of water, was Sia's Blood, and Kel, which
was gold, was called Fendir's Bane. According to Jemis, Fendir was the
first of the dark elfs-fairies whose lust for gold twisted them into
small and ugly, but clever and nimble-fingered, creatures.

The following day, Jemis finally let Travis speak a rune. "This is your
first rune," Jemis said. He drew a symbol on his own tablet and showed
it to Travis.

*I already know that one. Travis almost said the words -aloud but bit
his tongue. He carefully copied the three splayed lines onto his own
tablet. It was Krond. Fire.

.Travis sat at a table in the tower's main chamber and ed at an unlit
candle. He licked his lips, then spoke the

412

His right hand tingled, there was a brilliant flash, and the tip of the
candle burst into flame and flared upward. Travis jumped back from the
table.

"Sharp!" Jemis shouted in a commanding voice, and at once the candle was
extinguished.

Travis sucked in a breath. The candle had melted and slumped over, and a
dark ring had been scorched into the surface of the table.

Jemis glared at him, his eyebrows drawn down over his small eyes. "You
do not use a sword to cut a thread, apprentice." He turned in disgust
and disappeared, as he always did when angry, into one of the tower's
upper chambers.

Rin tried to stand the twisted candle back on end. "Why don't we work on
moderation?"

Travis only nodded, and tried not to think of the mad lord in Eredane.

The next morning, Travis opened his eyes and stared into the tempered
dawn light that filled his bedchamber. He no longer needed Falken to
wake him. The bard's steady breath. ing drifted from the other side of
the room: He was still asleep.

Travis had hardly spoken to Falken or Melia since he started his
studies. When he returned to the chamber at night he usually flopped
down on his bed in exhaustion. Besides, the bard and the lady were busy
with the Council of Kings. Sometimes he woke late in the night and heard
the two speaking in low voices by the fire, about the king or queen who
had made a report to the council that day. He never caught more than
fragments.. . the dire wolves coming ffom the Barrens have ... .. . is
the fever, but that it harms only children and .. .. . see shadows in
the forests all around Embarr .. . -and these wove themselves into his
strange dreams. Travis saw even less of Beltan than he did Melia and

Falken, and every time he did, the big knight was walking away from him,
head bowed and eyes on the ground. The blond knight's bleak mood-which
had lifted a bit that first day of the council-had returned, even
stronger than before.

Travis rose from his bed and gasped. The floor was cold.

413

He scrambled into his clothes, threw his mistcloak over his shoulders,
and slipped out the door without a sound.

He had grown to like this hour of the day, when it seemed the entire
castle slept. The moon was just setting over the high wall of the lower
bailey, and its light rimed the battlements like frost. He hurried to

the tower of the Runespeakers. Deeming it too cold to knock and wait for
Rin to come down for him, Travis entered the tower and started up the
stairs to the main chamber above. He halted halfway up the stone flight.
Voices drifted down from above.

"... that we should stop now."

"We can't, Jemis. We have made a vow to him by taking him on as an
apprentice. We can't break that."

. "Yes we can! He is too old, he has no control, he can barely read. He
cannot be taught!"

"But we have to teach him. He's strong, Jemis, you know that. Stronger
than me. Stronger than you. By Olrig, I wonder if he isn't stronger than
All-master Oragien himself."

The only reply to this was a low grunt.

Travis did not wait to hear more. He stumbled back down the steps, out
into the bailey, and breathed in deep gulps of frigid air.

He's strong, Jemis. . . .

No, he didn't want that power. He didn't want any power. "Why, Jack?"
The words were moonlit ghosts on the frosty air. "Why did it have to be me?"

The moon slipped behind the castle wall. The misty words 'went dark and
drifted away, unanswered. After a while he turned around, walked to the
tower, and knocked on the door.

was several more days before Grace found a chance to slip gay again with
Travis to search for other doors with runes i them. Every day that
passed in Calavere the demands on r time seemed to grow. Not that Grace
wasn't used to ing busy. In Denver she had spent nearly all her waking
+urs at the hospital. More than once, after she had worked

414

for thirty-six hours straight, Leon Arlington had had to pry a
stethoscope or a syringe or a scalpel out of her numb fingers and lead
her, stumbling, to the residents' lounge.

"If you can't let yourself go home, then at least let yourself lie down
for a bit," Leon would say, and he would waggle a dusky finger at her
protests. "Now you listen to me, Grace. Sleep a little while now, or
you'll end up sleeping in one of my steel drawers downstairs for a long,
long time. Got that?"

She would nod, and lie on the vinyl sofa, and let Leon throw a spare lab
coat over her, and sometimes she would even close her eyes and drift off
for a while. Yet after no more than an hour, two at the most, she would
be back out there, walking the slick tile floor. Sleep offered no
comfort, not like her work did, not like taking broken people and making
them whole.

Doctor, heal thyself. Leon had told her that once. Except that was
impossible, and Leon Arlington was dead, sleeping that cold, steel-cased
sleep he had always warned her about.

Challenging as they had been, Grace's days in the ED could not have
prepared her for her life in Calavere. Nevei before had she tried to do
so many things, to be so many things, and to be them for so many
people-so many living, whole people. For a while, after the start of the
council, it had seemed King Boreas had forgotten her. She had spoken to
him that day after the first reckoning and not since.

Appearances could be deceiving.

"What news have you for me, my lady?"

Grace was no screamer, but when the king of Calavan leaped out of an
alcove into her path, even she couldn't help letting out a small cry.

Boreas bared his pointed teeth in what wasn't quite a grin. She forced
herself to stop shaking. "Good morrow, Your Majesty," she said.

The king stalked around her, dressed in his customarY black. Muscles
rippled beneath the close-fitting cloth. Grace bit her tongue so hard
she tasted blood. At that moment she hated how powerful he was, how
strong and masculine anlL handsome. How could anyone ever deny this man
anything;'

Damn it, but it's so unfair. Why should men have $®much power? Only that
wasn't true, was it? She remembers,

415

the sharp green scent of the winter garden. There were other kinds of
power besides brute strength.

She squared her shoulders, lifted her head, and gazed into Boreas's keen
blue eyes. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I already told you everything I
learned."

"It isn't enough, my lady." It did not seem a statement of anger or
derision, merely of fact. "I can see for myself how the council decided.
What I need to know now is how I can change that reckoning."

Grace stared at him. Did he really think she had the ability to sway the
minds of kings and queens?

"You are clever, my lady," the king said before she could find her
voice. "I am certain you will discover something that can help me-some
desire or fear of each ruler I can use to my advantage. The council must
decide on a muster. If it does not, then all is lost."

Grace wanted to tell him it was impossible, and that if she had to bring
herself to speak in veiled words and innuendo with one more noble, she
would run screaming into the bailey as a madwoman. Instead she bowed her
head and murmured, "Of course, Your Majesty. I'll do my best."

With only a nod for farewell he turned and vanished down the corridor.
Dizzy, she moved to a narrow window. She threw the shutters open, drew
in several breaths, and let the wintry air clear her head. Below, a
dozen men-at-arms marched through the gate that led to the lower bailey.
The last of the sunlight glinted on the tips of their raised halberds,
crimson as blood.

Grace reached into her pocket and drew out the wooden bull she had found

in the bailey-the symbol of the Cult of Vathris, the warrior mysteries
Boreas followed. She ran a finger over the needle-sword stuck into the
bull's throat.

"Do you know the story of Vathris?" asked a deep voice behind her.

Grace turned in surprise, then despite her troubles she Smiled. "Durge.
It seems so long since I've seen you."

The Embarran's weathered face was somber as always. "I ever here, my lady."

Despite her troubles she smiled.

He gestured to the figurine in her hands. "It is an old story. end tells
how Vathris was the king of a parched and dying

416

i the far south, across the Summer Sea. To save his he went in search of
a magical bull, and when he

the beast he slew it. The bull's blood poured forth in a iver, flooding
the land, and bringing life once more." se words plunged a blade of fear
into Grace's own . She looked up, into the knight's brown eyes. Was ,hat
Boreas wanted? To ride across the Dominions and use a new river of red,
just like his god had thousands of ago? Except Vathris's deed, violent
as it was, had saved nd. She slipped the bull back into her pocket.

on't know what to do, Durge."

knight stroked his drooping mustaches. "What do you

to do, my lady?"

want to know what's really going on, Durge, to know danger is truly
facing the Dominions, and the best way unter it. I want to know so I can
decide what the right to do really is." It was what a doctor would do:
catalog ymptoms, diagnose the illness, then prescribe a cure. e knight
seemed to consider her words. The wind

ugh the window blew his brown hair back from his r. Then he nodded. "I
think it's time you tried a new ic, my lady."

er heart quickened in her chest. She stepped closer to the ;ht. "Tell me."

he next day a story spread through the corridors of avere faster than
either rats or fire, and by midday everyin the castle knew how the
Duchess Grace of Beckett King Boreas had had a terrible falling-out. Of
course, no who was asked had actually seen this unexpected and lling
occurrence, but that didn't prevent the details of argument from being
added with each retelling.

1race, what on Eldh is going on?" Aryn said as she ked inside the door
of Grace's chamber.

race gathered all her powers of persuasion, limited as T were. "It's my
new plan to help Boreas," she said, hopshe sounded more breezy than
breathless.

ryn frowned. "Perhaps the word help has a different fining on this Earth

of yours."

race dropped her pretenses. "Aryn, listen to me, please." moved to the
young baroness. "Before, all the nobles in were wanted to talk to me
because they thought I was

417

King Boreas's ally. They wanted to know who I was, and what advantage I
offered the king, but they would never tell me what their true concerns
or intentions were because they were afraid anything they told me would
be repeated to King Boreas."

A hint of curiosity crept into Aryn's expression. "I'm listening."

Grace went on before it all stopped making sense to her as well. "If
everyone thinks Boreas and I have fallen out, they'll wonder who I'll
ally myself with next. They might even try to convince me to take their
side in the council." She couldn't help laughing at the absurdity of all
this. "Not that I actually have any power to affect the council, but
they don't know that. And if they believe I'm no longer close to Boreas,
they won't be afraid to tell me what they're really thinking."

Before Aryn could answer, Durge stepped forward. The baroness blinked.

"I'm the one to blame for all this, Your Highness," Durge said in his
rumbling voice. "I'm afraid I put this notion into the Lady Grace's
head. If King Boreas comes seeking satisfaction, tell him it is upon my
neck his sword should fall."

"Boreas is furious," Aryn said. "I saw three of his mastiffs running
down the hall with their tails between their legs. And if they had had
tails, his servingmen would have done the same."

"Good," Grace said, trying to sound like she meant it. "If Boreas is
angry, that will only make everyone believe the story all the more. But
you have to tell him the truth, Aryn." Her lips twisted into a wry
expression. "I'm not sure I could get within shouting range of the king
before he gave the order to have my head lopped off."

Aryn said nothing, and Grace's eyes went wide.

"That was a joke, Aryn. You can laugh. I don't actually think Boreas is
going to have me executed."

Aryn gave a tight smile. "I'll go talk to the king," she said. By all of
Aryn's reports Boreas was less than pleased with Grace's scheme, and
with her taking action without consultIng him. However, the damage was
already done, and the ~jzg of Calavan had little choice but to play
along. What was 1ore, over those next few days, Durge's tactic began to

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420

for a time in the shadow of a leafless tree. Irrenbril's ,t fear was not
so much for Embarr as it was for the of his king.

rin so fears death he cannot concern himself with the f others," the
young Embarran whispered to her. "And ay he grows more convinced he is
doomed and that his -ath cannot be avoided."

e understood. For him it was not so much a question re Embarr would turn
for help, but rather if it would >r help at all. So deep was Sorrin's
madness that Irrenared the king would let the Dominion burn down I him.

only encounter that did not fill Grace with her own of foreboding was
that with Kalyn of Galt. Kalyn was ly counselor to Kylar of Galt, she
was his twin sister e younger only by minutes. Rumor told that she ruled
ominion as much as her brother did. This fact was z with derision, but
Grace thought otherwise. It was it Kylar loved and respected his sister.

so sorry to hear about your argument with King BoKalyn said. Her brown
eyes shone in her plain but rting face. "You must let Kylar or me know
if you anything, anything at all-a place to stay, or a horse :tendants
for a journey back to your home."

ce hardly knew what to say. She could only grasp 's hand in thanks. Galt
was the smallest of the Dominnd the most precarious. Surely, of all the
kings, Kylar e most cause to be afraid. Yet here was Kalyn, not for help
but offering it. Maybe there was hope for this yet.

one counselor Grace hoped she would see was the one id not seek her out.
Not that she was surprised. Logren r too intelligent to be enticed by a
ruse such as she had d with Durge's help. He had probably seen through
the about her argument with Boreas the moment he heard ice could not
hope to manipulate Logren of Eredaneit was best not to think of Logren.
She could only its wisdom would be enough to keep him from getting d in
Kyrene's web.

t the countess of Selesia was indeed weaving some.

421

thing there could be no doubt. What it was Grace had no idea, but Kyrene
was obviously pleased when she heard the tale of Grace's falling-out
with Boreas.

"I'm so glad you've seen the light, love," Kyrene crooned when they met
in the garden for one of Grace's lessons. "King Boreas may need you, but
you do not need him. You have power he can't possibly imagine."

And you're a fool if you can't see through my act, Kyrene. or if you
think Boreas is just a buffoon you can manipulate. But wasn't that what
Grace herself was trying to do? She

and Aryn had continued to hide their lessons with Kyrene and Tressa from
the king. What would Boreas think of them if he knew what they were
doing behind his back? However, Grace knew she could not possibly turn
away from the Witches now.

Besides, the one ruler who had the power to change the reckoning of the
council in an instant was Ivalaine. Grace knew she had to be
careful-questions she thought subtle would be as obvious as trumpet
fanfares to one like Ivalaine-but a few times she tried to divine
something of the queen of Toloria's motives in abstaining at the
council. More importantly, did Ivalaine act for reasons as a queen-or as
a Witch? However, Grace saw Ivalaine seldom-Kyrene was her teacher
now-and when she did, she never seemed able to break through the queen's
cool exterior.

By the time Grace was able to meet Travis again, to search for more
doors with symbols on them, she was more than ready for a break. His
gray eyes were surprised behind his spectacles when he opened the door
of his chamber.

., "Sorry I'm late," she said.

"It's been almost a week, Grace."

She grimaced. "Sorry I'm really late?"

He laughed then, and she knew it was all right, knew he .Wasn't angry
with her for not coming sooner. It was still so hard for her to tell
what others were really thinking, but she Was getting better, and she
could not have mistaken the genliine sound of that laugh.

As they wandered the castle, Travis spoke of his studies th the
Runespeakers. Grace listened with interest-so she n't the only one who
had discovered a new talent in this ld-although she did not speak of her
own secret studies.

422

"This way," she said and turned down a side passage. They spent the
entire afternoon scouring the castle. After

several hours her feet ached despite her soft deerskin boots, and her
neck had a crick in it from peering at so many doors' Travis had started
to get cranky-Grace knew a hungerinduced mood swing when she saw one. It
was time to call it a day.

They turned around, to head back the way they had come, and in so doing
found themselves facing a small door set into an alcove. Had they gone
on ahead they never would have seen it. Whether it was curiosity or
instinct that drew them, Grace didn't know, but they both approached the
door. She saw it at once, scratched into wood: the rune of the Raven,
with two crossed lines drawn beneath. Grace and Travis locked eyes, and
a jolt of energy passed between them. Dis. covery.

Like the other, this door was not locked, and they stepped through.
Grace clasped her arms to her chest. The room was freezing and obviously

had not been used in years. The slit of a window was unglazed, and the
only furnishing was a bed that looked like it would collapse if someone
tossed a feather pillow onto it. There was a hole in one wall, and the
remains of a dumbwaiter inside dangling from a frayed rope. So this had
been a servant's room. Had it fallen into disuse for. a . reason? Or had
it simply been forgotten? Calavere was large enough that rooms were
probably lost and found on a regular basis.

After several minutes of searching, their hands were numb, and they had
discovered nothing of interest. Grace and Travis hurried back into the
corridor and shut the door.

"You're a doctor," Travis said. "Is it possible for fingers to. freeze
so hard they break off?"

"It would take something as cold as liquid nitrogen," Grace said through
chattering teeth.

"I think that room came close."

Grace glanced again at the door, and she wasn't certain it was only the
temperature of the room that had left her so, cold. Travis had said
there could be more rooms marked bY. the rune of the Raven, and now they
knew it was so. what did it mean? Like the other room, this one held
answers.

423

"I wonder if the servants have started a fire in my chamber," Grace said
as they started moving. Belatedly she winced. Would Travis think her
imperious for expecting the servants to fulfill her needs? However, he
did not seem offended.

"Our chamber isn't far," Travis said. "And Melia always keeps a fire
going. Her kitten likes to lie in front of it." Grace frowned. "Now if
she could just learn to treat people as well as she does cats."

Travis did not meet her gaze. "Come on," he said. "It's not far."

Grace sighed and gazed at his back. Why was it she could use a scalpel
to heal, but her words always seemed to cut new wounds? It was as much a
mystery to her as the rooms that had been marked. She gathered up the
hem of her heavy gown and followed after Travis.

Travis looked up from his wax tablet and let out a groan. It felt like a
hundred of those dark elfs Falken was always telling stories about were
banging their little dwarfin hammers all up and down his neck.

He gazed out a window and forced his eyes to focus on distant objects:
the square top of one of the castle's guard towers, a man-at-arms
standing on a crenellated parapet, a pennant snapping against a fiery
sky. It was sunset already, ;and he still hadn't finished copying the
list of runes Jemis dad given him that morning. But you have to learn
this, `1Yavis. You have to, no matter how hard it is.

' He brushed one of the runes on the tablet. Krond. Fire. No, *ever
again. He gripped the stylus and bent back over the aablet.

"Travis?" He glanced up to see Rin's head pop through the trapdoor the
wooden floor. The young runespeaker climbed the rest the way up the

ladder. The hem of his gray robe was eked with mud. He must have been
out and about that

424

"What are you still doing here?" Rin said.

Travis held up the list of runes for answer. Rin let out laugh and shook
his head.

"I think Jemis must have drunk some sour beer for brea fast. That list
is as long as a dragon's tail."

"I'm almost done." "Can I see?"

Rin held out a hand. His fingers were short and thic

Travis knew Rin had been a peasant's son in southern Calavan before he
was called to the Gray Tower. However, the runes Rin drew on his own wax
tablet were light and graceful, and put Travis's crude scrawls to shame.

Rin took the tablet from Travis, a smile on his lips. He was halfway
through when the smile faded, although he kept reading to the end. Rin
looked up from the tablet. "You're a mirror reader, Travis." It wasn't a
question.

The dwarfin hammers turned to elfin swords. He had tried to be careful.
But there had been so many runes today, and he had gotten tired.

Travis licked his lips. "Does Jemis know?"

"No, not for certain. I've been the one checking your tablets. He
suspects it, but that's all."

Travis gripped the stylus he had used to draw the runes. "Falken says
people with . . . people who are mirror readers are turned away from the
Gray Tower, that it's too dangerous to teach them to be runespeakers."

"It's true they are turned away."

A stone wedged itself in Travis's throat, and he tried to swallow it,
but it didn't budge. He gathered up his cloak. "I'll be leaving then.
Good-bye, Rin. Thank you." He started toward the ladder.

"Wax melts, you know."

Travis halted and stared back at Rin.

Rin brushed the tablet with a hand. "I don't think we'll show this slate
to Jemis. No, I think I'll tell him I left it too close to the fire
before I had a chance to read it, and that the wax melted."

Travis gaped at the runespeaker. Rin was giving him another chance. What
had he done to deserve such a gift? didn't know, but maybe the greatest
gifts were the ones had done nothing to earn, and maybe the only thing to

425

when faced with such a blessing was to accept it. He found his tongue.

"I'll be more careful from now on, Rin. I promise."

Rin smiled. "I know you will, Travis. Now go get some rest. I'm sure
Jemis will have another list for you tomorrow.

Travis flashed a grin at the runespeaker, then he was down the ladder
and out the tower's door.

He nodded to a man-at-arms-by now they were used to his late comings
from the tower of the Runespeakers-and ducked inside the main keep.
Compared to the clear night, the air inside the castle was hazy with
smoke. He was grateful for the heat, though he still hadn't quite gotten
used to the stench. It hit him every time he entered the castle: a
mixture of smoke, rot, urine, and burnt grease.

Breathing through his mouth-it helped him get accustomed to the
smells-Travis made his way through the castle's twists and turns, back
to the chamber he shared with Falken and Melia. He was nearly there when
he rounded a corner and collided with a bundle of rags.

"Hey there!" the rags said in a raspy voice. "You have two eyes, lad!
Don't you know how to use them? Or are you just dim?"

Travis stumbled back, grabbed for his spectacles, and tried to sort out
the image in front of him. The bundle of grimy rags picked itself off
the floor. It seemed a rather unraglike action. What was more, the
bundle had spoken to him, which meant it wasn't a bundle of rags at all,
but a person. He couldn't see a face-a larger rag that might once have
been a shawl hid the other's head-but he noticed a few wisps of long
gray hair, and the voice, although hoarse, had sounded feminine. A woman
then. But what sort of woman? It couldn't be a peasant, not at this hour
in the main keep. And it was certainly no noble lady. A servingwoman then.

"Well you're a fine lot of help," the bundle-that was, the
servingwoman-said.

Travis realized he had been staring while she gained her cet. He leaped
forward to help, but a gnarled hand batted

"I'

back in annoyance. m so sorry," he said.

Jell doesn't that ease these old bones."

426

He winced, then tried again. "Can I help you?"

"Help me?" A cackle emanated from deep inside the rags. "Help me? It's
not I who needs help, lad. I can see exactly where I'm going." A bony
finger thrust out of the rags toward his chest. "What about you?"

Travis shook his head. He wasn't sure what one was sup. posed to say to
mad old women.

"Bah!" The servingwoman waved her hand at him. "I{ you're not going to
answer, then get out of my way." She pushed past Travis and hobbled away
down the corridor.

Something caught the corner of his eye. On the floor was a small bundle
of tattered cloth. The old servingwoman must have dropped it, like a
miniature version of herself. Travis bent down and picked it up.

"Hey, you forgot this!" But the servingwoman was already out of sight.
Travis glanced down the corridor that led to his chamber, then glanced
at the bundle in his hands. He groaned in annoyance, then trotted down
the corridor after the old woman.

There was no sign of her when he rounded the corner. However, she
couldn't be far. He broke into a jog, and when he rounded another turn
he saw a glimmer of dull gray disappear through an archway.

"Hey there!" He broke into a run and dashed through the opening. Again
he caught sight of her, now heading up a stairwell. "Wait! You dropped
something!"

She did not stop, and by the time he reached the bottom of the stairs he
had lost sight of her again. Travis drew in a deep breath and bounded up
the steps.

Three more times he caught a distant glimpse of grimy rags vanishing
around a corner or through a doorway, but she did not answer his shouts,
and no matter how hard he ran he could not seem to catch up to her.
Despite her hobbling, the old woman moved with. uncanny speed.

Travis leaned against a wall. Whoever the old servingwoman was she
certainly didn't want to be caught. He shoved the bundle into the pocket
of his tunic and glanced around. The passage he stood in was utterly
unfamiliar. He had the sense that he was somewhere deep below the
castle-the weight of stone seemed to press upon the air in this
place-but that was all.

427

"Good going, Travis. Now you're lost." However, there was nothing to do
but start walking, and to hope he got back to familiar territory before
dawn. He started back the way he had come.

"I'm sorry, Father," a voice whispered.

Travis halted at the sound, then turned around, but there was no one
there. His eyes flickered to a nearby archway, and he understood. The
voice had drifted through the opening, carried into the corridor .by
some trick of echoes and .curved stone. A statue stood on either side of
the archway, two warriors-both fierce and noble, hands resting on swords
of stone. Their pale eyes watched Travis, not forbidding him to pass,
but warning him all the same: Go not lightly here. Light flickered
beyond the opening.

"I've looked all these years, in all the Dominions and beyond, but still
I failed you."

Travis gripped the side of the arch to keep from reeling. It was not
just the despair in the voice that struck him, but the fact that he
recognized it.

He gathered his will, stepped through the arch, and found himself at the
end of a long chamber. Columns marched down either side, carved like
trees. In the alcove between -each column was a marble slab, and upon

each slab lay a ;figure, arms folded upon the breast, a pale circlet
upon the -brow. The hair on Travis's arms lifted at the touch of an
"unseen draft.

It was a tomb. A tomb of kings.

The flickering light came from a single candle at the far end of the
chamber. The man stood at the foot of one of the marble biers, weeping.

Travis licked his lips, then softly called out the word. "Beltan?"

The sound echoed in the stillness of the tomb. Travis could feel the
stone eyes of the two statues on his back. Only that was impossible,
wasn't it?

The big knight looked up at the sound, gripped the hilt of his sword,
and peered into the gloom. "Who's there?"

"It's me, Beltan."

The knight's hand slipped from the blade, and he shook -his head.
"Travis? Travis Wilder?"

Travis could only nod.

428

tion. He started to reach out, then snatched his hand

428 MARK ANTHONY

Beltan wiped the tears from his face. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm not ... I'm not really ..."

It was wrong to speak across the vast length of the tomb. Travis
swallowed hard, tried to ignore the prickling on his back, and started
toward the knight. He passed the first pair of biers, and he sucked in a
breath. They were so pale, so still, he had thought them carved of
marble like the biers they rested upon. Only that was not so.

They were shaped of flesh, not stone. Here in this tomb were all the
past kings of Calavan. Yet Travis guessed each king looked now just as
he had on the day he was laid here. Even in the dim light hair still
glinted yellow, or brown, or silver, and their lips were tinged the
color of roses. Nor had their garb decayed over the centuries. Swords
rested in their folded hands, and gleamed as if they had been just polished.

Travis forced himself to walk onward, past the rows of sleeping kings.
The first rulers wore capes of fur, thick copper torcs, and arm rings.
Those that came after had finer garb: cloaks woven of wool, jewelry of
gold and silver. He was nearly halfway when he came upon the first of
the queens. She was beautiful, proud even in death, and gripped a sword
in her hands just as the kings did. He passed more kings, and several
queens, until he reached those whose garb did not look so different from
what Boreas or Alerain or Grace wore. Then he stepped across a boundary
of shadow and light, into the circle of the candle's glow.

The last king in the line was a big man. In life he would have been both
tall and massive. Even in the candlelight Travis could see the

resemblance: the sharp line of the jaw, the hawkish nose, the high
forehead, the broad shoulders. His hair was dark, like his brother's,
but he was not so handsome as King Boreas, and he was clearly older, his
face lined and careworn, his beard flecked with gray.

A rune was etched into the stone at the foot of the bier King Beldreas
rested upon. Travis recognized it from his studies with Rin and Jemis.
It was Sethen, the rune of perfecback. Before he even touched the rune
his right hand tingled. S6 that was how the bodies of the ancient kings
and queens had been preserved. The rune Sethen was bound into the stone of

429

each bier. Under its ward steel would never rust, flesh would never decay.

After Beldreas, the biers continued into the shadows, empty. There must
have been fifty in all, of which perhaps twenty were occupied. Travis
wondered what would happen when the last bier was taken.

"They say when the last king is laid to rest on the last bier, Calavan
will come to an end," Beltan said, as if he had read Travis's thoughts.
"And all the Dominions will end with it. At least that's how the story
goes."

Travis shivered, then let his eyes fall on the lifeless form of
Beldreas. "Your father looks like he was a strong king." Beltan nodded.
"He was-the strongest king Calavan had

seen in a century. Before him, the robber barons had been striking
closer and closer to Calavere. In his reign Beldreas drove them to the
marches of the Dominion, then crushed them one by one. Calavan won't see
his like again soon."

Travis looked up. He knew he shouldn't say it, but he couldn't help
himself. "You would have been a strong king, too, Beltan."

The knight pressed his eyes shut, then opened them. "I? A f

Strong king?" He shook his head. "No, Travis. I could never be like
Beldreas. I couldn't even keep the vow I made to him, to find his murderer."

"But you tried, Beltan. You have to forgive yourself." The knight met
Travis's eyes. "I can't do that."

Travis wanted to protest, wanted to tell Beltan he was wrong, that he
had to forgive himself for what he couldn't Change. Instead he nodded.
"I know. I broke a promise once, too."

Will you be here when I wake up? I promise.

Cross your heart?

Cross my heart and hope to die.

Beltan's expression turned into a question, but Travis only Aoked down
at the dead king. Beltan did the same. The canburned low.

We should go," Beltan said. "Melia will be looking for "

Travis moved away from the bier, then halted, reached

430

out, and gripped the knight's arm. "You are strong, Beltan. You're the
strongest man I've ever met."

The knight stared in surprise. Then, impossibly, he smiled, and in that
moment Beltan was more noble, and more fair, than any of the sleeping kings.

"I don't know how you knew to find me here, Travis, but I'm glad you did."

Travis grinned in reply. The knight blew out the candle, and together
they left the silent tomb.

80.

Grace shut the door of her chamber, leaned against the expanse of wood,
and let out a breath that was half relief and all exasperation.

"No more nobles," she said to the empty room. "No more nobles, no more
nobles, no more nobles."

She heaved herself from the door, farther into her room. Strange, but
not so long ago this chamber had seemed like a prison. Now it was a
haven she all too rarely had the chance to enjoy. A glint of purple
glass on the sideboard caught hei eye. She aimed herself toward it.
Wine. Yes, some wine would be good. She filled a pewter cup and flopped
in the chair by the fire.

The sky was on fire outside the window. The Council of Kings had lasted
the entire day again. After that initial session of the council, Grace
had thought her attendance was no longer required. She had slipped into
the council chamber for an hour here and there, to listen to the various
rulers make their reports, but especially after her fictional
altercation with King Boreas it seemed best to stay removed from the
council and to let the other nobles seek her out. It seemed more
mysterious that way.

All that had changed three days ago, when Boreas barged into her
chamber. Grace had hastily thrown a kerchief over a mortar and pestle on
the sideboard. She had been in the act of grinding dried herbs,
following Kyrene's instructions to< make a kind of medicinal tea. A
simple, the green-eye4j countess had called it, one to calm a nervous
spirit in srn

431

amounts. Or, in stronger doses, to induce a trance, and to make the
subject malleable and prone to suggestion.

The dusty-sweet scent of herbs had drifted on the air, and Grace had
thought Boreas would surely notice, but he had not. He must have just
come back from hunting along the eaves of Gloaming Wood, because he wore
only breeches of black leather, tight around his lean hips, and a white
shirt unlaced to reveal a wedge of hard chest. A metallic scent had
drifted from him. Grace knew it well: blood.

Without preamble Boreas had backed her into a corner, as if she were his
latest quarry. For some reason she had wondered if he would try to kiss
her, and if she would try to resist if he did.

"Alerain and I are to begin making our presentation to the council
tomorrow," the king had said. "You will attend, Lady Grace, and listen
for me, to hear what others say about Calavan while Alerain and I are
speaking."

She had glanced past his heavy shoulder at the covered mortar. How hard
would it have been to offer Boreas wine, to slip a few of the herbs into
it as she did? No, despite Kyrene's ;lessons, she was no huntress. She
had forced herself to meet Boreas's gaze and had acquiesced.

Luckily, Boreas's task for her had been easier than she thought. Still
believing her at odds with the king of Calavan, a veritable parade of
nobles had occupied the stone bench beside her at the council and had
whispered in her ear.

Boreas was a warmonger, they said. Or Boreas was the only hope for the
Dominions. Or Boreas was mad and trying to destroy them all. Eredane
would never go with Calavan. No, Eredane was only holding out for
concessions from Calavan and would switch its reckoning at the last
moment. `Irven Perridon was about to defect from Boreas's camp. On ,the

`the contrary, Perridon was the most loyal to Calavan and almost
convinced Embarr to go with it, only King Sorrin "'was daft, and danced
in his chamber at night, naked and Molding a sword, working terrible
magics of blood and fire to e the wasting disease that consumed him.

[Before ;Before long the whispers had filled Grace's mind and tand
together like a seething knot of gray serpents.

Eminda held a secret love for Boreas. No, Boreas cared for women, was
glad Queen Narena was dead, and

432

spent his nights buggering young men-at-arms in his chamber. What was
more, Boreas had killed his own brother Beldreas to gain the throne of
Calavan, and now Boreas's bastard son Beltan was going to do the same.
And had Grace heard how Boreas's legitimate son, Teravian-who was being
fostered at court in Toloria-was the reason for Queen Ivalaine's
abstentions? Yes, everyone knew how the queen of Toloria had seduced
him, although he was only fifteen winters old, and planned to defeat
Boreas at the council and place Teravian as her puppet on the throne of
Calavan.

A knock on the door jarred Grace from her thoughts, and she nearly
spilled wine on herself. "Come in," she said as she stood, then she
smiled at one of the few nobles she was always glad to encounter.

"Grace, it's so good to see you," Aryn said.

Grace studied her friend. The baroness looked older somehow, more
mature. Aryn was wearing an indigo gown Grace had never seen before. The
bodice was fitted tight to her slender waist and cut revealingly low. A
small cape of white rabbit fur draped her right shoulder, as if cast on
casually and not to hide the withered limb beneath.

"I had a feeling you'd be here," Aryn said.

Grace raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Is Tressa teaching you something you

haven't told me about?"

Roses bloomed on Aryn's snowy cheeks. "That's not what I meant, Grace.
It was just a feeling, that's all."

Grace gazed down at her hands, at her own fingers coiled around the cup,
long and slender. "I'm beginning to think there's no such thing as just
a feeling."

Aryn cast a nervous glance at the door, then pressed it shut. She turned
back around, her blue eyes wide and earnest, nineteen years old again.

"I'm beginning to think the same thing, Grace. Or maybe I don't know
what to think."

They sat on the window bench in the failing light.

"I'm not sure I can stand this, Grace. Tressa tells me to do things, but
she never tells me why. It's maddening. But I do them, because I want to
know, because I have to know, and sometimes . . . sometimes . . ."

Grace made a slow nod. "Sometimes you do understand."

433

Aryn met Grace's eyes, then gripped her hand. "What are we doing, Grace?"

Grace gazed out the window at the castle below in all its sprawling,
muddy grandeur. "I don't know, Aryn. But I'm not sure I can stop now
that I've started. The things Kyrene has shown me, about the Touch and
the Weirding. It makes me feel . . . it makes me feel so ..."

What, Grace? What does it make you feel? Powerful? Sensual? Alive? It
was all these things, but more. She couldn't find the word, but a
squeeze on her hand let her know Aryn understood.

Grace turned her gaze back to the young baroness. "I think we should
tell Boreas what we're doing."

Aryn snatched her hand back, her face an oval of terror. '"Grace! Please
tell me you're making a jest. Boreas will have us drawn and quartered if
he finds out. He's a disciple of Vathris. You know how he feels about
the Witches."

Grace let out a troubled breath and nodded. Aryn was right, of course.

Now Aryn's alarm turned to concern. "What is it, Grace?" "I'm not sure,
Aryn. It's just that I'm supposed to be King Boreas's spy at the
council. Only now we've started studying with Queen Ivalaine. I know she
has some agenda at the council. But I can't even get close to finding
out what it is."

The words came faster as Grace's mind raced, piecing together all the
clues and innuendoes she had gathered in her observations of the Council
of Kings.

"And I don't think Ivalaine is acting only as queen of -Toloria. I think
she's here at this council as a Witch as well. I know it. The Witches
are up to something, Aryn. Kyrene keeps dropping those smug little hints
of hers." Her lips twisted in a wry smile. "Yes, I know you have to take

everything Kyrene says with a grain of salt, but it's still clear
something is going on at this council, something deeper than what's on
the surface. And the Witches are part of it." "Watching," Aryn said.

Grace cocked her head.

"Ivalaine is always watching. I see her during the council. kIt's like
she's watching for something, and waiting."

"For what?"

434

However, if they had known the answer to that, they would not have been
in this predicament.

Aryn glanced at the window, then gasped and leaped to her feet. "I'm
late, Grace. Tressa will be waiting for me if I don't hurry."

"Go," Grace said. She rose and guided her friend to the door.

"What about you?"

"Kyrene said she couldn't meet with me tonight. No, it's all right. She
gave me some herbs to work with, for making some simples, and I need the
practice."

Aryn gave her one last grateful look, then was out the door and running
down the corridor. Grace watched her go, then shut the door, alone in
her room once more.

She moved to the sideboard, lit a candle to warm the blue light of
evening, then looked at the cloth bundles that contained the herbs she
had picked in the garden. She tried to recall the recipe Kyrene had
recited to her. Take five leaves of redcrown, three leaves of hound's
vetch, and a strip of dried willow bark as long as your finger... .

Grace frowned. Or was that three leaves of redcrown and five leaves of
hound's vetch?

With a sigh she set the bundles down. She knew she should practice. So
far all her simples tasted like dirt when she sampled them, and the only
magical effect they had was to make her use the chamber pot with greatly
increased frequency and percussion. However, the council had exhausted
her. She was too tired for spells and simples.

She glanced out the darkened window and thought of the garden. She
longed to feel that life again, that energy, to let it fill her
emptiness. However, the sun had set, soon it would be too cold and dark
to venture outside the keep, and there was nothing living in this room.

But who says you can only feel living things, Grace?

A shiver coursed down her spine. The thought hardly seemed her own,
although she knew it was. Yet it was a foolish notion. Inanimate objects
weren't alive, they couldn't possibly have energy like the growing
things in the garden.

Except you know that isn't true, Grace. A scalpel can have a life of its
own. And a knife.

435

She crouched and slipped her hands to the knife tucked into her deerskin
boot. Her fingers brushed the smooth hilt .. .

.. then pulled back. There was another knife she could touch, one that
held greater mysteries. She rose, moved to

the chair by the fire, and dug under the cushion where she had hidden
it. With trembling fingers she unwrapped the cloth until it lay exposed
in her hands.

"This is crazy, Grace."

Even as she spoke she sat in the chair and rested the knife on her lap.
It looked like a black serpent against the violet fabric of her gown,
sleek and dangerous. In the garden she had sensed so much about the
things she had reached out to with the Touch. What might she learn from
this? About the hand that had carved the door with it?

Grace gazed at the knife and remembered Kyrene's words. She took a deep
breath. Then she reached out with her mind-and touched the knife.

Cold. It was so cold. She couldn't breathe, couldn't feel anything. Only
an icy wind streaming through the very essence of her being. This is
what it must feel like to be dead. Then she opened her eyes.

The castle receded in the distance, fading in the blue halflight. Snowy
fields and stone walls slipped beneath her. She flew through the frigid
twilight, over the wintry landscape of -Calavan. Tracks and bridle paths
twined and untwined below. Villages appeared and vanished in an eye
blink. More fields sped by, then a great swath of black flashed beneath
her. She saw an arch of stone. By the time she realized it was the
bridge over the River Darkwine it was gone.

Now the snow-dusted fields beneath her were barren, undivided by stone
walls. They glowed in the last light of day and the first light of
stars. She half expected to see her own shadow flickering across the
hills and vales below, but she did not, and how could she? Grace knew,
even at that moment, she sat in the chair by the fire in her chamber in
Calavere.

Where am I going?

The thought was dull with the chill, and even as it ocUrred to her a
tangled wall rose up from the fields. The

436

edges of Gloaming Wood. The forest absorbed the lingering light,
captured it in the net of its leafless branches, and refused to release
it again. Was she being taken into the woods?

No, the ground rose up to meet her. She was sinking. Or something was
drawing her down. She floated over a snowy hill, into a dell, and she
saw it.

They stood in a circle, as if frozen in the midst of a thunderous dance.
Nine standing stones. Each was twice the height of a man, and all were

worn and pitted with time. They thrust up from the ground, black and
sharp against the sky. That they were ancient Grace had no doubt.
Perhaps not as ancient as the forest. But then perhaps they were. Did
even the stones themselves remember who had placed them here?

She drifted closer to the megaliths. A tingling shimmered through her,
along with the cold. Something was going to happen. Something important.
Grace floated between two of the standing stones, and at once she knew
this was what she had been drawn here to see.

There were two of them in the center of the circle. She could tell they
were both men from their riding gear: leather breeches, woolen tunics,
thick cloaks. One of them, the shorter of the two, stood with his back
to her, so she could not see his face. The other faced in her direction,
but the hood of his riding cloak was pulled forward and cast his visage
into shadow. Behind them, on the edge of the circle, were two horses,
their reins tied to thornbushes that had sprung up around the base of
one of the standing stones. A crescent moon-sharp, pale, and curved as a
knife itself sank toward the still-glowing horizon.

"You're late," the tall man said.

Had she had the ability, Grace would have gasped. It seemed he was
speaking to her. No, the other took a step forward, his boots crunching
through the crust of the snow. It was to him the man in the hood had spoken.

"I came as soon as I could," the shorter man said. "You know it's not
easy for me to get away from the castle." "That's your concern, not
mine," the hooded man said.

His words were low and gruff.

437

He's disguising his voice. He doesn't want the other man to know who he is.

"Well, I'm here now," the bareheaded man said. His own voice was muffled
by his turned back and the moan of the wind through the standing stones.

,,Is everything in place?" ,,it will be."

"What do you mean it will be?" The hooded man took a step forward. His
voice could not disguise his anger. "All was to be ready this night.
That was what we agreed upon."

"I've been leaving signs for my associates, but it's hard to find time
when I'm alone. And there are prying eyes about the castle. I've done
the best I can."

"Then your best is not good enough. Another reckoning of the council
could come at any time. It is imperative it go our way.

Grace strained to move closer, but she could not. The wind seemed to
hold her back. Or perhaps it was some power of the massive stones.

"And it will go our way," the shorter man said. "Soon six rulers will
sit at the council table, not seven. Which of them will be missing we
won't know until our moment comes. Regardless, there will be no more
deadlock." He put his hands on his hips, confident. "So do not worry
yourself."

"You knave!" the hooded one hissed. "How dare you tell me what I should
or shouldn't do?"

It happened in an instant, so quickly Grace barely saw it. A dagger
appeared in the tall man's hand, spirited from the folds of his cloak.
The blade flashed in the moonlight, the shorter man stumbled back, and
the horses let out a whicker Of fear. Now blood spattered the ground:
bright winter bernes scattered on the snow.

The bareheaded man clutched his side. Crimson welled 'forth between his
fingers. "You . . . you stabbed me." His words were no longer confident
but quavering.

"Only a sting to remind you who your master is," the IT.-he man said.
""I promise you, the next time you act so ld before me the bite will be
much deeper. And believe at I know where to place the knife. Now get
yourself back the castle, and see to it you finish what we've started."
The shorter man made a shallow bow, still clutching his

438

id. As he did this, the other's hooded visage rose and i past
himlirectly at Grace. He cocked his head, almost as if he something on
the frosty air.

old and panic were one. Grace tried to claw at the air, but ould not
grasp it, could not move. No, it was impossiHe couldn't possibly see her.

ie hooded man took a step forward.

mewhere far away numb hands let something fall, then e herself was
falling. All of it vanished in an instantmen, the standing stones, the
crescent moon-replaced

i vast well of darkness into which she tumbled. Down fell, toward a lake
of darkness from which she knew she Lid never emerge... .

Lady Grace!"

race's eyes snapped open, and she drew in the shuddering of a drowning
victim shocked back to life. Ivalaine Ad above her, her face hard and
impassive. Tressa knelt ide the chair in which Grace sat, her brown eyes
warm h concern. Aryn hovered behind the two women, her face ;ar-streaked
mixture of fear and relief.

'ressa clucked her tongue as she rubbed Grace's hands. )ur skin is like
ice, child."

t was hard to speak, but somehow Grace forced the words :. "What ...
what happened?"

shadow touched Ivalaine's brow. "You were almost lost, ter. Three times
I called to you. Had you not come back s last time, you never would have
come back at all. You lucky Lady Aryn and Lady Tressa came looking for
you, invite you into their studies in light of Lady Kyrene's ,ence."

=race shivered, and feeling coursed back into her limbs, and tingling.
"I don't understand," she said through clat ing teeth.

valaine lifted something in her hands: a knife with a black L. Grace
clenched her jaw.

valaine's face was carved from stone. "Do not again atipt things Kyrene
has not taught you, Lady Grace."

To more words were needed. Grace gave a jerky nod. 'Come, Tressa."
Ivalaine set the knife on the sideboard

439

The red-haired woman cast one last concerned look at Grace, then rose.

"See to the Lady Grace, sister," Ivalaine said to Aryn. "You are
finished with your studies for today. I think you have both learned
enough this evening."

The queen of Toloria turned and left the chamber, Tressa behind her. As
soon as the door shut, Aryn was on her knees beside the chair. She
rubbed Grace's hands.

"You're cold as snow! What happened to you, Grace? When we found you,
you seemed so far away."

Grace opened her mouth, but words were beyond her, now. All she could do
was shiver and hope the fire would thaw her before it burned her alive.

81.

Travis set down his tablet and unclenched his fingers from the stylus.
The doves were roosting for the night in the rafters high above. It was
time to go.

He left the tablet where Rin would find it-things had been going better
since his conversation with the young runespeaker-then headed downstairs
and opened the tower's door.

"Oh!" he said at the same time she did.

She had been in the act of lifting her hand to rap on the door as he
opened it. Grace.

She recovered her composure. "Travis, I have to talk to You.,,

He only nodded, too surprised for words.

She clutched her arms over her chest. "Can I come in?" "I'm sorry. Of
course, please."

Grace hurried in, and he shut out the wintry blast. She pushed back the
fur-lined hood of her cape. Her face was pale with the cold, but her
eyes, as they always did, glowed like a summer forest.

"Can we speak here, Travis?" She glanced at the wooden ceiling above.

Travis frowned. "It's only Rin and Jemis up there. And

440

they couldn't hear us anyway. They're all the way up in the attic chamber."

Grace took a step forward. "Good, because I don't want anyone else to
hear this."

By the time she finished her story Travis's face was as white as her own.

He drew in a breath. "I think we need help, Grace." She nodded. "Do you
mean Melia and Falken?"

Travis thought about this, then shook his head. "No, let's not bring
them into it, at least not yet. They're both too busy with the council.
Let's see what we find out, then we can tell them if we learn anything
more."

"Who are you thinking of, then?"

Travis scratched his red-brown beard. He really should get around to
shaving it. "They say the way to fight fire is with fire, Grace. If
there's a conspiracy in the castle, then maybe we need to start a
conspiracy of our own."

"What do you mean?"

He grinned at her. "Come on. I'll tell you as we go."

It was just after sunset when they met in Grace's chamber. Twilight had
coiled its purple cloak about the castle, and outside the window the
moon glowed in the sky. Even at just a quarter it was far larger and
more brilliant than the moon of Earth. Would Travis ever see that
smaller, more distant satellite again?

"What's going on, Grace?" Aryn said.

The young baroness stood near the window. She held a cup of wine in her
left hand but did not drink from it.-Her eyes flickered toward Travis,
and it was clear her question could as easily have been, What's he doing
here, Grace?

Travis clutched his own cup of wine. Stop it. She's only wondering what
this is about, that's all. You're not a servingman in this world any
more than Grace is a duchess.

Maybe if you quit acting the part, people would stop thinking you're one.

"Something has gone wrong, of course," the knight Durge said. He sounded
almost pleased. "Lady Grace would not summon us here with such urgency
if that were not the. case."

Grace took a step forward. "Aryn, Durge, you both remember Travis Wilder."

441

Aryn gave a polite but shallow nod. Durge made a bow. "Goodman Travis,"
the knight said in his solemn baritone.

Grace licked her lips. "I've learned something. Something about the
Council of Kings."

A frown alighted on Aryn's brow. "Do you really think we should discuss
this in front of Lady Melia's man?"

Travis winced.

Grace drew in a breath, then blurted the words out all at once. "He's
from Earth, Aryn. From the same place I am." The baroness's blue eyes
grew large. She stumbled back

and might have spilled her wine, but Durge was there to steady her with
a sure hand. The knight glanced at Aryn, then at Grace and Travis in
turn. His somber face was thoughtful.

"I don't know what to think of this Earth you speak of," he said. "But
if Goodman Travis is one of your kinsmen, Lady Grace, then he is welcome
here."

Grace shook her head. "No, Durge, you don't. understand, it's more than
that. Much more...."

Soon the knight's deep-set eyes were nearly as round as Aryn's, but he
did not interrupt Grace. When she finished he stroked his drooping
mustaches.

"Of course," he said in a soft voice. "I always knew it was so. There
were no footprints in the snow in the hollow where I found you, in
Gloaming Wood. Ever did I say it was as if you had drifted from the sky,
and I had wondered if perhaps you had come from the realm of the fairy
folk. So it is from a different world you hail. But I was not so far
from right, was I?"

"No, Durge, you weren't." Grace's voice was hoarse, and her eyes shone.

The knight was still for a moment, then stepped forward, knelt before
her, and bowed his head. "Do not trouble yourself, my lady. I have
pledged my sword to you, and an EmbarTan's word is stronger than steel,
more enduring than stone. It does not matter what world you are from."

Now Grace laughed. She touched Durge's stooped but strong shoulder.

"Rise, Sir Durge. Oh, please rise."

He did, and she caught his hands in hers, and his eyes

442

went wide all over again. Aryn ran toward Grace and threw her left arm
around the taller woman. The baroness was weeping, and Travis's own
throat grew tight. Even in other worlds there were good people.

Aryn pulled away from Grace and turned toward Travis. Her young face was
earnest. "I'm so sorry, Goodman . . . I mean, Travis. I didn't know. Do
you think-not now, but someday-you could forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive." He smiled at her. "And you can call me
whatever you want. I don't think there's any shame in being called a
good man."

Durge laid a hand on his shoulder. "No. There is not." "I have the
feeling I just missed something," said a bright tenor.

Travis looked up to see a broad, familiar figure standing in the doorway.

"Beltan!" The big knight bowed in reply.

"How did you find us?" Travis said. "I looked all over the castle for
you, but I couldn't find you."

"I got the Lady Grace's summons. A page brought it to me in the stables."

Travis glanced at Grace.

She gave a little shrug. "Being mistaken for royalty does have its
advantages."

"Apparently." He took a step toward the blond knight. "I'm glad you
could come, Beltan."

The knight's jovial face grew solemn. "I can't just hide in old tombs,
Travis. One day that will be my place, but not now, not while I'm alive.
Thank you for reminding me of that."

Travis opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say. Grace shut the
chamber door, and this time she slid a wooden bar over it. "We'd better
get started. It won't be long before someone comes looking for at least
one of us."

All eyes turned to Grace. It was time for the real business at hand.

Aryn glanced at Beltan, then back at Grace. "Should we tell him?"

"It's all right," Travis said. "Beltan knows." "Knows what?" Beltan said.

443

"That I'm from another world. And Grace, too." The big knight snorted.
"Oh, that."

Aryn raised an eyebrow. "You seem to take it in stride." Beltan crossed
his arms over his broad chest. "Believe me, you get used to surprises
when you travel with Melia and Falken. The fact is, you can act
astonished only for so long. Your face just gets tired of all that
jaw-dropping."

Now the baroness gazed at Travis in a new light, her blue eyes curious.

"Grace," he said to get himself out of the spotlight, "tell them what
you told me."

Grace nodded, and the others listened as she paced before the fire and
spoke in low tones: the doors, the knife, the spell, and the circle of
stones. When she whispered how she had learned this magic-that she and
Aryn were studying with Queen Ivalaine and the Witches-both Durge and
Beltan took a step back. Beltan started to make a motion with his hand,
his thumb and littlest finger outstretched, then stopped himself.

"It appears we are not quite through with Lord Beltan's surprises,"
Durge said when Grace had finished.

She took a halting step toward him. "Durge, I'm so sorry, I should have
told you."

His expression was incredulous. "Why, my lady? It is not my place to
question your actions. And there are matters at hand that do require my
attention."

"Like the fact that there's a conspiracy of murder it! Calavere," Beltan
said. Now his face was nearly as grim as Durge's. "Again."

Beltan and Durge had more questions, and Grace and Travis answered them
as best they could. They knew little enough, but for all the enigmas a
few things were clear. A plot was afoot in the castle to murder one of
the rulers attending the Council of Kings, and the new Raven Cult was
behind it. Travis couldn't imagine what a mystery cult could 'get from
murdering a king, but there was no doubting the Cult's involvement.
Grace had seen a cultist drop the black

e in the act of carving the Raven symbol into a door. t same knife had
taken her-by means of magic-to the le of standing stones. The knife must
have belonged to e of the two conspirators Grace had seen. That meant one

444

of them had access to the castle. But who was it? That was another
unanswered question.

"I still don't understand what the doors mean," Beltan said. He ran a
hand through his long, thinning hair. "I grant you there's no great
surprise in that. Still, if someone could explain what two storerooms
have to do with a murder plot, I'd be grateful."

Aryn had been quiet through much of the discussion, but now she glanced
up from her thoughts, her blue eyes bright. "I have an idea. It will
only take a minute, but I need . . . I need another hand to help."

Durge stepped forward. "My lady." Aryn hesitated, then gave a nod.

When the baroness and the knight returned to the chamber minutes later,
his arms were filled with vellum scrolls. "What are these, Aryn?" Grace
said.

"Let me show you."

The baroness took one of the scrolls and set it on the sideboard. She
put a saltcellar on one corner, and Travis and Grace helped her unroll
it. At first Travis could not make sense of what he saw. The scroll was
covered with dim lines and circles.

Grace gasped. "It's a map of the castle!"

Even as she said this the lines and circles snapped into place, and
Travis could see it. "Look, there's the upper bailey," he said. "And the
hedge maze, and the main keep. And these over here must be plans of the
keep's different floors. I had no idea there were so many."

Durge started to set the other scrolls down, scrambled for them as they
slipped from his arms, then managed to get them on the table. "What are
we to do with these, Lady Aryn?"

"Look," she said. "We have to look."

It took nearly an hour. Some of the maps were very olddrawn by the

master builders who had constructed Calavere over the centuries-and it
was clear many of them were no longer accurate. Some depicted corridors
and rooms that no longer existed, or showed nothing where towers now
stood Eventually they found a scroll that seemed less faded than the
others. It was Beltan who finally found what they were looking for.

445

"It was just luck," the knight said. He pointed to the small square on
the map.

Travis peered at it. Yes, that had to be the storeroom with the Raven
symbol on the door, the first one he and Grace had found. The other room
had not been far from the first, and they soon found it on the map. But
what did all this tell them?

Aryn drew in a sharp breath. "Beltan, pick up that map, the last one we
looked at before this."

He glanced at her, his expression puzzled, but did as she asked.

"Now place it over this map. Please."

Travis saw what she was getting at. The map on top depicted the floor of
the keep just above the floor with the two empty rooms.

"What is it, Aryn?" Grace said.

With her trembling hand the baroness pointed to two rooms on the top
map. "This is the chamber where King Persard is sleeping. This chamber
is King Sorrin's."

"And the two rooms Lady Grace and Goodman Travis found are directly
beneath these chambers," Durge said. Travis flipped back the top map. It
was true. He shut his

eyes and saw again the ventilation shaft in the storeroom and the old
dumbwaiter in the empty bedchamber. His eyes flew open.

"That's how they're going to do it! That's how they're going to get to
the king they plan to murder." He pointed to the map. "See these lines?
These are shafts that run between each of the empty rooms and the
chambers of the rulers."

Beltan swore. "We have to go to King Boreas. From what Grace told us,
the conspirators could strike anytime."

- Durge turned away from the window. He had been gazing into the night.
"I would not be so certain of that," he said. The others stared at him.

"Lady Grace," he said. "Did you not say in your tale that You saw the
circle of stones at twilight? And that the crest moon was just setting?"

"Yes," she said. "It was very . . . vivid."

Durge stepped away from the window. Light streamed ough the rippled
glass and cast a pattern like silver water

446

loor. Outside the moon sank toward the castle's ts. A quarter moon.

)proached the window. "But I don't understand. I ;learly. The moon was a
crescent."

ill be so in five days," Durge said.

. seemed to grasp the truth at once.

,It happened yet," Grace said as she turned back vindow. "What I saw,
the two men in the circle of hasn't happened yet."

that gives us time," Aryn said. "Time to learn lly going on before we
tell the king."

rowned at this, his hand on the hilt of his sword. 'q 'e should tell
King Boreas."

Kok a step toward the knight. "You are the king's Seltan." Her voice was
cool and logical. "We can't hat to do. But right now we don't even know
what rs, including Boreas, are in danger from this plot. I should find
out more before we tell anyone. Right ewer people who know, the more
likely we are to ething." Her eyes flickered to Aryn. "And there are ons
for not telling King Boreas how I learned what

added, her face tight.

crossed his arms over his broad chest and considvords. Travis held his
breath. Grace's visage was so assured. How many patients at Denver
Memorial that same expression as she explained a dire proghem?

sighed and threw down his arms. "All right. I won't s, or Melia and
Falken. But why do I have the feeling to get in trouble for all of this?"

- question no one cared to answer.

L then," Aryn said. She gave a nervous laugh, her bright, uncertain,
thrilled. "We've begun our own Y.

dew a breath through his mustaches. "Don't proper ies have names?"

do." Aryn chewed her lip. "But what can we call

to all swear an oath on something," Beltan said

447

"An oath of loyalty and secrecy. We'll take our name from that, whatever
it is."

Travis searched around the room. What sort of thing did one swear an
oath on? "The knife," he said before he even really thought of the
answer. "It's the knife that got us into

Grace picked up the onyx-hilted knife from the sideboard, drew in a
breath, and held the blade out. "I swear myself to secrecy," she said.

Travis laid his hand atop hers. "Count me in."

"I also swear an oath of secrecy," Aryn said. She rested her hand on

Travis's, light as a bird.

"As do I," Durge said, and he added his hand to the knot. Beltan was the
last. "May our circle never be broken." The knight placed his big hand
atop the others, and in that

moment the Circle of the Black Knife was forged.

The next night, Calavere's newest conspiracy embarked on its secret work.

The Circle of the Black Knife met just as the moon-waning now-sank
beneath the western battlements. The doves had long since ceased their
twilight song, and only a handful of torches guttered in the bailey
below. In winter, in this world, light and all the things that made
it-wood, peat, oil-were precious commodities, and not to be wasted. The
Eldhish day lived and died with the sun. Most hid in their beds and
waited for the rebirth of dawn.

Then again, there were those who favored shadows. "There you are,
Grace," Aryn said with a sigh of relief. Grace stepped through the door,
into the dusty chamber. The others were already there.

"I'm sorry I'm late," she said. "I'm afraid King Boreas caught me on my
way here."

Travis pushed his spectacles up his nose. "He doesn't suspect anything,
does he?"

Grace took a step back. At first she thought Travis meant

448

her lessons with Kyrene and the Witches. Then she realized he had meant
the meeting of the Circle.

"No," she said, then cast a nervous glance at the door. "At least, I
don't think so."

Boreas had cornered her for a report on what she had overheard at the
council that day. Grace had done her best to give it to him in calm,
unhurried tones, but once he had left her she realized she had been
shaking. She could only hope he hadn't noticed. Luckily, their meeting
had been necessarily brief-if Grace and Boreas were seen together, it
would spoil the ruse that they had had a falling-out. It was an
unforeseen result of Grace's plan, but a welcome one.

"Let's hope you're right, Grace," Beltan said. "Boreal might not
consider what we're doing to be treason. Then again . . ."

Durge moved to the door and shut it.

Grace crossed her arms over her gown and wished she had brought her
cape. The room was cold. It was situated in the

old watchtower, which-according to Aryn-was little used these days,
because of a faulty foundation and the fact that it was not as high as
the newer guard towers near the gate. That was why the baroness had
chosen it for their meeting place.

The Embarran turned back toward the others. "Should we set a lookout to

be sure no one overhears us?"

Aryn frowned. "But that won't do. Whoever has to stand outside will miss
our conversation."

Durge's mustaches drooped.

"I think . . . I think maybe I can arrange something," Travis said.

Grace watched with interest as Travis walked to the door and pressed his
hand to the splintering wood.

"Sirith," he whispered.

Grace wasn't certain, but she thought she saw a nimbus of

blue light flicker around Travis's fingers. Then he pulled his hand away.

She met his eyes. "What was that you said, Travis?" "It's the rune of
silence."

"What did it do?".

He stroked his beard. It was getting full now, with flecks

449

of copper, gold, and-Grace noticed for the first time-silver. '111

only thirty-three, and already he was becoming a graybeard. "I'm not
entirely sure," Travis said. "Speaking something's rune is supposed to
awaken its power. But I think, if I spoke it right, no one on the other
side of this door will be able to hear what we're saying."

Grace and Aryn nodded-his words made sense to Grace, even if she knew
little of runes-but the two knights scowled as one.

"If that was the rune of silence," Beltan said, "how come I can hear
what you're saying now?"

Travis scratched his head, then shrugged. "It's a magic thing."

The blond knight let out a snort. "Apparently."

"Perhaps Travis would not mind a test of his skill at runespeaking,"
Durge said. "He is a student, after all."

A quick experiment confirmed that Travis's magic had worked as intended.
Grace and Beltan stood outside the shut door but heard nothing, although
those within spoke in loud voices.

Beltan rested a hand on Travis's shoulder. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

"Don't be." Travis looked down at his hands and was quiet for a time
after that.

Now that they knew they would not be overheard, it was time to get to
the business at hand.

"I've found another marked door," Aryn said without preamble.

The others regarded the baroness. Knowing what sort of rooms were being
marked with the rune of the Raven had narrowed their search
considerably. The night before, Aryn had shown them on the castle plans
where each of the rulers was sleeping. The five had all agreed to
stroll-alone, and at separate times of the day-past rooms that were
adjacent in some way to those of the various kings and queens, and to
look for any signs of the Raven Cult.

Aryn pulled a vellum scroll from a leather satchel andwith Beltan's
help-spread it on a table that listed more than a little to starboard.
She laid a finger on the map.

"Here. You can only reach this room off the lower bailey. _It's for
storing grain. In it there's a drain leading to a stone

450

pipe that runs here." She looked up to regard the others. "Right past
Queen Ivalaine's room."

A shiver coursed up Grace's spine.

"Excellent work, my lady," Durge said. "I fear I was not so lucky. But
that is only as I would expect."

Aryn gave him a puzzled look. "Why?"

The knight only gazed forward with serious brown eyes. The baroness was
not the only one who had found another marked door. Grace hadn't-she had
barely had a few minutes between the council and her lesson with Kyrene
to search-but both Beltan and Travis had had success. One room was in
the cellar, two floors below-but sharing a ventilation shaft with-King
Lysandir's chamber. The other was the room of a minor noble just above
King Kylar's chamber. Beltan had questioned the earl whose room it was,
and he was certain the noble knew nothing about the symbol.

As she listened to Beltan, suspicion crept into Grace's chest. Why was
it that no marked door had been found near Boreas's chamber?

Stop jumping to conclusions, Grace. No one found anything near Eminda's
chamber, either. The Raven cultist isn't done yet. That's the only
explanation.

With a piece of charcoal, Aryn marked the last of the new rooms on the
map. "I believe we've learned a lot for our first day as a conspiracy."

Beltan studied the black marks. "Really? And here I was thinking that
things are more confusing than ever. Now there are five rooms to worry
about, not two." He looked up. "And why are they marking so many rooms
anyway? Grace said they plan to murder only one of the rulers."

"They always mark the places they plan to attack," Travis said in a low
voice.

The others gazed at him. His eyes were clouded behind his spectacles.

Grace swallowed, then broke the silence. "The conspirator I overheard
said he didn't know yet which ruler would be the target. I think they're
waiting to see how the council goes. Then they'll decide who to take

out, in order to alter the next reckoning."

Durge stroked his mustaches with a thumb and forefinget

451

"But which decision wins a king death, my lady? To reckon for war . . .
or against?"

Grace didn't have an answer to that. If they knew which way the Raven
Cult wanted the council to vote, then they would have a much better idea
of who was the intended victim. Right now they had to assume it could be
any of the rulers . . . any who slept near marked doors, that was.

"All right," Beltan said. "So we've found three more doors. Now what do
we do?"

"We watch," Grace said, and all eyes turned toward her. That night the
Circle of the Black Knife engaged in a stakeout. Eminda's and Boreas's
sleeping chambers were not far apart, both within the main keep. In ones
and twos, the members of the Circle concealed themselves in alcoves and
watched passageways that seemed likely candidates for the Raven Cult's work.

They kept watching until dawn was closer than midnight. At last they
gave up and regrouped. They had seen nothing more suspicious than a
bleary-eyed serving boy sent on a mission to the pantry by a sleepless
noble. By the time Grace shucked off her gown and crawled into her bed,
the sky was no longer truly black outside her window, and birdsong
shattered the crystalline air. She tossed and turned until it was time
to get up, struggle back into the gown, and listen to more whispers at
the Council of Kings.

After the council, Grace met again with Kyrene. Her studies with the
countess were progressing, but to where, Grace could not exactly say.
She was getting better at the Touch. All it took now was a moment's
concentration and she could reach out with her mind, could feel the life
in all the things around her. However, when she asked what she was to do
with that power, Kyrene would only smile her smug, enigmatic smile.

Once again it was pitch-dark by the time the Circle of the Black Knife
met. However, this time Grace was first, not last, to the wine crypt-a
location again chosen by Aryn.

"I have to select the vintage to serve at the coming MidWinter's Eve
feast," Aryn said when she and the others arfived. "I thought if we were
caught, I could say I was inducting a tasting."

Beltan's eyes lit up. "Which cask should I open first?"

452

Aryn gave him a sour look. "It's a ruse, my lord. We're not really going
to taste any wine."

The big knight's disappointment was plain to see.

They started to draw up new plans for keeping watch in the vicinity of
Eminda's and Boreas's chambers, but Durge raised a hand to halt them.

"My luck was better today," the Embarran knight said. "I found a

servant's room that was marked with the Raven symbol. It has a small
window, and outside is a narrow ledge that runs for some distance, until
it passes the window of Queen Eminda's chamber." He pointed to the map
of the castle.

Aryn shook her head. "But I checked that very same room yesterday, and
it wasn't marked. Which means the cultist marked the room last night."

"And which means we completely missed it," Travis said. The baroness
groaned. "That wasn't lucky at all, Durge." The knight's shoulders
drooped farther under his soot-gray tunic.

Grace glanced at the Embarran and tried her best to sound encouraging.
"That still makes only six marked doors. And there are seven rulers.
That means there's still a chance of catching the conspirator in the act."

"I wish we could go to King Boreas," Beltan said. "With a word, he could
have fifty men-at-arms going over this castle from dungeon to turrets."

"But we can't go to him," Aryn said in a tight voice. Beltan gave her a
sharp look, then nodded. Grace noticed that he held one hand motionless
with the other.

Travis scratched his beard. "We'll just have to keep watching."

Grace met his eyes. She knew what the real plan was, the. one Travis had
not spoken of. Yes, they would keep watching for signs of the Raven
around Boreas's chamber. And if they found one, if he was marked for
murder like all the other rulers, then they would know it was safe to go
to him for help. And if not . . .

Grace's fingers slipped to the pouch at her belt and through the leather
felt the little wooden bull tucked inside. "Come on," she said. "It's
time to start spying."

453 The next afternoon, Grace met Aryn for a walk in the upper bailey.
The council had ended early that day, for the last ruler to make a
report, King Kylar, had finished. The council would now recess for three
days before a second-and finalreckoning began. Because Aryn's and
Grace's studies were not until that evening, and because the Circle
would not meet until later that night, they were left with a brief respite.

It was the twentieth day of the month of Valdath, which Grace guessed
was something akin to December back on Earth. For several days the
weather had been clear, bright, and bitterly cold. A bucket of water set
outside froze in minutes, and those forced to brave the elements did so
only after they covered every inch of skin with cloaks, hoods, gloves,
and rough wool blankets.

However, unlike the- last few days, that morning had dawned gray, and by
afternoon, if not exactly warm, at least bare skin didn't freeze the
moment it was exposed to air. Just as Grace contemplated the idea of
venturing outside, a knock had come at her chamber door. It was-Aryn,
dressed in a heavy gown and cape.

"I think we need to get out," the baroness had said. Grace had not
disagreed. Things were moving so quickly now, there had been so little
time to just walk with her friend as she used to, and talk-not about
kings, or witches, or murderers-but about small things.

_ Their boots crunched on the frozen ground of the bailey as they
walked. Grace drew in a deep breath. The frigid air pinched her
nostrils, but she did not care. She was weary of the rancid soup that
passed for air inside the castle, and the way it dulled her mind. The
sharp air sliced through the smoke like a scalpel, and it left her brain
clean.

They were not the only walkers encouraged by the milder-if only in
relative terms-weather. Other pairs Strolled the upper bailey, the
garden, or through the gate to the lower bailey, where the market
thronged despite the

454

cold. A couple passed nearby, an earl and his lady, both comely if only
because of youth. Grace recognized them. They were petty nobles in
Boreas's court and had married just recently.

Aryn's sigh fogged on the air. Grace looked at her friend in concern.

"When do you think you will marry, Grace?" the baroness said.

The question struck Grace like a blow. Aryn reached out to steady her.

"What's wrong, Grace?"

She gulped in air. She didn't mean anything by the question, Grace. This
is a world where all noblewomen get married, whether they want to or
not. It's politics, not love, that's all.

"I don't think I'll ever get married, Aryn," she said. Aryn's expression
was alternately surprised and thoughtful, as if this were a possibility
she had never considered, then she sighed again. "King Boreas has been
preoccupied by the council, but I imagine he'll find a husband for me
when spring comes. If spring comes. It's hard to believe it ever will."

Grace regarded her friend. "Who do you hope the king will choose for
your husband?"

Aryn's words were automatic. "A good man, who would help me rule my
barony with a strong, just hand."

"That's not what I meant."

"There is no one for whom I hold a secret love, Grace. Is that what you
mean?"

Grace thought for a moment. "What about Beltan?" Now Aryn smiled. "I
think you mistake both the king's nephew and me. I care for him, of
course, but as a girl does her elder brother, and I am certain it is as
a sister he regards me. He will make the innermost circle of the
Mysteries of Vathris if he wishes." Her smile faded, and her face grew
sad, yet hard all the same: a sculptor's sorrow hewn from marble. "No,
it is best if I do not let my heart choose another, when I know one will
be chosen. . . ."

The baroness's words crumbled on the icy air. If Grace had believed in
fate she would have cursed it. Another couple had chosen that moment to
step through a door into the

455

bailey. She was young, plump, and pretty, but it was not the lady who
held Grace's attention. She had not seen him since the night of the
feast when he rejected Aryn's invitation to dance. He was as
square-shouldered and square-jawed as she remembered, his crown of gold
curls uncovered despite the cold.

"Leothan." Even as Aryn whispered the word, the two linked arms and
crossed the bailey. When they were even with Grace and Aryn, the plump
young woman turned her head, as if she sensed eyes upon her and her
companion. She noticed Aryn's stare, then smiled and coiled her arm more
tightly around Leothan's. He did not glance their way. They moved toward
the gate to the lower bailey, perhaps so he could buy her a trinket in
the market.

"I hate him."

Grace turned in shock at the harsh voice. Beside her Aryn stood rigid,
her left hand clenched into a fist. Her eyes were blue stones.

"Aryn?" "It's wrong." The baroness's voice was a hiss. "It's wrong that
he should be so handsome and so beastly. I hate him."

Aryn's eyes rolled up, her back arched, and she stood on her toes. Then
Grace felt it, like the presence she had sensed that first day with
Kyrene, only stronger, darker, and hot with anger. It streaked past
Grace, so furious it almost knocked her over. A cry of dismay echoed off
stone. Grace jerked her head up. Across the bailey Leothan stumbled, his
hands pressed to his temples. The young woman screamed.

Grace knew she had only seconds. She clutched the baroness's arm and
squeezed. "Stop it, Aryn." She forged her voice into a knife. "Stop it.
Now!"

Aryn did not respond. Grace dug in her fingers, so deep she could feel
bones grind together. The baroness drew in a ragged breath and slumped
against Grace. Across the bailey Leothan staggered, then lowered his
hands. His companion rushed to him, held him, and dabbed with a white
cloth at 'the blood that trickled from his nose. He gave a weak nod,

d she helped him through a door back into the castle. Grace pushed Aryn
away, forced her to stand. The baron

456

ess stared at the door where Leothan had vanished, then spoke in a
hoarse voice.

"What are we becoming, Grace?"

Grace shook her head. She didn't know how to answer. It was not what
they might become that frightened her, but what they might already be.

"I'm cold." Aryn's face was white as frost.

"Come on." Grace guided Aryn back toward the keep. "Let's go get warm."

Later, Grace walked alone through the castle. She knew she should get
back to her chamber. It was time for her lesson with Kyrene, and the

countess was to come to Grace's room that evening. However, Grace had
wanted to think.

After wandering for a time, she came to a halt and realized she stood
before her own door. So that was her decision-she wanted to know more,
despite what had happened with Aryn in the bailey. Or maybe because of
it. Somehow Aryn had used the Touch to affect Leothan. Was it really
that dif ferent from what she did in the ED? Didn't she use the Touch to
heal people?

Maybe. She didn't know. That was why she was here-to learn. Grace pushed
through the door of her chamber. "There you are, sister."

Grace opened her mouth in surprise. The countess stood before the fire
in a gown of serpent's green, a cup of wine in her hand.

"You weren't here, so I let myself in," Kyrene said. "You don't mind, do
you, love?"

Grace's mind raced. What might have Kyrene found if she had searched the
room? Not the half-coin, or her necklace, or Hadrian Farr's business
card. Grace's most precious objects were in the leather pouch she always
wore. Only the drawings of the castle then, including the ones with the
rooms marked on them. What might Kyrene have thought of those? But what
might Kyrene have thought of anything? Graccl still did not know what
the countess's game was, although;''. she had an inkling of its ultimate
purpose: greater power and position for Kyrene.

"No, Kyrene," Grace said. "You're welcome here." Kyrene smiled. Grace
stepped in and shut the door. "Tell me, love, how is Lord Logren?"

457

Grace dropped the decanter she had picked up back on the sideboard, then
managed to steady it before it spilled. She clutched her cup and turned
to stare at Kyrene. How did the countess know Grace had been thinking of
him, or that she had even met the high counselor of Eredane? Grace
gulped some wine to buy time to think.

Kyrene sauntered toward her. "Don't fear, sister. Believe me, there is
more than enough of Logren for both of us. He is, shall we say, quite
great in his manhood."

Grace winced. She didn't want to hear this. Or did she? Again she
pictured Logren's large hands, dark against her own white skin. She
forced herself to breathe. "What do you want from me, Kyrene?"

"No, Grace, what do I want for you. That is the true question," Kyrene
set down her cup, then forced Grace to do the same. She took Grace's
hands in hers. "You are such a puzzle, love. You rival any woman in
beauty, yet you do nothing with it. You hardly even seem to realize it."

Grace shook her head. What was Kyrene saying?

"Let me show you, love. Let me show you of what you are capable. There
is so much more to being a witch than grind'ing herbs in a mortar."

Kyrene ran warm fingers up Grace's arms, across her shoulders, over her
breasts. Grace trembled, but she could not move. The countess's voice
was a honeyed whisper.

"Join me, sister. Let us weave our magics together. Logren could never
resist us both."

She pressed her cheek against Grace's. Kyrene's skin was ;loft and hot.
A low moan escaped Grace's lips-it was the y sound she could make.
Kyrene whispered in triumph. "Join me, and he will be ours."

"Lady Kyrene!"

The voice was sharp and commanding. Kyrene leaped ck, a child caught in
an illicit act. Grace staggered and ed against the sideboard. Then she
looked up to see the

een of Toloria stride into her chamber: tall, beautiful, tee. Ivalaine's
icy gaze moved from Kyrene to Grace and k to Kyrene, then she nodded, as
if she understood exY what had transpired, and Grace supposed she did,
cery better than Grace herself.

458

"You will go, Lady Kyrene," Ivalaine said. It was not a request.

Kyrene started forward. "But, sister-"

"You will not call me that." The queen's voice was as cold as her eyes.
"You are no longer needed here. I will see to the Lady Grace's studies
myself from now on."

The color drained from Kyrene's face. "But, Your Majesty, I was only-"

"You would dare question my words, Kyrene?"

Kyrene's jaw snapped shut as if Ivalaine had struck her. She glared at
Ivalaine, then at Grace, and her green eyes were

filled with venom. Now she drew herself up and thrust her shoulders back.

"You will regret this, Your Majesty." "I already do, Lady Kyrene."

The countess walked boldly to the door, then turned to regard Grace. Her
expression was one of hatred and envy. "I know you won't forget what I
told you. Love." There was a flash of green, then the door shut, and
Kyrene was gone.

Grace wasn't certain she was going to keep her feet, then Ivalaine was
beside her. The queen took her arm-her fingers so cool where Kyrene's
were warm-and guided Grace to the chair by the fire. Grace sank down,
but the queen remained standing.

"Listen to me, Lady Grace. I will say these words only once, for I know
no more is required. Kyrene's magic is small and petty. Her way is
simpler, and thus it leads to simple things. Your power can be far
greater if you wish it, as can the Lady Aryn's. Already you have great
control with the Touch, and you learn quickly. Your experience as a
healer has benefited you much." The queen cupped her chin in her hand.
"It will be more difficult for Aryn, I think. Her talent is hidden deep
within her. And yet, I think, it is stronger than yours or mine-perhaps
the strongest in a century. If she can learn to bring it forth and to
shape it."

Grace nodded. "It's going to be hard for her. She is so kind, so gentle.
Only there's anger in her, anger she tries to hide, but I saw it today."
She looked up at the queen. "It's going to hurt her, Your Majesty."

Ivalaine's eyes went distant. "It hurts every one of us, Lady Grace, as
all worthwhile things do." Her gaze grew

459

focused again, and now she smiled. "And when we are alone, you may call
me sister-sister."

Grace would have thought it impossible, but she returned ivalaine's
smile. She drew in a breath. "So, what is to be my lesson tonight,
Your-I mean, sister?"

"I think you have learned more than enough for this evening," the queen
said. She started toward the door, then turned back to regard Grace.
"No, there is one more thing. I told you there is something that holds
the Lady Aryn's power back. The same words are true for you, sister.
Much of who you are lies behind a door, and I cannot see past it.
However, you must know that you cannot lock away part of who you are
without locking away part of your magic. If ever you want to discover
that power, you will have to unlock that door."

Grace stared at the queen. What was Ivalaine saying? She shut her eyes,
and she saw another door: dark from time and the touch of flame. She did
not want to step through it again-she dared not.

"No." She opened her eyes. "No, I can't."

Ivalaine's visage was unreadable. "Then you will never know what you
might be. Good eventide, sister."

The door opened and shut, then Grace was alone with only the fire to
accompany her.

84.

Travis shook the snow from his cloak and stepped into the chamber he
shared with the others.

"Melia? Falken? I'm back."

Silence. The fire on the hearth had cooled to ashes. Travis moved
farther into the room.

"Beltan?" Still no answer. No one was here. The Council of Kings Imst
have been running late that day. Except that wasn't fight. Falken had
said the rulers were finished making their

orts. The council wasn't set to convene again for three yS. Where could
everyone be?

Outside the window it was late afternoon. That morning

460

Rin and Jemis had told him he could leave early today. Come to think of

it, the two runespeakers had been nowhere in sight by the time he left
their tower. And the upper bailey had seemed peculiarly quiet. What was
going on?

Travis peered out the window. The snow that had fallen all day, and
which had dusted him on his way back, had ended. It was as if someone
had spoken Urath, the rune of opening, to the sky. The clouds had broken
over the castle to reveal a strip of sapphire sky. Even as he watched,
heavy sunlight transformed the clouds from cream to honey, and they
melted away.

Travis shivered. It looked like it was up to him to get the fire going.
He knelt by the hearth and stirred the ashes. "Travis, I'm glad I found
you."

The poker clattered to the hearth, and he leaped up, heart thumping.
Then he took a deep breath. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"

Grace bit her lip. "The door was open."

"So you're saying all the politeness escaped from the room?"

She gripped the doorframe, her face washed of color. "I'm so sorry,
Travis. I'll . . . I'll . . . "

He sighed and held out a hand. "You'll come in, Grace. Please."

She nodded, ducked inside the room, and shut the door. Travis studied
her as she did. Her violet gown was simpler than usual, but she was
still beautiful. It wasn't hard to believe she was really a duchess. She
was so assured, so regal. Yet why then did simple things-like doors and
peoplealways seem to throw her?

"What's going on, Grace? The castle seems dead."

Her gown whispered as she moved farther into the room. "There's a feast
tonight. Everyone's down in the great hall." "And what a surprise I
wasn't invited."

"Actually you were, but I told Lord Alerain you weren't feeling well,
that I would be attending you, and that neither of us would be able to
come to the feast."

"Why, Grace?"

She wetted her lips. "I need your help, Travis."

Instinct prickled the hair on the back of his neck. Maybe it was the
light in her eyes, maybe it was the set of her jaw, 01

461

maybe it was the cloak she had thrown over her gownheavy, lined with
fur, a riding cape. Whatever it was, he turned around and gazed out the
window. It was pale against the brilliant winter sky, but he could see
it, making its descent toward the western horizon: a crescent moon.

He turned toward her again. "It's today, isn't it. Today is the day you
saw those two people arguing in the stone circle." He frowned and tried
to sort it out. "I mean, you didn't see them today. But today is the day

it happened. Or will happen. Or is happening, or . . ."

He was babbling, he needed to shut up. She hesitated, then reached out
and gripped his hand.

"It's our only chance to learn who they are, Travis. To learn what's
really going on in the castle."

Travis groaned. It was ridiculous. It was dangerous. It was stupid. And
worst of all, it was right. The Circle had failed to catch a Raven
cultist in the act-or to find a mark near King Boreas's chamber. This
was the perfect chance to discover who the conspirators were.

"But why didn't you ask Durge or Beltan?"

"Koreas or Sorrin would notice if they were missing from the feast. They
might start to wonder."

Travis sighed and cast a wistful eye at the hearth, where his work had
stirred a few wan flames to life. Something told dim it was going to be
a while before he felt warm again. "I'll get my cloak," he said.

Grace smiled. It was a rare expression for her, and thus all ,the more
precious. "Thank you, Travis."

There was only a single stableboy in the castle's stable, .and it was
not difficult for the duchess of Beckett to conYince him to let them in.
He yawned and nodded when she scold him they needed two horses saddled.

"Come on," Grace said as she led a horse by the reins into .the stable's
main aisle.

Travis took in the big black charger that towered over her. at's the
horse you're going to ride?"

-"His name is Blackalock-he's Durge's horse." Grace oked the charger's
muzzle, and the horse let out a low .cker. "I think he remembers me."

''And I think he could step on me and grind me into the w w without even
noticing." For Travis, the stableboy had

462

saddled the sandy gelding Travis had ridden all the way from Kelcior.
Next to Blackalock the gelding looked like a pony. "I don't think Durge
will find it amusing you stole his horse, Grace."

"Nonsense. Durge doesn't find anything amusing." "Do you even know how
to ride?"

"I'm sure Blackalock will help me." Travis gave up.

The sun was low in the sky as they rode from the gates of Calavere.
Travis faced into the cold wind and drew in a breath. It felt good to be
outside, to be moving again, to be going somewhere, anywhere. He had
gotten used to traveling in this world. Being stuck in the castle had
seemed so limit. ing, so oppressive. Now they were on the road, and
there was no telling where the wind would blow them. He grinned despite
the rashness of what they were doing, and he tried not to think about
what Melia would do to him if she caught him.

They started down the winding road that led to the base of the castle
hill. Travis glanced at Grace. She had climbed into the saddle with only
a small degree of difficulty, and had arranged her gown and her cloak
over her legs. Now she sat straight upon the massive charger's back, the
reins loose in her gloved hand, and looked for all the world-any
world-as if- she had been riding her entire life. Grace might not have
been good at talking to other living creatures, but she sure was a
natural at commanding them. Travis clung to his geld' ing's mane and
just tried not to look like a sack of potatoes in comparison.

They reached the foot of the hill and let the horses stretch their legs
on the straightaway. There were few peasants on the road this time of
day. The sun would set soon. Most people were carrying a final load of
peat or wood inside, anc4 closing doors and shutters against the frigid
winter night. So what are you doing out here, Travis?

Stone walls and leafless trees flashed by, all dusted with white. It was
strange how still snow made things look, as if, they had not moved in
centuries and would never Wvfi again.

The thunder of their horses' hooves turned to a boll drumming as the
dirt track beneath them was replaced by

463

arch of stone. They had reached the old Tarrasian bridge. Dark water
flowed beneath them, chunks of ice dotting its surface. It must have
been even colder than he'd thought. Hadn't Falken said the Dimduorn had
not frozen over in centuries?

Bridge and river flashed and receded behind them. Hooves fell on frozen
mud again. Soon the stone walls bounding the fields grew smaller and
cruder, then vanished altogether. There were no more ramshackle huts, no
more blue lines of smoke rising to the sky. They were in the marches of
Calavan now.

"Do you even know where this place is?" Travis said. There was no need
to shout above the din of the horses. The air was like crystal and
resonated with the sound of his voice.

"I think so. Durge described it to me. It's in a vale between two
identical hills."

That wasn't exactly specific, but before Travis could ask more
questions, Grace pulled hard on her reins and Blackalock wheeled off the
road to plunge across a snowy field. 'Travis fumbled for his own reins,
but the gelding was ;smarter than he, and followed after his companion.
Downy white billowed around them and dusted Travis's cloak anew.

They rode directly toward the sinking sun now. It seemed huge, and red,
and old. The air was getting more frigid by the inute. Icicles clung to
Travis's beard. Some heat rose from

le orse, but already Travis was starting to shiver. He wonhow long it
would take Beltan and Durge to ride from astle and find them. He
wondered how long, in these itions, it would take to freeze.

vis glanced over his shoulder. He could still see were, but it looked
too small now to be real, tossed on its ike a child's plaything. He

faced forward again, into the . His fingers were stiff, but he forced
his hands to grip eins.

e sun had just touched the western horizon when they upon it. They
crested a rise, and Grace let out a cry. At Travis's heart jerked. He
thought something was wrong.

he gazed in the direction Grace pointed. Below them round fell away into
a gentle depression. On the far side depression were two conical hills,
so perfect in form

464

they could not have been natural. In the vale at the foot of the hills,
arranged in a circle, were nine tall shapes.

Travis shaded his eyes with a hand.' Long shadows stretched from the
standing stones, and it was hard to see into their midst, to glimpse
what might be there. Grace and Travis exchanged a long look, then nudged
their horses down the slope. The crimson light of the setting sun
spilled across the vale. It looked like blood against the white snow.

The air was crisp and silent as they approached the circle of stones,
broken only by the soft snorts of the horses and the soft swish of snow
against hooves. The sun slipped behind the horizon and was gone. The sky
turned to slate, and the horned moon shone above the twin hills.

"This is it," Grace whispered. "This is exactly how I saw

it.

Travis only nodded. His gloved hand slipped to the stiletto at his belt.
The gem was dark, but something told him there was danger here all the same.

They reached the edge of the circle and slipped from the backs of the
horses. Their boots crunched against snow. The horses lowered their
heads, breath steaming on the air, as if they too sensed the need to be
quiet. Travis and Grace walked toward the circle. The stones were twice
the height of a man, of dark stone, and pitted with long centuries of
wind and weather. Travis wasn't certain when he and Grace had taken each
other's hand, but now he tightened his grip on hers and was glad for the
touch. Together they stepped between two stones, into the circle.

It was empty.

No, that wasn't entirely true. There were footprints in the snow, two
sets of them. And there was blood. It dotted the white ground like
scarlet berries.

Travis and Grace walked to the center of the circle. The snow was not so
deep there. The standing stones caught much of it in drifts and
protected the middle. The air within the circle was motionless, and
there was a feeling to it, or a presence maybe. It wasn't angry, yet it
wasn't kindly either. It was ancient, and it was different, and it was
watching them.

Grace knelt beside the footprints, took off a glove, and touched one of
the scarlet stains on the snow. She looked UP,

465

"It's not frozen yet. This blood couldn't have fallen here more than a
few minutes ago."

Travis nodded. Birds were alighting on the standing stones, as if
something had disturbed them moments ago and now they were returning. "I
think they were just here, Grace. I think they heard us coming and fled."

She stood and gazed at him. "Of course. In my vision .. . I thought he
saw me there. I think he did, only it wasn't me in my vision he saw. It
was us, tonight. They saw us coming, and they ran."

They exchanged looks, then as one they dashed to the farside of the
circle. Beyond the stones the footprints were replaced by two sets of
hoofprints. Travis and Grace followed these between the peculiar hills,
then halted in the snow, panting. It was no use. The two riders were gone.

"We're too late, Grace." Travis gasped for breath even as he winced at
the sharpness of it. "We came here for nothing."

Grace studied the sets of hoofprints, then she nodded. "Maybe not."

Travis frowned at her.

"Look," she said. "One of these sets of hoofprints heads back toward the
castle. And look here." She pointed to the snow. A single red drop. Blood.

Travis tried to scrape some of the ice from his beard. "I don't follow you."

Grace's eyes glowed. "Don't you see, Travis? 'The ;wounded conspirator
has gone back to Calavere."

His brain was slow from the cold. It took a moment for realization to
break over him, then he gazed at her in wonder. "So all we have to do is
find someone in the castle who was wounded tonight, and we've got the
conspirator."

Grace grinned. She opened her mouth to say something. Her words were cut
short as a different sound drifted on the air. High, piercing, silvery:
the sound of bells.

Travis and Grace stared at each other. The standing stones loomed above
them in the twilight like dark sentinels. "What is this place, Travis?"
Her voice was a whisper of Wonder and fear.

L"I don't know. I think maybe once, long ago, it was sacred the Old Gods."

466

"The Old Gods?"

"Not the gods of the mystery cults, but the ones that came before, the
ones that were the mothers and fathers of the Little People before they
all vanished."

He could see the shudder beneath her cloak. The words escaped her lips
with the soft fog of her breath. "The Little People . . ."

Again the bells sounded, high and clear. Travis took her hand-they had
to follow. They crossed to the farside of the circle. Just beyond was a

short stretch of white, then a tangled wall that rose from the land,
black in the deepening gloom. The bells sounded again, but Travis and
Grace hardly needed them now to know where they were being led.

They halted as gnarled shapes loomed before them: the edge of Gloaming
Wood. Beyond were shadows. They listened, but now all they heard was the
mournful hiss of wind through bare branches. There was nothing here.

No, that wasn't true. "Look," Grace said.

At first he thought they were some sort of tracks in the snow. Then he
realized they weren't tracks at all. They were words:

NO PAIN

"But what does it mean?" he said.

"I don't know." The words barely escaped her clattering teeth. "It's a
message. . . ."

He shivered. It was so cold, and night was falling. He turned back
toward her. How are we going to make it back to the castle, Grace? He
tried to ask the question, but he was too numb, too weary.

Grace's gaze flickered to the trees, then back to Travis, and she
nodded, as if she had decided something. She reached out and pulled him
close to her,.then shut her eyes. He almost thought he heard her whisper
something.

"Touch the trees...."

And all at once the world was as warm as springtime

467 it was long after dark when they reached the castle, and they were
cold again. When they rode up to Calavere's gates a jolt of panic
stabbed Grace's chest. You were out too long, Grace, The gates are
closed, and you're too tired to touch the Weirding again. You're both
going to freeze out here.

However, as they rode near, they saw the gates were not closed. The
feast would run late that night, and many of the lesser nobles and
counselors were staying in the town, not the castle proper, and would
need to stumble down the hill in the frigid night to their waiting beds.
The men-at-arms started to raise halberds as the two rode up, then their
eyes locked on Grace's ghostly visage and they nodded. She and Travis
rode through, into the bailey beyond.

They left the horses with the stableboy, who appeared just as sleepy as
before, then returned to Travis's chamber. It was still empty-the others
had not yet returned from the feast. But it was not really so late. They
had been gone no more than three hours. It only seemed as if they had
been on an impossibly long journey.

"I'll get a fire going," Travis said as they shut the door and threw
their cloaks on the bed.

Grace clutched her arms over the bodice of her gown. For a hue they had
been so warm, so wondrously warm. It had en so easy to reach out with
the Touch, to sense the life 'dden in the leafless trees, and to draw it
to her. The Weirdof Gloaming Wood was far richer, far more potent than

ything she had ever sensed in the garden. Even the horses med to feel
the radiance when they mounted them, for e beasts pranced and snorted,
and stretched their legs as ey cantered back toward the distant castle.

:That her magic had saved them from frostbite, or worse, ace was
certain. However, the warmth had begun to fade they came to the bridge
over the Dimduorn, and by the e they reached the foot of the castle hill
they had been vexing again.

race tucked a stray wisp of ash-blond hair behind an ear.

468

"You never asked, Travis. You never asked how I was able to keep us warm."

He looked up at her, a piece of kindling in his hand. "I knew you would
tell me if you needed to, Grace." He set the wood on the hearth, then
shut his eyes and spoke a quiet word. "Krond."

Flames leaped to life, and golden light shone forth.

The heat of the fire drew Grace forward. It was harsher than the warmth
of the Weirding, brighter and crueler: the heat of consumption, not of
life. All the same she held her stiff hands out. That Travis had just
used magic as surely as she had, struck her only after a minute.

"We've both learned so much, Travis." She gazed into the flames. "It
hasn't even been two months, but we're getting used to this world,
becoming part of it."

Travis stared at the fire as well. Or was it his hands he gazed at, held
out before him? They were fine hands, Grace noticed for the first time,
long and well shaped.

"I don't know, Grace," he said in a soft voice. "I don't know if I could
ever get used to this world. Oh, it's wonder. ful in some ways. It's
beautiful here, even if it's frightening,

too, and I have more friends here than I've ever had in my life. But I
don't belong here, I can't forget that. That's why I have to get back to
Colorado, to get back home."

Grace opened her mouth to reply, then shut it. What would- she say? Did
she feel the same? She was not so certain. How often did she think about
Denver, about the Emergency Department? Of course, she thought of them
every day. Yet they seemed distant, like someone else's life-a movie
that whirred through a dim projector and now had run out. Grace looked
at her own. hands. She wasn't so certain she wanted to go back. She
wasn't so certain she could.

"How about some wine?" he said. She stood with him. "I can get it."

"No, I'm the saloon keeper, remember? It's my job." The cup of wine
turned into two entire decanters. They went into the side chamber where
Melia slept, stirred up the fire in there, and flopped on the enormous
bed. They drank cup after cup and laughed as they talked about the
things. they missed in this world.

469

Travis said. "I'd trade the whole lot of kings at

this council for one good pizza."

"I'd trade them all for a hot shower." Grace stretched on the bed, just
thinking about it. Showers were the only thing that had kept her
functioning in the ED. She would stand under the shower in the
residents' locker room and let the industrial-strength nozzle blast her,
powering away all the fear and blood and suffering. To be clean was to
know peace.

"How about beer that doesn't have stuff floating in it?" Travis said.

She nodded and gulped her wine. "Or blue jeans? And T-shirts? And real
underwear: cotton with elastic, a clean pair every day?"

Travis groaned. "Stop it. You're killing me!"

Grace clutched her stomach. It hurt to laugh-it had been so long, and
she was out of practice-but it was good and did

as much to warm her as wine and fire.

At last the long ride, the warmth, and the drink did their

work. Their voices grew soft and dreamy as they lay across

the bed, then fell quiet altogether. The last thing Grace saw

were big flakes of snow falling outside the window. Then she

was falling, too, into sleep.

It was a soft sound that woke her. At first Grace thought it must be the
sound of the snow, it was so quiet. She snuggled

against the warm body beside her-Travis-and let herself sink back into
slumber.

But if it was the sound of snow, how had it come from inside the chamber?

.Grace opened her eyes. It was dim-the fire had burned low. She saw
nothing, then her eyes adjusted. Something above her glowed in the last
crimson light of the coals: long, sleek, pointed. A blot of shadow
hovered behind it, but she couldn't make that out either. The thing
started to descend, and she knew what it was.

Grace shouted the one word she had time for. "Travis!" She pushed hard
against his shoulder-he let out a groan of test-then she rolled in the
opposite direction. A sharp ss passed by her ear, followed by a soft
thump. The knife d sunk into something. Was it mattress or flesh? She
could t turn to find out, she had rolled too far. The bed vanished eath
her, and she fell hard to the floor below.

470

From her hands and knees she looked up. The shadow was before her now.
Only it wasn't a shadow. It was a man in a robe of black. She couldn't
see his face-it was a pit of darkness within the heavy hood-but his hand
was big and pow, erful, and in it he gripped the knife. Scarlet stained

its tip. Her stomach shrank into a cold knot. Travis.

Now, as he raised the knife again the blade turned cool silver. It had
been firelight, not blood. The knife paused above her. Grace knew she
would never be able to avoid it once it started to descend again.

"Get away from her!"

Travis stood behind the attacker, his stiletto held before him. The gem
in its hilt shone red with the light of the dying fire. No, that wasn't
it. The jewel wasn't reflecting the light. Rather, the light flickered
within it, as if the gem had a life of its own. Travis thrust the
stiletto out before him.

It seemed a casual, almost lazy gesture. The man in the

black robe turned, reached out, and knocked the stiletto from Travis's
hand. It flew across the room and clattered to the floor, lost in the
gloom. The attacker thrust forward with the knife in his own hand as
Travis stared.

No. Grace was not going to watch this. She had seen enough death in the
ED. From her awkward position she threw herself forward and clutched
anything her groping hands could find. Her fingers closed on rough
cloth. The attacker's robe. She grabbed and pulled back with all her
strength.

It was not much-she did not have a good grip-but it was enough. She
jerked her head up to see the attacker lurch and his strike go wide. The
knife sank into the wood of the doorframe. Travis tried to twist away
from the attacker, but one of those powerful hands snaked out with
impossible speed and contacted the back of his head.

Travis went limp and collapsed to the floor.

Grace screamed. Travis wasn't moving. Was he dead? Or was he just dying,
his life slipping away every second as fluid filled his cranial cavity,
or broken shards of his occipital bone pressed into the back of his
brain? She tried to crawl toward him, but black boots stood in her way.

Grace craned her head up. The man in the black robe towered over her. He
had freed his knife and had wrapped both

471

of his strong hands around it. The tip was aimed directly at her face.
She knew the speed with which he could move. There was no point in
trying to get away.

I'm coming, Leon.

Another flash cleaved the gloom. The knife slipped from the attacker's
hands, and his head lolled to one side. Grace frowned. Why was he
hesitating? Then the attacker's hooded head rolled off his shoulders and
tumbled to the floor with a wet thud. His body fell like a tree before
her, and she watched dark gore pump from the stump of his neck.

"My lady, are you well?"

She looked up at the sound of the voice. Another figure stood above her

now, clad in somber gray. His face was hard as stone, angry as wind, but
even in the darkness she could see the concern in his brown eyes. He
lowered his gigantic sword, and blood ran down its edge.

The word she gasped was a litany of surprise, gratitude, and relief.
"Durge."

He reached down and helped her to her feet. "Travis," she said. "He's hurt."

Even as she spoke the word the others were there. Beltan rushed into the
room and knelt beside Travis. Melia and Falken stood in the doorway.

"How is he?" the small woman said. Her amber eyes shone in the gloom, as
bright as the eyes of the frightened kitten she held in her arms.

"Ouch," Travis said as Beltan helped him sit up. He clutched a hand to
the back of his head. "Who put the floor where the wall is supposed to be?"

Beltan's grin shone in the darkness. "I think he's all right, thank
Vathris."

"Thank his hard head, I should think," Melia said.

"You were right, Durge," Falken said as he stepped into the chamber.

Grace glanced at the Embarran knight. "Right? About what?"

"I grew concerned about you while we were at the feast, iffy lady,"
Durge said. "You have been attacked once before. And while all the
castle was at a revel seemed an opportune time for another attempt. I
would have come sooner, but it Was not so easy to extricate myself from
King Sorrin's com

472 MARK ANTHONY

pany. One of his personal guard was not to be found this evening, and
the king fears to be without a number of knights around him. I am sorry
I did not come sooner."

Despite her still-pounding heart, she smiled. "But you did come, Durge."

He bowed deep before her.

Falken stirred the fire. Flames filled the room with light. Beltan
helped Travis up onto the bed. The blond knight's face was troubled.

"And I am sorry as well, Travis. It seems I'm always away when those in
my care are in danger."

"No, Beltan." Travis's voice was hoarse but emphatic. "You were exactly
where you needed to be, with Melia. You're her Knight Protector."

Beltan clenched his jaw but said nothing. Melia drew near to examine
Travis's head.

"I think you'll survive, Travis. But you have a lump the size of Galt
growing back there. Lady Grace should take a look at it."

Grace started to move toward the bed, then halted. The corpse of their
attacker was in her way. Falken knelt beside the body and rolled it over.

"So who was this?" the bard said.

Melia pointed to the head. "I think the part over there might be of more
use in answering that."

Falken grunted, then picked at the hood that tangled around the severed
head to expose the face. It was harsh and craggy, with dull brown eyes.
Grace did not know him.

"Medarr," Durge said like he was chewing stones. The others looked up at
the knight.

"You know this man, Durge?" Falken said.

"So this is where King Sorrin's missing knight was," the Embarran said
with a sigh.

Melia gazed at the head, and her eyes narrowed to slits. "You mean this
man was a member of Sorrin's personal guard? But why would he attack
Grace, and while wearing the robes of a Raven cultist?"

"Not just the robes." Falken had turned over the dead man's forearm. The
puckered brand stood out against his white skin. "He's a member of the
Raven Cult all right. a at least he was." "a

473

"Are there any other marks?" Melia said.

Falken pulled open the robe that covered the corpse. "No. He looks like
he's been in some battles, though. There's a nasty scar on his chest,
but other than-"

"Stop!" Grace shouted as Falken started to pull the robe closed again.

The others stared at her. Falken snatched his hand from the-corpse. She
didn't want to see this, but she made herself gaze down at the body. The
scar was thick and pink, and snaked down the center of his bare chest.
She had seen a scar just like it once before.

"Cut him open," she said.

Melia's visage grew concerned. "What are you talking about, dear?"

"Do it, Durge." Now Grace's voice was calm, emotionless, a doctor giving
orders in a trauma room. "Cut open his chest."

"My lady," the knight said, "perhaps you should-" "Give me your sword,
then. I'll do it." Before he could react she snatched the blade from his
hands. It was heavy. She dragged it clumsily to the body.

"No, Grace, don't do it," Travis said in a sick voice, but she ignored him.

She had to know, she had to be sure. The others faded away, along with
the room. It was only her and the corpse. She rested the tip of the
sword on his chest, then leaned on the hilt with all her weight. Ribs
crunched as the blade sank into his body. She worked it back and forth,
then cast it .aside and sank to her knees beside the cadaver. With her
bare 'hands she reached into the incision and pulled. It was hard to get

a grip, the ribs were too strong. She needed leverage. `There, the
attacker's knife. She picked it up from the floor, Wedged it in the
incision, and gave an expert tug, opening up gap in his chest. Black
blood flowed out.

"By all the gods!" Falken swore.

"I don't understand," Beltan said, his voice tight. "What is

trace whispered the words, a terrible diagnosis. "It's a it made out of
iron."

he dropped the knife. Strong hands helped her to her feet.

474

Durge. Her own hands were covered with blood. All eyes were on Grace now.

"What's going on, Grace?" Travis said, his face pale with pain and fear.

Grace opened her mouth, but Falken spoke first.

"You heard my tale at the council," the bard said. "How the Pale King
had a heart forged of iron. What I did not tell was that Berash gave his
slaves enchanted hearts of iron as well, to bind them to him."

Melia's eyes were thoughtful on Grace. "How did you know of the
ironhearts, dear?"

She took in a shuddering breath. How could she explain it all, that
night in the ED when everything had changed? "I've seen one before. On
Earth."

"But how could one of Sorrin's personal knights be a servaht of the Pale
King?" Beltan said.

Durge stroked his mustaches. "And why would a slave of Berash wear the
robes of a Raven cultist?"

"Don't you see, Durge?" It was Travis. He stood now, as if forgetting
the blow to his head. "The Raven Cult is linked to the Pale King. Which
means it's the Pale King that's behind the murder plot in the castle."

Falken raised an eyebrow. "Murder plot?"

Grace and the other members of the Circle of the Black

Knife exchanged guilty looks.

"I think some people have a bit of explaining to do,"

said in a crisp voice. Then her gaze fell back to the corpse, and her
words grew soft. "But that can wait until the morning light."

"We'll have to tell the council about this," Falken said. Melia glanced
at the bard. "And what will we tell them?" The bard drew in a deep
breath. "That the Pale King is even closer to freedom than we feared."

Grace shivered at the bard's words, and she knew there

was no magic-in this or any world-that could have

warmed the terrible chill inside her.

475 PART

476

477

Grace gazed out the window of her chamber at the iron-gray dawn and knew
she had to tell King Boreas everything.

She turned from the window, shivered, drank some of the maddok a
servingwoman had brought at first light, then dressed before the fire.
Lately she had worn the brighter gowns in her wardrobe: amethyst, ruby,
jade. She had gotten too good at donning the garb of this world-she had
let the costume grow too comfortable. Today she chose a plain,
uncomfortable gown the same color as the mist that shrouded Calavere's
towers. If she could have found her old chinos and white blouse, if they
had not been burned to ashes, she would have worn them.

Don't forget who you are, Grace Beckett. You couldn't cure all the
suffering in one Emergency Department in one middling-sized city. You
couldn't even come close. What makes you think you alone could heal an
entire world?

She stepped away from the fire, looked up, and saw a ghost through the
window: pale and translucent, gown merging With the fog in which she
drifted, green-gold eyes bright in her hollow visage. Grace studied the
ghost. Once, in the ED, a hysterical man had claimed he had seen Senora
Blanca, the .Lady in White, and that he was doomed to die before the

ght was over. At seven thirty tests had shown him to be in

478

good health. At three minutes to midnight Grace had called his time of
death.

She met the ghost's ethereal eyes. Maybe she should have been afraid.
Instead she grinned, and the ghost grinned back at her, the expression
cadaverous yet gleeful. But then, how could you be afraid when the only
thing haunting you was yourself? Grace finished her maddok, set down the
cup, and walked from the chamber to meet her doom.

"Good morrow, my lady."

The voice was deep and gloomy, and it made Grace smile like no cheerful
greeting could have.

"Durge. Did you stand here all night?"

"No, my lady. I occupied myself for a time by pacing." Grace examined
Durge's weathered face: It was etched with lines, but no more than
usual. When did the knight sleep? She didn't know, but she was grateful
for his presence. It seemed unlikely the Raven Cult would make an
attempt on her life twice in one night-but then it seemed unlikely they
would want her death at all.

"What service may I do for you, my lady?" "You can go get some rest,
Durge. Please." "There will be time for that later."

The voice that came from her lips was automatic, the drone of an
overworked doctor. "Prolonged deprivation of sleep can cause
hallucinations and feelings of extreme euphoria."

"Flights of fancy and bliss?" Durge said in a chiding voice. "My lady, I
am a knight of Embarr."

She bit her lip. What was she thinking? "I'm sorry, Durge. Yes, there is
something you can do. Go to the Lady Aryn and bring her to King Boreas's
chamber."

The knight -bowed, then without question turned and strode down the
passageway. Grace pressed her eyes shut. She didn't deserve such
loyalty. One day I'll give him an order that kills him. No, she couldn't
think like that. Durge was not just her Knight Protector. He was her
friend. She opened her eyes and hurried down the corridor.

When she knocked on the door at which she had stopped, it was Falken who
answered.

The bard's face was haggard, his blue eyes more faded than,

479

ever. All the same, he managed a smile. "Lady Grace. I trust you had no
more visitations since we last met."

"Only Durge. He spent the entire night outside my door." "Good," Beltan
said. The blond man stood behind the bard. His face was grim, but in his
hand, instead of a sword, he held a hunk of brown bread.

Falken gave Grace a wink. "We had a doorstop of our own last night. I
think it's all that chain mail. It makes them want to just stand in one
place and not move."

Grace clapped a hand to her mouth to keep from laughing. "I heard that!"
Beltan said. He stuffed more bread into his mouth.

"No wonder knights have to wear armor," Melia said. "They're awfully
sensitive."

The small woman stood near the fire. Travis sat in a chair before her.
She dipped a cloth in a bowl of hot water dotted with herbs and pressed
it against the back of Travis's head. He winced in pain.

"How is he?" Grace said.

"The bloodbane you gave me is working. The swelling is going down. I
believe he'll live."

Travis grimaced. "That's your opinion, Melia."

"Yes, dear," Melia said. "And remember, it's the only opinion that counts."

"Are you going somewhere, Lady Grace?" Falken said. She turned to face
the bard. "Yes, Falken, I am. And I was hoping you all would come with me."

He raised an eyebrow, and the others gazed at her in curiosity.

Ten minutes later they halted at the closed door of King Boreas's
bedchamber. Aryn and Durge were already there. The baroness regarded
Grace and her entourage with puzzled blue eyes. Her gown was on crooked
and her hair tousled.

"Grace," she said with a yawn. "What is going on?" Grace swallowed hard.
There was no backing out now. ,!We're all going to have a chat with the
king."

Aryn's sleepy eyes grew large.

Melia regarded Grace. "And what exactly are we going to dell him, Lady
Grace?"

480

There was a moment of perfect silence, then a half-dozen voices began
speaking at once.

Grace held up her hands. "Please, everyone, listen to me." The others
fell silent and looked at her. Grace hadn't really expected that to
work. Now that she had their attention, she supposed she had no choice
but to talk.

"I know I was the one who didn't want to speak to Boreas before. But
that was before we knew what . . . what we learned last night." She
glanced at Falken and Melia. "There are some things we need to tell both
of you as well. You'll hear it when we talk to the king. But I had
reason to believe Boreas might be behind the plot to murder one of the
other kings or queens in the castle, only now we know he isn't. It's

been the Pale King all along."

"Murder?" said a gruff voice. "The Pale King? Of what do you speak, my
lady?"

As one they turned to stare at the speaker. He stood in the now-open
doorway, clad only in a white nightshirt that reached to his knees. His
steely eyes were locked on Grace They were not furious, as she might
have expected. Instead they were thoughtful and-she almost could
believe-sad.

"Your Majesty!" she said. "I didn't know you were awake yet."

"And who could sleep when there's a revel going on outside his door?" He
eyed the others gathered behind Grace. "I see you and my ward have
developed the same ill taste in friends as my beloved nephew."

Grace started to stutter an apology, but Boreas waved her words away.
"Enough, my lady. You've sounded the trumpet, it's too late to call off
the charge. Come in. Or are you going to make your enemy stand here and
freeze his sword and jewels as an added insult?"

Grace ducked her head. "Of course not, Your Majesty." She followed him
into the room, and the others came after. The king's bedchamber was
neither larger nor more comfortable than her own, although the bed was
so mas;

sive-the posts hewn from great logs of oak-that it lc as defensible as a
small hill fort.

"So what do you have to tell me, my lady?"

Even as Boreas spoke his question he turned, hiked u front of his
nightshirt, braced his muscular legs, and

481

ceeded to fill a brass chamber pot. If he had meant the action to disarm
her, to throw her off-balance, he had failed. Grace had emptied more
bedpans in her first year of residency than he could have filled in a
decade.

She approached his back. "There is a plot in Calavere to murder one of
the rulers attending the Council of Kings." He finished his business and
turned to regard her, as if she

were the only one in the room. "How long have you known this?"

She did not flinch. "For several days now, Your Majesty." "And why did
you not tell me before? Are you not my spy, Your Radiance?"

"I did not tell you because I feared you might be the one behind the
plot, Your Majesty."

Grace tensed her shoulders. She expected the king to react with rage, to
bear down on her, to grab her with his strong hands and toss her aside
or tear her into small pieces. After the way she had betrayed him, it
might almost have been a relief.

Instead he grinned at her. "Good, my lady. Very good! I am a skilled
judge of character, but you are even better at this game than I guessed
you would be."

She had been ready for fury. His laughter took her aback. "Your Majesty?"

"Don't you see it, my lady? A good spy dismisses no suspicion, no
possibility, until proven otherwise. You did well not to assume I was
innocent until you had proof of the matter. There are others who could
learn much from you."

His eyes flickered to Aryn, and his ward blushed.

"But tell me, Lady Spy," Boreas said. "Now that you know I am not behind
this plot in my castle, who is?"

Grace licked her lips. "The Raven Cult and the Pale King." Boreas
stroked his black beard. "So, you believe the bard, then?"

Falken stepped forward and started to speak, but Grace shook her head.

' "No, Falken. Please, let me tell him. I need to do it." The bard met
her gaze, then nodded. She drew in a deep Bath and stepped closer to the
king of Calavan.

"You're right, Your Majesty. I am a good spy, even though I er imagined
I could be. I've learned 'a lot these last weeks,

482

and one thing I've learned is not to disbelieve something just because
others discount it. Whatever you think about Falken's tale, I've seen
the proof, and so have all of my

so have all of my friends. I know the Pale King is real." Boreas
returned her defiant gaze with one of calm understanding. "I never said
I did not believe in the Pale King, my lady."

Grace was not the only one who drew in a breath of shock. Boreas
frowned. "You needn't all act so surprised. Or do you really think your
king is so thick in. the head?" He moved from Grace, toward the fire,
and knelt to stroke one of the black mastiffs who slept before the
hearth. "I know of the Pale King. Why do you think I called the
council?" He let out a snort. "Because I'm afraid of ragged robbers as
Eminda says?"

Grace shook her head. She could not imagine Boreas afraid of any mere
mortal.

The king stood and faced the bard. "After that last time you were here,
Falken Blackhand, I did not-as you would think it-mindlessly dismiss
your warning that darkness stirred in Falengarth. I had seen the signs
myself, and I did some investigating of my own. I could not be certain,
not until you showed the broken rune to the council, but as soon as you
did I knew my belief was right, that the Pale King gathered his power
again."

Falken clenched his black-gloved hand into a fist. "If you believed me,
why didn't you say something to the council?" Boreas planted his hands
on lean hips. "And how well do

you think it would have served me to ally myself with the Grim Bard
after his outburst? How much sway would I have held over the council
then? The news you brought helped me, Falken-it let me know I had chosen
right to call the council-but your performance set back my plan to
convince the council to muster for war, perhaps without hope of
recovery. Although Lady Grace's news, dire as it is, might offer some
new hope for uniting the council."

Falken opened his mouth, but no words came out. For the first time Grace
could remember, the bard was speechless. Grace's eyes moved back to
Boreas. Even in his nightshirt, with his hair wild from sleep, he looked
powerful and

483

kingly. A warrior, yes, but not a madman-she knew that now.

The king turned his attention to Grace. "Well, you've managed to
surprise me, my lady, and that's no easy thing to do. It never even
occurred to me that your spying would actually turn up useful information."

She gaped at him. "What?"

Boreas laughed. "Come now, Lady Grace-surely you don't think you're the
only one who can keep a secret? My hope was that, if you made yourself
enough of a nuisance with your prying, you might force someone to reveal
his hand unwittingly. If you poke a man's sore spot, he will likely

flinch. But it turns out you're a more effective spy than I counted on."

Grace had no idea what to say. All this time she had been spying for
nothing? Except it wasn't for nothing after all .. .

The king's face grew grim. "I will say, my lady, this is news about the
Raven Cult. I knew the Mysteries of the Raven had gained a foothold in
Calavan. I did not know the cult was allied with the Pale King."

"It is." Grace drew in a deep breath. It was time to tell him the rest.
All of it. His plan had worked-her spying had forced someone's hand.
"And there's more, Your Majesty. You see, I've been-"

With a flick of his finger he cut her off. "No, my lady, I do not wish
to hear everything. A spy knows what to tell and what not. Too much
knowledge can be a harm, not a help. I know all I need to now. I will
have an end put to the Raven Cult, and to the plot in my castle."

There were sparks in Boreas's eyes and flint in his voice. This was the
king Grace knew.

"Now," Boreas said, and his voice edged into a roar, "all of -you get
out of my chamber!"

Grace leaped back, then gave a hasty curtsy. The others followed suit
with curtsies and bows-even the Lady Melia-then all hurried from the
chamber and left the king to his hounds and his privacy.

The door shut with a boom. "Now what?" Travis said.

Grace didn't have an answer for that. She had not thought

484

beyond telling Boreas about the murder plot. It seemed the king had
taken matters into his own hands. Maybe that was the end-maybe she was
done with this.

Melia tapped a cheek. "Breakfast, I think. Shall we all come to my chamber?"

The others agreed to this, with Beltan's affirmation being particularly
hearty. Together the seven started down the corridor. Strange that Grace
should find more companionship here than she ever had in her own world.
Strange, but it felt right all the same.

Their course took them past the keep's entrance hall. They passed
through the hall and were nearly to the other side when the keep's main
doors swung open. A wintry blast snatched at Grace's gown. The others
grabbed at dresses, capes, or tunics, then the doors shut, and the
hurricane ceased. Grace batted her gown back into place and looked up to
see a motley troupe of characters stride into the keep.

Yes, characters. That's exactly what they look like. Characters from a play.

They were dressed in outlandish costumes. Leaves tangled the hair of the
women. The men wore shaggy trousers. An old man in white tossed dried
petals on the floor like snow.

A frown touched Aryn's brow. "Oh dear, they're early. Wherever will we
put them?"

Grace glanced at her friend. "Early? You mean you were expecting them?"

The baroness nodded. "They're actors. King Boreas hired them. Their
troupe is going to perform a play at the Midwinter's Eve Feast. But
that's a week away, and here they are already."

Actors? Grace watched the peculiar troupe pass by. They turned a corner,
and as they did she saw one among them she had not noticed before. He
was a tiny man, barely more than three feet high, dressed in yellow and
green. The man didn't show the usual signs of achondroplasia, and he was
well proportioned. Pituitary dwarfism, then.

Grace heard a hiss of breath beside her, and she turned her head. Travis
stared at the little man, his expression one Of astonishment.

"Trifkin Mossberry!" he whispered.

Even as Travis said these words the small man turned in

485

their direction and tipped his feathered cap-although he was too far
away to possibly have heard.

Before Grace could wonder more, the small man and the actors vanished
through an archway, leaving the entrance hall cold and empty.

87.

This time the Circle of the Black Knife met by daylight. They gathered
again in the old watchtower. It was late

afternoon, but the mist of that morning had not broken and still cloaked
the world outside. A small fireplace-empty now-would have offered the
sentinels of long ago warmth as.they kept watch from this place for
enemies. Travis gazed at the fireplace and wondered if it would be used
again before long.

Beltan was the last to arrive.

"I'm sorry I'm late." The blond man shut the door, his Chain mail jingling.

-. Durge studied the other's armor. "Why are you fully .armed, brother
knight?" The Embarran was clad in his usual smoke-colored tunic and hose.

- Travis watched the two men. Each time he saw them, he was struck by
the difference in the knights: one dark and grim, the other bright and
jovial. Like night and day-no, more like boar and lion. Each dangerous
in his own way. He 'Was glad the two were on their side.

Furrows dug themselves in Beltan's high forehead. "I'm afraid I've been
conscripted by my uncle. He's placed me in Charge of security in the
castle. We're searching for any Raven cultists in Calavere and purging
them. We've found several already today."

1. Purging them. Travis had an idea what that meant. He [eyed Beltan's
sword and shivered. The blond man was alWays so kind, but Travis had
seen the scars the knight bore.

Beltan sighed. "I know it needs to be done, but I can't say I e for this
job. We're supposed to be looking for murderers, so far all the cultists
we've found have been simple -poor, or sick, or desperate. They don't
understand

486

what's behind the Raven Cult. They're just out of hope, and they're
looking for something-anything-that can offer some."

Travis stared at the knight. Maybe he had misjudged his friend.

"You could have told Boreas no," Grace said.

Beltan shook his head. "I might have, but Melia and Falken asked me to
do it as well, though I'm not sure why.Travis didn't really mean to
speak the words aloud, but he

did. "Maybe because they knew you wouldn't punish those who were only
guilty of hoping, Beltan."

The big knight glanced at Travis, his expression startled, then he
nodded. He did not smile, but the shadow lifted from his brow.

Now that they were all here, the five counterconspirators got down to
the matter at hand. Aryn had met again with the king, along with Lord
Alerain. She explained that, after their morning encounter with him,
Boreas had concocted a plan to shift the various kings and queens from
bedchamber to bed. chamber that night, and each night thereafter. That
way no one-including the Raven Cult-could be certain in which room a
particular ruler might be staying.

Alerain was organizing the effort, and at Boreas's request the seneschal
had not explained to any of the rulers the real reason they were being
moved from room to room. The king of Calavan had not yet informed the
council about the murder plot. Instead, he was waiting until the
would-be murderers were caught. Then he could present the plotters to
the council and, hopefully, use the victory to sway the council's
decision. Alerain had devised a reason to convince each ruler to move to
a new chamber. The stories ranged from leaky ceilings and crumbling
walls to rats under the bed. The plan had worked so far-the rulers would
all have new chambers tonight-but Aryn doubted Boreas and Alerain could
keep it up for long. The plotters had to be found, and before time ran out.

"So, what does the Circle do now?" Beltan said.

Grace met his eyes. "We look for the wounded conspirator in the castle.
I saw the one strike the other in my vision. And Travis and I saw the
blood on the snow at the circle of stones, leading back toward Calavere."

487

Durge stroked his mustaches. "So if we can find someone in the castle
who was wounded yesterday-"

"-we have the conspirator," Travis said.

Aryn chewed her lip. "I usually hear about it when someone in the
household is hurt. And there were several injuries yesterday. A
servingwoman in the scullery was burned by a pot of hot water. And the

apprentice to the castle farrier was kicked by a horse." She frowned.
"Oh, yes-and Lord Olstin called for a chirurgeon, although he would not
tell me the reason w y.

Beltan let out a snort. "I think I can save us some trouble. If that
bowl of pudding Olstin is one of the murderers, I'll eat my chain mail."

"No, don't discount him," a hard voice said.

The others looked up. It was Grace. Her face was a white mask, her eyes
distant.

"One Raven cultist was an ironheart," she said. "Others could be, too.
You can't know. You can't possibly know who might be one . . . one of
them. It could be anyone-the plainest person you would never suspect.
There's only one way to be sure. One way." She shuddered, then her gaze
focused on the others. "I'm sorry, I ..."

"No, my lady," Beltan said. "I'm the one who's sorry. You're right. We
can't discount anyone."

Aryn sighed. "But if that's the case, how are we ever going to find the
wounded conspirator-"

"You must remember the words of Gloaming Wood," a piping voice spoke.

Travis and Grace whirled around. Before them stood a small man clad in
yellow trousers and a green jacket. His face was brown as sun-dried
berries, and his dark eyes snapped with mischief-as well as something
deeper and more perilous.

"Trifkin Mossberry," Travis murmured. Grace glanced at Travis. "You know
him?"

The small man stroked his beardless chin. "We have met before, I think.
Have we not?"

Travis could only nod. He would never forget that night in King Kel's
keep when he spied Trifkin and his troupe through the keyhole. And now
they were here in Calavere.

But what did they want?

488

"To perform a play, of course," Trifkin said. "And to help you."

"To help us? How?" Trifkin only smiled.

Grace crouched and brought her eyes on a level with the little man's.
"What do you mean, 'the words of Gloaming Wood'? "

"One may not be what one seems," the little man said. "Then again, one
may not seem what one doth be."

"I don't understand," Grace said. "What are you talking about?"

Trifkin smiled again.

Grace's green-gold eyes bored into the little man. "Who are you?"

"The darkness is here," Trifkin whispered.

Bells shimmered on the air, and the little man was gone. Grace stood and
looked at Travis, her mouth open. He shook his head. What had just
happened? He didn't know. Or did he? Did both of them?

"-who's hiding in the castle," Aryn said.

Travis and Grace turned and stared at the others. Beltan frowned at
them. "Is something wrong?"

Aryn's and Durge's expressions mirrored the blond knight's concern.
Travis realized the truth. None of them had seen the little man in green
and yellow. At least a minute had passed for Grace and Travis, but to
the others it had been a heartbeat or less.

Travis glanced at Grace. She reached out and took his hand in hers. He
nodded and looked back at the others. "There's something we have to tell
you," he said.

The next morning, Travis rose in the colorless light before dawn,
shrugged on his tunic, wrapped his cloak around his shaking body, and
trudged to the tower of the Runespeakers.

Jervis was in a fouler mood than usual, and the list of runes he gave
Travis was endless. By late afternoon Travis

489

he allowed to leave without doing the rest.

sporting an obvious bandage, and there wasn't enough time turn to the
chamber he shared with Melia and Falken and

than ever, and these days he didn't have much more fat

He was nearly there when a drab flutter of movement The corridor and
pounded through the open archway. On the

caught his eye. He turned in time to see a lumpy shape

"Hey!'" he called out.

Travis hesitated, then groaned. He launched himself down

other side was a room with three doors. All were shut. He started toward
the closest door, then changed his course and moved to another. There.
He plucked a bit of rag from the

A flash of gray down a side passage. "Wait!" he shouted.

gier wrapped in gray tatters scuttle through a distant archway.

way he had run her down that last time.

"Please, wait a second!"

she did not hear him or did not care to. She disapaxed around a corner.
He careened down the side passage,

was just half-finished, and only because of Rin's influence boas

He headed back to the keep and, along with the other casae folk, found
something to eat in the great hall-bread, allow cheese in a hard rind,
raisins with seeds in them, and $ slice of tough but edible venison. It
wasn't baked brie and toast rounds, but he was getting used to the food
of this world. And getting leaner as well. His green tunic was bagon him
than did the stag he had just eaten part of.

By the time he finished chewing the venison it was dusk. However, night
came prematurely this deep in winter. The Circle of the Black Knife
wouldn't meet for hours yet. Not that he had much to report. No one in
the great hall was to begin a serious search of the castle. Travis
decided to respend the interim trying to get warm by the fire.

hinge. She had gone this way. He threw open the door and ran down the
corridor beyond.

Why was he doing this? He didn't even have the filthy little bundle she
had dropped-he had left it in his room, tender his bed. But if he could
catch her, he could tell her to wait, then could go fetch it for her. He
didn't know why he cared so much. Only that she had made him feel so
small for the

Either riled the same corner, and ran full speed

490

-into a gray-haired man clad in black and maroon. "Ouch," Travis said
and stumbled back.

The man reached a hand toward him. "Do you need help, Master Travis?"

As always, Lord Alerain was trim and neat in his under. stated attire.
His graying hair and beard were both closely cropped.

Travis drew in a breath. "I'm looking for-" For what? He couldn't very
well say he was looking for a mad old hag who had dropped a piece of
what was most likely trash. "-pm looking for Lord Beltan. Have you seen
him?"

"Indeed I have, just a few minutes ago. He was in the west hall. If you
follow this corridor to the end and take the stairs down, you'll find
it." The seneschal started to move away, then paused. "You are his
friend, aren't you, Master Travis?"

This question took Travis by surprise. "You mean Beltan? Yes. At least,
I hope we are."

Alerain nodded. "I am glad. He needs friends like you, to remind him he
is a good man."

"What do you mean?"

Alerain moved to a window. The world outside was silver in the gloaming.

"I love this view. It's my favorite in all of Calavere. It looks
straight into the heart of Calavan. Everything you see lies within the
Dominion. It makes me feel . . ." He sighed and turned to look at

Travis. "Beltan is kind, and given to laughter rather than anger. In
that he is unlike his father, old King Beldreas. And so he thinks he is
not as strong as Beldreas was." He shook his head. "Beltan might have
made a bid for the throne, you know. Many of the barons would have
supported him."

Travis thought about these words. "Beltan is strong," he said.

Alerain nodded. "I know that, and so does King Boreas. Perhaps you can
help Beltan believe the same. I've tried, but I'm afraid ..."

He gazed back out the window. Travis frowned. The king's seneschal
seemed different from usual, more melancholy. At that moment Alerain
reminded Travis of his friend Jack Graystone, but he couldn't say
exactly why.

491

Travis took a step toward the seneschal. "Are you well, Lord Alerain?" A
smile touched Alerain's lips. It seemed a bitter expression. "Am I well?
Yes, Master Travis, I am well. I will always be well." He gazed back out
the window. "No harm can come to me now."

Travis bit his lip, unsure what to say. What was the seneschal talking
about?

Alerain stepped from the window, squared his shoulders, and was his
crisp self once again. "You had best go, Master Travis. I imagine Lord
Beltan is awaiting you."

Travis bade Alerain farewell, then turned and headed to his chamber. And
although he spent the next hour sitting by the fire, for some reason he
could not seem to get warm.

89.

Grace stood before the window in her chamber and gazed out at the
failing day. She turned a small vial over and over in her hands. The
green fluid within glinted like a liquid emerald. She didn't need to
taste it to know she had gotten the simple right this time. She could
feel it. One sip would bring down a fever. Three would induce vomiting
and hallucinations.

You're getting good at this, Grace. Too good . . .

She was to meet with Ivalaine again that evening. So far, in the course
of her studies, she had still not brought herself to ask the queen
directly about the Council of Kings. There had not been time with the
intense pace of her learning-at least, that was what she had told
herself. But the council was to meet again the next day, to begin a new
reckoning, and Ivalaine held the key. Her decision could tip the council
in either direction. Grace had to find out what she wanted. What the
Witches wanted .. .

A hard rap sounded on her door.

Grace nearly dropped the vial, then fumbled and slipped it to the pouch
at her waist. She turned to face the door. "Come in," she managed to say.

Y:. It was not, as she had feared, Queen Ivalaine striding into

492

her chamber in a cool fury, magically aware of Grace's intention to
question her. Instead she came with timid steps, her head down low, her
brown hair hiding her face-a young woman in the ashen dress of a serving
maid.

Grace didn't recall requesting a servant. "Can I help you?" "Aye, I hope
so, my lady."

The young woman lifted her head, and Grace recognized her. It was Adira,
the serving maid she had saved from Lord Olstin's wrath. Adira, from
whose lips Grace had first heard the word witch. That day she had been
proud and bold. Now her face was smudged with grime and tears. Outrage
replaced Grace's surprise.

"Adira, has Lord Olstin ..."

The serving maid shook her head. "Nay, my lady. It isn't that." Despite
her tears, her full lips curved upward in a smile. "I think you taught
Lord Olstin a lesson he won't soon forget. A woman need never submit
herself to a man's will. You showed me that, my lady."

Grace lifted a hand to the bodice of her gown. Could she really have
made such a difference in another's life-not with a scalpel but with
mere words?

"It's my brother I have come to see you about." Now the smile vanished
from Adira's lips. "He's ill, my lady, terribly ill, and Vayla says he
is beyond her help. I heard ... I heard you are a healer. And you have
been studying with the Witch queen of Toloria. I know-I've seen you two
together."

Grace's shock was renewed.

"Please, my lady." Adira was sobbing now. She knelt and clutched the hem
of Grace's gown. "Please, won't you come help us?"

Grace gazed down at Adira. The sultry young woman who had professed her
desire to be a witch was nowhere to be seen. At Grace's feet was a
frightened child.

She can't be more than seventeen, Grace. And she's terrified. Help her.
Grace's shock dissolved. She knew what she had to do-she always did when
someone was dying. Her woolen cloak lay across a chair where she had
thrown it earlier, warming by the fire as if she had known she would
need it. She tossed it around her shoulders.

"Let's go," she said.

Ten minutes later they halted in the cold mud of the lowe

493

bailey. Before them opened the shadowed mouth of the gatehouse, and
beyond were the gates of Calavere. Grace glanced at Adira in confusion.

"My brother lies in our house, in the town below." Inwardly Grace kicked
herself. In the urgency of the situation it had never occurred to her to

ask where Adira's brother was. She had assumed he was somewhere in the
castle.

The young woman tugged at her cloak. "Come, my lady. We must hurry if
you are to return ere they close the gates." Adira's tears had dried,
and her cheeks were rosy from

their swift pace. Her terror seemed to have vanished. Perhaps the
serving maid had learned some tricks of her own. Grace gave a jerky nod.
What was she doing? But there was

no time to think of an answer as Adira pulled her down the dim tunnel.
They passed a pair of men-at-arms, who bowed as Grace passed, then the
castle walls fell away behind them, and they were half walking, half
running down the rutted dirt track that wound its way around Calavere's
high hill. Grace nearly fell as they stumbled down a steep stretch of
the path, then they rounded a sharp turn, and the town came into view.

It was hard from the haze of blue smoke to be sure just

how large the town was. Grace guessed there to be five hundred
structures, some of stone and slate, most of wood and thatch, which
meant perhaps two thousand people. It did not

seem much of a city to be associated with the seat of the most powerful
of the Dominions. Then again, Grace knew this was a land of castles and
fiefdoms, not cities and highways. Most of the people would live in
small villages scattered across the land, and most of them would die
without traveling ten miles from the place of their birth. Only a few
Would live in the towns that grew up around the keeps of lords and
knights and barons, or that sprung up like mushat busy crossroads. They
were trading markets and

eligi

"P Please, my lady. We have to hurry. Please."

Urgency had returned to Adira's round face. Perhaps her

ing maid.

ous centers, that was all.

had not been feigned entirely. Grace followed after the ey crossed a
footbridge over a brook that tumbled down

494

from the hill, then set foot in the town. Grace gagged and clamped a
hand to her mouth. She had thought herself accustomed to the smells of
this world, but she was wrong. The odors of neither ED nor castle
compared to this.

"Come, my lady. Come."

Grace almost couldn't do it. Then she remembered there was a sick man in
the midst of this. She clutched the edge of her cloak to her mouth and
stumbled on.

Twilight filtered down from the sky like soot, and the town was a dim

blur. There was no reason to the streets. They zigged left and right,
ended abruptly, turned to alleys where the two women could barely walk
single file between wooden walls, then widened into broad cesspools.

At first there were few people, then they came upon a town square. There
was a stone well. Sheep milled about, along with people in rough, filthy
tunics. Their faces were pockmarked, their backs stooped, their hands
gnarled and missing fingers. Even that time in Appalachia she had not
seen squalor like this.

And this is the most prosperous of the Dominions, Grace. Adira dragged
her across the square. Brown rivulets trickled through the mud. The reek
that rose from them was a living thing, thick and suffocating, and
stabbed at the primal core of Grace's brain, triggering alarms more
ancient than any castle: the scent of human feces. It was too much. Her
stomach clenched, sour fire burned her throat. She turned; leaned
against a wall, and vomited into an open gutter.

"It's all right, my lady," Adira said, soft and slightly mocking. "It's
only the stench of the sewer. Come, it will be better indoors."

Grace managed to stand up, then wiped her mouth with the back of her
hand and nodded.

"Take me to your brother," she said.

She felt better by the time they came to a small hovel near the far edge
of the town. It was barely a shack, with walls of thin planks and a
lean-to of daub and wattle slumped against one side. Chickens pecked in
the bare dirt around the house They were scrawny and bedraggled things.
Grace wondered what use they could possibly be.

Adira opened a door, and Grace followed. The air inside

495

was thick with smoke. The only light came from a feeble fire.

"I've brought her, Vayla."

The serving maid moved to the other side of the room. only then did
Grace see the narrow cot. A young man, no more than a year or two older
than Adira, lay on the cot, his eyes closed. Another figure hunched over
him. This one looked up at Adira's words.

"So the duchess descended from the castle, did she?" The voice was like
the smoke from the fire-harsh and acrid. ,will she command his fever to
be gone, then?"

"She's more than that, Vayla. She's a healer, and she studies with the
Tolorian queen."

A snort was the only reply.

Adira motioned for Grace to come closer, but Grace stood paralyzed. She
should not be here, she should run back to the castle as fast as she
could, before they shut the gates and she was trapped out here. Then she
remembered the sick man. Terror melted away, and she approached the bed.
She was aware of eyes peering at her through the slit of a curtain. The
rest of Adira's family. They were afraid of her. Good. It would keep

them out of her way. She reached the edge of the cot.

"What's wrong with him?" Grace said.

"What? Can you not tell merely by looking at him, Duchess?"

Grace winced at the harshness of the voice. In the castle, a servant who
spoke to a noble like that would have been beaten, or worse.

But you're not in the castle, Grace. You're not even a duchess.

She pulled back the blanket and examined the man. He was naked beneath
the rough covers, his skin waxy with sweat. He was small, no more than
sixty-two inches, but obviously fully grown. The greater size of men
compared to "women was an artifact of good nutrition. In a stressed
population, males were seldom much larger than females. Grace Made a
catalog in her mind.

White male, approximately nineteen, unconscious and alnourished.
Skeletal evidence of rickets as a child. Badly but healed breaks to the
proximal right ulna, distal left

496

radius, medial left clavicle. Mass of scar tissue from a burn on the
left lateral abdomen.

Had this man come into the ED, Grace would have thought him a product of
an abusive childhood, or a kid from the streets. If he was under
eighteen, she would have called Social Services. Here he was a normal
man with people who cared about him. Everyone in this world lived this
way, or at least the commoners. Anger flooded Grace's stomach. What kind
of hell was this?

A gnarled hand placed a warm cloth on the young man's forehead. A sharp
scent rose from it. Grace knew it from her studies. The cloth had been
steeped in mourner's wreath. She could almost smell the salicylic acid.
It was some sort of analgesic, good for pain.

Grace followed the gnarled hand back, to the face of the one Adira had
called Vayla, then drew in a sharp breath. So not all witches in this
world were like Kyrene or Ivalaine. The woman was ancient, her back a
hump beneath tattered" clothes. Wisps of gray hair had escaped her ratty
hood like smoke through a roof. Her face was a map of lines, her cheeks
sunken, one eye bulbous, the other a wrinkled mass of flesh.

The crone grinned at Grace, displaying a few yellow teeth. "What? Do you
not find me beautiful, Duchess?"

Grace stared at the crone, then she clenched her jaw and turned back to
her patient. "His temp is elevated. He's not cyanotic, so there's no
evidence of pneumothorax. It's not a viral infection. Abdomen is not
rigid or sensitive. No signs of, appendicitis."

"What are you saying, my lady?" Adira's face was fearful. "Are you
speaking a spell? What are you doing to him?" Grace ignored her. "There
must be some other cause for his fever. But what?"

"He is dying," the crone said.

Grace glared at Vayla. "Not if I have anything to do with, it.,,

The crone gazed at her, then nodded. "What do you wish me to do, Duchess?"

"Help me turn him on his side."

Grace hardly needed the crone's aid. He felt as light and hollow as a
bird. He moaned in his delirium-he was waki1%

497

up. Grace ran eyes and hands over him, searching, sensing. There had to
be something, some clue... .

There. She had not seen it until Vayla snatched the tangled blanket away
from his feet. Just above his left ankle was a wound. It was small but
deep. Grace bent close, then gagged at the sweet scent of decay.

"I need more light."

The crone held out a candle, and Grace examined the cut. It was a
puncture wound. She could see cloth fibers and bits of dirt embedded in it.

"Dafin cut himself on the plow the other day," Adira said. "He
complained that it hurt, but it was only a small cut. It cannot be this
that has made him so ill, can it?"

Grace did not answer. There was no time to explain about invisible
microbes and blood poisoning to a medieval young woman. Angry red lines
had already begun to snake their way up his leg. A few more hours and
amputation would be the only choice, and Grace knew he could not survive
that.not here, not in these conditions. Right now there was still
another chance.

Grace pulled the knife from the sheath in her boot and held it out
toward Vayla. "Heat this in the fire."

The old woman nodded and plunged the blade of the knife into the coals.
They waited, then she withdrew the knife and handed it back by the hilt.
Grace could feel the heat radiating from the metal.

"Hold him," she said.

"Help me," the crone said to Adira.

Adira shook her head but did as Vayla bid. They gripped her brother's
body. He was moving now and muttered in his delirium. Grace bent over
him and paused. Despite his battered body his face was beautiful. A
broken angel fallen from above. There was so little that was good in
this world. Grace ,was not going to let him go.

She tightened her grip on the knife, then pressed the hot steel tip into
his wound. The stench of burning meat filled .#te air. His eyes flew
open, his head went back, and he Screamed in agony.

"Murder!" Adira shrieked. "You're murdering him!" "Quiet, fool girl!"
Vayla hissed. "She is his only chance." Adira clapped her hands over her
mouth, her eyes wide

498

with terror. The young man fell back to the cot, unconscious again. That
was a small blessing. Grace set down the knife and stood.

"We have to get his temperature down now or his blood is going to cook
his brain."

The crone nodded. "Cold water, girl," she snapped at Adira. "Get it now."

There was a small window above the bed. Grace moved to it and threw open
the wooden shutters. Cold air flooded the room. She shut her eyes, let
the chill cool her cheeks and clear the smoke from her mind. She opened
her eyes again and saw a plate of bread on the windowsill, and next to
it a wooden cup of wine.

"They are offerings," Vayla said.

Grace turned around. "Offerings? For who?"

"For the Little People. It is said they can steal a sick man's spirit.
We leave them the bread and wine so they will be appeased and move on to
the next house."

Grace glanced back at the bread. Falken had said the Little People were
forgotten, but clearly that was not so. Only weren't the Little People
supposed to be good?

"They are queer beings," Vayla said, as if she heard Grace's unspoken
question. "Good or evil mean nothing to them. They simply are."

Adira returned with a bucket of water. She was sobbing as she set it
down. Grace and Vayla wetted cloths in the bucket and laid them on the
young man's arms and torso. Then Grace handed the vial she had brought
to Vayla and explained its usage.

"Will he live?" Adira said in a tremulous voice.

Grace laid a hand on his forehead. Yes, his temperature was coming down,
and the simple would help. His sleep was more peaceful now. There was so
much that could go wrong. The knife might not have cauterized all the
gangrenous flesh. The infection might have already spread too far. The
burn might have sent him into shock. She shut her eyes. No, none of
these things were true. She could feel it, could feel the strength of
his beating heart as if she held it in her hand. "He will live," she said.

It was full dark by the time she left the shack. The boy that Adira had
charged to guide Grace back to the castle

499

one of the serving maid's younger brothers-held a small lantern carved
of horn, the stump of a candle inside.

"Come, my lady." His voice was thin and frightened. Grace nodded and
followed after him. She was exhausted, yet she felt oddly light and
charged, like a dust mote caught in an electric field. There was so much
pain in this world, so much suffering. Was it even worth saving?

Even as she asked herself this, she thought of her last conversation
with Leon Arlington. She knew what he would have chosen, and she knew

what they would choose. No matter the suffering, it was always better to
be alive.

They came to the town square, and Grace was surprised to find it was not
empty. A few torches flared and sputtered, masking the reek of the sewer
with acrid smoke. A knot of people gathered in the light. The boy tugged
at her sleeve, and she picked her way after him through the muck.

They were almost to the other side of the square when Grace saw the man
in the black robe. A cold needle pierced her heart, and she lurched to a
halt.

"Please, my lady," the boy said. "Please, we mustn't tarry. Not after dark."

Grace hardly heard the words. She took a step forward. The man's side
was to them, his face hidden by the heavy cowl of his robe. Torchlight
played across the dark material, a crimson corona. At first she thought
it was he-the one she had seen that night in the castle, the one who had
dropped the knife-then she realized it couldn't be. He was shorter and
stockier than the one she had seen carving the door.

As she watched, the man splayed his arms out. He was speaking to the
gathered people. No, not speaking, but preaching, his voice rising and
falling like an angry song, although she could not make out his words.
The crowd watched him, their rapt faces turned upward, red as blood in
the torchlight. Grace took another step forward.

The man's arms froze in midair. His words ceased. Then, as if he sensed
eyes upon him, he turned his head, and his cowl slipped back. His gaze
searched the square, then his eyes locked on Grace, and her breath
turned to ice water in her lungs.

Even in the dim light she could see that the man's face

500

was rough and cruel. On his forehead, drawn in ashes, was a symbol she
now knew well. Two curved lines: the rune of the Raven. But it was not
this that caught Grace's gaze. It was the color of his eyes. One was
blue, while the other was brown. Memory washed over her in a cold flood.
She had seen eyes like that once before.

His thin lips parted in a rotten grin.

Dread wrapped clammy fingers around Grace's throat. He knew her. He had
seen her, and remembered her, and now he would walk across the muddy
square and kill her.

Grace stumbled backward, and the glare of a torch burned her retinas.
She whirled around and staggered forward, searching with blind hands,
then ran into something hard-a stone wall.

"My lady . what is it?"

Her vision cleared. She saw the boy before her, his face a pale moon of
fear in the dimness. She glanced over her shoulder. A ruddy glow
flickered at the mouth of the alleythe town square. But there was no
sign of the Raven cultist following her. There was still time.

A new urgency filled her.

"The castle," she said. "I have to get to the castle. Now.,, The boy
gave a jerky nod, his eyes large. She knew her face was as hard as her
words, but she didn't care. At that moment only one thing mattered. The
boy sprinted down the muddy alley. She picked up the hem of her gown and
struggled after him, while knowledge burned in her mind like poison.

No pain.

Grace knew who the conspirator was.

90.

Travis dropped the poker he had been using to stir the fire and looked
up as the door to his chamber flew open.

"Grace," he said when he managed to find his tongue. "What's going on??

She stepped into the room. He had never seen her like this.

501

Sweat sheened her forehead, and her cloak was askew over her gown. Her
green-gold eyes blazed.

"I know what they mean, Travis," she said. "The words we saw in the
snow, by Gloaming Wood."

It felt as if the fire went out, although he knew it still crackled on
the hearth. Travis stood. The room was quiethe had not seen Melia or
Falken all day. The bard and the lady were scheming something, as usual.

"What do you mean, Grace?"

"No pain." She took another step toward him. "They don't feel pain, Travis."

"Who don't feel pain?"

"Ironhearts." Her words were rapid as gunfire. "I mean, they do feel
pain. I've seen that. It helped me escape from one in Denver. But I
don't think they feel pain like we do, and I don't think it lasts for
long. It was a mistake to think we could look for the wounded
conspirator. Even though he was injured, we never would have known it."

Cold understanding washed over Travis. "So that's what Trifkin was
trying to tell us-that the wounded man might not seem like one."

Grace gave a stiff nod. "But there's more, Travis." She licked her lips.
"I saw something in the town...." Sickness rose in his throat as he
listened to her quick,

fragmented words. When she finished, he forced himself to swallow his
dread. They had been wrong-so terribly wrong. His eyes locked on hers.
"We have to get the others." Minutes later the five ran down a corridor.
Beltan's mail

shirt chimed a dissonant music, and both he and Durge gripped the hilts
of their swords. Aryn's face was puzzled, but there had been no time for
Travis and Grace to explain in detail. They had just told the others to
follow, w, that Grace had learned something about Lord Alerain.

"Where did you last see him, Travis?" Grace said between gasps of breath.

He glanced at her. "I think it was just after this-" There was no need
to say more. They passed through an archway and came to a halt on the
edge of a long room. Crimson torchlight spilled upon the floor. It was
hard to tell where the light ended and the blood began.

Aryn screamed, then clamped a hand to her mouth as

502

Beltan gripped her shoulders. Travis's stomach wrenched, and he heard
Grace let out a cry of dismay beside him. With slow steps Durge
approached the body.

Alerain's head had been hewn off and had fallen several feet from his
body, connected to it only by a river of red. His eyes stared upward in
a ghastly expression. Durge knelt beside the corpse and, with deliberate
motions, unlaced and opened the seneschal's tunic. A ragged wound snaked
down the center of his flat chest, freshly scabbed over.

Nothing can harm me now. . . .

Now Travis knew why Alerain had reminded him of lack earlier that
day-both had had the same look of sadness in their eyes. The seneschal
had been saying good-bye, just like Jack did in the Magician's Attic.

Durge looked up. "Alerain was an ironheart. And the conspirator. Though
it appears his partner caught up to him before we did."

Beltan's voice was hoarse. "How did you know, Grace?" She stared at the
body and spoke in sharp, clinical words about the man with one blue eye
and one brown eye-how she had seen him once, speaking to Alerain, and
how she had seen him again in the town that night, preaching the word of
the Raven.

Durge stood and heaved a sigh. "At least he is at peace now."

Travis gazed at Alerain's twisted face and wished he could believe the
knight.

Aryn sobbed, her head against Beltan's chest. "Oh, Alerain. What will
Boreas do without you?"

Beltan looked up and swore.

Alarm replaced the horror in Grace's gaze. "What is it?" "The rulers,"
Beltan said. "Alerain was the one seeing to the switching of the rooms
of the kings and queens."

"Which means he knows exactly where each one of them is sleeping," Durge
said.

The five exchanged looks, then together launched into a run.

"Grace, Travis, come with me," Beltan said through clenched teeth.
"Durge, take Aryn and tell the king. We have, to check on all of the
rulers. Now!"

Durge nodded, took Aryn's hand, and the two of them

503

careened down a corridor. Beltan charged in another direction, and
Travis and Grace followed.

"Do you think the murderer will strike now?" Travis said to Grace as
they ran.

She glanced at him, face grim. "He killed Alerain, which means he must
know we're close. If he doesn't strike now, when will he?"

"But who will be the victim?"

"One who voted for war-and one who the murderer thinks he can get to."

Travis ran faster.

They reached King Persard's chamber first. Beltan didn't even stop. He
knocked two men-at-arms aside, kicked in the door, and burst into the
chamber. Travis and Grace tumbled in after him.

' "Hey, there!" said a testy voice. "What's this? Can't a king have a
little privacy?"

It took Travis a moment to sort out the scene before him. The frail king
of Perridon sat in his bed with a creamyskinned maiden on either side of
him. All were in a state of undress. `

Beltan's face flushed red. "Sorry, Your Majesty. King Boreas will
explain later."

"He certainly will!" Persard snapped.

However, Travis, Grace, and Beltan were already out the door and running
down the corridor.

"Who's next?" Grace said between breaths.

"King Kylar is closest," Beltan said. "We're almost there." They rounded
a corner and heard a terrible crash: the sound of stone on stone. Gray
dust drifted from beneath a door next to which two armed men stood. They
looked in surprise at the dust, then at the three who ran toward them.
"Open the door!" Beltan commanded.

The men did not hesitate. One pushed open the door. More dust billowed
out to choke the air.

Travis tried to see through the cloud. "What happened?" Beltan blinked
and peered through the dust. "By the Bull! It looks like the wall has
collapsed on the bed."

Travis's heart sank-they were too late. The kind young king of Galt had
been the murderer's target, and the conspiror had succeeded.

504

Beltan pressed the hem of his cloak to his mouth to ward against the
dust. "I'm going to go in there and-"

He stopped short as a shadow appeared amid the swirling dust. Beltan
reached in and pulled something out of the cloud and into the corridor.

Grace clapped her hands together. "King Kylar!"

His face and hair were streaked with stone dust, and coughs shook his
shoulders, but it was clear the young king of Galt was alive and whole.
She rushed to steady him, and Travis did the same.

Beltan disappeared into the chamber, then returned a moment later, his
hair and face white. He looked at Kylar, his expression one of
amazement. "The whole wall fell in-I think the mortar was chiseled
away-and the bed is in splinters. How did you survive?"

"The b-b-bed," Kylar said in his halting voice. "It was full of
bedb-b-bugs, so I went to s-s-sleep in the wardrobe instead."

To Travis's astonishment, Grace laughed. He could not help but join her.

Grace gripped Kylar's hand in her own. '.'It seems you're not so unlucky
after all, Your Majesty."

He grinned at her through the dust. "P-p-perhaps I'm not at that."

The following day, at the Council of Kings, Boreas told the

other rulers of the failed attempt on King Kylar's life. When Grace
entered the council chamber she started

toward her usual seat in one of the front rows, then hesitated. She
usually sat beside Aryn and Lord Alerain. But Aryn was not here yet, and
Alerain . . .

Gentle brown eyes caught her own. Grace looked up to see a plump,
red-haired woman motion to her. It was Tressa, Queen Ivalaine's
lady-in-waiting. Grace froze. What would Boreas think if he saw her
sitting next to Ivalaine's closest advisor and a known Witch?

505

That's his problem, Grace. Besides, you're supposed to be learning
Ivalaine's agenda at the council.

She braced her shoulders inside her purple gown and moved toward the
red-haired Tressa.

It was easy to navigate through the council chamber. The tiers of stone
benches were not so crowded as they had been on that first day. Many of
the lesser nobles had returned to their respective Dominions, some
bearing messages or orders from their king or queen. No doubt the rulers
grew anxious to return to their own keeps and castles, to see to the
affairs in their Dominions-and to make certain no barons had become
overly ambitious in their absence. However, they were bound by the
ancient rules of the council. Aryn had said no one would be able to
leave until the council reached a final reckoning.

Then again, if King Boreas's plan worked, a reckoning could happen that
very day.

Last night, Boreas had acted strangely when they told him of Alerain's
treachery and death. They did not all go to the king's chamber. Instead
Grace and Beltan went alone. Beltan had said that Alerain had been like
an uncle to Boreas in the king's youth. They thought it best he should
hear the news from as few as possible.

The king had sat perfectly still in his carved dragon chair the whole
time they spoke, his eyes locked on the flames. When they finished Grace
had expected disbelief or outrage. Instead he had only nodded, then
asked to be alone. Boreas had rested his hand on the head of one of his
hounds and had continued to stare into the fire. They had left him that way.

That morning Boreas had seemed a different man. He had paid a rare visit
to Grace's chamber. She had heard his booming voice outside her door
while she was still getting dressed and had barely had time to shimmy
into her gown before he burst through the door.

This was the Boreas she knew-the small room hardly seemed able to
contain his bulk and energy. Boreas had explained his plan to her, to
tell the council of the murder plot and the attempt on Kylar's life, in
hopes the rulers would put aside their differences in the wake of this
mutual threat. Or at least that those who had opposed a muster would be con

506

F in her thick hair, the blue veins on the backs of her handsvinced to
decide otherwise, for Boreas intended to force a reckoning of the
council that day.

Before she even thought whether it was wise to ask the question, Grace
did. "Will you tell the council of the Raven Cult and the Pale King,
Your Majesty?"

Boreas had cocked his head and had given her a piercing look from the
corner of his eye. Then, without another word, he had turned on a heel
and had stalked from her chamber. A vacuum had seemed to form in his
wake, and Grace had felt the need to clutch the bedpost to keep from
getting swept out of the room after him. Once she had caught her breath,
she had thought to go find Aryn and the others, to tell them what King
Boreas intended. Then a young page had appeared at the door to lead her
to the council chamber, and there had not been time.

Grace reached the place beside Tressa and sat down. "Good morrow, Lady
Grace," Tressa said.

Grace smiled. "Good morrow, Lady Tressa."

It was difficult to be certain how old Tressa was, and Grace was good at
estimating age. The lady-in-waiting's plump face was smooth and pretty,
but there were other signs-the fine lines about her eyes, the few
strands of gray that made Grace think she was older than she seemed.

Grace started to arrange her gown-it always took a bit of work to keep
from sitting on a bunch of cloth-then halted. Her arms prickled, and she
looked up. Two sparks of emerald burned into her. Grace tried to avert
her eyes, but like one driving past a car wreck, she could not.

Kyrene sat alone on a bench across the council chamber. She wore one of
her sumptuous green gowns, but now she hunched inside, and her dark
blond hair-always before so carefully brushed and arranged-was ratty and

tangled. She chewed on a fingernail as she stared at Grace. The countess
looked hurt and dangerous, like a small animal that was wounded but
quite alive. Kyrene noticed Grace's attention and smiled. The expression
was both sullen and smug.

Grace held her breath. She's plotting something still, she has to be.
Ivalaine may have cast her out, but Kyrene won't. give up that easily.
But what does she think she can do?

An image came to Grace's mind: dark hands on pale flesh

507

Logren. Would she try to do something to Logren? Grace was trembling,
and Tressa must have noticed, for she took Grace's hand in her own.

"Pay no attention to her, child," Tressa said. "She has no power to harm
us."

Grace shook her head. She wanted to say Tressa was wrong, that Kyrene
was up to something, and that it couldn't be good. Then trumpets
sounded. The council was about to begin for the day.

One by one the rulers marched into the chamber. Grace noticed Falken and
Melia seated in one of the front rows. Travis, Aryn, Durge, and Beltan
sat just behind. They all must have entered while Grace was distracted.
She tried to catch their attention, but they did not look back. Grace
sank back to her seat. She would just have to talk to them when the
council recessed.

The nobles took their seats on the benches, and the rulers took their
own chairs-all except for Chair Malachor, which remained empty as it had
for centuries. However, the other rulers were hardly settled when Boreas
planted his hands on

the edge of the round stone table and stood back up.

"Last night," Boreas said in a'thundering voice, "an attempt of murder
was made upon the life of King Kylar of Galt."

A gasp ran around the hall. The other rulers stared at Boreas-except for
Kylar, who slid down in his chair, obviously

with the attention. Grace winced. Boreas was

certainly wasting no time on subtlety.

"Is this true?" Sorrin of Embarr asked in his deep but

low voice.

Kylar nodded. "I f-f-fear that it is."

Lysandir sniffed at a gold-embroidered handkerchief. "I must say, for
one who has been murdered you look quite well today, Your Majesty."

"And in that we are lucky," Boreas said.

The king of Brelegond let out a high-pitched laugh. "Lucky? That's not a
word one usually hears in association With King Kylar of Galt."

Are you disappointed the attempt on Kylar's life

Boreas glowered at Lysandir. "What's wrong, King

508

Lysandir dropped his handkerchief. Even without the thick layer of
powder his face would have been white. "What are you saying, King Boreas?"

"What do you think I'm saying?" Boreas growled. Ivalaine stood from her
chair. At once all eyes were on the graceful queen. She fixed her
ice-blue gaze on Boreas. "Is it your intention to accuse a member of
this council of arranging this terrible crime, Your Majesty?"

He swept his gaze around the table, then he shook his head. "No, it is
not. You see, I already know who was behind the murder plot-for one of
my own, in an act of treachery, allied himself with the enemy."

Another gasp circled the chamber.

Persard raised a shaggy white eyebrow in interest. "Indeed, King Boreas?
A traitor in your own court? Who is this individual, and what will
become of him?"

Boreas seemed to chew his words before he spoke them, and it was clear
he found them bitter. "It was Lord Alerain, and he is dead."

It took several minutes, and a number of hard looks and strong gestures
from the king of Calavan, to restore order to the chamber. Grace knew
this news of Alerain's treachery was a blow to everyone, especially the
nobles of Calavan. If Alerain-always so good and stolid-was not above
betrayal, then who was? However, Grace knew the truth. There were dark
gifts even good men did not have the power to resist. What had Alerain
thought he was buying with his heart? Perhaps he had believed, by
agreeing to help the enemy, that the darkness would spare Calavan. If so
it had been a vain hope.

"This is ill news, Your Majesty," Sorrin said. The king of Embarr's
visage was more gaunt and sallow than ever. "But you have not told us
who this enemy is that Alerain allied himself with, and who wanted the
death of Kylar of Galt. Tell us, who is the one to blame for this
wretched deed?"

The council chamber fell silent, and all leaned forward to hear. Boreas
met the eyes of each of the other rulers in turn. "I will tell you
this," he said in a low voice. "Then I will

call for a reckoning of the council, for when you have heard the words I
am to speak, you will see there can be but one course of action." He
drew in a deep breath. "The plot to

509

murder Kylar and change the council's decision was perpetrated by the
Raven Cult, acting under the control of the Pale King himself."

Grace's heart soared in her chest. He had said it. Boreas had dared to
tell the council the truth! Falken leaped to his feet. All in the
chamber gaped as if these were the last words they had expected Boreas

to speak, and Falken most of all.

Grace lifted a hand to the bodice of her gown, afraid to breathe. The
council can't deny him now. Boreas has offered them his own seneschal,
they can't discount him. They have to decide in favor of a muster, they
have toA harsh voice cut through the chamber. "How dare you, Boreas!"

It was Eminda. The queen of Eredane had stood, and she glared at Boreas
with her small eyes, her face red with rage. "How dare you attempt such
a coarse and vile ruse? Do you truly expect me to believe your precious
Alerain is dead, that he isn't simply hiding in a room in this castle
while you work your horrid little trick?"

Even from a distance Grace could see Boreas shaking. She thought the
stone table would crack beneath his grip.

"I will show you his head, Your Majesty," Boreas said through his teeth.

Eminda appeared unimpressed. "So you killed him then. I would not put it
past one of the bulls of Vathris to make such a sacrifice for one of his
lord's plans. You thought you could use this story to frighten us, to
force us to choose the way you wish. But I will not be made a fool by
you, Boreas." Her voice rose to a shrill pitch. "You will not have your
reckoning-not until these arguments are done in proper order. I will not
allow it!"

Boreas did not speak but instead let out a wordless sound of rage. Grace
gazed at Eminda. How could the queen of "£redane be so blind? How could
all of them be so blind? Didn't they see what was right before them? She
ran her eyes over the chamber in a desperate search for Logren. Maybe he
,tould talk to his queen, maybe he could put an end to this.

wever, she did not see the high counselor of Eredane. ere was no hope.
The kings and queens rose from their rs. Eminda turned away. There would
be no reckoning, muster for war... .

510

"What's wrong with you?" a voice said. It was soft quavering, yet
somehow it carried across the air of the couZ.' cil chamber. "What's
wrong with all of you?"

Grace searched for the speaker, then she saw him. He. stood before the
first row of benches, clad in a shapeless tunic, his gray eyes stricken
behind wire-rimmed spectacles. Travis. The rulers stared at him.

Travis took a step toward the table. "Don't you hear what he's telling
you?" His voice rose, thick with anger and fear. "Don't you see what's
right in front of you? The Pale King isn't a myth. He's real, and his
servants are here in this cas. the. He tried to kill Kylar, and any one
of you could be next. How can you all be so stupid?"

Travis started toward the council table. The kings leaped back in alarm.
Eminda cried out in horror.

"Get him back," she shrieked. "Get this creature back!" Beltan sprang
forward to pull Travis back to the bench, but the knight was too slow.

"You've got to do something!" Travis was shouting now. "You've got to do
something before it's too late!" As he spoke this last word he pounded

his fist against the stone table.

A flash like lightning filled the chamber, and thunder rent the air.
Cries of terror and dismay echoed off the walls. Grace blinked in
disbelief. Even as she watched a dark line snaked across the council
table from the place where Travis had hit it. The crack plunged toward
the center of the table, then struck the white disk embedded there. The.
disk shattered into pieces, obscuring the symbol drawn upon it Travis
leaped back, then looked down at his hand, his expression one of horror.

The chamber was quiet now. All eyes gazed at the table. Then Falken
spoke in a low voice.

"The rune of peace has been broken."

Grace heard a sharp intake of breath beside her. She turned to look at
Tressa. The red-haired woman gazed forward, her eyes bright and intense.
A whispered word escaped her lips. "Runebreaker."

The council was in chaos now. The rulers hurried from the hall, and the
nobles fled their seats. Travis still stood

511

Ieside the table and stared at his hand. Beltan, Melia, and aaken were
with him now.

Grace rose and pushed against the crowd. She didn't feel {ear, but
exhilaration. Something important had just taken dace, something that
needed to happen. These people had grown so complacent, their minds so
closed. Now they saw that their precious peace could be broken after
all. Now maybe they would do something.

She pushed past two fleeing nobles, then reached the others. "Travis,"
she said.

He looked up, his expression haunted.

,That was wonderful, Travis," she said. "What you didyou woke them up.
It was absolutely wonderful!"

She reached out to grip his hand, but he pulled away. "No, Grace. All I
ever do is break things."

Before the others could stop him, Travis turned and ran from the chamber.

92.

Travis looked up at the iron-gray clouds that swirled above the castle
and wondered if he would ever see the indigo-dyed Colorado sky again.

He shivered and gathered his mistcloak closer around him. Maybe it was
better here. Maybe it was better to be a world away from the memories.
Except somehow that never stopped him from remembering.

Good night, Big Brother. 'Night, Bug.

The winter wind carried his sigh away.

It had been three days since he had broken the rune of peace in the

council chamber. Falken had said the rune had been bound centuries ago
by the greatest of the Runebinders. How could Travis have had the po4er
to break it? Yet some-how he had. He could still feel the energy
coursing down his arm, through his hand, and into the stone table.

In their chamber, Falken had questioned him again and again about that
moment, but Travis still wasn't certain exactly what had happened,
exactly what he had done. He had

512

been so angry, that was all-angry with the rulers and their
unwillingness to accept the truth in front of them. He had seen the dark
clouds over Imbrif ale, he had seen the fell light of the wraithlings,
and he had seen the iron heart Grace had cut out of a dead man's chest.
How could they still not believe? He had only meant to- pound on the
table, but the anger had flowed out of him, lightning down a wire, and
he had not been able to stop it.

Queen Eminda had called for Travis's head on a trencher when the council
met the next day. It was no secret she cared little for runespeakers or
magic. Luckily for Travis, Boreas had prevailed. The king had argued
that if Eminda was concerned about the breaking of the rune of peace,
then surely she had to be concerned about the broken rune Falken had
showed the council, the seal from the Rune Gate. It had been a brilliant
gambit on Boreas's part, and Eminda had shut up at once. Travis had not
seen it-he was not going anywhere near the council chamber-but Grace had
described the scene to him, and he could picture the queen of Eredane,
her face red and puffy with outrage, not daring to speak for fear of
weakening her own position. Even in defeat there were little triumphs.

After Boreas defended Travis to the council, the king had requested to
see him, and Falken had taken him to Boreas's chamber. Travis knew, in
some ways, that what he had done had helped Boreas's cause. All the
same, he expected the king to be furious with him for his outburst in
the council chamber. Once the door shut he had braced his shoulders and
wondered how much he would scream while Boreas used those powerful hands
to tear him limb from limb.

To his astonishment, the king had nodded to him in solemn greeting,
offered him wine, and bidden him sit down. He had spoken with Travis for
a short time while Falken stood nearby. The king had wanted to know if
Travis had broken any runes before, and if so how many.

At last, questions over, the king had gazed into the fire. "Legend held
that Calavan would never fall while the rune of peace was bound in the
council table."

Travis had opened his mouth. Was the king blaming himfor putting the
Dominion in danger?

"No, Goodman," Boreas had said. "Calavan is not in dO

513

ger because you broke the rune. You broke the rune because Calavan is in
danger." The king had drawn in a deep breath, then looked up. "You may
go now."

In the two days since, Travis had spent most of his time wandering

through the castle alone. He had stopped his studies with the
Runespeakers, despite the protestations of both Rin and Falken. The only
point in studying runes was to learn how to control his power, and
clearly that had failed. What was the point in continuing? To grow even
stronger so the next time he could hurt more than just stone?

I won't do it, lack. I don't know why you did this to me, but it
couldn't be for that-it couldn't be to hurt people. Falken had grown
angry when Travis refused to resume his

studies, but-to Travis's surprise-Melia had laid a hand on the bard's arm.

"Let him go, Falken," she had said. "He needs to decide this for himself."

He had given her a grateful look, and she had nodded, her amber eyes
thoughtful. Then he had left the chamber. He didn't know what he hoped
to find in his wanderings, but they calmed him somehow and helped him
think. Maybe all he wanted were a few fragments of his own broken peace.
:After all, the storm would be coming soon enough.

A tangled wall of green rose before him, and an arch of stone provided a
doorway. From beyond came a faint, sweet scent and the sound of water.
The castle's garden.

Travis started to move past the archway, then hesitated. .He cocked his
head. It sounded as if someone had called his name. He listened again,
but now all he heard was the breath of the wind and the distant voice of
water. No doubt that was all it had been. Still, the garden beckoned to
him. He stepped through the arch into the private space beyond.

Despite the lateness of the year and the frosty air, some things still
grew in the garden. None of the plants were familiar to him. There was a
vine with glossy leaves that Climbed up the walls, and a kind of
feathery evergreen that

w in clumps. The ground was covered with leaves, and es stretched bare
branches overhead, weaving a net to tch the lowering sky.

path of flat stones drew him onward, past a fountain ed with ice. A
mossy carpet surrounded the fountain,

514

dotted with pale flowers, each as small and delicate as a snowflake. It
was from these that rose the winter-forest scent. The path took him
deeper into the garden. Travis did not resist. This was a peaceful place.

No, not peaceful. It's wilder than that. More like it's rest. ing,
waiting. But waiting for what? Or for whom?

He kept walking. The path led through another archway, into a grotto.
Then he halted and looked up in awe.

They were locked in mortal struggle.

The stone they were carved from was white, but Travis sensed that, even
in life, the bull would have been the same color. He could almost see
muscles rippling beneath its milky skin, flexing as it strained against
the warrior.

The man was naked and beautiful. Stone curls tumbled back from his brow.
His visage was proud, fierce, and too perfect to be merely human. Like
the bull, muscles coursed beneath the smooth surface of his skin, across
wide shoal. ders, along lean hips, down powerful legs. The thick root of
his phallus stood erect, Had he been molded in flesh instead of stone,
Travis knew there was not a living person who could have refused the
warrior's will or desire. Or his knife.

The warrior gripped the -knife in his left hand, and the sculptor had
caught him in the exact moment of plunging the blade into the bull's
throat. The bull's head was tilted back, its eyes wide and its mouth
open, so that Travis could almost hear its death bellow. Liquid poured
from the slit in the bull's neck, only it wasn't blood. It was water.
The water ran down the bull's throat, flowed into a basin at the foot of
the statue, then trickled away, into the garden.

"A fine specimen," said an admiring voice. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Travis whirled around. A new patch of green had appeared in the garden,
as brilliant as emeralds.

The woman walked toward him, though saunter might have been the better
word. She was beautiful, though not at all in the hard, white manner of
the warrior. She was all curves and soft edges. Dark gold hair tumbled
over her shoulders, and her skin had the luscious glow of an apricot.
Only her eyes were hard and bright, the same color as her gown.

Travis fumbled for an answer. A fine specimen. He didn't

515

know if she meant the warrior or the bull. Or maybe she had been talking
about him.

No, that wasn't likely. He scratched his scruffy beard and hunched his
shoulders inside his shapeless tunic. Who was she? What did she want of him?

"A friend," she said. "And only to talk to you." He sucked in a breath.

_Her lips parted to reveal small, white teeth. "I am Kyrene, Countess of
Selesia."

Somehow Travis remembered his manners. He fumbled for her hand, brushed
his lips against it, and let it fall. "I'm Travis Wilder."

Now that she was closer he saw there was a wildness to her, like the
garden-no, that wasn't so. The garden was calm and peaceful. However,
there was an unsettling edge to her gaze. Her luxuriant hair was
unbrushed, and her gown, though fashionably revealing, was crooked and
in need of adjustment.

She moved past him toward the statue. "Vathris Bullslayer," Kyrene
hissed. She turned her emerald gaze on him. "There are those who think
killing with a sword is the answer to everything. Is that what you think
as well, Travis Wilder?"

He looked down at his hands. "No. It's never right to hurt another. Never."

The scent of apricots. He looked up, and now she was beside him. Her
breasts were two ripe fruits in the pearled basket of her bodice. Wasn't

she cold?

"You travel in interesting company, Goodman Travis." "You mean Falken
and Melia."

"Yes, Falken Blackhand and Melindora Nightsilver are well known in these
lands, if not always well regarded. But you have a fine, strong friend
in the king's nephew. Are you and Beltan very . . . close?"

She laughed, but it was a queer sound, and the hair on his neck
prickled. Something told him he should go, but he felt rooted to the
spot, as if the garden's vines had grown up to tangle themselves around
his legs.

"What do you want?" he whispered.

"Only to ask you something, love." Her voice was soothIng, yet pierced
his skull all the same. She plucked a leaf

516

from a bush. "There are those of us who believe in the power of life."
She dropped the leaf to the ground and crushed it under her slipper.
"And there are those who believe that destroying things is always the
answer."

He could not take his eyes off her. Despite the frigid air, sweat
trickled down his sides. She lifted a hand and brushed his scruffy cheeks.

"You should not hide behind that beard, love. Yours is a comely face."

He.licked his lips. It was so hard to think. His mind felt like it was
covered in honey. "What did you want to ask me?"

"It is nothing, really. Only a small thing. You see, I saw what you did
in the council chamber, the rune you broke, and I was wondering if I
might look at your hand...."

No, Travis, a voice spoke in his mind. You mustn't let her. However, the
voice was faint and distant. He did not resist her as she reached out
and took his right hand. She bent her head, eyes shining, to study his palm.

"Get away from him, Kyrene!"

The warm haze that surrounded Travis shattered. He drew in a ragged
lungful of air. It was freezing and made him cough. He looked up, along
with Kyrene, to see two figures step through the entrance of the grotto:
a small woman in a kirtle of deep blue, and a man with a single black glove.

Kyrene glared emerald daggers at the two. "You don't own him, Melindora
Nightsilver."

"And neither will you, Kyrene." Melia's- coppery visage was a hard mask
of anger. "I told you to get away from him." "Step back, Travis," Falken
said in a serious voice. "Now."

Travis didn't understand what was going on, but he did as he was told.
He had no idea how Melia always knew where to find him, but once again
he was grateful.

Kyrene hesitated, then seemed to make a decision. She threw her
shoulders back and thrust out her chin. "I'm not afraid of you,
Melindora. You're not what you once were."

Travis stared at the countess. What was she talking about? "That's
true," Melia said. She stepped forward, until she stood mere inches from
the countess. Her voice was cool and dangerous. "Then again, .I still
have a number of connec

517

tions. I am quite certain I could arrange it so you never feel the Touch
again, Kyrene."

Kyrene's bold expression faltered, and her face blanched. ,,You can't!
You wouldn't!"

Melia smiled. It was not an affectionate expression. "Are you really so
very sure of that . . . love?"

Kyrene opened her mouth, but no words came out. She .glanced at Falken's
grim face, then back to Melia. The countess shut her mouth, gathered her
gown up around her ankles, and hurried from the grotto-but not before
casting one hateful glance back at Melia.

Falken raised an eyebrow. "One gets the impression she doesn't care for us."

Melia sniffed. "There's no accounting for taste."

"So why do you think Kyrene was interested in Travis?" "It is my
experience that witches are curious about everything. Too curious,
sometimes. We will simply have to keep an eye on her." Melia approached
the statue and looked up. "Greetings, Vathris."

Her voice sounded almost fond, which struck Travis as odd. He followed
after her.

"He's one of the New Gods, isn't he?"

Melia nodded. "Yes, the gods of the mystery cults are the New Gods. And
there are many of them, not just the seven known in the Dominions. Some
of them are great in power, many of them lesser. Most of their followers
live in the far south, in the lands along the Summer Sea."

Travis thought about this. How did Melia know so much? Then he had it.
"You're from the south, aren't you, Melia?" She plucked a leaf from a
vine and twirled it in a small

hand. Her gaze grew distant. "Yes, I dwelled there once. Sometimes I can
still see the red cliffs of Urundar, and the men in their white serafis
dancing at twilight." The leaf fell to the ground, and her eyes grew
focused once more. "But that time is long over. I have other matters
that concern me now.,,

Falken regarded her, his faded eyes thoughtful, then his expression
changed, and he smiled wolfishly. "One matter that concerns me right now
is supper. Shall we see what's being offered in the great hall?"

Melia concurred, and she and Falken turned to leave the

518

garden. Travis hesitated. He cast one glance at the statue of Vathris.
If only once in his life he could have that strength, that control of
his own destiny. If only .. .

"Wait, I'm coming, too," he said, and he hurried after the bard and the
lady.

93.

Grace was worried about Travis. It was strange how quickly one could get
used to something one had never had beforesomething like friends-but she
had grown accustomed to Travis's companionship over these last weeks.

Yesterday she had gone to speak with Falken and Melia. The small woman
still had the ability to instantly disarm Grace.

"We've been keeping an eye on him, dear," Melia had said. As always the
lady's smooth visage had seemed young yet motherly as well. A black
kitten had played with the hem of her kirtle, and Grace had frowned. The
creature seemed no larger than it had the first time she had seen it,
and that had been weeks ago. Weren't kittens supposed to grow quickly?
Melia had seemed to notice her puzzled gaze and had smiled.

"We're trying to convince Travis to study again with the Runespeakers,"
Falken had said. "But he has to decide that on his own."

Melia had gathered the kitten into her arms. "I'm afraid what he did in
the council chamber frightened him, maybe even more than it did the
kings and queens."

Grace had stepped forward. "But what did he do?" Falken had spoken in a
low voice. "Something that hasn't been done in centuries."

The bard had not seemed to wish to discuss this statement further, and
Melia had promised to let Grace know if they spoke to Travis again.

"But you might want to try talking to him, Lady Grace," she had said as
they paused at the door. "He thinks of you as a friend, you know."

Grace had tried to say she felt the same, except the words

519

had gotten wedged in her throat. Instead she had nodded, then had found
herself alone in the corridor.

Over those next days Grace had thought more about what Travis had done
in the council chamber. Falken and Melia had told Grace of their
encounter with Kyrene in the garden. This news `had fascinated Grace.
Kyrene had never appeared to notice Travis before. This sudden interest
made no sense.

Or did it? Runebreaker. That was the word Tressa had whispered in the
council chamber, her eyes glowing. Were the Witches interested in
someone who could break runes? Grace had attempted to bring the subject
up with Ivalaine's red-haired advisor, but she had had no luck. Still,
if the witches thought Travis could be this Runebreaker, it would
explain Kyrene's interest in him. Perhaps the countess had thought, if

she discovered something about Travis, she could regain Ivalaine's
favor. If so, Falken and Melia had thwarted the attempt with their
intervention.

Grace had spent the last few days concentrating on her studies with
Queen Ivalaine. There was little else to do. She could see no point to
further spying-they all knew where the other kings and queens stood on
the matter of war-and so there was no more point in maintaining the ruse
that she and Boreas had fallen out. Not that Boreas seemed interested in
her. He did not summon her to his chamber, and if she passed him in a
corridor, he barely grunted at her in greeting, his eyes like steel.

It might have mattered if she could have learned something of Ivalaine's
motives. However, every time Grace tried subtly to turn their
conversation to the council, the queen of Toloria deftly turned it back
to the lesson at hand.

"There is an order to knowledge, sister," Ivalaine said one afternoon.
"You cannot dance before you learn to walk." Grace didn't know if that
comment pertained to her questions or her studies. Either way, it was
clear she would not learn what Ivalaine-or the Witches-wanted until
Ivalaine was ready to tell her.

Nor was there much for the Circle of the Black Knife to accomplish. The
plot to murder King Kylar had failed. True, the second conspirator
remained uncaptured, but now Beltan was in charge of the safety of the
kings and queens, and it

520

was doubtful a second try at murder would succeed, if one was even
attempted.

The Council of Kings had recessed and would not meet again until
Midwinter's Day, three days from now, when the last arguments would be
heard and a final reckoning would be made. Not that it was a mystery
what the final outcome would be. They had succeeded in stopping the
conspirators but had failed utterly in swaying the council. None of the
rulers had changed his or her initial position. King Boreas had failed.
Eminda had crushed his last gambit. The Dominions would not stand
together against the Pale King.

Grace sighed as she gazed out the window of her chamber. The sky was
dark again. The fog never seemed to lift anymore, but pressed against
the castle's stone walls as if it meant to crack them.

Maybe it's a myth, after all, Grace. Maybe the Pale King really is just
a story to frighten children.

However, myths could be real-she knew that now, could not deny it-and,
although she was no child, she was afraid to the marrow of her bones.
She watched the heavy clouds descend around Calavere's nine towers,
swallowing them. It would be soon now. Very soon.

Grace turned and stared at the door. Maybe it wasn't over yet after all.
There was still one who might be able to help her change the decision of
the council, one who might be able to help her heal this world. She
checked her hair in a polished mirror of silver, tried to paw it into
some sort of arrangement-it was getting longer now-then settled for
tucking the loosest strands behind an ear. She splashed a little cold

water on her cheeks to freshen them, then adjusted her frosted violet gown.

Why are you doing this, Grace?

Afraid she knew the true answer, she hurried out the door. She knew the
castle well now, and her feet seemed to find the way on their own. She
hesitated for only a heartbeat, then knocked on the door.

He's not here, Grace. He wasn't even at the council last time, he won't
answer.

However, even as she thought this she knew he would, and a moment later
the door swung open. Genuine surprise registered in his gaze, then he
smiled, and that gaze-as

521

brown and rich as maddok-traveled over her body before it once again
rose to meet her own.

"Lady Grace, you have just assured the brightness of my day despite the
gloom outside."

He made something between a nod and a bow. She almost laughed-it was so
perfect. Respectful yet familiar. She smiled and attempted a curtsy. She
was getting better. "Lord Logren . . ."

She wanted to say more, why she had come, what she needed from him, but
the right words fled her as surely as if she had dropped her silver
half-coin.

"I've just had some spiced wine brought," he said. "It's still warm. I
find it to be a good ward against the chill. Though not so good as
company, of course."

The high counselor of Eredane gestured for Grace to enter. It was Her
Radiance, the Duchess of Beckett, who did so. The door shut behind her,
and she breathed in. The scent of spices filled the austere room,
although she was not certain it was only from the wine. It was his scent
as well. He handed her a cup, raised his toward her, then both drank.
She let the warm liquid spread through her, then drew in a breath to speak.

"I need you, Lord Logren."

He raised an eyebrow, as if not quite certain how to interpret this
statement. Her cheeks flushed, and not just from the wine.

"Your help, I mean."

And was that so? Or had her first statement been closer to the truth?

No, Grace, that's not why you came here, to work petty magics like Kyrene.

She forced herself to set down her cup, then regarded

Logren with what she hoped was a businesslike gaze. "I didn't see you at
the council the other day, my lord, but I'm certain you know what happened."

He nodded, his expression curious. "I do."

She swallowed hard, then went on. "I'm not asking you to believe in the
Pale King, my lord. I do, but that's not important now. It's not why I'm
here. Whatever you believe about Falken's stories, the plot to murder
King Kylar was real-no one can deny that, whatever Queen Eminda says."

522

Her voice grew stronger now, filled with conviction. She picked up the
hem of her gown and paced before the small fire as she spoke.

"Lord Alerain is dead, but he wasn't working alone-he certainly didn't
chop off his own head with a sword. That means the other conspirator is
still here in the castle. If we could find him, then we could question
him, and maybe we could learn more about what they-I mean, what he
really wanted. Then the council could use that knowledge to make their
decision. Whatever the reckoning was, it wouldn't really matter. At
least we would know they had all the information before they decided,
and that we had done all we could."

She halted, drew in a breath, then realized she had nothing more to say.
He studied her, and she felt like a stage actor who had forgotten her
lines just as the spotlight turned her way. Her instinct was to run, but
she could not connect the feeling with her legs. He was going to laugh
at her, or mock her, or turn on her in rage. She was an idiot to have
come here thinking she could influence him.

He set down his cup and walked toward her with purpose. She braced her
shoulders. Now it would come.

"I will help you, my lady."

She blinked-she must have heard wrong. However, there was no laughter in
his eyes, no anger. They were dark and serious.

"You wonder why I have agreed." He shrugged. "Perhaps I don't know
myself. Or perhaps I'm weary of watching my queen make a fool of herself
before the council." Now his lips did twist in a mocking smile, but
Grace knew it was not meant for her. "Royals are born, not chosen, and
inbreeding is not always kind to intellect. Pale King or no, there is
something afoot in this castle, some attempt to sway the decision of the
council against war. And though that has been my own position, I find
myself wondering who else might want this outcome-want it so much they
would murder for it-and why." He drew in a breath. "What can I do to
assist you, my lady?"

Grace's heart leaped in her chest. She had never imagined that he would
agree to help her. But why not? His was a

523

logical mind, and he had reasoned things through better than she.

"I need you to watch, my lord," she said. "You know people at this
council whom I don't. I need you to watch those you are familiar with
and see if any of them are acting .. . different or strange." Or if they
have scars on their chest. But she didn't speak those words. How could
she have explained?

"I can do that, my lady. And I am not without my own sources of
information. I will see what I can discover of Alerain's killer."

They gazed at each other in understanding, then he grinned, and she
could not help grinning back. Maybe there was hope yet. At that point
she meant to give him her thanks, to tell him they would talk again
soon, and leave the chamber.

The words did not leave her lips, the door did not open. Instead the air
folded, and she was in his arms. He bent his head-although he did not
have to reach far, she was talland touched his lips to hers. She tasted
wine and something more: passion. Greedy, she drank it like it was elixir.

His mouth pressed harder against her own. An electric 'sensation filled
her. Her hands ran like small animals over his body. He was clad in
breeches and a white shirt, but she could feel firm flesh beneath the
cloth. It excited her, and he was excited as well, that was plain
enough-Kyrene had been right on one account.

Her fingers found their way beneath his shirt. For a fraction of a
second she feared what her touch might discoverIt could be anyone... .

-but his chest was hard, smooth, and unmarred.

His hand found the laces of her bodice, and they seemed to fall open at
his touch. His fingers slipped inside, warm and gentle. A moan escaped
her, and she pressed herself against him.

Much of who you are lies behind a door, and I cannot see behind it.

Grace stiffened as the words drifted, unbidden, through her mind.

If ever you want to discover that power, you will have to unlock that door.

524

Fear sliced through her. No, she couldn't do it. She couldn't open the
door. Not now, not ever. If she did, what was to stop the fire from
leaping forth and consuming her?

With a cry, Grace pushed herself away from him. She stumbled, caught
herself against the wall, and looked up. Logren's expression was shocked
and hurt. He reached a hand toward her.

"Lady Grace . . ."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm so sorry." She did not
give him a chance to answer. Grace turned, clutched the bodice of her
gown to close it, and pushed through the door. Then she ran down the
corridor and let the sound of her boots drown out his calls behind her.

94.

Travis stood on one of Calavere's high battlements and wrapped his
mistcloak around him. It was freezing, but he had needed to get outside,
to escape the smoke and stench of the castle, if only for a little
while. The castle's baileys were distant beneath him: Nobles, knights,
peasants, and sheep all looked like playthings. Maybe they were, at
that. He glanced up at the dark clouds that marched from the north. A
new king was coming-or an old king, it didn't matter. Maybe they were
all playthings.

No, Travis, you can't just give up like that. Someone has to stand
against the Pale King, even if it's just a fool, as in Falken's story.

He turned toward the frigid breeze, shut his eyes, and felt that sense
of possibility he always did when he faced into the wind: Maybe the
council would realize its mistake, maybe the Dominions would unite
against the Pale King after all, maybe he would still find a way back to
Colorado.

The air froze, the wind ceased, and the feeling of possibility vanished.
He opened his eyes. There was nothing out here, only hard stone and a
frozen landscape that would never thaw again.

He shivered. These were cold thoughts, and he was cold enough. Better to
go back to the chamber and warm himself

525

by the fire, even if Melia and Falken were there. He stepped through the
door that led from the battlement, shut it behind him, and moved into
the dim room beyond.

A fist sprang out of the shadows and struck him square in the chest.

Travis hit the wall behind him-hard. He stared into the gloom in
astonishment, then slid down the stones to the floor. His mouth gaped
open. He tried to breathe, but it felt as if his lungs had been
crushed-he could draw no air into them.

The shadows before him stirred. A piece of the darkness broke itself
off, approached, and stood above him: a man clad in a robe of black.

Travis stared up at the robed one. Maybe it was terror, maybe it was
reflex, but he shuddered, and a hoarse gasp of air rushed into his
lungs. His hands scraped against the floor-breathing was more painful
than suffocating. The man pushed back his hood, and Travis saw the symbol

branded upon his forehead.

The Raven cultist grinned. With a rough finger he touched the brand: It
was fresh and oozed yellow fluid.

"Do you like it?" he said in a cracked whisper. "I took it to show my
dedication to my master. Soon all who live in the world will bear his
mark. But not you, Runewielder." His hideous grin broadened, and a knife
appeared in his hand. "You will be dead."

Travis tried to move, tried to get up, but his body would not respond.
His hands flopped like dying fish on the floor. The robed man crouched
before Travis, his face only

inches away. Travis gagged at a reek that emanated from him, a mixture
of sweat, rot, and old blood. The cultist's eyes flickered over Travis,
and only then did Travis see that one eye was blue and the other brown.
He remembered Grace's words and shuddered.

"You have been difficult, Runewielder," the robed man hissed. "First you
killed the master's little pet. Then you took the head of one of my
brothers. But now the master has given the job to me, and I do not think
you will escape this time."

Travis stared at the knife. This didn't make sense. Why

526

had the cultist attacked him? It was Grace they wanted to kill . . .
wasn't it?

He managed to croak a single word. "Why?"

"Why must I destroy you?" The cultist spat. "You are what cannot be
allowed. A runespeaker is dangerous enough. But a runebinder-worse yet.
The master does not care for runewielders, and runebinders least of all.
He thought all were gone." The grin again, black and festering. "And so
they will be."

The cultist raised the knife. Travis tried to shrink back, but there was
only hard stone behind him.

"Pray," the man whispered. "Pray to the White One on his throne, and
perhaps I will not make it so very painful." Travis stared at the knife
and wondered what part of his body it would pierce first.

What are you doing, Travis?

He stiffened at the sound. It was not the cultist that had spoken, but
rather a voice inside his head. A familiar voice. jack?

By the Hammer of Durnach, don't just sit there like a lamb at slaughter.
Do something!

I can't, Tack. I can't move.

You don't have to. lust speak the rune of stone. The rune of stone?

Blast it, Travis! Must you always be so dense? You know the rune. All
you have to do is speak it.

But... No buts, Travis. This world needs you. You have to do it. Now!

Travis licked parched lips and drew in a breath of agony. The knife
descended toward his heart. It would be this moment or never. He forced
his lips to form the word.

"Sar!" There was a scream, and a queer, liquid sound. Then came another
cry, not of pain, but of pure, wordless hate.

"No! Free me! Free me and let me kill you!"

Travis's eyes fluttered open, and shock replaced pain. A second ago the
Raven cultist had been inches from him. Now the man was bound fast to
the far-wall by shackles of stone. They looped around his ankles, his
wrists, his throat. He struggled, but even his unnatural strength was no use

527

against the bonds forged by the rune of stone. They merged seamlessly
with the wall.

Something else caught Travis's eye, resting on the floor between him and

the cultist: a small iron box. It was open, and next to it lay a
gray-green stone.

Panic replaced pain. The box must have fallen from his pocket when the
cultist struck him, and must have opened

when it hit the floor. Travis staggered to his feet. He limped
forward-his chest still hurt, but his breaths came more easily now-then
bent and picked up the Stone.

"You!" the cultist hissed. "It is you who holds Sinfathisar! It is you
the Pale Ones followed before they lost the trail." Travis shuddered. He
should go, he should get the others,

but he could not help himself from asking a question in dread
fascination. "Why? Why does the Pale King want the Great Stones?"

The cultist's eyes burned into Travis, so intense he wondered if they
would leave their own brand upon him. "Once the master has all the
Imsari, nothing will be able

to stop him. All of Eldh will be his. And he will have them. Already
Gelthisar lies within the iron necklace he wears, and soon your Stone
will be set beside it." Laughter wracked his body. "The Pale Ones will
find you-they will see Sinfathisar's trail. You might have stopped me
with your runes, but the Stone has betrayed you."

Travis snatched up the iron box, shut the Stone inside, and thrust it
into his pocket. But he knew the cultist was right, knew that it was too
late.

The Pale Ones will find you. . . .

"It doesn't matter." Travis hoped the defiance in his voice masked the
dread in his gut. "You've lost. Your plan to murder a king failed. We'll
take you to the council, make you tell them what you've done, and
they'll have to believe. The Dominions will all stand together against
your precious Pale King and shut him back in Imbrifale."

The cultist gazed at him, then once more laughter bubbled from his lips.
"The council? But what council is this you speak of that will do this
thing?"

Travis stiffened, and his defiance evaporated. "What do you mean?"

The man did not speak, then he murmured something un

528

der his breath in a weird singsong. "Things aren't always what you
think, for all can vanish in a blink.".

Travis shook his head. "What are you saying?"

"Please." Now the cultist's voice was a whisper of anguish. "Please, you
must let me kill you."

Travis recoiled from him.

The man's voice rose to a shriek. He strained against the loops of

stone. "No! I dare not fail him. You do not understand what he will do.
Please, I must kill you! The master will-"

The cultist's words ended, and his eyes bulged in their sockets. His
hands curled into claws inside the stone shackles, and a gurgling
escaped his throat. Then Travis saw it: A curl of smoke rose from the
front of his robe. A tongue of flame followed, and the scent of charred
flesh. The man screamed. Like a hot coal it burned through flesh and
robe, then fell to the floor. The cultist's scream ended. He slumped in
the stone bonds, and his strange eyes stared in lifeless horror as the
flames consumed him. Travis gazed down at the object that smoked on the
floor, and sickness filled his stomach.

It was a lump of hot iron.

95.

"How the Pale King got his hands on Imsaridur and Gelthisar, I don't
know," Falken said. "But it certainly explains the harsh winter that's
assailed the Dominions."

They had all gathered in Falken and Melia's chamber, after Travis had
found first Grace, then the bard and the lady, and had told them all
what had happened. Now Travis sat in the horsehair chair before the
fire. Melia had wrapped him in a blanket. He was sweating, and so hot he
felt he would burn up, but he could not stop shivering. Aryn and Durge
had poured spiced wine for all of them, and he did his best to grip his
cup and sip the steaming liquid without spilling it.

Beltan scratched his head. "Maybe it explains it to you, Falken, but
could you give a little hint to those of us who don't happen to know the
entire history of the world?"

529

Falken regarded the blond knight. "Gelthisar is the Stone of Ice, one of
the Imsari, the three Great Stones. With its magic the Pale King could
definitely summon cold winds and weather. Or weaken the Rune Gate." The
bard strummed a somber chord on his lute. "Both of which it appears he's
done."

"But hasn't Imbrifale been a land of ice and snow for centuries?" Melia
said. She sat in the chair opposite Travis, the black kitten asleep in
her lap. Evidently prancing around and biting at Travis's ankles was
exhausting work.

"You're right, Melia," Falken said. "The Pale King has always been
associated with cold and ice, at least since the fall of Malachor." He
shot her a meaningful look.

Melia nodded and let out a deep breath. Beltan groaned. "Now what?"

Melia glanced up at the knight. "It seems the Pale King has had the
Stone Gelthisar, as well as the iron necklace Imsaridur, in his
possession for centuries."

Falken rubbed his chin with his black-gloved hand. "It would make sense.
During the reign of Malachor, the Runelords guarded the dwarfin necklace
Imsaridur, which contained the three Great Stones. But when Malachor
fell, the Runelords were destroyed and the three Imsari were scattered."

Sadness flickered in his faded eyes. "We had always thought the Great
Stones were lost, but it looks as if, somehow, Gelthisar and the
necklace found their way to Imbrifale not long after Malachor was
destroyed." He gave

Travis a sharp look. "And we know where Sinfathisar is. That leaves only
one more of the Imsari-Krondisar, the Stone of Fire."

Melia gazed into the flames that danced on the hearth. "And no doubt his
minions search for it at this moment, even as they do Sinfathisar."

Travis opened his mouth. He wanted to ask Falken and Melia what would
happen if the Pale King gained all three Imsari and the necklace
Imsaridur was complete once more. The ironheart had told him, but he
wanted to hear it from them. However, a grim voice spoke before he could.

"Why now?"

All of them turned their attention toward Grace.

She had seemed in an odd mood when Travis found her in

530

her chamber-her gaze had been so distant-and she had not

spoken since he had shown her and the others the cultist. Or at least
what had remained of the cultist, for there had been nothing besides a
heap of ashes and the half-melted lump of iron that had served as his
heart. The stone shackles had been empty.

"It doesn't make sense," Grace said. "If he's had this stone-the Stone
of ice-for so long, why has the Pale King waited until now to do something?"

Falken set down his lute. "Berash was defeated badly by King Ulther and
Empress Elsara a thousand years ago. It was thought he was dead-though
death does not necessarily mean the same to one such as him as it does
to us. I would guess it has taken him this long to gather his strength
again, and that only now is he ready to try to ride forth once more."

Travis spoke between chattering teeth. "Lucky us to come along at just
the right time."

Beltan ran a hand through his thinning hair. "So what do we do now?"

Falken picked up a leather pouch from the windowsill. From the way he
handled it, it was heavy. Travis felt his gorge rise. He knew what the
sack contained.

"We talk to the kings and queens," Falken said. "One by one if we can
get audiences with them. And we show them this." He hefted the leather
pouch. "We have to try to convince them it's not too late to stand
against the Pale King."

"If it's not too late to stand against the Pale King," Melia murmured.

No one attempted an answer to that.

"I'll go talk to King Boreas," Beltan said. "Hopefully he can set up
meetings with the other rulers."

"I'll help," Aryn said.

The blond knight cast a sharp look at Durge. The Embarran gave a solemn
nod, then Beltan and Aryn left the room. "What now?" Falken said as he
looked at Melia.

She set the kitten on the floor and rose from her chair. "I would like
to spend a little more time examining the place where Travis encountered
the ironheart."

"What for?"

Melia turned her striking gaze on him.

531

He nodded-another secret message. The bard and the lady

started toward the door.

Travis spoke the words in a soft voice. "He said the Pale -ies would see
the light of Sinfathisar."

Falken and Melia halted, and the bard regarded Travis with

grave eyes. "The ironheart wasn't lying about that. They lost our trail
after the White Tower, and I was hoping they had lost it for good. But
when the Stone was released from the box, there was nothing to keep its
power from shining forth. That will be like a beacon to them. It's only
a matter of time until the wraithlings get here."

Travis could only nod.

"Come, Falken." Melia touched his arm. "Let us not be defeated by what
is not yet here. There is still much we can do."

Falken took her hand in his, then the two stepped from the chamber.

Grace glanced at the door, then looked at Travis and Durge. They were
the only ones left in the room.

"So what do we do?" she said.

"What can we do, my lady?" Durge said. "The second conspirator is no
more. Lord Falken and Lady Melia will do what they can to convince the
council to act. It is best we remain here and watch for those who search
for Goodman Travis."

"No." Travis looked up. "No, that's not enough, Durge." Grace turned
toward him. "What is it, Travis?"

He threw off the blanket and stood. Something was wrong about this.
Something he had missed. What was it? He searched his mind-it was so close.

The council? But what council is this you speak of that will do this thing?

Travis sucked in a breath. "This isn't over. The ironheart is dead, but
this still isn't over."

Grace took a step toward him. "What do you mean?"

He paced before the fire now, and his mind raced. "It was something the
ironheart said before he was . . . before he died. Something about the
council."

Durge frowned beneath his mustaches. "What was it?" Things aren't always
what you think, for all can vanish in a blink.

There could be only one answer to that riddle. "The coun

532

cil," Travis said. "They plan to do away with the entire Council of Kings."

Grace took a step back in shock. "Are you certain?" "Positive. They're
going to kill all the rulers at once." "Who do you mean?" Durge said.
"The second conspirator is dead."

"No, I don't think so." Travis approached the knight. "The ironheart
hinted that something is going to happen to the council members. That
means there's someone left to do it. I don't think he was the second
conspirator-I think Alerain's murderer is still loose in the castle."

"I think you're right, Travis." Grace met his gaze. "The man who
attacked you, the one I saw in the town, he was shorter and heavier than
the one I saw in my vision."

"But when and how will the conspirator strike?" Durge said. "It seems
unlikely he will be able to do away with all the kings and queens at
once. Two of them will hardly stand in a room together at this point,
let alone all seven."

Grace's green-gold eyes grew large. "The feast!" Travis and Durge both
stared at her.

"Aryn said King Boreas is planning a feast for Midwinter's Eve," she
said. "It's the only time all the rulers will be together before the
council meets again. That has to be when the conspirator will strike.
It's his only chance."

"But the great hall will be closely guarded, my lady," Durge said. "I
can assure you of that."

"It won't matter." Travis didn't know why, but he was certain Grace was
right. "Not if the murderer is already in the great hall."

"In which case we have to find him before the feast begins," Grace said.

"A fine idea, my lady," Durge said. "But how do you propose we
accomplish this?"

She grimaced. "I don't know. We'd need some sort of
distraction-something to throw the murderer off his guard so he reveals
himself. But I can't think of anything to do that."

Travis started to agree, then winced in pain. He glanced down to see the
black kitten pounce again at his shin like a miniature panther. Its
sharp claws sank through the fabric of his breeches to pierce the skin.
He started to shout in protest, then halted. The kitten sat and looked

up at him with

533

large golden eyes. Of course-it was only playing, only pretending to be
ferocious.

Only playing, only pretending . . .

Travis laughed. The answer was so impossible, but even as he thought
this he knew it was right, that it was their only chance. Grace and
Durge stared at him, probably afraid he had lost his mind. He reached
down, scooped the kitten into his grasp, and stood again.

"I think I know someone who can help us," he said. Grace and Durge
stepped close to listen. In the crook of his arm the kitten licked a paw
and purred.

Minutes later the three of them-minus the kitten-stood outside a wooden
door. This was a quiet part of the castle, a tower some distance from
the main keep.

Travis glanced at Durge. "Are you certain this is it?" The knight gave a
sharp nod. "The Lady Aryn mentioned the king's actors were being housed
in the north tower. This is the only chamber large enough to accommodate
an entire troupe."

"This has to be it," Grace said.

Travis drew in a deep breath. Did he really mean to do this thing? But
there was nowhere else to turn for help. He lifted

a hand, hesitated, then rapped on the door.

There was no answer. Silence crept down the corridor on padded feet.
Travis swallowed hard, then reached out his hand to knock again.

The door swung open.

"Who's there?" Travis called out.

No answer. Through the door he saw only shadows and gloom.

"Let's go," Grace said.

Durge loosened his knife in its sheath. "I will wait out here. Call me
if you require my aid."

Travis doubted the knight's blade would be of much use against anything
they might encounter beyond the door. However, he did not say this. He
exchanged looks with Grace, then the two stepped through the doorway.

A heavy sound echoed behind them-the door shutting, Travis supposed,
although it sounded muffled and distant. He adjusted his spectacles and
peered around him. There Was light in the chamber after all silvery and
sourceless.

534

Rushes strewed the floor, and tapestries draped stone walls. The

weavings depicted a green forest with tangled trees hiding white stags,
birds, and crystal fountains. His hand found Grace's, and they stepped
farther into the room.

Bells shimmered on the air, then faded with a lingering shiver across
his skin.

"This way," Grace said.

They followed the sound through an archway. More tapes. tries draped the
walls, only they seemed closer now, and darker.'The tapestries had been
woven with great skill. He could see minute details: the texture of a
tree's bark, the dappled light on the surface of a brook. He and Grace
pressed on. A moist scent rose on the air, fresh and green, so unlike
the usual odor of the castle.

Another stone archway, this one half-draped by one of the tapestries.
Travis reached out to push aside the curtain and step through the arch.

His hands brushed across smooth bark, and cool leaves caressed his face.

No, that was impossible. It was only a tapestry. He looked at Grace. Her
eyes were startled. He opened his mouth, but a rustling sound
interrupted him, and something crimson streaked between them. Travis
followed it with his gaze. It alighted on a branch: a small bird, its
breast as red as berries. The bird regarded them with bright eyes.

Grace squeezed his hand hard. "Where are we, Travis?" Travis looked
around. He could still see the chamber's stone walls here and there, and
the floor was still wood, although now it was covered-not with cut
rushes-but with fallen leaves. Somewhere water flowed, and branches
arched overhead instead of beams or rafters.

"I'm not sure, Grace."

But maybe he was. Maybe this was both castle and forest. "Greetings,"
said a piping voice.

Travis and Grace turned around. "Trifkin!" Travis said.

The little man sat on a stump, cross-legged, his jacket blending with
the leaves. It was difficult to be sure, but the silvery light seemed to
emanate from his direction.

"I knew you would come," Trifkin said. "Yet I feared you would not."

535

"We need your help, Trifkin." Grace took a step toward him. "We need to
find a way to-"

He raised a small hand and nodded. "I know."

Travis followed after Grace. "But how can you know?" "I have seen it
happen," Trifkin said. "Your plan for the Midwinter's Eve feast."

"Then it's going to work?" Grace said. "Yes," Trifkin said. Then, "No."

Travis groaned. This was too much. "But what are you saying? How can it
be both?"

The little man held out his arms. "A tree has many branches, yet it is
all one tree. Still, in the end, you can choose but one branch to follow."

Travis hesitated, then grinned. It was like the chamber and the forest.
Sometimes two possibilities could exist at once: a

fork in a road, a branch in a tree. There was no way to know

which would be true, not until you picked one.

"It's not too late," Grace.said. "That's what you mean. We still have a
choice."

"You always have a choice," Trifkin said. "It is what you will choose
that is unknown."

Travis drew closer to the little man. "Will you help us then?"

Trifkin's round face grew solemn. "The Little People retreated from this
world long ago. It had its New Gods-it needed the Old Ones and their
children no longer."

Grace sighed. "Then you won't help us."

Trifkin regarded her with his deep eyes. "Yes, that is one choice." He
stood on the stump. "Yet there is another choice as well. That which was
once forgotten comes again. We

were lost in our dreams of the old days, but now the old days

returning. The time for action has come."

"But what can we do?" Travis said.

Now Trifkin smiled again. "But you already know. You ive only to follow
that branch to its end."

Travis shook his head. How could he possibly know? Then

somehow he did. It glowed before him, perfect and whole, Her eyes
shone-she understood.

like a ripe fruit he had only to pluck. He looked at Grace. "You must go
now," Trifkin said.

536

There was peril in his voice. The meaning was clear: This place was not
safe for mortals.

"But first," the little man said, "I must give you each a gift."

A silver bracelet appeared in his small hand. From it dan. gled a dark,
wedge-shaped stone. He handed it to Grace, and she slipped it over her
wrist.

"Follow this, Blademender," he said,."until you can learn to follow your
own heart."

Now a bundle wrapped in leaves appeared in Trifkin's hand. He handed it
to Travis.

"What is it?" Travis said. "Hurry," Trifkin whispered. "But-"

Travis blinked, then stared at Grace. Before them the wooden door swung
shut. They turned around and saw the Embarran knight.

"Durge!" Grace said. "You're still here."

"Of course, my lady. You were gone but a moment. Did he not speak to you
then?"

Grace could only shake her head. She lifted her hand, and silver glinted
around her wrist.

Travis looked down at the bundle in his hands. It was not covered in
leaves any longer, but with green felt. With trembling hands he unfolded
the cloth. Beneath was a disk of creamy white stone. His heart fluttered
in his chest. He did not need Falken to tell him what the object was. He
knew the meaning of the angular rune, and the meaning of the jagged
break that divided the disk in two.

It was Gelth.

The second seal from the Rune Gate. And it was broken.

96.

After a week of muffling clouds and mist, the day before Midwinter
dawned clear and brilliant over Calavere. It had snowed during the
night, and a thick, white cloak mantled the fields and walls of Calavan.
Grace rose with the sun,

537

threw open the window of her chamber, and breathed in icy air. Snow
capped the castle's towers and battlements and concealed-for a short
time at least-the mud of the baileys.

Grace spent the day doing simple things. She passed the morning beside
the fireplace, reading a book taken from the castle's library. It was a
history of Calavan. She read of the terrible winter five centuries ago,
when the River Darkwine froze over and barbarians crossed the ice to
attack. However, the Tarrasian captain Calavus-who had never in his life
traveled to the great city of Tarras-met them, not with swords, but with
skins of wine and joints of roasted

meat. He forged a pact with the barbarians, they knelt to him as their
leader, and in that moment Calavan was born.

Grace set down the book and gazed again at the frigid world outside the
window. The Dimduorn had not frozen since that winter five hundred years
ago. She had heard it said in the castle how some thought it would
freeze that night.

At midday, a serving maid brought her a tray with dinner. She ate, then
she spent the afternoon working on her embroidery. Aryn had said all
noblewomen in the Dominions knew how to embroider. Grace thought she
would be good at it-after all, she had sewn enough stitches in the

Emergency Department. However; it turned out she was awful. No matter
which finger she wore the thimble on, she always seemed to prick
another, and what was supposed to be a pattern of leaves and acorns
looked more like something she would grow in a petri dish.

She looked up, neck aching, as the daylight began to fade beyond the
window. It was nearly time. She set down her embroidery, rose, donned a
different gown-the frosted winter violet, her favorite-then brushed her
hair until it shone like the last of the sunlight that gilded the
castle's turrets. She set the brush on the sideboard, turned, and faced
the door. Outside, shadows crept across the snow-a deeper hue of purple
than her gown.

"Let's go, Doctor," she murmured to herself.

Grace opened the door, stepped through, and set out to catch the
murderer in the castle.

Over the last two days, the Circle of the Black Knife had refined their
plan to discover the conspirator at the Midwin

538

ter's Eve feast, although they had told no one-not even Falken and
Melia-what they intended.

After their meeting with Trifkin Mossberry, Grace and Travis had gone at
once to the bard and the lady's chamber to show them the broken seal
from the Rune Gate. Falken had sworn, then had asked them where they had
gotten it, and they had told them of their encounter with Trifkin.

"It looks as if you were right after all, Travis," Falken had said as he
folded the stone disk back into its cloth.

Melia had raised an eyebrow.

"Travis saw them at King Kel's keep," Falken had said. "Trifkin and his
troupe of actors, I mean. Travis told me there was something strange
about them, but I thought he had just drunk a bit too much ale."

Melia had rested her chin on the back of a slender hand. "Travis does
have perceptive vision. I think it's best if we don't forget that."

Falken had grunted.

With this new revelation, the bard had been more resolved than ever to
speak to the kings and queens about the danger that faced the Dominions,
to convince them to act, and he intended to use the broken rune Gelth as
further evidence. Grace had not disagreed with his words. However,
something had told her it would take more than shattered stones and old
stories to change the minds of those rulers who did .not believe in the
Pale King.

Grace had exchanged a look with Travis, and she had known they were in
accord-they had not mentioned their Midwinter's Eve plan.

Now Grace halted before a door and lifted her hand to knock, but the
wooden surface swung away before her hand could contact it. She gazed
into a pair of solemn brown eyes. "The others are all here, my lady,"
Durge said.

She nodded, then stepped into the room, and the darkhaired knight shut
the door behind her. Travis, Aryn, and Beltan all nodded to her in greeting.

Grace had never been in Durge's chamber before. What she saw was not
what she had expected. The room was small and had only a narrow slit of
a window. It was heated, not with a fireplace, but with a small brazier
that cast its smoke on the air and left the substance to find its way
out through

539

cracks in the walls and ceiling. There was a low bed and a heavy wooden
chest which most likely housed the knight's armor when he was not
wearing it, and which was doubtless empty at the moment. Durge was clad
in his gray tunic and

cloak, but the garments were bulkier than usual, and Grace heard a
jingling when he moved. His greatsword was slung across his back.

What caught Grace's attention most of all was the chamber's sideboard.
It was covered with crucibles, glass vials, clay pots, and oil lamps
with wrought-iron. stands to hold an item being heated. Jars contained
thick liquids or colored powders. In all it looked like a well-equipped
chemistry lab.

Grace looked at the knight. "What is all this, Durge?"

He stroked his mustaches in what seemed an embarrassed gesture. "It is
nothing, my lady. I have a passing interest in alchemy, that is all. I
know little enough." He moved to the sideboard, picked something up, and
handed it to Grace. "Thank you for letting me study this."

Grace accepted the object. It was the bracelet Trifkin Mossberry had
given her. When Durge had seen her wearing it the day before, he had
expressed interest in it, especially the charm of dark stone, and had
asked if he might examine it. Grace had given it to him, but only now
did she understand the source of his curiosity. She slipped the bracelet
onto her wrist.

"Do you know what it is?" she said. "The charm, I mean." "I was able to
perform some tests," Durge said. "I believe it to be a piece of lodestone.

"Lodestone?" Aryn said with a frown. "You mean it's a

stone that fell from the sky?"

Durge nodded. "That's right, my lady. I have heard astrologers of the
south call such rocks meteorites, but lodestone is

the name used in the Dominions. It is the same kind of stone

as the artifact of Malachor in the great hall."

Beltan let out a whistle. "That must have been some falling star. It
takes ten men to move that thing. Though the

ring turns easily enough."

Grace regarded the charm bracelet, then thought of the

massive ring of dark stone in the great hall. So the two were

540

connected. This fact seemed important somehow, but she couldn't say why.

"Is everybody ready?" a low voice said.

Grace looked up. It was Travis. His gray eyes were serious behind his
wire-rimmed spectacles, and his face above his beard was white.

Capillary constriction-an autonomic response. He's frightened, Grace.
She almost laughed at the diagnosis. Grace suspected her own capillaries
were constricted as well.

She drew in a deep breath, then stepped toward the others. "I'm ready."

Beltan nodded. "And I."

Aryn braced her shoulders inside her azure gown. Her dark hair was
intricately coiled and woven with strands of pearl. "I suppose I'm ready."

"And I as well," Durge said in his grim voice.

Travis sighed and rested a hand on the stiletto tucked into his belt.
"Me too. I think we're all ready then. Everybody knows what to do?"

Each of the five nodded. "Then I guess it's time to go."

They started to move to the door, then Grace halted, turned, and
regarded Travis.

"Can we trust them?" she said in a quiet voice. "Trifkin and his troupe,
I mean."

Travis seemed to think about her words, then shook his head. "No, I
don't think we can trust them. They're older than us, and different. But
I don't think they have much love for the Pale King, either." He
shrugged his shoulders inside his baggy tunic. "We'll just have to hope
that's enough."

Grace nodded. She looked at each of the members of the Circle in turn,
and only when she was done did she realize she had just fixed each one
in her mind exactly as he or she was at that moment. Afraid she knew the
reason why, she hurried to the door, before she lost her resolve, before
she let herself think that this plan just might be sending one of these
people-one of her friends-to his or her death.

"Let's do it," she said.

They left Durge's chamber one at a time, and let a minute or two pass
between each of their departures so no one

541

would see them together. Grace was the second to go, after Beltan. She
stepped outside and glanced both ways down the

corridor. A few servants hurried this way and that, caught up in their

tasks, but that was all. She set her shoulders back and forced herself
to walk calmly down the passage. It would not do to appear nervous or in
a hurry. Besides, the light was still fading outside the castle's
windows: soft purple hardening to gray slate. There was still time
before the feast-and the longest night of the year-began.

She heard the dull roar of voices before she even reached the great
hall. Rumors concerning the Midwinter's Eve feast had flown about the
castle these last days, and no doubt everyone had turned out to see if
any of them were true. According to the stories, Boreas had spared no
expense on the feast. There was to be an entire roasted ox, some said.
No, it was two roasted oxen, and each was to be stuffed with a lamb, and
the lamb with a hare, and the hare with a partridge, and the partridge
with a single dove's egg. There were to be braised swans, and lampreys,
and subtleties shaped like each of the kings and queens of the
Dominions. Grace didn't know what to think of the rumors, but she hoped
the last one turned out to be true. Something told her it would be fun
to take a bite out of King Boreas.

She steeled her will and turned a corner that would take her to the
doors of the great hall.

"Lady Grace," said a dangerous voice. "How regal you look this evening."

Grace cursed herself for doing it, but she couldn't help gasping as she
turned toward the sound of the voice. She hadn't seen the woman there,
standing in a shadowed alcove. Now the other stepped into the light,
although the shadows seemed to cling to her still.

"Lady Kyrene," Grace said, then remembered to sketch a curtsy.

Kyrene smiled and bowed her head.

It had been days since Grace had last seen the countess, and then Kyrene
had been wild and ragged, half-mad at her fall from Queen Ivalaine's
favor. Now Kyrene was . . . different. Her hair was lustrous, but darker
than Grace remembered it and pulled back in a severe knot. Her skin was
milky

as always, but the shade with which she had colored her lips,

542

once coral pink, was now a deep red, like wine. Even her choice in garb
had changed. Gone was her usual low-cut gown. Instead she wore a
tight-fitting dress the same color as her lips, its collar high and
fastened tightly around her throat by a choker of shell and jade.

"So, have you come to enjoy yourself at the feast?" Kyrene said.

"Why else would I have come?" Grace tried not to sound defensive but
knew she failed.

Kyrene smiled again. Her emerald eyes were brighter and harder than
ever. "Why else might you have come? Perhaps to weave useless magics as
witches do." Kyrene moved closer. "Tell me, Lady Grace, are you still
Ivalaine's play. thing?"

Grace's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about, Kyrene?"

"Don't worry, love. I'm not angry at you for what you did to me. It was
a favor, I know that now." Kyrene smoothed her hair. "Ivalaine is a
fool. She plays her little games and thinks she's so important. But
there are others here now, others who are far greater than she."

Despite Kyrene's beauty, a sour scent rose from her. Grace felt sick.

"I have to go," she said.

Kyrene gave a knowing nod. "Of course, love. And so do I We each have
our alliances to uphold. Farewell, Lady Grace."

The countess gave Grace one more smug smile, then sauntered away. Grace
rushed down the corridor, grateful to be away from her. Perhaps Kyrene
was mad after all, or perhaps she really had found some new faction to
ally herself with. Either way, Grace didn't care. She inhaled, steadied
her mind, then stepped into the great hall of Calavere.

"Lady Grace?"

She blinked, then glanced down at a tug on her sleeve. A page stood
beside her.

"This way, Lady Grace," the boy said.

She gave a wordless nod, then let him lead her among the trestle tables
filled with nobles. Once again the castle's great hall had been
decorated to resemble a forest, and for a moment Grace felt the same
disorientation she had in Trifkin's

543

chamber. It seemed she really walked in a misty sylvan glade. However,
it was only a trick of torch smoke. Fir boughs draped the blackened
rafters, and leafless saplings stood in the corners like shy, slender
ladies waiting to be asked for a dance.

Grace thought she would be seated at one of the lower tables, but
instead the page led her to the dais at the head of the great hall. She
was to be seated at the high table. That was a stroke of luck. Her view
would be better from up here, and she needed to be able to see the
entire great hall. If their plan worked as it was supposed to, and the
murderer was in the hall, it was Grace and Travis who would spot him.

She nodded to King Kylar as she passed him, then at King Boreas, who
barely caught her gaze before he returned his glower to the hall. It did
not look as if the king of Calavan intended to enjoy his own feast. The
page showed her to the last empty seat at the high table, and her breath
caught in her chest. So she was twice lucky that night.

"Good eventide, Lady Grace," Logren said with his whitetoothed smile.

He stood as she took her seat, then sat again beside her. "Good
eventide, my lord," she said. She had not noticed it before, but now the
great hall was too warm, and her gown too constricting.

"You look beautiful tonight, my lady." His voice was low and private,
just for her.

So do you, my lord, she wanted to say. He was clad in pearl-gray, like

the night she first met him. She drank in his features like wine. Why
had she run from him when they last met? He must have thought her an idiot.

"Thank you, my lord," she said when she realized he was waiting for an
answer.

"I have been keeping an eye open as you asked, my lady." His voice was
casual-he could have been speaking about bird-watching in the garden-but
he gave her a conspiratorial nod. "I'm afraid I haven't seen anything
such as you described."

Yes, he was good at this game. "It's all right, my lord. I appreciate
your help."

"At your service, my lady."

A thrill passed through Grace, and she could not help but

544

taped the countess's web. Maybe Grace could try again, and

smile. He was intelligent, kind, and handsome. If not hire, then who?
Kyrene had her new friends now-Logren had esbeen so new at this, when
she had fled the nobles in terror,

pointed directly at the center of Logren's chest.

He smiled at her. "What is it you wished to tell lady?"

lodestone dangled from the silver chain. It spun slowly, first left,
then right, then-as she watched-it came to a halt.

then froze. Her eyes locked on the delicate bracelet

need to tell you. . "

Shhave?e leaned toward him. "Lord Logren, there's something I

without thoughts of spells and simples this time. She remembered the
soft touch of his lips on her own. Maybe she didn't need magic to make
Logren hers. Maybe he already was...

"A drink, my lady?"

She almost laughed. Those were the first words he had ever spoken to
her, that night in the great hall when she had and he had been there to
steady her.

"Yes," she said. "A drink would be lovely."

He filled a cup from a pitcher of wine. Warmth filled her, and with it
came a new resolution. Of course, it was so right, how could she not
have seen it before? She would tell Logren everything, right here and
now-their plan to discover the murderer at the feast. She could add his
eyes and his intellect to her own. What better ally could she and the others

He handed her the cup, and she reached out to accept it. His brown eyes
were intent upon her. "Yes, my lady?" Grace opened her mouth to tell him
. . .

that encircled her wrist-the wrist of the hand with which she had
reached out to accept the cup. The wedge-shaped Warmth fled her,
replaced by a terrible chill. The charm

545 Travis made his way down the corridor as quickly as he could and
still look as if he were going nowhere in particular. There were few in
this part of Calavere-most had already headed to the great hall for the
feast. However, he didn't want to do anything that might attract
attention. The murderer was still somewhere in the castle, and it could
be anyone, even the basest servant.

He reached a crossing of ways, paused, then headed down the left-hand
corridor. Things looked familiar now. Yes, he was almost there, almost
to the north tower-and the chamber occupied by Trifkin Mossberry and his
troupe of actors. He could only hope the little man had not forgotten
that he had agreed to help them. Then again, Travis had the feeling
Trifkin could remember things far older than any living person-older
than this castle, maybe as old as the forest.

Sweat trickled inside his tunic, and his hand crept to the stiletto
tucked into his belt. The others would all be reaching their positions
now. It was too late to stop even if he wanted to. He drew in a deep
breath and tried to think about what he would do after this night was
over. Maybe you could open a tavern in the town below the castle. Even
this world needs saloons, doesn't it? Places to escape for a little while.

The thought made Travis smile. There couldn't be too many other
interplanetary saloon keepers out there. He kept walking, and his cowboy
boots beat a tattoo against the floor. The boots were scuffed and
battered. How many leagues had he walked in them in this world? He had
lost count. Regardless, they were about to fall apart. He would have to
get a new pair when he got back to . . . that was, if he ever got back
to . . .

A faint hum drifted on the air.

The rhythm of Travis's boots slowed. He peered to either side, but the
corridor was empty. It must have been the winter wind outside, scouring
the walls of the castle, that was all. He quickened his pace.

546

The metallic hum grew louder, until air and stone reso. nated with it.

Travis froze. This time there was no mistaking it for wind. He knew that
sound, would never forget it, the way it pierced the air and thrummed in
his chest. He felt some. thing warm against his hand, and he looked
down. The jewel set into the hilt of his stiletto blazed like an angry
eye. His heart wrenched in mid-beat, and he snapped his head up.

"No," he whispered, but the word had no power to change what he saw.

Pale light welled through a stone archway up ahead. Even as he watched,
it grew brighter, closer, as if whatever made the light approached with
terrible speed.

The humming filled his skull and drowned out the sound of his pulse. He
stared at the archway, unable to move, a small animal waiting for the
hunter's strike. The glow intensified, grew pure and cold. Then he saw

them, silhouettes in the light: tall, slender, and hideous in their grace.

Terror washed away his paralysis. Travis turned and ran back down the
corridor, his boots thudding in time with his heart. He reached the
place were the passages intersected, started to turn down the way he had
come, then stumbled and fell back. Faint but growing, he saw it-fey
light shone down that corridor as well. They were coming at him from two
directions.

Travis lurched into the right-hand passage, bent his head, and careened
down the corridor. He reached into the pocket of his tunic and clasped
the iron box. It was the Stone that had drawn them, the Stone that they
wanted. Their huge eyes could see the very trails of magic it left on
the air.

The corridor split in front of him. Which way? He started down one
passage. The hum grew louder, and eerie shadows slithered on the walls.
He pulled back, started down the other corridor. It too was filled with
a colorless incandescence that grew stronger each second. He jerked his
head back and forth. They had him surrounded, there was nowhere to go,
nowhere to"This way," a voice said.

The words cut through his fear. There was no time to question the voice,
no time to see who the speaker was. A door he had not noticed before had
opened in the wall of the

547

corridor. A warm hand grasped his, and he let it pull him through the
opening into a chamber beyond. There was a hiss of air and the grating
of stone on stone. The door closed behind him and shut out the sinister
glow.

His eyes adjusted to the mundane illumination of an oil lamp that hung
from an iron chain. Fear ebbed, and surprise surged in its place.

"Lady Kyrene!"

Dark red lips coiled in a smile. "Are you well, Goodman Travis?"

He remembered his pursuers and glanced back at the smooth expanse of
stone where the door had been.

"Do not worry," she said. "Even they cannot walk through stone."

Her words oozed, not fear but hatred, and this struck a strange note in
Travis's mind. He turned his gaze back toward her. How had the countess
known to find him? But it didn't matter. He was grateful to have escaped
them, at least for the moment. Now he had to find Falken and the others,
to warn them of what stalked the castle.

"How can I get to the great hall, Kyrene? I have to talk to Falken and
Melia."

Kyrene sauntered toward him. She looked different than she had that day
in the garden. Her deep crimson dress clung to the curves of her body:
her arms, her breasts, her throat. Her green eyes glittered like stones.

"Forget them, love," Kyrene said. "You do not need those two any longer."

She reached out, caressed his cheek, then let her hands run over his
shoulders, his chest, his hips.

A shudder coursed through him. He could not look away from her eyes.
"What do you mean?" he whispered.

Her hands brushed across something small and heavy beHeath the fabric of
his tunic, then halted. Instinct raised the hair on his arms. He leaped
back.

Kyrene lifted her hand, and now there was a dagger in it, rved and
wicked. "Give me the Stone!" she hissed.

He shook his head and pressed his back against the wall. What had he
done? No, what had she done? Then he knew, and a moan escaped his lips.

548

F

"You're one of them." He was going to vomit. "You're one of them, aren't
you?"

"Give me the Stone, Travis. I must have it." She gestured to the wall
with the dagger. "He favors them, his precious Pale Ones. How I despise
them! But who will have the greatest favor in his eyes when it is I who
brings him Sinfathisar?"

"No." He gripped the iron box.

"Don't fight, love. You don't have to die, not a handsome thing like
you." She held her arms out. "Come, join me. I can take you to them,
they can give you one, too. Together our beauty will never fade!"

He stared at her, frozen by horror.

She drew near him. "It is not what you think, love. Nothing is so frail
as a human heart. You cannot imagine what it is like to be freed of it."
Rapture twisted her perfect features. "I am so strong now, so powerful.
There is no pain, no fear, no sorrow that can touch me."

Travis gazed at her empty face and understood. "Yes," he said in a quiet
voice. "And there is no love, no joy, and no kindness. Don't you see,
Kyrene? You've given up your heart." He shook with the words. "You've
given up your heart."

She stared at him, her eyes wide, as if for a moment she saw the truth
he spoke of. Then her face hardened into a mask of rage.

"No." She raised the dagger. "You're wrong!"

She flew at him and thrust the dagger straight at his chest. He caught
her wrist barely in time, the blade an inch from his heart. She was
strong-horribly strong, just as she had said-but he was nearly twice her
size, and fear flooded his limbs with its own preternatural strength.
With a cry he hurled her aside. She struck a wall, the dagger flew from
her hand, and she fell to the floor.

He searched, frantic. There-a door in the far wall. He threw himself
toward it, shoved it open. A blood-chilling scream sounded behind him.

"You will be sorry, Goodman Travis," she shouted. "If you will not be
mine, then I will take something you love! I will take it, and I will
destroy it! Let your heart bear that!"

Never in his life had he heard such perfect hate. Once

549

time to tell him. "I have to get to the great hall," he said. "I

Kyrene had been a woman, but that thing back there was no longer human
and never would be again.

Travis slammed the door shut. There was a wooden bar, and he shoved it
into the slots. Then he ran down the corridor, away from the light, and
away from the madness of evil.

He turned a corner and saw another door ahead. He pushed through it, and
icy air struck his face. The empty expanse of the lower bailey stretched
before him, lit by the great orb of the moon which soared over the
castle's battlements. A dark shape loomed not far away: the tower of the
Runespeakers. Yes, if there was anywhere he could find help it was
there. He looked both ways, saw no one, then sprinted across the bailey.

He reached the tower door. His pulse thrummed in his ears and threatened
to rupture his eardrums, but he had made it. He opened the door and
raced up the steps that spiraled inside the tower.

"Rin!" he shouted. "Jemis! Are you here?"

He burst into the tower's main chamber. Rin looked up in surprise. The
muscular young runespeaker knelt beside the copper brazier in the act of
banking the coals.

Rin stood and brushed ashes from his hand, his brown eyes concerned.
"Travis, what is it?"

He shook his head, gasped for breath. How could he explain? "They've
found me, Rin. They're right behind me." The young runespeaker frowned.
"Who are you talking

about? Is there someone in the castle? An intruder?" His expression
darkened. "An enemy of the king?"

Travis nodded, then shook his head. It wasn't what Rin thought. Not
robbers or renegade knights. There was no need to talk to Lord Falken.
He can explain."

Rin let out a deep breath, then nodded. "I can't say I understand you,
Travis. But if you say it's important, then it is."

Travis gazed at Rin in gratitude. He could not believe his good fortune,
to encounter such a friend on a night such as this. Maybe there was hope
yet.

"But you're exhausted, Travis." Rin's broad face was troubled. "You
won't do Falken or anyone any good if you col

550

lapse on the way to the great hall. Let me get you some wine."

Urgency clawed at Travis's heart. He opened his mouth to say they needed
to run, but his throat was too dry. Rin was right, he had to drink
something, had to rest just a moment, then he could run again. He sat in
a chair by the brazier.

"Where's Jemis?" he managed to croak.

"He's already at the great hall." Rin moved to a cupboard and turned to
fill two cups with wine.

Travis held his hands toward the brazier. Despite his exer, tion he was
cold. He rubbed his hands together. Then he noticed it, white and still.
It lay beside the brazier. He reached down and picked it up: a dead
dove. He stroked the little corpse with a thumb. Had it fallen from the
rafters? No, its head flopped to one side. Its neck had been wrung.

"We have to be there soon, anyway," Rin said, his back still turned. "We
need to speak the rune of purity before the feast can begin."

Travis hardly heard the runespeaker. He stared at the dove. A crimson
spot appeared on its white feathers. Was it bleeding? Another circle of
crimson appeared beside the first, then another. Travis lifted his head
and gazed upward.

He was lashed to the rafters, his eyes orbs of terror, his face purple.
Jemis. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth to fall drop by drop.
The elder runespeaker's head lolled-his neck had been wrung just like
the dove's. Except that would take powerful hands, terribly powerful
hands... .

Rin turned around. "Here's your wine, Travis. Now, tell me, what's going
on?"

Travis stared at the cup in each of Rin's hands-his big peasant's hands.
For a heartbeat the entire world was still, Then Travis scrambled from
the chair, knocked it over, and backed away. Rin watched him, his brown
eyes impassive. Then he threw down the cups and advanced on Travis.

A sound escaped Travis's throat: sorrow and terror. "Rin, what have they
done to you?"

"You're a fool to resist, Travis." Rin's voice was toneless. "You can't
escape him." The young runespeaker hesitated, and his brown eyes seemed
almost sad. "You'll see. He'll make you one in the end."

551

"But why . . . ?"

"Why did I choose this? Why did I remain a runespeaker? Why didn't I
murder you the moment I knew you could bind runes?" His lips parted in a
mirthless smile. "I was put here to watch the Runespeakers. And I've
watched you, Travisfrom your first day in the castle, when Falken came
to talk to us. It was the task of my master's other servants to kill
you. Except they failed, and now there's no more time for questions."

Travis edged toward the head of the stairs. Rin's smile vanished. His

eyes were dull as pebbles.

"Give me Sinfathisar, Travis."

Travis shook his head. "No." He lunged for the stairs. He felt the
tingle in his right palm at the same moment Rin spoke the word.

"Krond!" Travis felt it at once: The air around him transformed into an
oven. Sweat evaporated off his clothes in curls of steam. The
temperature soared. Another heartbeat and Travis knew he would burst
into flame.

Break it, Travis! Jack. It was Jack. Break his rune.

His throat was a desert, his tongue baked in his mouth. He could barely
form the sound, then he did.

"R eth!"

He felt more than saw his hand flash as he spoke the rune of breaking.
The searing heat vanished, and he felt the magic rush away from him,
back toward its source. There was a scream, cut short, followed by a thud.

Travis pulled himself to his feet, swayed, then caught himself. Rin
sprawled on the floor, and Travis staggered toward the young
runespeaker. His eyes stared upward, blank with death, and a wisp of
smoke curled from his open mouth. The 'force of the blow had torn his
tunic to shreds. Travis could see the ragged scar that snaked across
Rin's broad chest.

Well-done, Travis! When you sundered his magic, you } tendered his mind
as well.

He clenched his right hand into a fist. No-he had not ne well. He had
broken his promise again. Travis turned, V down the stairs, and burst
into the frigid night. He

552

gulped the freezing air into his lungs, but it could not quell the
sickness in his guts. Hands on knees, he spilled his fear and revulsion
on the frozen mud.

You had to do it, Travis. You must understand, it was the only way.

No, he was tired of the voice. He didn't want to listen. Travis stumbled
through a doorway, back into the shelter of the castle. He had to get to
the great hall. Falken would know what to do. Or Melia. They would know
how to save everyone, how to save him.

Travis staggered down the passage. However, he had not gone far when
light spilled through an opening ahead. He turned around-the glow sped
from that direction as well. Figures moved in the light and reached out
spindly hands. The gesture seemed almost loving, but he knew that
embrace held only coldness and death. He moved in the last direction
left to him, down a narrow side passage.

After only a dozen steps the passage ended in a blank wall of stone. He
ran his hands over the wall, but there was no latch or crevice to be
found. It was a dead end. Travis turned around and slumped with his back

against the wall. He was too tired anyway, too tired to keep running.
Through the fabric of his tunic he clutched the iron box.

"I'm sorry, Jack," he whispered.

Then he watched as the pale light brightened before him.

98.

Aryn, Baroness of Elsandry, stood in a corner of Calavere's great hall
and watched the revelers gather for the Midwinter's Eve feast.

She had chosen a spot near a side door, next to a cluster of leafless
saplings that had been brought inside for decoration, in an attempt to
look inconspicuous. Not that this was so difficult for her. All her life
people had had a tendency to walk right past Aryn without looking at
her. Because if they looked at her they would have to look at her arm,
to acknowledge it was there, and that was something they did not care to
do. Aryn sighed as revelers passed by in bright garb,

553

laughing. None turned a head in her direction. It was all right-she had
had nineteen years to get used to it. Besides, as she had learned as a
child, it was better to be ignored than stared at.

Aryn huddled inside her azure gown and cape of white rabbit fur. Despite
the garments, despite the smoke and press of bodies in the great hall,
she was cold. If Grace and Goodman Travis were right-and she had no
reason to doubt they were-then Alerain's murderer was somewhere in this
hall, right at that very moment.

She let her blue eyes run over the throng of nobles, knights, and
servants. It could be any one of them, it could dwell behind the mask of
any face: evil. She studied reveler after reveler, searching for any
hints or signs, and if it was

more often those who were beautiful, or handsome, or well shaped whom
her eyes bored into, then it was only logic. Always it was assumed those
who were ugly or different were evil, or had done some terrible deed.
For what could

their appearance be, but punishment for some loathsome crime?

Aryn knew different, and her lips twisted in a bitter smile. Why pick
such a simple disguise? No, the murderer was too clever for that. Far
more effective to hide evil behind a comely smile, or a square jaw, or
eyes you could fall into for days.

More nobles flooded into the great hall, and Aryn's heart fluttered like
a trapped sparrow inside the bodice of her gown. She knew King Boreas
would be looking for her. Without Alerain, the duties of organizing the
feast had fallen to her. However, she had made all the arrangements with
the cellarer and the kitchenwife. They would see to it the nobles were
fed and given their wine.

But what if they forgot the mead?

Panic gripped her. King Persard of Perridon preferred mead to wine and
would cause a row if he did not have it. And King Sorrin would drink

only the fresh milk of a goat-although from his gaunt appearance he
could have stood to

drink a bit more of it. What if the cellarer and kitchenwife forgot?
Aryn lifted the hem of her gown and started forward.

No, Aryn. She forced herself to stop. You have to let them worry about
it, them or King Boreas. It can't always be up

554

E

to you to make certain everyone has exactly what he or she wants. You
have more important things to accomplish.

Aryn blinked at this thought. Where had it come from? All her life she
had focused on the needs of others. It was the only thing that put them
at ease around her. Never once had she denied King Boreas anything she
thought he wanted, Yet all the same she knew if, at that moment, she
heard hire bellow across the hall for her, she would not come running as
she usually did. From where had this resolve come?

Her eyes flickered to the high table at the far end of the great hall,
and she knew her answer was there. Queen Ivalaine gazed over the feast
with ice-colored eyes, her regal visage calm yet powerful. Next to her
sat Tressa: smaller plumper, sweeter of face, yet strong in her own
motherly way. At the other end of the table Grace sat beside Logren of
Eredane. The two were bent close in conversation, his eyes were intent
upon her. Had she worked some magic upon him?

Don't be a fool. Grace wouldn't do that . . . would she? The baroness
took a deep breath and forced herself to concentrate on her part of the
plan. It was up to Grace and Travis to determine the identity of the
murderer. Once they knew, Grace would signal Aryn. Then it would be
Aryn's turn to act. She was to approach the murderer and quietly inform
him that he had an important message. Then she was to lead him to a
nearby antechamber where waited not a messenger, but Durge and his
Embarran greatsword. In addition, Beltan would be standing outside the
great hall and would follow Aryn as she accompanied their quarry to the
antechamber.

The fluttering of Aryn's heart quickened. Could she really do this? She
was grateful for Grace's trust, but Aryn knew better than anyone her own
limited talents at deception. What if the murderer saw right through her
lie? No, she couldn't think that way. She had to believe it would work.

Aryn shut her eyes and murmured a small prayer to Yrsaia. She had not
told Grace she followed the Mysteries of the Huntress. She supposed
Grace might have laughed at her for this-no, that wasn't true, Grace
would never mock her, not like others sometimes did. However, Aryn
sensed Grace was not one to turn to gods or goddesses for help. Grace was

555

accustomed to relying on herself. Aryn hoped one day she could be that
strong, that regal, but until then it couldn't

to ask the help of the Huntress. After all, they were

hoping to catch a murderer that night. be possibly want of her?

"Your Highness, this is good fortune."

Aryn's eyes flew open in surprise at the smooth sound of the voice. A
man stood before her, only slightly her greater

in years and height. She took him in piece by piece-gold curls, neatly
trimmed beard, broad shoulders in a crisp red tunic-before she
recognized him.

"Lord Leothan!"

He bowed low, then rose again. "I was hoping I would have the
opportunity to speak with you at the feast, my lady. I did not realize
my chance would come so soon."

She shook her head and tried to understand. What could

"My lady, I have wronged you."

Aryn could only stare. Now sorrow touched his face, and

it made him even more beautiful yet.

"Wronged me?"

"Terribly." He stepped closer, although he maintained an

honorable distance. "My lady, when I came to this court I

was arrogant and full of myself. I thought by belittling others

made myself all the greater." He shook his head. "I was a

fool, of course, I know that now. You see, recently I took ill..."

Aryn tensed at these words. Could he have known? Did he

realize she was the cause of his pain? No, his eyes, showed

only concern.

"... and being confined to my bed gave me time to think, and to reflect
on my own imperfections. I thought about the way I had acted-to you and
to others, my ladyand I was ashamed. I resolved, once I recovered, to
make amends." He drew in a deep breath. "I know it is impossible that
you could forgive me, yet I must ask it all the same."

To her astonishment, he sank to one knee before her and bowed his head.

"My lady, I beg you, will you pardon my insult to your

She clapped her hand to her mouth. What could she say?

556

Anguish flooded her chest. She was the cruel one, the one who had truly
harmed.

"Please, my lord," she said. "Oh, please rise. There is nothing to ask
forgiveness for."

Leothan did as she asked, regained his feet, and now he smiled at her.
"Tell me, my lady . . ." He cocked his head and studied her. "... is
there something different about you than before? Your hair perhaps?"

Aryn shook her head. How could she explain? Yes, there was something
different, but not anything another might see. Or was there after all?

He glanced around them. "My lady, might we speak in private for a
moment? There is another matter I would like to . . . to speak to you
about, if you will."

He motioned to the side door behind her, and the gesture seemed almost
shy. A tingling shimmered on the surface of her skin. What could he have
to say to her that could not be said before the eyes of all in the great
hall? Possibilities filled her mind, and the tingle grew stronger. She
glanced up. Revelers still streamed through the doors of the great hall.
There was yet a little time before the feast began.

Aryn met Leothan's eyes and nodded. He laid a gentle hand on her elbow
and guided her through the side door. It shut behind them. They were in
the antechamber alone.

"What is it you wished to speak to me about, my lord?" She hoped she
knew the answer, but she didn't dare think it, didn't dare believe.-
Then he spoke, and her wishes came true.

"I was a fool to turn away from you, Aryn. Now I have a second chance. I
won't throw it away again.

He moved toward her, close now. She could feel warmth radiate from him.

"May I kiss you?" he whispered.

Aryn shivered-in delight and in trepidation. Uncertainty crept into her
mind. Could Leothan really have experienced such a change of heart? She
forced the question aside. He was here, and he was beautiful. That was
all that mattered.

She turned her face up toward him. "Yes, my lord." Leothan smiled,
coiled his arms around her, and held her tight. His lips were fire
against her. Never before had she kissed a man-not like this, not out of
passion. She drank it

557

in greedily. Maybe she could weave some magics of her own. . . .

His grip on her tightened, and he pressed harder, until his lips crushed
against her. It hurt, and she tried to pull away, but his arms were like
bands of steel. They crushed against her rib cage-it was hard to breathe.

She managed to turn her head. "My lord ..."

"Stop struggling, my lady." He gritted the words between his teeth.
"Isn't this what you were dreaming of?"

Aryn stared at him. Passion fled her, and left her chest cold and watery

with dread. She tried to twist out of his grasp, but he held her left
arm tight, and her right was useless-it flopped against his chest
without effect.

He shoved her against the wall, and her breath rushed out of her in a
painful whoosh. She moaned. How could she have been so blind? She had
been tricked by his words and his beauty, guilty of the crime of which
she had accused others. Now she would pay for it.

Leothan leaned against her, and she could feel his hardness grind
against her stomach.

"No, my lady," he said with a hideous grin. "Don't scream, or I promise
you it will be much worse."

He held her with one hand and with the other reached for the front of
his breeches. It was her only chance. She twisted to one side and
thought she had it, thought she would break free. Then he grabbed her
again. Her left hand flailed and caught at the collar of his tunic. He
whirled her around, threw her hard against the wall. There was a ripping
sound, and pain sparkled through her.

She blinked, and her vision cleared. He stood before her again, his face
no longer beautiful, but a twisted mask of hate and desire. In the
struggle, the front of his tunic had been torn open. Aryn glimpsed his
chest-broad and smooth-then he moved, the fabric parted more, and she
saw it. The wound ran down the center of his torso, the ragged edges
held together by crude stitches.

A new horror flooded Aryn. She was in danger, but in a way she had not
imagined. It was not the desire of a man she faced, for the thing before
her was no longer human. She ;hied to free her arm, but he was far too
strong.

He grinned. "It takes two hands to fight me, my lady."

558

No. She wanted to call out to Grace or to Beltan. They would help her.
But he squeezed the breath out of her, and she could not make a sound.
His leering visage drew close to hers. She could smell the scent of
decay that rose from the gory wound in his chest.

"Your face is pretty," Leothan hissed. "Too bad you are a monster, my
lady. But I feel generous this evening. I will make a whole woman of
you." He reached again for his breeches.

Aryn stared at him. Her fear melted away, and hot anger boiled up in its
place. All her life she had endured people like this: people without
hearts. All her life she had deferred to them, to avoid upsetting them
with her hideousness, her de. formity. No more. The anger welled up,
thick and crimson. Aryn let it fill her, until she felt light, buoyant,
and strong. She locked,her eyes on his and spoke the words, trembling
with the power of nineteen years of rage.

"I . . . am . . . whole!"

He gaped at her, and his eyes went wide. A tremor passed through him,
and blood trickled from his nose.

Aryn let her anger pour into him. Now he was the one who struggled to
get away, but his limbs shook with convulsions. He choked for breath,
and his eyes bulged in their sockets. Blood flowed from his nose and
ears in a crimson river. He whimpered, and more blood stained his breeches.

"Leave me alone," she said, then shoved him away.

He screamed, a gurgling sound of agony, but the scream was cut short
before he hit the floor. He sprawled on the stones in a growing pool of
blood and brains.

Aryn gazed at the corpse, her body straight and stiff, her hand clenched
in rage. Yes! She had done it! Then a shudder passed through her. Anger
poured out of her like wine from a broken vessel. She lifted her left
hand to her mouth, but a low sound of dread escaped her fingers. Her
eyes could not let go of the dead earl. What had she done? He had been a
monster, but she had slain him, destroyed him with her fury. What did
that make her?

Worse than a monster?

Her back to the wall, Aryn sank to the floor, curled her good arm around
her knees, and wept.

559 There was danger in the castle, Durge could feel it.

He shifted his weight from foot to foot, and beneath his tunic his shirt
of mail jingled. The antechamber was cold: No tapestries hung on the
walls, no carpets strewed the floor, and no fire burned on the hearth.
Durge did not mind. It was better to be chilled-warmth could make a man
drowsy and dull of wits. The cold would keep his eyes open and his mind
keen, and all his years as a knight, all his experiences in battle, told
him he would need both before this Midwinter's Eve was over.

He flexed his sword hand. Despite the thick leather glove, his fingers
were stiff and sore, and he could feel the ends of his bones grind
together as he moved them. That was the one problem with the cold. It
radiated from his armor, crept into his joints, and gnawed at them like
tiny dragons. When he was younger, the cold didn't bother him. In his
days as a squire he had spent several harsh Embarran winters keeping
watch atop the walls of forts that stood on the hinterlands of the
Dominion, where the white wind roared down from the Winter Sea and one's
piss froze before it hit the ground. However, that had been long ago.

The Embarran knight's stooped shoulders heaved in a sigh. This will be
your fourth-and-fortieth winter, Durge. You are a young man no longer.
Soon you will spend your days wrapped in a blanket by the fire and tell
stories of old battles no one remembers and no one wishes to hear about.

Durge stretched his stiff fingers, forcing them to straighten. No, he
was not ready to become a toothless uncle by the fire, not yet. There
was still some life left in the earl of Stonebreak.

He blew a breath through his drooping brown mustaches and gazed at the
antechamber's door. There was no telling when it would open. Once Lady
Grace and Goodman Travis identified the murderer in the great hall, Lady
Aryn was to lead him to this room, with Sir Beltan following behind and
just out of sight. Once they had the murderer in the room,

560

Durge and Beltan would use their swords to subdue him, although they
were not to kill him. Grace had been adamant about that. She hoped to
use the prisoner to convince the Council of Kings to take action, to
stand together against the forces of the Pale King.

Durge shook his head. She was a fierce one, his mistress, not one to
give up quickly. Always she believed she had the power to save others if
only she worked hard enough. It was a noble ideal and one to aspire to.
However, Durge knew that sometimes dedication was not enough-that
sometimes no matter how one tried, no matter how one fought, one could
not save that which one most cared about, that which one most loved.

Then there was the matter of the kings and queens. Lady Grace's mind was
sharp and logical. She was one to propose a hypothesis, gather evidence,
then see if her expectations had proved true or false. Durge understood
her methodsthe alchemical sciences in which he dabbled progressed in the
same manner. The only flaw in Lady Grace's reasoning was that she
expected the kings and. queens to be as logical as she.

If only that were the case! However, Durge had witnessed at firsthand
the capriciousness of kings and queens. It was an effect of greatness
that often rulers came to believe truth was what they decided it would
be. If a king declared the sky to be green, then green as emeralds it
was. Even confronted with the reality of an ironheart, Durge was not
certain any of the rulers at the council would be swayed. Eminda would
brand it a hoax, the sniveling Lysandir would follow her lead, and
Sorrin-alas, poor King Sorrin-was so mad he would hardly understand what
was happening.

All the same, it was a good plan. Durge himself had helped refine the
details based on his experience. If anything had a chance of working it
was this. However, like the chill, he could not shrug off the pall of
apprehension that tightened around him now. They had tried to think
through every possibility, through every happening that might go awry,
but there was something else, something they had forgotten. He was
certain of it. The very air of the keep tingled with peril.

He paced the bare floor to keep his blood moving. "NO doubt you are a
fool to have left her alone, Durge," he mut

561

tered under his breath. "But you pledged your sword to her, and you
cannot refuse one of her wishes. Even if in your heart you know the Lady
Grace is in danger this night."

Durge halted at a faint sound. He looked up. Silence, three heartbeats,
then it came again: a scratching at the antechamber's door. Could it be
the Lady Aryn and their quarry?

Even as he thought this, he raised his hand and reached back to grasp
the hilt of his greatsword strapped to his back. It was too early for
his companions to have arrived, and the Lady Aryn would not have
knocked. The short hairs of his neck prickled and stood on end.

"Come then," he said through clenched teeth. "Come if it is my blood you
seek!"

The door swung open, and he drew his greatsword with a bright ringing of

metal. It scuttled through the partly open

door and brought a foul scent with it. The thing moved with an ungainly
rhythm, as if every step brought it pain. Despite his alarm, pity
touched Durge's heart. Had not Lord Falken said that the feydrim had
been Little People before they were twisted by the Pale King's magic?

Pity almost killed him. The feydrim uncoiled its spindly hind legs and
sprang forward, covering half the room in one bound. It opened its
snubbed muzzle and bared yellow fangs. Strings of spittle stretched
between them. It hissed, then lunged for his throat.

In his moment of distraction Durge had let it get too close-there was
not room enough for a full swing of his greatsword. He cursed to
himself. Stone and bone, you are getting dull, Durge! Old and dull. What
would the others think of you, giving up your life so easily as this? He
stumbled back, ignored the fire that flared in his knee at the awkward
position, and brought his sword up. There was little power in the
blow-the swing was too clipped-but the

feydrim was forced to scuttle back to avoid the sharp edge of the blade.
Its fangs missed their mark, and Durge spun to the side.

Now he had more room to work.

He planted his boots, braced the lean muscles of his legs, and raised
the greatsword. So long was the blade that if he placed the tip on the
floor he could almost rest his chin on the hilt. There were younger men
who could not have lifted

562

it without falling over. Not so Durge. Despite his age, despite his
aches and weariness, his arms were as hard as the stony ground of
Embarr. He brought the greatsword around in a whistling arc.

The feydrim was fast, but not fast enough. It tried to twist away, but
the blade caught it in the side. Steel bit through blood, crunched
through bone. The creature squealed, then fell to the floor. Durge
pulled his greatsword back, staggered, then caught himself.

The creature lay at his feet. Its chest heaved spastically, and dark
blood soaked its matted gray fur. It gazed up at him with yellow eyes
that were far too intelligent for a beast. Then the light in those eyes
flickered and went dim. The feydrim heaved one last breath-as if
relieved, as if free of the pain at last-then went still.

Durge's heart pounded in his chest, and he savored the rush of blood in
his veins. Yes, there was still some fight left in Durge. of Embarr.

The creak of hinges. Durge looked up to see the antechamber's door swing
open farther. A gray, ungainly form slunk into the room. Another
followed it, and more after, until there were five of them, stretching
spindly limbs, baring sharp teeth, hissing in hate and pain.

Feydrim. Durge raised his greatsword and stumbled back. The fire inside
him burned to ashes, and his mouth went dry. Another of the creatures he
could have handled easily, and three perhaps with difficulty. But five?
How could any man face five? Blast his old knees, but they were so weak
they shook.

Humped backs coiled and uncoiled, and the feydrim advanced. They took
their time-they knew they had him cornered. Durge tightened his grip
around the greatsword's hilt. He thought of his friends: his bold
mistress, Grace; her kindly friend, Travis; the good knight, Beltan.
Last of all he thought of the young Lady Aryn, of her pretty face, and
of the strength that dwelled in her sky-blue eyes. He was sorry he would
not be able to say farewell to them.

One of the feydrim scuttled forward, slashed with its claws, then leaped
back at the flick of his sword. They were testing him, clever creatures.
Now his heart pounded again,

563

and warmth flooded his limbs. Yes, this was what it felt like to be
young again.

"Why do you wait?" he shouted at the creatures. Behind his mustaches, he
grinned as he had not in decades. "Kill me, if that is what you have
come to do. But heed my words-Durge of Embarr will not be the only one
who dies this night!"

He held his greatsword out, and as one the feydrim lunged for him.

Beltan stood near the doors of Calavere's great hall and waited for Aryn
to step outside with their quarry. He had gone over the plan again and
again in his mind to be certain he had it right, to be certain he made
no mistakes. Subter.fuge was not one of Beltan's strengths. He was far
better holding a naked sword before him than a hidden knife behind his back.

He drew in a deep breath. You had better not muck this up, Beltan.
You've only got one chance. When Aryn shows up, don't think. Just act.

Worry was foolish-the plan was simple enough. He was to stand outside
the doors of the great hall, pace a bit, and appear as though he was
merely waiting for a companion who was late When Aryn stepped outside
the doors with the murderer, he was to nod to her politely, as he would
to any passing noble, then resume his pacing. However, once they turned
the corner he was to slip after them and follow them to the antechamber
where Sir Durge waited. There they would subdue the murderer, and their
plan would be complete.

If he didn't ruin things, that was. The problem with plans was that they
made mistakes a possibility. Beltan was much more comfortable facing his
enemy without guile. After all, it was hard to make an error of logic
when all you had to do was stab your opponent before he stabbed you.

He let out a bitter snort of laughter. And people thought

564

you could have been king, Beltan the Bastard. If so, they're even more
dull-witted than you are.

A few late nobles scurried past him into the great hall. Beltan fingered
the eating knife at his waist and wished it was his sword. Had he his
preference he would have been clad in chain mail, not his finest green
tunic and cloak. However, it was tradition to greet Midwinter's Eve
unarmed. Tonight the revelers in the great hall would set fire to the

Everlog so that its light would draw back the sun from its winter
journey south. If any at the feast bore a weapon-or so legend told-the
sun would flee farther south in fear, and winter would never end.

A shiver crept across Beltan's back. He was not certain this winter
would break no matter how bright the Everlog burned that night. It was a
queer cold that gripped the castle, that threatened to crack the stones.
He had never felt anything like it, and he doubted anyone had. Anyone
except Falken.

Beltan lifted a hand and fingered one of the garlands of green leaves
and red berries that encircled his neck. Several fresh-faced maidens had
approached him that evening, each bearing a garland she had woven
herself. Beltan had politely bowed his head and had allowed each to
place the wreath around his neck. It was another tradition of
Midwinter's Eve that a young woman wove such a wreath for the man she
favored. The woman who was the last to slip a garland around the neck of
the man who received the most was certain to get her wish.

The maidens who had approached Beltan had been sweet and pretty, but he
knew neither his face nor his skill with a sword was the reason for
their attention. Who better to court than the nephew of the king?
However, elder members of the court knew what Beltan himself knew-that
at one-andthirty winters he was already past prime marrying age, that he
might have married late to produce an heir to cede his lands to, but
that he had no such lands to cede. No, the charms of the maidens would
not work that night, as they would find out soon enough. Beltan had
heard the call of the bull long ago.

He glanced again at the doors of the great hall and sighed. No one in
there was armed with more than an eating knife,

565

and here there was murder afoot in the castle. Earlier he had told Melia
that King Boreas had asked him to keep watch over the doors. The lie ate
at him. He should have been in there watching over her. Three years ago
he had been lost and purposeless. He had wandered the roads of the
Dominions as a vagabond knight, little better than a brigand. Then he
had met Melia, along with Falken, in a tavern in Galt, and he had known
here before him was one who was worthy of serving. He had pledged his
sword to protect her, and she had accepted the hilt of his blade, had
tapped him with its flat, and had bidden him rise. In the years since he
had never been far from her side.

Not that Melia truly needed his protection. Except perhaps in some ways
she did. There was so much about Melia he still did not understahd, that
he would never understand. It didn't matter. He knew that what she and
Falken were doing was important. That was enough for him.

Is that really it, Beltan? The old question surfaced in his mind. Or is
it just that it's simpler being a sword in someone else's hands? After
all, a sword can be strong without having to think for itself.

Beltan pushed the question aside. What was done was done. A knight's
sword was his life, and he had sworn upon his. He should have been in there.

Except Travis Wilder was his charge as well. Melia had taken Travis into
her care, and that made him Beltan's concern. And it was more than that,
for he had made a promise to Travis in the White Tower, had told him he

would not have to face danger alone. Of the two it was certainly Travis
who was in greater danger that night, he was sure of it.

Beltan shook his head. In some ways Travis was as much a mystery to him
as Melia was, and not only because Falken said Travis was from a world
that was not Eldh. Travis was handsome, yet he slouched so that others
would not notice him. He was kind, yet he acted as if he was not worthy
of regard. And he was keen of mind, yet he always let others

make decisions for him. Why? Beltan did not know. All the same he had a
feeling that Travis needed protection most of all.

The hairs on the back of his neck prickled. Beltan was a Veteran of more
battles than he could count. He knew when

566

share." She advanced, and he stepped back again.

An exultant expression touched her visage. "Don't you see? Together we
can do away with Boreas, we can rule Calavan as king and queen. You have
strength, I have beauty-think of the fine brats we can make between us."
She laughed again. "And do not fear, I am no fool. I would not ask you
to love me. You can descend into your precious labyrinth of Vathris, put
on the bull mask, and bugger all the fresh young initiates you want. I
don't mind. In fact, I might like to stand in the shadows sometime and
watch."

He had been backing away from her as she spoke. They stood before a dim
archway now. "Get away from me," he said.

danger had crept up behind him. By Vathris, you're a fool, Beltan of
Calavan. You let yourself get distracted. Concen, trate on your task!

His hand slipped to the knife in his belt, and he turned around. Danger
stood before him, although it did not wear robes of black or dank gray
fur. Instead she was clad in a dress of bloodred, and her eyes shone as
hard as green stones. She parted her lips-the same color as her dress-in
a smile, and he sucked in a breath.

"Midwinter's greetings, Lord Beltan," she said.

He glared at her. "What do you want, Lady Kyrene?" "What does any maiden
want this evening?" She held up a garland woven of dark green leaves and
crimson berries.

He grunted. "What would you know about the wants of maidens, my lady?"

Kyrene laughed, a rich sound, but harsh as well, like wine that had
started to sour. "Far more than they know them. selves, love. Come, let
me show you." She ran a bold hand over his chest, his stomach, then
cupped him below.

He stepped back from her.

Her eyes glinted. "So, the tales are true. No woman can get a rise out
of the mighty Beltan. Are you so enamored with the idea of priesthood,
then? Is it the inner circle of the Mysteries of Vathris you seek? Or is
it just that you like so much to snort beneath the blankets with your
fellow bulls?"

"Who I bed is none of your concern, Lady Kyrene."

"But it is, Lord Beltan, for it is my bed I would have you

567

Kyrene let out a sigh. "A pity, love. But so be it. I know when I am
defeated." The countess started to turn away, then halted. She held out
the garland of greenery. "At least let me give you this. Do me the favor
for my trouble."

He hesitated. All his instincts told him to be away from this woman.
There was something wrong with her, like a sickness. However, it
appeared the easiest way to be rid of her was to do as she asked. He
bowed his head, and she reached out to slip the garland around his neck.

Too late he saw the thorns that had been woven among the leaves and berries.

Beltan tried to pull away, but this action only pressed the garland
against his neck. He felt a half-dozen bright pricks of pain as the
thorns bit into his flesh. A fog descended before him, and numbness
chilled his limbs. He staggered back, opened his mouth, and tried to
speak the words. What have you done, witch? But no sound came from his lips.

Her face hovered before him now, and her bloodred smile. "That's it,
love." Her croon echoed in his skull, like voices in a cave. "Sleep now.
When you wake you will be so much stronger."

He stared at her, unable to move. What are you going to do to me? But
again he could not form the words. Through the haze he saw gray forms
scuttle out of the shadows. "Take him," she said.

The last sound Beltan heard was cruel laughter, then clammy hands coiled
around his arms and legs and dragged him down into darkness.

Grace stared at the charm that dangled from her bracelet. The heat and
noise of the great hall receded into the far

distance, and the vacuum they left behind was frigid and empty. Silence
mantled her like suffocating folds of plastic. The charm filled her
vision until she felt minuscule in comparison, a satellite caught in the
thrall of gravity cast by a dark, craggy planet.

A whirling filled her skull like the spinning of a compass

568

needle searching for north. She saw him again, Detective Janson, the
dull look in his small eyes traded in an instant for the hot light of evil.

No. She wouldn't believe it. It was just a stone charm-it couldn't mean
anything. It couldn't. She had run her hands over his chest, had felt
the smooth, unmarked skin for herself. It had to be a.mistake.

Follow this, Blademender, until you can learn to follow your own heart.

Fear crystallized in Grace's lungs. Scar or no scar, a magnet could not
lie. She would have screamed, but sound didn't carry in a vacuum, did
it? In space your skin would freeze even as your blood boiled in your

veins. Fire and ice, then nothing at all, nothing for eternity. Sweet,
blessed, nothing....

"Lady Grace?"

The silence splintered, the stone charm shrank, and the roar of the
great hall crashed over her in a wave.

Grace's fingers still brushed the cup he held toward her, and the
bracelet's magnetite charm still pointed directly at his chest. Her mind
flailed in panic. How long had she been frozen like this? How long had
she stared at the charm? Surely he knew, surely he saw the terror in her
eyes and realized what it meant. Any second he would fling aside the
cup, wrap impossibly strong hands around her throat, and squeeze the
life out of her.

No, the expression on his face-on his exquisitely handsome face-was only
bemused. He arched an eyebrow.

Do something, Grace. You've got to do something.

Her fingers closed around the wine cup. He smiled and released it. She
brought the cup to her mouth with both hands and let the liquid touch
her lips but did not drink, did not dare for fear she would choke. Then
she lowered the cup and somehow managed to get it to the table before
dropping it.

Now what?

"It is a fine vintage, isn't it?" Logren said. "This wine comes from the
riverlands of western Eredane. My queen brought five casks of it with her."

The counselor took the cup and drank from it. The gesture

569

was so easy, so casual. Impossible to believe that such perfect evil
dwelled within him. No-not impossible.

"You still have not said what it was you wished to tell me, my lady."

She licked her lips. What could she say to him? If she opened her mouth
she would surely scream. Then a voice spoke, and it hardly seemed her own.

"That I'm sorry, my lord. Terribly sorry. That's what I wanted to tell
you. I was wrong to run from you, from your chamber the other day."

Grace sucked in air between her teeth. Where had those words come from?
She didn't know, but by the light in his eyes she had done well to say
them, and her breathlessnessalthough brought on by fear-only lent her
words an earnestness that made them all the more believable. As though
it was not a part of her, she watched her hand move across the table to
touch his own. He looked up at her, and his smile deepened. Grace wanted
to vomit, but she forced herself to smile in return.

She had thought herself such a fine spy, she had believed herself to be
so logical, so scientific. Now she knew what a mockery that was. All
this time she had thought Kyrene had entangled Logren in her witch's
web, and Grace had fancied she might do the same. Now she knew the
truth-it was not Kyrene who had ensnared Logren, but the opposite. Grace

recalled her encounter with Kyrene before the feast, and she

saw again the countess's new, harsh beauty.

What have you done, Kyrene? What have you done? Grace knew the answer to
that-knew the only reason the countess would trade her old, revealing
gowns for one as dark as blood, for one with a high, concealing collar.

Logren's eyes locked on her own. "I cannot tell you how

I am to hear you speak those words, my lady."

His voice was a husky whisper, only for her. She stiffened-when had she
heard a voice like it before?

Now get yourself back to the castle, see to it you finish what we've
started. . . .

Nine dark shapes cast shadows on her mind. The circle of Standing
stones. Yes, that was where she had heard it. Then he had whispered to
disguise himself. Now it was to lure her

570

into his secret world. But it was the same voice-the same man.

"You see, Lady Grace, ever since the day I met you it has been my fond
hope that you and I would-"

The sound of trumpets echoed off high walls. Grace snatched her hand
back and turned her head. King Boreas had risen from his chair, and all
at the high table-and in the great hall-quieted to regard him.

"Welcome to my hall," the king of Calavan said. "Welcome on this, the
longest night of the year. Tonight we meet to rejoice, to light the
Everlog, and to call back the sun. Tonight we celebrate the death of
winter, and we look to the spring to come." His blue eyes were solemn,
and his deep voice rumbled on the air. "That is, if the spring comes."

A murmur ran around the hall. The king went on.

"As we begin this Midwinter's Eve, so too the Dominions begin their own
darkest night. And we all must ask ourselves, what must we each do to
see the dawn once again?"

The kings and queens at the high table shifted as he spoke. Eminda wore
an open frown. Even Grace wondered at the king's speech. What was he saying?

"A toast," Boreas said. He raised his cup, and all those in the hall
followed suit, obviously glad to do something that made sense. "May we
all walk together through this night, and greet the morning as one!"

Calls of Hear, hear! rang out, but so did an equal number of mutters of
dissent. Grace took a sip of wine but did not taste it. Fear was gone
now, replaced by numbness. The murderer sat beside her, and Boreas's
words fell on deaf ears. The Dominions would not stand together. They
would never see the dawn.

"Now," Boreas thundered. "Bring on the players!"

Grace froze at the sound of these words, and she clutched her cup. The
plan! In the terror of the moment she had utterly forgotten it. Now new
dread flooded her. She searched the great hall with her eyes, but there
was no sign of a pretty young woman in 'a gown of blue. Where was Aryn?
She was to have stood in the corner, to wait for Grace's signal once
they were certain. Except Grace already knew who the murderer was-he sat
beside her in finery of gray-and there was no trace of the baroness.

571

A side door opened, and a tiny form bounded out, turned a circle in
midair, and landed on the dais to the accompaniment of gasps and
applause. Trifkin Mossberry doffed his feathered cap, bowed, then rose
again, a smile on his broad cherub's face. He spread small hands and
spoke in his piping voice:

"On this night old Winter dies, As you'll see before your eyesAnd while
we work our merry art, Each of you shall play a part.

Keep your wits now, hark and Here is what we ask of theeAs we march upon
our way, An epitaph for Winter say.

Speak it bawdy, speak it bold, Speak it soft for Winter oldAnd lay your
hand upon his breast, As we send Winter to his rest."

Trifkin bounded away, and the play commenced. Despite her dread, Grace
could not take her eyes from the players, entranced by the spell they wove.

Tree-women ran onto the dais, then stood still in their bark-brown
dresses and raised twig-limbs to conjure a leafless forest. Winter
walked among them in his robe and beard of white. He threw snowy petals
on the tree-women, then cackled when they shivered at the chilling
touch. He lifted bony hands and more petals fell from the rafters of the
hall, shaken from baskets by shadowy figures above. His icy laughter
froze the air-then fell short as a dozen goat-men bounded onto the dais:
chests bare, legs clad in curly trousers, horn nubbins tied to their
heads. Each gripped a stick in his hand, and as they circled around the
old man the sticks burst into flame. The goat-men ran faster, and faster
yet. Their circle tightened, and Winter raised his white arms and cried
out. Then the goat-men touched their torches to his robe.

Grace gasped, and so did a hundred others around the hall.

572

As if his robe were made of magician's flash paper, Winter burst into
brilliant flame. The glare blinded Grace for a heartbeat, and when her
vision cleared the old man was gone.

No, that wasn't true. In the place where Winter had stood there now
rested a wooden bier. A body lay upon the bier draped from head to toe
in black cloth. Four of the goat-men lifted the bier in muscular arms as
the tree-women trembled in joy. Then the goat-men paraded the bier
around the great hall. They paused as they went to let each reveler lay
a hand upon the corpse of Winter and speak a few words as Trifkin had
instructed.

"Good riddance!" they shouted. "Melt, old man!" others said.

"Now you're as cold as my husband!" one elderly countess pronounced, to

the obvious amusement of everyone in the hall except the gray-haired man
who sat next to her.

Grace went rigid in her chair as she watched this spectacle. No, it was
all wrong. Where was Travis? He was to have played a part in the drama,
to have dressed as a fool and ridden along with the bier to keep watch.
Once he signaled her, then Grace would signal Aryn. But neither was in
sight, the plan was in shambles, and Grace was alone with the murderer
beside her.

The goat-men turned, and the bier moved toward the high table. Some of
the rulers frowned-notably Sorrin and Eminda-but others joined in the
sport. Boreas laid a hand on the corpse, as did Kylar, and both echoed
their joy at his passing. An obviously drunken Lysandir slurred
something unintelligible and would have fallen on the bier if a pair of
servants hadn't pulled him back. The goat-men marched down the line.

Grace's breath came quick and shallow. What should she do? But it was
too late. The procession was almost overthere was nothing she could do.

No, Grace. That's not true. This isn't over yet.

The voice that spoke was dry and clinical, her doctor's voice. Fear
receded. A hard part of Grace rose to the fore, the part that wielded a
scalpel with emotionless efficiency, the part that reached inside living
bodies without flinching, tO fix what was wrong. Time slowed, and the
air was hard and

573

clear as resin. She knew what she had to do. Once again Grace balanced
upon the fulcrum. Once again she stepped across to the other side.

The bier paused before the place where Grace and Logren sat. She rose
from her chair and affected a playful smile. "But who is this all draped
in black?" she said. "Should

not Winter be shrouded in white?"

She took her napkin from the table, unfolded the white cloth, and draped
it over the body. Then, smiling still, she turned to Logren.

He gazed at her, eyes thoughtful, then shrugged, a smile on his own
lips. Logren reached out, laid a hand on the shrouded body, and spoke in
his rich voice.

"I know we all will be glad when this winter is but a-" His words were
lost as a murmur coursed through the great hall. Logren frowned, then
his gaze dropped to the bier. Flowers of crimson bloomed on the white
napkin.

Logren drew in a. hissing breath and snatched his hand back. The crimson
stains continued to grow. Gasps turned into screams. Grace gazed at the
bier with strange exultation.

"What is going on?" Boreas said, his eyebrows drawn down in a glower.

Grace stood straight, power filled her. "See for yourself, Your Majesty!"

She snatched back both napkin and shroud. More screams echoed off stone,

and revelers leaped to their feet. The body on the bier was not the old
actor who played Winter. It was the corpse of Alerain. They had placed
his head back on his shoulders. Dark blood flowed from the slit of his
neck, from his eyes and his ears, and from the gory wound in his chest.

Boreas stared, his face white with horror. "What have you done, Lady Grace?"

"I have found your seneschal's killer, Your Majesty." Her voice rang out
over the hall. "You have heard the legend, have you not? How on the
darkest night of the year a corpse has the power to accuse its murderer?"

Grace wasn't sure how she knew this, only that she did0Uly that Trifkin
Mossberry had given her this knowledge 1h ere in his strange forest
room. It was an ancient magic,

al-older than witches or runespeakers. Old as Gloam

574

ing Wood. On Midwinter's Eve, a corpse would bleed in the presence of
its killer.

Logren stepped back from the table. "This is madness! A witch's lie!"

"It is no lie," Grace said.

She met his eyes. For a moment his confused expression remained, then
like a mask it crumbled. Evil shone in his gaze, pure and unwavering.
Yes, he knew now, she could see it. There was no need for him to hide it
from her any longer.

"They will never believe you," he said in a voice more poisonous than venom.

She spoke the words with cool precision, a doctor giving her diagnosis.
"I believe you are wrong, my lord."

Shouts of anger rose from the crowd. Boreas glared at Logren, his face
red with rage. Eminda rose from her chair, her face hard.

"You fool, Logren!" she said. "What have you done? You have ruined
everything with this madness. You will step down from this table at once!"

Logren hesitated. He glared at the crowd, at Grace, and finally Queen
Eminda. Then a hideous grin crossed his face, obliterating any traces of
beauty that once had dwelled there.

"You're not going anywhere, Eminda," he said. "None of you are!"

The motion was so quick no one could have stopped it. Logren plucked the
eating knife from his belt and made a small flick with his hand. Eminda
staggered back, her eyes wide. Her fingers fluttered to her throat and
brushed the knife that now protruded there. Then she slumped back
against Boreas.

Before the others could react, Logren lifted his arms and called out in
a terrible voice. "Now, my fierce ones! Come to me!"

They obeyed. Through the high windows they slunk, then scrabbled down
the walls. Feydrim. The great hall became a sea of fear and panic.

Logren turned his empty gaze on Grace. "You have lost, Your Radiance."

Grace did not answer him. She could only stare as the feydrim streamed
into the great hall.

575

Travis pressed his back to the wall and gazed into the growing light.
The metallic hum vibrated through him as if his body were a wire.

He clutched the iron box inside the pocket of his tunic. It was this
that had betrayed him, this that had led them to him. He should have
thrown it away, should have buried it in the ground, should have lost it
leagues ago. However, even as he thought this, he knew he could not have
done it. Jack had given him the box, and he had promised. It was his
burden to bear. And in a moment it would all be over.

The light grew brighter, and he lifted a hand to shield his eyes. The
incandescence streamed through his fingers as if flesh were no barrier
to it. For a moment he thought of Grace and the others. He hoped they
were all right, and he was sorry he would not be able to see them again;
that he would not be able to say good-bye. Then. all thoughts except
terror fled his mind as they appeared in the center of the light: tall,
willowy, evil.

"I'm afraid, Jack," he whispered.

The wraithlings reached out slender arms and drifted toward him. He
could not tell how many of them there were. All he saw was silvery skin,
mouthless faces, and huge, obsidian eyes. No box of iron could protect
him now.

There is strange clarity in fear, and Travis's mind grew almost calm as
the wraithlings approached. All his running, all his hiding, all his
forgetting were over. No more would he have to decide what to do in his
life, or what to be. This one final choice would be made for him. He
drew out the iron box and cupped it in his hands.

He felt their quickening as much as saw it. Their light flickered as if
in anticipation. They crowded into the corridor, drawn by what he held,
yet reverent of it as well, perhaps even afraid. He stretched the box
out toward them. Stop this, Travis!

It was hard to hear the voice through the thrum in his mind. He held the
box out farther.

576

Stop it at once! He hesitated. jack?

Sweet tears of Ysani, who do you think it is? Despite his fear, Travis
winced. It was Jack all right. You must use Sinfathisar, Travis.

He clutched the iron box. The Stone? But it's the Stone they want.

Yes, and it's the Stone that's your only hope. You've got to use it to
make them whole.

I don't understand.

They're twisted, Travis-twisted and corrupted. The Stone can return them
to what they once were. That's the power of Sinfathisar. Before there
was light and dark, there was twilight. Use the Stone. Make them whole.

ButNow, Travis!

The wraithlings were upon him. They reached with slender hands to touch
him. There was no more time. Travis fumbled with the latch on the iron
box, opened it, nearly dropped its contents, then gripped the Stone of
Twilight in his hand. It was hard and smooth, and resonated with power.

The huge eyes of the wraithlings grew larger yet. The terrible light
flared around them. It streaked through his skin, his flesh, his bones.
Pale hands reached for him. Travis gripped the Stone and shouted the
words in his mind.

Make-them-whole! Once before he had heard the sound, in the ruins of the
White Tower: a chorus of mouthless screams. It was a sound of agony, a
sound of sorrow, a sound of release. The illumination of the wraithlings
flared until it washed away the world. Travis floated in a place of
white, a place without color, without temperature, without touch. The
only sound was a rhythmic drumming which he knew to be the beating of
his own heart. Then, like a movie of a shattered window running
backward, the fractured shards of the corridorwalls, floor,
ceiling-rushed back toward each other, and the world was whole again.

Travis fumbled with his spectacles, and his vision snapped back into
focus. Gone was the harsh light of the wraithlings. In its place a
gentle radiance bathed the corridor, like winter

577

sun filtered between the branches of leafless trees. He drew in a breath
of wonder.

The wraithlings were gone. In their place stood nine beings who were as
beautiful as the Pale Ones had been terrible. They were clothed in
gossamer that shimmered like nebulae against a dark sky. They were
tall-taller than Travis-and impossibly slender. Even standing they
bespoke grace. Their faces were not human, but they were fair all the
same: their chins delicate, their cheeks high, their mouths and noses
small. The eyes that gazed at Travis were large, but not grotesque like
those of the wraithlings. Instead they shone like dark, liquid gems.
They were ancient eyes.

Travis lowered the Stone. It felt warm against his skin. "Who are you?"
he whispered.

The beings did not answer him, but all the same he knew, as if they had
given him the answer. They had been twisted by the Pale King's magic,
and now they were whole once more.

The fairies bowed before him. It seemed wrong that such radiant beings
should do so, but even as he thought this he felt calmness wash over
him. They were grateful.

The fairies rose. He met their ageless gazes, and it almost seemed their
tiny mouths turned upward in knowing smiles. Then their outlines
blurred, until where each fairy had stood there remained only a column
of light. Then each column collapsed into a shimmering point. Nine

sparks of silver fluttered on the air, then danced away around the
corner like thistledown on the wind.

The corridor went dim. Travis was alone. He looked down at the Stone in
his hand. What was this thing that could make the broken whole? What was
this thing that evil would break the world to have it? Travis sighed. He
slipped the Stone back into his pocket.

"That was nicely done, lad," said a chalky voice.

He looked up. A form shambled toward him, her shapeless body clad in
colorless rags. It was the old servingwoman he had chased through the
castle on two occasions. Now it was she who had found him.

Travis shook his head. For the second time he spoke the question. "Who
are you?"

The hag cackled, then reached up with bony hands to push

578

back the grimy shawl that hid her face. Travis's eyes went wide behind
his spectacles.

"Grisla?" Her wrinkled face split in a snaggled grin. "Well, it isn't
the queen of Malachor."

He blinked. "Grisla?" It was the only word he seemed able to speak.

"That's my name, boy," she snapped. "Don't wear it out." Travis's head
reeled, and he tried to understand. "But how did you-?"

The hag slapped a gnarled hand to her forehead. "There you go again,
lad. Always asking questions, always wanting to know why this and how
that." She let out a snort. "Asking questions is the easy part, lad.
When are you going to start answering them? That's the trick."

Travis opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say. "So, where's
that bundle I dropped?" the hag said. "You haven't lost it,-have you, lad?"

He winced. "It's back in my room." "Really, lad? Are you so sure of that?"

"Yes. . . ." However, even as he said the word, he was aware of
something bulky pressing against his side. He reached into his tunic
pocket and drew out an object he knew had not been there a moment ago:
the bundle of rags the old witch had dropped. He held it out to her.

"No, lad, it belongs to you. Go on, open it and see." Travis hesitated,
then plucked at the bundle with his fingers and pulled apart the rags.
His breath caught in his chest as he glimpsed the object within them: a
small piece of polished bone marked with three straight lines.

Grisla gazed at him with her one bulbous eye. "So, lad, have you decided
yet what it means?"

He drew in a breath, opened his mouth, then shook his head. What could
he say? Endings or beginnings? He didn't always know right from left.
How could he choose between things so much larger?

Grisla pressed her withered lips together in an expression of sorrow.

She turned and laid her hand upon a door in the wall-a door that, like
the bundle, had not been there a moment ago. She pushed, and the door
opened. Frigid all swirled into the passage, along with hard grains of snow.

579

"Look, lad," Grisla said in a hoarse voice.

He clutched the hem of his mistcloak and stepped toward the doorway.
Beyond was not another castle chamber, but a snowy vale lit by the glow
of the moon. Silhouettes of mountains thrust up into the sky like black
knives. Among them was a great, flat, dark plane. It was like a door in
the mountains.

No, not a door. A gate. A gate of iron as high as ten men, set into a
gap in the knife-edged peaks.

How-? he started to ask, then stopped himself. Asking questions is the
easy part. . . .

Travis already knew the answer. Somehow this door opened onto
Shadowsdeep. It was impossible, of course: The vale lay almost two
hundred leagues north of Calavere. Yet here it was a step away. Snow
drifted against the toes of his boots.

"The Rune Gate is about to open," Grisla whispered. "Only you can shut
it, Runelord."

Travis shook his head. "But I can't." The cold that streamed through the
door filled his chest and froze his heart. "All I do is break things."

"Is that your choice then, lad?" "I don't . . I don't know."

She lifted a hand, pointed through the doorway. "Go then, and make your
choice. Life or death."

He wanted to turn, wanted to run, but he knew there was nowhere else to
go. All the roads he had drifted down in his life had brought him to
this place. Travis wrapped his cloak around himself, then stepped
through the doorway into the icy vale of Shadowsdeep.

swam upward, toward a flickering light.

It was hard. The darkness dragged him down, as if he had lien in a lake
with all his armor on. He was so tired-he anted to give up, wanted to
sink back to the bottom and st. Only there was no bottom, and the
darkness went on fever. He had to keep trying.

580

r

The light was closer now, red and hot. It wavered just above him, and he
could see a shadowy figure against it, peering down at him. The darkness
wrapped around his ankles, pulled him back.

Now, Beltan. Do it now!

He kicked free of the darkness, stretched his arms, and surged upward,
into the ruddy light. A ragged breath rushed into his chest, more

painful than the water that filled a drowning man's lungs. His eyes flew
open and stared into fire.

"So, my bold knight is awake."

The voice was a mocking croon. Beltan searched for the speaker with his
eyes, but all he could see was a maelstrom of flame, hot and angry,
eager to consume him.

"I had not intended for you to wake, love. You are even stronger than I
thought. Yet it doesn't matter. Perhaps it is better this way. Perhaps
it is good that you see what you are to become."

The flame receded, his cheeks cooled, and he blinked in realization. The
fire was a torch, and she had held it close to his face. Now she had
turned to place the torch in an iron sconce set into a nearby arch of
stone. She turned back, and anger flooded through him. It was agony to
speak, as if someone crushed his throat, but he managed to croak a
single word before the pain was too great.

"Kyrene. . . ."

Her bloodred lips coiled in a smile. "Don't try to talk, love. It will
only make it hurt more."

Blast the witch! Beltan tried to leap up, to grab her neck in his hands,
to twist it until it splintered.

His limbs did not respond. A numbness sheathed his body. Her cruel smile
deepened. "Such hate in your eyes, love. I'm certain you'd enjoy
slitting my throat. Poor thing, if only you could move. But I'm afraid
the wreath I wove took care of that. It will be hours before you can
twitch a finger, and by then it will be far too late." Her hard green
eyes drifted over him. "Though it's a pity the serpent's thorn stilled
all of you, love."

Beltan glared at her. Let me go, witch! Let me go now.! Even if he could
have spoken them, the words would have done no good. He forced his mind
to cool. In battle a skilled

581

warrior felt, not anger, but calm. Even if he could not move,

Beltan knew this was indeed a battle, and one to the death. His eyes
were still his, so he used these to determine his

surroundings. He lay on some sort of stone slab, his head propped up on
a pillow that, by its hardness, was stone as well. She had stripped him
of his clothes, and he was naked. He supposed the slab was cold, but he
could not feel it. The body that lay below his head might as well have
belonged to another.

He let his eyes move up to the arches of stone above. Out of the corner
of his eye he could just make out other slabs like the one he lay on,
marching into the gloom. Yes, he knew this place.

Kyrene noticed his gaze. "Do you like my choice of location, love?" She
spread her arms. "The tomb of the kings. What better place to die and be
reborn?"

He looked at her. "What . . . ?" The one word was all he could manage.

"What do I mean, love?" She laughed, and the hard, sick sound of it
echoed off the walls and columns. "But I think you know."

The countess bent over him. The front of her gown was unfastened, and
the fabric parted as she leaned to reveal the white expanse between her
breasts-and a thick, oozing scab.

His eyes widened. She stroked his face with a hand. "Yes, love, that's
what I mean." The scent of blood emanated from her. "Soon you will be
like me. Soon you will know what it is to have true strength."

Kyrene turned away and moved to another bier. Beltan followed her with
his gaze, then motion caught the corner of his eye. He looked down at
his right hand. His fingers curled and uncurled against the stone. He
stared as if the hand were not his own.

Kyrene started to turn back. Beltan willed his hand to stop moving, and
it did. Was it only chance or had he controlled it? He had to believe it
was he. He could move. Even if it was only a twitch it meant she was
wrong. Maybe her magic had not worked as well as she had thought. After
all, she hadn't expected him to wake. Maybe if he could delay her, keep
her talking, there would be enough time to .. .

582

Kyrene moved back to him. She held two objects in her hand. One was a
dagger with a hilt of onyx. The other was a rough lump of iron as big as
a man's fist. Sickness flooded him.

The light in her emerald eyes was mad and exultant. "Yes, love, this is
for you."

She set the lump of iron on the center of his naked chest. It was heavy
and terribly cold. Realization cut through his fear. He could feel it,
even though a moment ago he had been able to feel nothing against his skin.

"The magic of it is simple." Kyrene brushed a finger over the wound
between her own breasts. "Simple yet wondrous. I have only to cut out
your heart and slip this one into the space where it beat inside your
chest. Death will be reversed, and you will be reborn, stronger than you
ever could imagine. There is pain at first, yes. But soon enough pain
will matter little to you."

A shiver coursed across his skin. Had she seen it? No, her gaze was
fixed upon the heart of iron. His limbs felt as if they were on fire
now, but it was better than the numbness, better than the fate she held
for him. But he needed more time. He opened his mouth, forced himself to
speak.

"No...." Kyrene's eyes snapped back to his. "Don't resist, love. There
is no use." Her smile again, sharp as the knife in her hand. "Besides,
this way you can join your handsome friend, Travis Wilder."

Fear washed over Beltan, and his heart felt cold and hard as if it had
already been replaced by iron.

"What . . . have . . . ?"

"What have I done to him?" An icy laugh escaped her. "I have done
nothing to him. Your precious little friend is in the hands of my master
now, even as you are in mine. So don't you see? It is better to join us.
This way you can be with him again, love."

Now rage mingled with his fear. If she had done something to harm
Travis, anything at all, he would . . . no, he had to keep his wits,
that was the way to help Travis. He could move his feet, he was certain
of it now, although he did not want to try, did not want her to see.
Just a little while more and

583

"It is time," Kyrene said. "Prepare yourself for your new life, Beltan
of Calavan." She pressed the tip of the onyx dagger against his chest,
just above his breastbone.

No, he had to say something to buy more time. Anything. "Kiss . . . me.
. . ."

The dagger halted. She stared at him, her smooth forehead creased in a
frown.

"Kiss me while . . . you kill me. . . ."

Now her frown turned into an expression of lust and glee. "Perhaps this
is not so far a fall for you as I had thought, Lord Beltan. Yes, we will
be glorious together!"

Kyrene tightened her grip on the dagger, then bent her head and pressed
her lips to his. The taste of death flooded his mouth. She pressed
harder, crushed herself against him, then she pushed down on the dagger.
The tip of the blade pierced his skin, and warm blood trickled down his
chest. Her tongue searched his mouth. She tensed her body, to let her
weight fall upon the hilt and drive the blade into his beating heart.

Now, it had to be now.

Beltan forced his body to move. The effort turned his blood to venom.
Hot agony coursed through his limbs, spilled into his chest, and boiled
up into his skull. He screamed and let the pain flood him, let it burn
away the numbness. His arms were heavy-it was like moving them through
molten rock-but somehow he brought them up, gripped her face, and shoved
her away.

Kyrene's head contacted a stone column with a crack that echoed
throughout the tomb. Beltan knew that blow would have dropped the
strongest of men.

The countess staggered, caught herself, then turned toward him.

Blood streamed down her white face, and rage twisted her once-lovely
features into a rictus of evil. Beltan could see the flat place on her
skull where the bones had shattered against the column. Still she came
toward him, dagger held high.

"Die for me, my lord!" Her voice was an inhuman shriek. "Die for me!"

She flew at him to plunge the dagger into his chest. There was no time

to counter her, not with the stiffness of the poison that still flowed
in his limbs. He rolled off the end of

584

the bier, and her blow missed him. She struck the sharp edge of the
slab, fell forward, and her face smacked against hard stone. The dagger
flew from her hand.

Beltan clenched his teeth and struggled to his feet. Kyrene writhed on
the bier, smearing blood against the marble, then jerked herself
upright. Her head lolled to one side. Her visage was a crimson pulp, all
traces of beauty, of humanity, gone. However, he could still see her
eyes like two fractured gems in the ruin of her face, bright with
desire. She raised her arms and lurched toward him. Words bubbled
through torn lips and shattered teeth.

"I'm going to live forever!"

Beltan reached up, grabbed the torch, and shoved the flaming end against
her gown.

Kyrene's shriek filled the tomb. As if her blood were some sort of
viscous fuel, the flames leaped up and wove a cocoon of fire around her.
Now there was terror in her green eyes, and they seemed almost human
again. She reached for him with a burning hand.

"Save me, Beltan!"

He dropped the torch and stumbled back. His words were hoarse with
sorrow and disgust.

"I just did, Kyrene."

She shrieked again, stumbled, and fell back onto the bier. Two gray
forms crept out of the shadows. Feydrim. Beltan fumbled again for the
torch, but the things did not come for him. Instead they scuttled onto
the bier and wrapped their spindly arms around the burning countess. The
flames licked at their matted fur, then they too were on fire.

Kyrene's cries ended. She and the feydrim were lost in the fire. Beltan
backed away from the inferno.

His foot contacted a soft bundle. He reached down: his clothes.

By the time he had shrugged on the clothes, the flames had dwindled.
With a curl of black smoke they went out. Three dark husks lay on the
bier entangled in a motionless embrace. Beltan turned and limped from
the tomb. As he went he took an old sword from one of the sleeping kings.

"Sorry," he said. "I need this more than you do." He had to find Travis.

Kyrene had been mad and evil, but somehow Beltan knew

585

she had spoken at least part of the truth. Whether or not the Pale King
had captured him, Travis was in danger.

The blond knight lurched into a jog. The walls seemed to throb, and

passages lengthened and contracted as he careened down -them. An
aftereffect of the witch's poison. His limbs were still stiff, and he
stumbled often, but the fire had faded to sharp pinpricks. He gritted
his teeth and ran on.

Where would he find Travis? He wracked his brain, then he had it. In the
great hall. That was where they had all been heading, to reveal the
murderer at the Midwinter's Eve feast. He turned down a corridor-then
halted. An eerie glow flickered down a side passage. He knew that light,
had seen it as they fled into the White Tower of the Runebinders.

"Wraithlings," he whispered.

Falken had said it was the Great Stone they wanted, the Stone that
Travis carried... .

Beltan lunged down the hallway, toward the metallic light. The knight
forgot his pain, forgot the clumsiness of his limbs. The incandescence
brightened. It came from around a corner just ahead. He gripped his
sword, pushed his lean body forward, and hurled himself around the corner.

The brilliant light was gone. Beltan stumbled to a halt. The dead-end
passage was dim save for a faint blue radiance that spilled through an
open doorway. It was bitterly cold, and hard bits of ice scoured his
cheeks. Snow. He approached, then saw a hunched figure in the shadows
beside the door. The figure stepped forward, into the blue light.

Beltan knew her: the hag from King Kel's keep. But how could she be
here? And why?

"It does not matter, Knight Protector," she said in her chalky voice.

He shuddered. How had she known what he was thinking? Grisla nodded to
the open door. He followed her gaze, then breathed a foggy breath of
wonder. Beyond the doorway was a snowy vale lit by a crescent moon.
Sharp mountains thrust up against the night sky. He looked down and saw
footprints in the crust of the snow, but already white powder drifted
into them, obscuring them.

"He has gone on ahead of you," the hag said. Beltan looked at her. "Travis?"

586

She pointed to the doorway with a gnarled hand. "Follow him, Knight
Protector, if your heart is strong enough. His path is yet fraught with
peril."

Beltan started to shake his head. It was impossible. This door couldn't
be here-he had to be mistaken. It was all a mad vision brought on by
Kyrene's poison. Then he drew in a frosty breath. It didn't matter
whether the door was impossible or not. Travis had gone through. Beltan
had to follow. "Hurry," Grisla said.

The knight gripped his sword and stepped through the door, into the
frozen vale beyond.

104.

Screams filled Calavere's great hall.

Grace could not take her eyes from the spindly forms that crept through
the high windows. The feydrim dropped from the rafters or slid down
tapestries, their claws shredding the fabric as they went. Revelers fell
over each other to get out of the way of each creature as it reached the
floor. Tables toppled onto their sides, cups and platters clattered.
Like a wave crashing on a beach, a mass of revelers rushed against the
doors of the hall. However, the planes of iron-bound wood

did not open, as if barred from outside. The first nobles and

servants to reach the doors were crushed against the wood as

more revelers pressed behind them, trying to flee the

feydrim. There was no sign of Trifkin Mossberry and his

players-the entire troupe had vanished. Laughter sounded beside Grace.

She jerked her head around. Logren surveyed the chaos of the great hall
with eyes like stones.

"That's it," he said. He motioned to the feydrim with his hands. "Come,
my hungry ones. Come."

There was a snarl of rage. Grace glanced to the side and saw the source
of the sound: King Boreas. He knelt beside the fallen form of Eminda,
along with Ivalaine and Tressa. Beside them were Kylar and Kalyn of
Galt. The other rulers and counselors had risen from their seats, terror
on their faces.

587

"Blast you, Logren, she's dead," Boreas said through clenched teeth.
Blood stained his hands, and his eyes were steel.

Logren turned his lifeless gaze on the king of Calavan and laughed
again. "I should think so. Even that loud bitch should find it hard to
bark with a knife in the throat."

Boreas's lips pulled back from his teeth, then with a roar he sprang
forward. He reached out muscular arms, ready to snap Logren's neck with
powerful fingers.

Logren made a casual motion with his hand, as one might when swatting a
fly. There was a sound like stone breaking. Boreas's head snapped back,
his arms flew out, and he crashed against the high table with a grunt of
pain. Wood shattered, and Boreas fell to the floor. He did not get up.
Kylar and a pair of servants rushed to him and lifted him from the
splinters. He moaned-he was alive-but he slumped in their arms, eyes
shut, his face wet with blood.

A sneer crossed Logren's face. "So much for the bull." Grace stared at
Logren. She wanted to do something, wanted to stop him, but fear
cocooned her body in gauze. She could not move.

No, it wasn't just fear-it was more than that. Here was evil before her.
She had thought she could stand against it, had thought she had dohe so
in Denver Memorial's ED, but she was wrong. She had lived in awe of
Boreas's strength, and Logren had flicked him aside as if he were a
speck of dust. If Boreas could not stop this evil, how could she?

Screams continued to echo off the ceiling. The feydrim scuttled through
the roiling sea of revelers. Here and there some nobles or,
knights-armed only with their eating knives-tried to attack the
creatures. As reward for the effort, their faces were slashed with claws
and their bodies mauled with fangs. A few of the feydrim squealed and
went down with a knife in the throat or eye, but more came behind to
replace them. There were too many of the creatures. They poured through
the windows faster than Grace could count.

Except for those who who attacked the creatures, the feydrim ignored the
revelers. They scuttled over tables and made their way toward the dais.
Fear transmuted Grace's

588

Ell

saliva to lead. The feydrim did not care about the revelersit was the
rulers of the Dominions they wanted.

The first of the feydrim scrambled onto the dais. There were three of
the creatures. They opened snubbed maws and reached thin arms toward
King Sorrin. Hate and pain glowed in their yellow eyes.

The king of Embarr's gaunt face was a mask of horror. "Get them away
from me!"

The two knights that had stood behind him at the high table sprang
forward, short knives in hand. The stout Embarrass each engaged one of
the creatures with their knives, and those feydrim hissed and scuttled
back. However, the third circled from behind, leaped upon the back of
one of the knights, and dug its fangs into the Embarran's neck. He went
down screaming. The feydrim closed its jaws, and Grace could hear
vertebrae crunch. The knight's limbs flopped against the dais, then went
still.

Before the feydrim could leap from its prey, another form was there:
Ivalaine. The queen reached out with a silver needle and stuck it
through the feydrim's fur. It stiffened and hissed, then the light in
its yellow eyes dimmed, and it slumped across the body of the dead knight.

The other Embarran staggered back. He had managed to gut one of the
remaining feydrim with his knife. However, these men were not used to
fighting without sword and armor. The third feydrim lashed out with its
claws and sliced through the tendons in the back of his knee. The knight
collapsed to the dais with a cry of agony. Once he was down it was easy
for the feydrim. It closed its maw over his face and muffled his scream.

Once the knight's cry ended, the feydrim lifted its head and bared its
bloody fangs. Ivalaine fell back-it seemed the queen had no more
needles. Grace stared at the creature. Once before she had killed one of
these things with Travis's help. She tried to command her hand to move
to the knife in her boot, but it would not. The feydrim left the
faceless body of the dead knight and scuttled forward.

"Help me, Olstin!" King Lysandir shrieked. "By all the gods, it's coming
for me!"

Olstin stared at the feydrim, then his ruddy face went white, and his

eyes rolled up in his head. He slumped to the

589

dais while tears and snot ran down Lysandir's face. The feydrim
stretched its thin arms toward the king of Brelegond.

A flash of blue blinded Grace. There was an inhuman shriek and the reek
of singed hair. When Grace's vision cleared, she saw the feydrim
writhing before Lysandir. A web of blue sparks sizzled around it,
burning into its fur, its mouth, its eyes. The feydrim fell dead, and
the sparks vanished.

"Blast you, Melindora Nightsilver!" Logren said.

Grace turned her head. The Lady Melia stood below the dais, hands
raised, her beautiful face hard, her amber eyes molten. A blue nimbus
surrounded her body. Grace stared.

Below the dais, Falken and Melia had organized resistance to the
feydrim. The bard and a dozen of Boreas's guards had set up a barricade
of tables and benches. However, it was not the knives of the men so much
as Melia's magic that kept the feydrim at bay. She turned, and the
nimbus about her strengthened until Grace could hardly see her slender
form within the azure light. Fifty feydrim hissed and prowled on the
other side of the makeshift barricade, but they did not venture over.

Logren stepped to the edge of the dais. "You're a fool to fight, Melia.
And you as well, Falken. Both of you know

more than anyone the power you face. Both of you know you can never
defeat it." He raised his arms, and his voice boomed out over the great
hall. "Hear me, all of you! The Pale King rides from Imbrifale this very
night. Fight him and you will surely die. But there is another way. Vow
to serve him, surrender yourself unto him, and I tell you that you will
know glorious life such as you have never before imagined!"

The revelers cowered now. They knew they could not escape the hall, and
they knew the feydrim would not kill them if they did not fight.

Logren's face was rapturous. Grace imagined a world of people with
hearts of iron. A world without kindness. A world frozen all in ice. No,
there were enough heartless people in either world.

She concentrated, forced her breathing to calm, and reached out to touch
the Weirding. It was everywhere

590

strong and tinged with fear-spinning a web of life through the hall. She
gathered it to her, wove it with her fingers as she had the threads of
the loom, creating a net of power. She froze. There. In the center of
the web was a dark blot, a place with no life, with no energy at all.
She recoiled in loathing. It was Logren.

He spun around, a leering grin upon his lips. "So my little witch
attempts a spell." Logren advanced on her. "But your magic cannot touch
me, Lady Grace. Haven't you realized that?"

"You can't win." The words were dry as dust on her tongue-meaningless.

"But I already have." His words were soft, just for her. "Melia is
strong. I admire her as I always admire strength. But her magic cannot
hold out much longer. Look-even now her power wavers."

Grace did not want to follow his gesture, but she could not resist. Her
heart turned to ice. It was true. The blue nimbus surrounding Melia
flickered, and moisture beaded her brow. The feydrim pressed closer
toward the barricade.

Her gaze returned to Logren, then dropped down to his pearl-gray tunic.

"What's wrong, my lady?" he said in a mocking voice. "Is there something
you do not understand?"

"Your chest...."

A sneer cut across his face. "And you fancy yourself a witch, Lady
Grace? It is not such a difficult magic, to trade one scar for another."
He touched the fine white line that marked his cheek. "I found a witch
with the talent, and when she finished I stuck a knife in her back."

Grace shuddered. So that was how he had hidden the truth.

Logren advanced on her, and she retreated until her back touched the
stone wall behind the dais. There was nowhere else to go.

"I am high in the Pale King's favor, Lady Grace." Logren's voice droned
in her ears. "Surely he will give me a kingdom to rule for my reward.
And when he does, you will be my queen. No other in the Dominions is as
beautiful as you, not even that witch Ivalaine. No, don't tremble. You
will not be afraid when the time comes, my lady." He ran a finger down

591

the bodice of her gown, tracing a line between her breasts. "You see, I
will take away that weak human heart of yours, and I will give you one
that will make you strong and unafraid." His eyes were pits of
blackness. "You will be mine, Lady Grace, and together we will rule
forever!"

Grace gazed into his empty eyes, drew a deep breath, then spoke the only
words she could. "I'd rather die."

Logren laughed. "And die you will, Lady Grace." He drew a curved knife
from the folds of his tunic and raised it above her. "Die and be reborn
as my queen!"

Before he could plunge the dagger into her chest, there was a metallic
flash. Both the blade and Logren's hand flew to one side, then fell to
the dais. Logren screamed and pulled back the stump of his wrist. Dark
blood sprayed from the wound.

Grace reeled. A figure stood behind Logren, clad all in smoke-gray.

"Durge!" But how could the knight be here? Then she saw the rip in the
tapestry behind the knight, opened by the greatsword he held in his
hands. Through the slit was the darkness of a hidden doorway.

"My lady," he said in a hoarse voice.

The knight was hunched over in pain. Blood stained his face, his hands,
and his clothes. His cloak dangled in shreds behind him.

With an animal snarl of fury, Logren turned on the knight. He pressed
his severed wrist against his own tunic, soaking it. "You idiot! What
have you done to me?"

Durge gazed at him with somber brown eyes. "Something I will now finish,
my lord."

The knight swung his greatsword, but his injuries slowed him,
and-despite his own horrible wound-Logren moved with unnatural speed.
With his bleeding stump he batted the sword aside, then his other hand
sped forward and contacted Durge squarely in the chest. The knight's
eyes went wide, and he flew back against the stone wall, striking it
with a terrible thud.

"My lady ...

Then his eyes fluttered shut, and he sank to the floor, where he did not
move.

592

Grace opened her mouth, but her scream was silent. No! Logren whirled
around. "Do you see, my lady? Do you see

how wrong it is to resist me?" He turned, clutching the stump of his
wrist, then moved to the edge of the dais and shouted to the entire
hall. "You are all idiots to resist me!"

Grace sagged against the wall. He was right-they could not win. Melia's
power dimmed, and the feydrim pressed forward. Falken and the others
slashed with their knives, but it would not be enough. In moments the
feydrim would break through the barricade, would tear Melia, Falken, and
the guards to bits, and would slink onto the dais to finish what they
had come here for.

She shut her eyes, the din of the great hall receded, and darkness
enfolded her. Familiar darkness. This was not the first time evil had
owned her.

Grace was a girl. She lay stiffly in her bed, wondered if she would be
the one that night, and believed as only children could believe that if
she stayed hidden beneath the covers the monsters could not touch her.
She was wrong. The covers were no protection. First came soft footfalls,
then gentle whispers, and finally hands that reached out of the
darkness-cold, hard hands-slipping beneath the covers to clutch soft
flesh. Moans of pain drifted in the night, melding with the cries of owls.

Memories rippled, changed. It was an older girl who stood in the heart
of the fire. Flames danced all around. They licked at walls and ceiling
as if they fed on some viscous fuel that had permeated the wood. Screams
rose above the roar of the flames-the horrid animal screams of grown men
and women in agony. They could not escape their rooms, for somehow the
locks on their doors had melted before the fire had ever touched them. A
puff of parched air scorched the girl's face. It was time to go. She
walked through the inferno toward the open mouth of the door, and it
seemed the flames flickered away from her as she moved, letting her

pass. But it was her fire, after all. She had called it, and it had come.

The flames vanished, replaced by cool white tiles and sleek metal
drawers. Her hands reached out as if they were not her own and opened
one of the drawers. He lay inside, his dark skin gray under the plastic.
Leon. Beneath the clear covering, his eyes opened and fixed on hers.

593

You've got to live, Grace. His breath fogged the plastic. Don't you see?
No matter how much it hurts, you've got to live.

A bright light shone behind her. She turned. Now she was in the ED, and
the doors slid open. Gurneys rolled in, dozens of them, hundreds, all
bearing broken people who cried out in pain. One of the gurneys stopped
before her. Grace bent over it and pulled back the sheet to examine
the-patient.

The woman on the gurney stared up at her with green-gold eyes. Doctor,
heal thyself, the woman whispered.

The vision shattered like crystal. Sound rushed back in a clap of
thunder. Grace stood in the great hall of Calavere again. She stared at
the object she held before her face. It was the bracelet Trifkin
Mossberry had given her. The stone charm spun in a circle.

It is the same kind of stone as the artifact of Malachor in the great hall.

Grace knew what she had to do.

She jerked her head up. Melia staggered now, and the blue nimbus
flickered wildly. Falken reached for her. The feydrim hissed and started
to climb over the fallen tables. The guards gripped their knives before
them.

Grace's eyes traveled across the hall, to the artifact that hulked in a
corner: a massive ring of dark stone balanced on a stout wooden stand.
The stone circle rested on its side, parallel to the floor.

A spark of sapphire near the artifact caught Grace's eye. It was Aryn.
The baroness had stumbled from a side door. Her face was white, her eyes
dazed. She staggered forward. Before Grace fully realized what she was
doing she touched the Weirding, spun a thread, and cast it toward the
baroness. Aryn!

The baroness looked up, her pale visage stunned. Aryn, can you hear me?

Grace? The reply was faint but clear. Are you all right?

There was a pause, then, I'm . . . I'm here, Grace. Something had
happened, something terrible-Grace could feel it-but it would have to wait.

Aryn, you've got to align the relic. What?

594

U more inches across stone as an inextricable force pulled at

The relic of Malachor. Turn it, Aryn. Get others to help you. Now!

Grace sensed more confusion. Words were not working. She formed an image
in her mind, then cast it along the web toward the baroness. Now
understanding flowed back to her. All right, Grace.

There was no more time. Logren spun around and leered at her. Grace did
not turn away, did not move back. Instead she

looked into the face of evil.

"Your precious knight can't save you now, witch," he said. "No one can."

"You're wrong, Logren." Her voice was cool and sharp as a scalpel.

He frowned at her words, opened his mouth to speak, and then his head
snapped up. Like a puppet controlled by a capricious master, Logren's
body was jerked around so that he faced the front of the hall. His feet
skittered forward on the dais.

Across the great hall, Aryn and several revelers stood beside the relic
of Malachor. They had turned the massive ring of magnetite so that it
stood vertically. Grace glanced at her bracelet. The charm did not point
at Logren now, but instead pointed at the hollow center of the artifact.
Knives flew through the air-plucked from the hands of those who held
them-to strike and adhere to the relic.

"No!" Logren said.

A shudder passed through him, and his boots slid several him. A gurgle
sounded low in his throat, and blood trickled

from the corner of his mouth. Revelers ducked as more objects-spoons,
rings, nails-streaked across the hall to strike

the relic.

Grace moved up beside Logren. He looked at her out of the

corner of his eye and spoke in a choking whisper. "Please, my lady. Help
me."

Grace gazed at his twisted face and knew in that moment she did have
power over evil-not despite her suffering but because of it. She met his
eyes and spoke in a crisp voice. "I'm afraid we'll have to operate, Lord
Logren."

His eyes widened. Grace planted a hand on his back and

595

shoved him forward to the edge of the dais. Logren screamed, and his
arms spread out like the wings of a raven.

Then his iron heart burst from his chest and flew across the great hall
toward the center of the relic.

Travis trudged through the unbroken snow of Shadowsdeep, toward the
knife-edged mountains that loomed in the night before him.

The vale was still and frozen. There was no wind, and the air was
crystal, sharp in his nose and lungs. The only sound was the crunch of

his battered cowboy boots breaking the hard crust of the snow. The
bitter cold sliced through his mistcloak and crept into his chest as if
it wished to still his heart. Even the moon and stars seemed bound by
ice in the dark sky above.

He wasn't sure how long he had been walking. Awhile, judging by the
numbness of his hands and the ice that clung to his beard. Then again,
he had a feeling time didn't really matter, not now, not in this place.
This moment would last as long as it needed to. That sounded like
something Brother Cy would have told him, but he knew it was true. The vale

waited, and watched.

The mountains cut higher into the sky, excising more stars from the onyx
firmament. However far he had come, he was closer now. Much closer. The
Rune Gate lay directly ahead of him: a massive plane of iron as black as
the peaks into which it was set: With every step the gate took up more
of his vision, blotting out all else.

Neck stiff, Travis looked back over his shoulder. He traced the line of
his footprints across the moonlit snow. It was hard to be sure, but he
thought he saw a small rectangle of gray at the place where his trail
vanished into the night. The door back to the castle? Perhaps. However,
even as he gazed at it, the faint patch of light vanished. If it had
been the door, then it was gone now. Not that it mattered. There was
only one door left for Travis to face, and that lay ahead of him.

Not that he knew what he would do when he reached it.

596

The Rune Gate is about to open. Only you can shut it, Runelord.

Except he had no idea how he was supposed to keep the gate from opening,
and the hag had not offered him any clues.

Go then, and make your choice. Life or death.

But it wasn't up to him, was it? How could he choose if it wasn't his
choice?

Travis didn't know. All he knew was that he had to go there, to the
gate. For good or ill, all his wandering in life, all his drifting, had
led him here, to this moonlit vale in another world. If he wanted to go
beyond, he had to go through. It was the only way.

Travis started to turn back toward the mountains, and toward his
destination, then halted. There-in the- still desolation of the
vale-something moved. The figure drew nearer, and Travis drew in a
breath of wonder. He took a step through the snow toward the approaching
knight.

Beltan's movements were stiff, as if the cold-or perhaps something
else-hampered him. Long legs thrashed through the snow, and the knight
covered the last of the distance between them. He came to a halt, broad
chest heaving, his breath summoning frosty ghosts.

Travis gazed at the blond man. "Beltan, what are you doing here?"

The knight struggled to find words between breaths. "I'm coming with you."

Travis started to shake his head. This was his task-his peril to face-he
couldn't ask another to stand with him. Then he hesitated. How else
would Beltan have found him if it wasn't supposed to be this way, if she
hadn't meant it to happen? Besides, he was grateful to see his friend in
this lonely place. Despite the dread that filled him at what he was
supposed to do, Travis smiled.

"I'm glad you're here, Beltan."

"I told you I would protect you, Travis."

The two men embraced, and for a moment there was warmth in the frozen
waste. Then Travis pushed his friend away. Beltan gazed around and
shuddered.

"What is this place, Travis?" "Shadowsdeep," he whispered.

597

With that he started through the unbroken snow, and Beltan followed after.

Minutes passed as they walked, or hours-or perhaps less than a shard of
a moment-and they were there. The two men came to a halt before a jagged
wall of black stone. The Fal Threndur: the Ironfang Mountains. Travis
had glimpsed them his first day in the world of Eldh. He could not have
known it then, but even as he had traveled away from the mountains he
had journeyed toward them. Maybe it made sense that things came to an
end here.

Set into the cliff face was a gigantic slab of iron. The Rune Gate. The
very.door of Imbrifale.

The gate's surface was rough, pitted by wind and time, but unmarked save
for three circular impressions in the metal, each as large as a splayed
hand. Travis knew what the impressions had once contained: the three
seals forged by the Runelords a thousand years ago. Except Krond and
Gelth had been broken, and now Travis glanced down at the ground before
the gate and saw, fallen in the snow, another disk of stone. He knelt
and picked it up, but before he even touched its smooth surface he knew
what it would be. It was Sinfath, the third and final seal from the Rune
Gate, and it too was broken.

"Travis, look into the shadows."

Beltan's words were low and soft with danger. Travis stood and glanced
into the gloom. All around them spindly shapes moved in the darkness.

Beltan drew his sword and eyed the shadows. "Whatever you came here to
do, Travis, you might want to think about doing it. Now."

Travis took a step toward the gate. He reached out a hand to touch the
rough surface-then drew it back. What am I supposed to do? But he didn't
know, and Grisla had not told him. A fear colder than snow froze Travis,
paralyzing him.

The things in the shadows were closer now. Yellow eyes flickered like
flames without warmth. Moonlight glinted off gray fur and curved fangs.

Beltan's back brushed against Travis's. "Keep behind me," the knight said.

Travis opened his mouth, but he couldn't speak, couldn't move. The Rune
Gate was an abyss of blackness before him,

598

and he stood on the edge. What do I do? But he couldn't do anything. One
step and he would fall forever.

The darkness all around undulated, then the feydrim scuttled into the
moonlight before the gate.

It was hard to be sure how many there were-they slunk in and out of the
shadows, making it impossible to countbut it didn't matter. One thing
was certain enough: There were far more than two men could fight.

The feydrim pressed closer.

Beltan lashed out with his sword as one of the creatures leaped forward.
It scuttled back, away from the blade and into the gloom, eyes winking
with hate. Another lunged from the opposite direction-they were testing
the knight, measuring him-and Beltan twisted to engage it. He brought
his sword around, but the movement was stiff, clumsy. The feydrim
scrambled back to avoid his blade, but not before it had reached out
with a claw. Beltan sucked in a breath of pain. Now a dark line scored
his cheek, and a guttural sound, almost like purring, emanated from the
shadows: They liked the scent of blood.

"Travis?" Beltan's voice was tight now. "Travis, I'm not sure how long I
can hold them back."

Travis wanted to answer, wanted to reach down for the stiletto at his
belt and help the knight. The gem set into the knife's hilt blazed
crimson. However, Travis was a statue. He could not decide what to do.

A gray form sprang from the shadows beside the gate and stretched its
talons toward Travis's throat.

"Get away from him!"

The knight's shout sundered the frozen air. He leaped before Travis and
thrust with his sword. The feydrim fell squealing to the snow. It
writhed with Beltan's blade stuck in its gut, then twitched and fell
still. The feydrim was dead, but now Beltan was weaponless. He started
to reach forward to retrieve the sword, but two more feydrim snarled and
crawled over the corpse. They glared at the knight with yellow eyes,
then as one they leaped onto him.

Beltan grunted and staggered back under the weight of the creatures.
They bit and tore at him with fang and claw, shredding cloth and skin
alike, but he did not go down. The knight let out a bellow of rage and
agony, then dug his

599

thumbs into the eyes of one of the creatures. The yellow lights dimmed,
colorless ichor oozed out, and the feydrim screeched. Beltan heaved the
carcass off him, then wrapped his fingers around the other's throat.
Even as it raked his side with its hind claws Beltan crushed the
feydrim's throat with bare hands. The snap of its neck echoed on the air

like the sound of ice cracking, then Beltan cast its limp body aside.

The feydrim circled around the two men, wary now but not retreating.
Travis stared at the knight, horrified. Beltan staggered, his shoulders
hunched in. With one arm he clutched his side, while the other hung limp
from his shoulder. Blood smeared his face, his hands, his clothes. Not
all of it was his, but most of it was.

Beltan looked up at Travis and grinned.

"I beat them, Travis," he said in a hoarse voice. "I beat them."

Then the knight's eyes rolled up into his head, and he fell backward
into the snow. A stain spread out from his body, black in the moonlight
like ink on parchment: one final rune.

No! Travis cried in his mind, although no sound escaped his lips. Beltan!

He wanted to rush to the knight, but his limbs might as well have been
carved of ice. The feydrim stalked around him and the fallen man, and
the circle tightened with every revolution. In moments they would tear
his throat out, would rend him limb from limb. It didn't matter. Nothing
mattered. Beltan was dead, and he had done nothing.

The circle was complete. The feydrim stretched their spindly arms toward
Travis. He almost welcomed them. Crack!

It was a sound like thunder, a sound like doom, a sound like a giant's
bones breaking. Travis wondered if it was the sound of the feydrim
snapping his neck, but he blinked and saw that the creatures had fallen
back. Now they trembled on the ground, snouts down, whining and pawing
the snow like dogs at once terrified and overjoyed to see their master
coming.

Their master coming . . .

Travis's eyes flickered to the Rune Gate, and his heart ceased to beat,
utterly frozen. A line had appeared in the

600

Gate-a thin crack that ran top to bottom in the center of the iron slab.
Pale light welled through the slit, cutting the night in half, then the
crack widened, spilling the illumination into the vale of Shadowsdeep.

After a thousand years, the Rune Gate opened.

Travis raised a hand to shade his eyes against the terrible glare, but
it was no use. The light pierced his flesh, his skull, his mind. This
was the end.

Another sound drifted on the air. It was soft-so soft he nearly didn't
hear it. His eyes moved downward to the knight who lay at his feet. The
sound came again: a low moan from Beltan's lips. In-the glare Travis
could see the knight's chest rise and fall. The breath was weak and
shallow, but there was no mistaking it. Beltan was alive!

But not for long, son.

It was not Jack's voice that spoke in his mind. Instead the voice was

dry as a rasp, sweet as honey, and fierce as lightning. He stiffened at
the sound.

Even now the good knight's lifeblood does seep into the cold ground. And
he will be cold himself soon enough. Unless you do something, that is.

Travis shook his head. But I can't do anything. You have to, son.

No, I can't. I only break things.

The voice was hard and merciless, an accusation. Is that your choice then?

The cold in Travis gave way to rage. It blazed up inside of him. No
more. He could take this no more.

You don't understand! He shouted the words at the voice, at himself. It
was me! Don't you see? It was me who killed her! Alice!

He did not wait for a reply from the voice. Now the words spilled out of
the darkness of his mind, as if from his own long-sealed gate that had
finally opened.

My parents left me to take care of her when they went to Champaign. She
was sick. She was always so sick. So I read the instructions on the
bottle of pills, but I mixed them up, like I mix everything up. Don't
you see? Don't you see what happened? I got the numbers on the bottle
wrong. I think she knew. I think she knew it was wrong, but she was so
tired. She was so small and tired. So I gave them to her, and

601

she took them, and she said she loved me. And she never woke up. The
despair was so great he thought it would crush him.

There was a pause. Then, And what if you had not given her the medicine
at all? Would she not have perished then? Travis wailed the words inside
himself. No, that's not it! Yes it is, son. That's exactly it. Right or
wrong, life or death. We all have to choose.

But what if I choose the wrong thing? What if you choose the right
thing? Then the voice was gone.

The brilliant glare washed over Travis. Tears froze against his cheeks.
It hurt-it hurt so much-but after all his drifting, after all his
running, here in the end, in this place, he saw the truth. There was
only one thing worse than choosing wrong, and that was not choosing at all.

I love you, Travis.

I love you, too, Alice.

Travis gazed into the light and made his choice.

For a frozen instant he saw through the gap into the icy Dominion of
Imbrifale. Beyond the Gate was a vast host of

shadows. They roiled against the light, baring fangs, stretching talons,
tossing curved horns in hate and suffering. In the midst of the host, on
a gigantic onyx beast that snorted fire and struck sparks with cloven
hooves, was a terrible figure. He was tall, and pale, and crowned by

ice. Against his snowy breast rested a necklace forged of iron, and in
it was set a stone as white as his skin. His eyes flickered up and met
Travis's. In them was an endless world of hatred.

Travis could have let those eyes freeze his heart. Instead he reached
into his pocket, drew out the Stone, and touched it to the Gate.

Be whole!

There was light, then thunder, and a cry of perfect fury that splintered
Travis's bones, cracked his teeth, and turned his brain to jelly.

Then came darkness and sweet silence.

Travis blinked. Shadowsdeep was dim once again, but now a wind ruffled
his hair, and while it was cold it was no longer so bitter. The stars
wheeled slowly above, and the moon soared above the dark peaks.

602

The Rune Gate was shut now, a smooth slab of iron with no trace of a
crack. Travis gazed at the three impressions set into the Gate. Now one
of them was no longer empty. Set into it was a disk of creamy stone:
Sinfath, the third seal, whole once more.

Travis held his breath. It was only a single seal where before there had
been three, but he had to believe it would be enough.

A groan drew him away from the Gate.

Travis tucked Sinfathisar back into his pocket and knelt in the snow
beside Beltan. The wounded knight's face was gray beneath the mask of
drying blood, and his breathing was labored. There wasn't much time.

Slender forms drifted from the shadows where once the feydrim had
skulked. They gathered around, clad all in gossamer, and a gentle
radiance bathed the knight. His eyes were shut, almost as if he were
sleeping. Travis smoothed Beltan's pale hair back from his bloody brow.
Then the fairies reached out with shining hands and lifted the fallen
knight from the snow.

Logren's empty corpse toppled off the edge of the dais and fell in a
heap to the floor below.

Grace could not prevent her lips from turning upward in a scalpel-sharp
smile. So much for the prognosis of living forever, my lord.

A cry of pain echoed off the rafters. Grace jerked her head up. Logren
was dead, but this was not over.

Below the dais, the blue nimbus that emanated from Melia flickered like
a dying candle. The small lady staggered, a hand clutched to her brow,
and Falken reached for her. The feydrim hissed in glee, then scrambled
onto the edges of the overturned tables, ready to spring upon their
prey. The menat-arms fell back, eyes afraid.

Grace reached out a hand, but there was nothing she could do to help
them. Besides, the feydrim would have her and the others that stood on
the dais soon enough. Despite this

603

realization, the exultation inside Grace did not fade. Maybe they hadn't
won, maybe they hadn't defeated evil, not completely, but at least they
had stood against it, had made it hurt, and had not given themselves up
to it without a struggle. She wasn't certain that meant something. She
hoped it did.

Melia's azure nimbus went dark, and she slumped into Falken's arms.
Fangs bared, the feydrim leaped forward-then shrieked in agony and fell
to the floor.

Grace stared at the feydrim. They whined like frightened dogs, writhed
on the floor, and bit and clawed at themselves. Something had happened,
something that terrified them. But

what? The men-at-arms did not waste their chance waiting for an

answer. They stepped forward and-those who still gripped them-plunged
knives into the feydrim who had made it over the barricade. Around the
great hall, the revelers held each other as they stared at the cowering
creatures.

Grace felt a tingling and looked up. Across the hall she saw a white
oval: Aryn's face, roand with fear and amazement. Next to the baroness,
in the hollow center of the artifact of Malachor, was suspended the iron
heart that moments ago had rested within Logren's chest. Grace felt the
words, faint but clear, vibrating over a thread of the Weirding.

How did you know?

Later, Aryn. I'll explain later.

With the threat of the feydrim gone, new dread cut through Grace, and
she moved away from the edge of the dais. There was another who needed
her attention now. The rulers and counselors cast looks of amazement in
her direction, but she ignored them. She moved to a smoke-gray form that
slumped against the wall at the back of the dais.

"Durge," she whispered as she knelt beside him.

The knight's head bowed forward, and his brown hair and mustaches were
crusted with blood. Through countless rips in his clothes she could see
the gashes in his flesh. His hand lay still-terribly still--on the hilt
of his greatsword.

Grace reached out to examine him, then froze. What should she do? An
aching filled her throat, and her eyes stung, so that it was hard to see
him.

604

What do I do?

She didn't understand. Always she treated the wounded and broken with
cool efficiency. Now her hand was frozen, her mind blank.

Then she knew why. Never before was the broken person in front of her
also a friend.

Be a doctor, Grace. You're his friend, but if he has any chance, you've
got to be a doctor now. She drew in a deep breath and forced her
trembling hand to reach out and touch his neck to feel for his pulse.

Nothing. Not the faintest flutter. Fear stabbed her. She shifted her
fingers. Maybe it was the blood, maybe it was the position of his head,
maybe-her fingers halted. Beneath them, slow and strong, beat the rhythm
of life.

A breath of relief escaped her. Now she was indeed a doctor, and she
examined him with swift skill, cataloging his injuries. They were many,
but only a few of the wounds were deep, and these had not struck any
vital areas. Yes, he would recover, she had only to keep the wounds
clean, to be certain there was no infection orHis brown eyes were
open-barely, but he was awake and watching her. Grace halted her
examination, then regarded him, her lips pressed together. She had not
cried in over twenty years. Now crystal tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Don't weep, my fairy queen," Durge said in a hoarse voice. "Please
don't weep. Am I dead, then? Have I traveled to the Twilight Realm?"

Now Grace laughed even as her tears flowed, impossible but marvelous,
like rain from a sun-drenched sky. "No, Durge. You're very much alive."

The knight seemed to consider her words, then he heaved a sigh. "Oh,
bother."

Grace threw her arms around him.

A heavy sound thrummed over the great hall, and a gust of cold wind
whipped at Grace's hair and set torches to guttering all around. A gasp
rose from the revelers. Grace stood and breathed in the clean scent of snow.

The doors of the great hall had opened. Beyond was not a stone castle
corridor, but an icy vale lit by a moon that floated above jagged
mountains. Grace watched, entranced,

605

as they drifted through the door: tall, slender, and radiant. A thrill
coursed through her.

So that's what they look like. Fairies.

In their arms they bore a figure that seemed to sleep. A man, Grace
thought, but it was hard to be certain, for the soft light that emanated
from them obscured her view. With a chiming sound the fairies moved
through the hall, gossamer fluttering. The crowd parted to let them
pass. Melia had awakened, and now she leaned against Falken. The bard
and the lady gazed at the light elfs, their faces thoughtful.

With the help of Kylar and Ivalaine, Boreas had staggered to his feet,
his eyes hazed with pain but open and aware. Tressa had draped Eminda's
body with a cloak. Now the redhaired witch moved to stand beside her
queen. All watched as the fairies floated onto the dais. The light elfs
bent their tall forms and set their burden on the stone at Grace's feet.
Then they straightened, and Grace gazed into eyes like ancient silver stars.

Yes, she understood.

She knelt beside the fallen figure. It was Beltan. He had been gravely
injured, that was clear to her at once. The gash in his side was deep.
Even on Earth his prognosis would have been uncertain. Here, in this
world, he should be dead. However, the bleeding had stopped, and his
breathing was deep and even. Grace laid her hands on his body and felt
it with perfect certainty: It would take time, but the knight would heal.

"The Rune Gate is shut once more," a voice said. It was not loud, yet it
carried over the great hall all the same. "The Pale King is imprisoned
again."

Grace rose. Across the hall another figure stood in the impossible
doorway, clad in a baggy tunic, his hair and beard shaggy, his gray eyes
solemn behind wire-rimmed spectacles. He stepped into the hall, then
raised high an object in his hand: a gray-green stone. Sinfathisar. He
whispered something-the words might almost have been be wholethen the
Stone in his grip shone, and a radiance welled forth. All raised their
hands to shield their eyes. Then the light dimmed, and the revelers
lowered their hands to stare in renewed wonder.

The cowering feydrim were gone. In their place were queer

606

people with cloven hooves and antlered brows, swan-necked women with
dragonfly wings, and small green men with beards of leaves. Little
People. More odd forms stepped from the shadows, led by a tiny figure in
yellow and green.

The Little People moved forward and gathered the twisted bodies of the
dead feydrim into their arms. Sorrow mingled with joy on their strange
faces. The fairies drifted down to join them.

Grace held her breath as a pair of nut-brown eyes met her own. Trifkin
Mossberry nodded to her, his ancient eyes knowing. Then, with a
shimmering sound like bells, the Little People and the fairies were
gone. The doors of the great hall shut. Grace knew that when they opened
again it would be onto a castle corridor, not a vale of snow.

Across the hall, the shaggy man in the too-large tunic lowered the Stone
and stumbled forward.

Now a joyous word burst out of Grace. "Travis!"

He looked up, saw her, and grinned. His lips formed a word. Grace. She
leaped down from the dais, then she was running. He was running, too,
and the crowd moved aside for them. They met in the center of Calavere's
great hall and caught each other in a fierce embrace.

The long winter night was over.

107.

The Council of Kings met the next morning, on Midwinter's Day, to decide
the fate of the Dominions.

In the council chamber, Grace took her seat on the bench beside Aryn.
She squeezed the baroness's hand, and the young woman squeezed back and
smiled. However, the expression was as fragile as it was lovely, like a
fine web of frost on a fallen leaf. The baroness was not clad in her

usual sky-blue, but instead in a gown the color of a winter dusk.

Grace studied her friend. Something was wrong-something had happened to
Aryn last night which the young woman had not talked about-the doctor in
her knew it instinctively. Except this was no wound of the body. What
could it be? Grace's powers of diagnosis failed her. Yet what

607

ever it was it could wait, at least a little while. Today Aryn smiled,
and the day had dawned cold but bright over Calavere.

It's over, Grace. We won. Let's enjoy it, at least for today. Nobles
blinked and yawned as they entered the council chamber, as if they had
just awakened from a dream. In some ways it seemed like such. That
morning the great hall had been a shamble of fallen tables and broken
crockery, a testament to last night's battle. However, no doors had
opened on places that weren't in the castle, and there had been no
traces of the fallen feydrim or the Little People. Even Trifkin
Mossberry and his troupe were nowhere to be found. Earlier Grace had
gone to their chamber with Travis, in order to thank them, but they had
found only an empty room with rotten tapestries on the walls. The
weavings were dim with dust and smoke, but Grace had been able to make
out slender trunks and arching branches. She and Travis had exchanged
looks, and they both had known where Trifkin had gone.

Still, the events in the great hall the night before had been no dream.
Men-at-arms had carried Logren's corpse from the hall, and they had
burned it outside the castle walls. The high counselor of Eredane was no
more than ashes now, but his iron heart still lay suspended in the
center of the relic of Malachor-the relic whose ancient purpose they now
understood.

Nor was Logren the only casualty. Grace's eyes moved over the council
chamber, but she did not see two sharp glints of emerald watching her
and never would again.

The rulers had already taken their places at the council table. There
were two empty seats now, one for Chair Malachor, the other for Chair
Eredane. Grace gazed at the empty seat. Who would rule the Dominion of
Eredane now that Eminda was gone? Grace thought back to her fireside
lessons in politics with Aryn. She almost smiled-those days seemed so
long ago now, and she had learned so much since then.

From what Grace remembered, Eminda had two children-a daughter and a
son-but both were under seven winters old, and Eminda's husband, who had
been ostensibly ruling since her departure for the council, was said to be a

608

drooling idiot. Grace knew neither of those children would ever touch
the throne of their mother's Dominion. These were troubled lands, and if
the history of Earth had taught her anything, it was that in such places
strong hands always seized control. No doubt some baron in Eredane
already schemed to take the crown. Would this king be more enlightened
than Eminda--or darker yet?

Grace tried not to think about the answer to that question. She watched
sunlight fall through high windows and listened to the music of doves.

The council chamber fell silent. In a stiff motion King Boreas gained
his feet. He was solid and imposing as ever in his black garb, but there
were circles beneath his eyes, and the edge of a vivid bruise crept from
beneath his beard and along his cheek.

Boreas had always terrified Grace. The king of Calavan had always seemed
so invincible to her, so whole. Now she knew that wasn't so. Boreas
could be hurt just like anyone. That should have damaged her respect for
him, but it didn't. Instead it made her like Boreas a little bit more.

"Once again Falken Blackhand has asked to address the Council of Kings,"
Boreas said without preamble in his booming voice. "His request has been
granted."

A murmur ran around the chamber, but it was not derision this time as
much as anticipation. Falken stood near the council table. Boreas nodded
to him, and the bard approached. He was clad in the same travel-stained
garb he had worn that day Grace had first met him: a faded gray tunic
and a cloak the color of deep water, clasped by a silver brooch.

Usually Grace saw Falken in Melia's company, but that morning the lady
was not present. Instead she was tending to her Knight Protector,
Beltan. Last night, with the help of several men-at-arms, they had
carried Beltan to Melia's chamber. Melia's face had been drawn, her eyes
haunted, and though Grace had thought it impossible, she had realized
then that the regal lady was afraid. This had startled Grace. Melia had
always seemed so cool, so distant.

Maybe your instincts aren't always as correct as you think they are,
Grace. Maybe you misjudged her.

Grace had examined Beltan. He was alive and awake, but

609

he was still seriously injured. The wound in his side particularly
troubled her, for it had pierced the abdominal wall. A case of
peritonitis was serious enough on Earth. On Eldh it would be fatal. Yet
every time Grace laid her hands on the knight, she knew with utter
certainty this would not happen, that he would live and-in time-heal.

This instinct she had decided to believe. Kyrene had been flawed, but
the power she had revealed to Grace-the Weirding-was not. It was life.
She would trust it.

Grace had given Melia some simples, and instructions on how to use them,
then had departed. Her last glimpse was of the lady seated beside the
sleeping knight's bed, framed by the light of a single candle, her hair
spilling forward as she bowed her head. Melia's small hand lay on
Beltan's larger one, and a soft sound rose and fell on the air. It was a
prayer, Grace had realized. Then she had shut the door.

"Once before, this council listened to my words, and it was not moved by
them," Falken said in a sober voice. "I ask that it listen again. Last
night was the longest night of the year, and we have survived to see the
dawn. Now the sun returns. From this day on, the days grow longer, and
that is cause for celebration. But the winter is not over yet."

Falken's voice rose to fill the chamber. The onlookers leaned forward on
their benches. The rulers watched him with intent eyes as he prowled

around the table.

"The Rune Gate has been sealed. The Pale King will not ride forth. That
is cause for wonder. But do not dare forget what happened last night.
The Pale King is defeated, but he is not dead. He still holds Gelthisar,
the Stone of Ice. His servants still move at will in the Dominions. And
where once three seals bound the door of Imbrifale, now there is but
one." The wolfish bard clenched his black-gloved hand into a fist. "No,
this winter is far from over."

The bard regarded the council, then bowed. "That is all I have to say."
He moved back to his seat.

Boreas met the eyes of each of the other rulers in turn. "You all know
the matter before you. This council will now make its final decision."

He emptied a leather pouch into his hand: stones white and black. He
passed two stones to each of the rulers. They

610

made their selection beneath the table, then held closed hands out.
Grace tightened her grip on Aryn.

"War," Boreas said as he unclenched his hand. The stone on his palm was
white.

Kylar nodded. "War," the young king said in a steady voice, and he
revealed his own white stone.

Persard, Sorrin, and Lysandir opened their hands: white stones on all.
Grace's heart soared. They had finally listened, they had finally
believed. The reckoning had been won. Then she held her breath, for
there was still one stone to be cast.

All eyes turned on Ivalaine. The queen of Toloria gazed forward, her
beautiful face impassive, then she opened her hand. On it rested a white
stone.

"War." A gasp of relief rose from the onlookers. Victory sparked in
Boreas's eyes. He rose to his feet again.

"This council is decided," he said in a voice that thrummed in the
tower's stones. "The Dominions shall prepare to make war upon the Pale
King and his forces. When next we meet, it will be to determine the
arrangements of our armies. Until then, this council is recessed."

Rulers and onlookers alike rose to their feet, but Grace remained
sitting. She could not take her eyes off the shattered disk in the
center of the table. The rune of peace: broken. She would have spoken a
prayer, like Melia had, if only she had known one.

The nobles filtered past Grace and Aryn as they walked from the council
chamber. Falken grinned at her, and she could not help returning the
expression. Not far behind the bard came Ivalaine and Tressa.

Ivalaine gave a cool nod to Grace and Aryn, then turned her face forward
as she walked from the hall. The queen of Toloria's ice-colored eyes
shone. She had chosen war, but the Witches still schemed something. Only
what was it? A thrill tingled inside Grace. Maybe she would find out.

And then? But she could decide that when-and if-the time came.

Tressa smiled at Grace and Aryn as she passed. "We shall see you soon,
sisters."

Then the red-haired witch and her queen were gone. Grace

611

felt Aryn's fingers tighten around her own. Then she forgot the Witches
as another figure approached her.

"Durge!" She started to rise from her seat, but he shook his head. "No,
my lady," he said in his somber voice. "A mistress must not rise for her
servant."

"You aren't my servant, Durge."

"But I am, my lady. And grateful to be so."

Was he truly grateful? Grace examined the knight and saw what service to
her had given him. His weathered face was marked by a dozen scratches
just starting to scab over. His hands were worse. And the slight
dragging of his foot he was trying to hide bespoke more injuries. Yet
somehow he had stood alone against five feydrim, and he had slain them all.

How? she had asked him last night. How did you manage it, Durge? I would
have given up, even with your greatsword.

No, my lady, he had said, I don't believe you would have. I think
neither of us is one to take the easier road. Dying is simple. It is
living that challenges us.

She had only gazed at him, amazed. Leon Arlington would have understood.

Now Durge made a stiff bow despite his wounds. "Is there anything I can
do for you, my lady?"

She reached out and touched his cheek. "You can rest, Durge. Your wounds
aren't deep, but you lost a lot of blood." She raised a finger to stifle
his protest, then assumed an imperious tone. "No, Sir Durge, I won't
tolerate argument on this matter. You are my servant, after all."

He stared at her, then-and afterward Grace was never quite certain-she
thought she saw the corners of his lips flicker upward.

Durge nodded again, then departed-although before he did his gaze
lingered a moment, and not upon Grace. However, the young woman in blue
only stared forward with stricken eyes. Then the Embarran knight was gone.

The line of nobles had turned to a few stragglers. The chamber was
almost empty. A figure in black strode toward Grace and Aryn. They rose
before him, although Grace remembered not to curtsy.

"Lady Grace, I thank you for your assistance these last

612

months," Boreas said in a gruff voice. "However, I have another request
to ask of you, and I trust you will not refuse me."

Grace exchanged looks with Aryn. "Your Majesty, I-" He lifted a hand and
once again waved her words aside. "Don't interrupt me, my lady. There is
yet room in the castle's dungeon."

Grace started to laugh, then stopped, not entirely certain this was one
of his jests.

"The bard was right," Boreas said. "Winter is far from over, and it will
be long before the roads are easily passable. Thus I request that you
remain in my court, at least for the winter, and afterward for as long
as you like."

Grace opened her mouth but could speak no words. Boreas advanced on her.

"What say you, my lady? Will you stay with this king?" Grace gazed at
him. Then, before she knew what she was doing, she threw her arms around
him and buried her face against his thick neck. It was not at all how
one responded to a king. No doubt he would call for his men-at-arms. He
did not. Instead he enfolded her in strong, gentle arms. Then he pushed
her away.

"Good morrow, my lady." Then the king departed.

A hand on her shoulder. Grace turned and looked into azure eyes. The
baroness seemed older now, and Grace's breath caught in her lungs. Aryn
wasn't pretty anymore. She was beautiful.

"Are you coming, Grace?"

She shook her head. "You go on, Aryn. I'll be along soon. I just . . . I
just want to stay here for a moment."

The baroness smiled-once again the expression was both sweet and
sad-then she turned and left the council chamber. Grace drew in a
breath. She needed to think for a moment, to take in all that had
happened. She turned around, looked out over the empty space, and let
the silence fill her-she was alone.

No, that wasn't so.

A man dressed in a baggy tunic and cowboy boots stepped from the shadows
and approached the council table. She watched as he laid a hand on the
circle of stone.

613

The whispered word echoed around the chamber. The table glowed, then
dimmed again. Grace stared, then she moved toward the council table.

"What is it?" she said.

He turned around, gray eyes surprised behind wirerimmed spectacles, then
he smiled.

"Grace." She reached out and brushed the white disk set into the center
of the table. It was whole once more, all traces of the cracks that had
sundered it gone. Three silver lines incised its surface.

"You've changed it," she said. "It used to be the rune of peace, but

it's different now. What is it?"

Travis regarded her with a thoughtful expression. "It's the rune of hope."

She looked up at him, then nodded. While they lived, there was always hope.

"What are you going to do now, Grace?" His voice was quiet.

"King Boreas has asked me to stay at the castle." She took a step toward
him. "I'm sure you could stay as well."

"I know." He sighed, his gaze distant, then he looked at her again.
"Well, I'll see you around."

She gave a wordless nod, then reached out to grasp his hand, but it was
too late. He turned and walked from the chamber. Grace stared after him.

"He wants to go home," she whispered. "Back to Earth." "Where there's a
will there's a way, lass," a chalky voice said behind her.

Grace turned around. "Vayla?"

The crone nodded. "That's one of my names, lass."

A shiver danced along Grace's skin. There was something queer about the
old woman, like the Witches, or like the Little People, or even like
Travis when he spoke and bound runes. But she was different from all of
them as well.

"What do you mean?" Grace said.

614

The crone cocked her head. "Have you forgotten so soon, lass? Each of
you holds a token, one in which dwells the power to take you where you
wish. Go to a place of magic, hold your token, and shut your eyes. When
you open them again, you will be where you most belong."

Grace thought about this, then spoke the words in a soft voice. "I
belong here."

The crone peered at Grace with her single eye. "So you do, daughter. So
you do."

Then the old woman was gone, and Grace was alone in the empty chamber.

108.

Travis wouldn't have traded these last days for the worldfor any world.

Not that he did much of anything, but maybe that was what made this time
so special. Ever since the moment he had stepped through the old
billboard and into Eldh, he had been doing something: first traveling to
Kelcior with Falken, then to Calavere with Melia and Beltan, then
studying runecraft, and last of all helping Grace and the Circle of the
Black Knife uncover the conspiracy of murder in the castle. It was only
when he thought back on it all that he realized just how busy he had
been, and just how quickly time had passed. Valdath had come and gone,
and now it was Geldath, which the peasants called Icemonth. It was good
finally to get a chance to do nothing, simply to be, and to enjoy each

moment as it passed.

He spent much of his time walking the castle, exploring its towers and
parapets, venturing into the garden, or into the lower bailey. There he
would watch the merchants, serfs, footmen, knights, and nobles all
squelch their way through the half-frozen slime alongside goats, kine,
chickens, and sheep. Sometimes he couldn't help smiling. A feudal
society might have been classist and stratified, but everyone sure had
to wallow through the same puddle of muck.

A few times he ventured beyond Calavere's high walls to

615

the town below, or once to the old Tarrasian bridge that arched over the
Dimduorn, the River Darkwine. For a while he watched water flow beneath
the bridge as it had for centuries, and he thought of all the people who
had crossed this place: where they were going and what their stories
were. His feet were just one pair in an endless procession that had
passed this way, and that would pass this way yet. Somehow it was a
comforting thought.

Travis did spend a little time working on his runes, but mostly to
please Melia and Falken. He would sit by the fire in their chamber and
make symbols on his wax tablet while Melia's kitten hissed and pounced
at his ankles. However, more often than not he would find himself gazing
into the flames, the tablet forgotten in his lap, absently rubbing his
right hand.

He still wasn't entirely certain what Jack had done to him-he probably
never would be-but he was beginning to think he had an inkling of the
truth. Jack was dead, there was no escaping that, but the voice that
spoke in Travis's mind used Jack's voice. Maybe in some ways it was
Jack. Or a part of him, at least. Maybe that was what Jack had given him
in that terrible moment beneath the Magician's Attic.

"I miss you, Jack," he would murmur, then he would return his gaze to
his tablet of runes.

Travis also spent a large portion of time visiting with Beltan. The
knight had been in Melia's bedchamber since they had brought him there
on Midwinter's Eve, to recuperate from his wound, and every day a battle
was waged in the little room. Each morning Beltan would threaten to
climb out of the bed, and each morning Melia would threaten to

keep him in it. Exactly what she would do to achieve this she never
specifically mentioned, but usually she made a few weaving motions with
her fingers, and Beltan's eyes grew large.

"You wouldn't dare, Melia!" he would exclaim. "Try me," the lady would
reply in a flinty voice.

So far Melia had been the victor in each contest, but it was only a
matter of time before Beltan won out. Those first days the knight's skin
had been tinged with gray, and he had slept much and moved little.
However, Grace came by daily to examine the wounds made by the feydrim,
and bit by bit

616

they healed. As the days passed, the knight sat up more, and his eyes
grew clear and bright-although, for all his protestations, even a simple
act such as using the chamber pot would leave him trembling and
exhausted, and he would sink back into the feather bed.

It's hard for a knight to be weak. Travis had realized this one
afternoon as he sat with Beltan. But, in a strange way, maybe there was
strength in learning one's limitations.

Once Beltan was awake more often than not, Travis spent at least an hour
or two each day with the knight. They would talk about their travels, or
about Earth-a topic in which Beltan had developed an apparent interest.
The knight would ask Travis countless questions-what was the geography
like, where did people live, how defensible were these "sky
scrapers"-and Travis did his best to answer, and to explain such alien
concepts as automobiles and television and microwave popcorn. What
Beltan thought of all this Travis wasn't certain, but at times the
knight's gaze would grow distant, as if he tried to picture it all
before him.

The two didn't always talk. Sometimes they played a game-using pieces of
polished bone-that Beltan taught Travis, and which Travis usually won,
much to the knight's consternation. Or sometimes they would just stay
quiet, content to be together and watch the sky outside the window. When
Beltan's eyes started to sink shut once again, Travis would slip without
sound through the door and leave the knight to his rest.

Of all his activities, as the sun and moon arced in gold and silver
alternation over the castle's towers, it was the wandering that occupied
Travis most. Some nodded to him as he walked the halls and corridors of
Calavere. Perhaps they had seen him in the council chamber when he broke
the rune of peace. However, most paid him no more heed than they would a
servingman. But then, he still wore the same travelstained peasant's
clothes he had on his journey to Calavere. Aryn had offered to have the
castle tailors make a suit of finery for him, but Travis had politely
declined. The pilfered tunic he wore was coarse and overlarge, but it
was warm, and he had been through much in it.

His cowboy boots were another matter. The toes had started flapping open
like the bill of a duck when he walked,

617

so he did take Aryn up on her offer of a new pair of boots. The castle
cobbler came to measure his feet with a string, and the next day,
outside his door, Travis found a pair of softsoled buckskin boots. He
pulled them up over his calves and marveled at the way the buttery
leather conformed to every curve of his feet. With the new boots on, he
walked around the chamber and felt like he could walk across an entire
world. He made a mental note to thank the baroness. This was a truly
wonderful gift.

In all, Travis couldn't remember a place in his life where he had been
this happy, this at peace. Still, there were times when he stood on the
castle's battlements and faced into the cold wind, and he found himself
thinking about traveling once more. Except the place he dreamed of was
farther away than any boots, however marvelous, could take him. He would
sigh, breathe the crisp air, and return to the smoky warmth of the castle.

Then one afternoon he stepped into his chamber to find Melia and Falken

talking.

This was hardly unusual in itself. The bard and lady always seemed to
have their heads together in conversation, and this had not changed
since the events of Midwinter's Eve. The Council of Kings was still
meeting regularly, though now it was called the Council of War. The
rulers were working together to forge a plan to strengthen the defenses
of the Dominions, and Falken and Melia had been functioning as advisors.

Travis had long ago given up trying to hear the words murmured by the
bard and the lady. He cast his cloak on his bed, then started to kneel
to add a stick of wood to the fire.

"... that Travis has had the ability all along."

He halted as he caught a fragment of Falken's soft-spoken words.

"Where do you think he should try?" Melia said. "I think I know just the
place."

Travis stood and groaned. Some things never changed. The grumbled words
escaped him out of habit.

"No one ever tells me what's going on." "I will, Travis."

He blinked, then turned and stared at a third speaker, one ;whom he had
not noticed until now. She had sat near the

618

window, his view of her obscured by the bard. Now she stood and took a
step forward.

"Grace," he said. She smiled at him.

Sunlight streamed through the window to gild her ashblond hair and her
violet gown. As always he was struck by how beautiful she was, how
regal. Grace claimed she wasn't a duchess, but Travis knew otherwise,
even if she was only a resident from Denver Memorial Hospital. Nobility
was not something you chose. It was something you were or were not. And
there was no one in the castle more noble than Grace.

He had not seen her much these last days. She had been occupied with
King Boreas and the other rulers. All in the castle knew, or had seen
with their own eyes, how Grace had defeated Logren on Midwinter's Eve.
True, few in the castle knew of the role Travis himself had played on
that long night, or what he had done in the icy desolation of
Shadowsdeep. But that suited him just as well.

Travis took a step toward her. "What is it, Grace?"

Now a note of sadness touched her smile. "You're going home, Travis."

He could only stare at her in wordless wonder.

They gathered within 'the circle of standing stones on a clear, cold day
in the middle of Geldath. Although these were the depths of winter now,
already the world was not so cold as it had been on Midwinter's Eve. On
the edge of the circle the horses stamped at the snow, their bridles
jingling on the crisp air, as the seven of them gathered in the center.

Travis took a moment to gaze at each who had come with him to the circle
of stones. Grace's cheeks were red with the cold, but her eyes still
conjured a summer forest. Aryn stood next to her, wrapped in a thick
blue riding cloak, her pretty face as pale as the snow. Behind them was
the knight Durge. Frost mingled with the gray in his hair and mustaches,
and his brown eyes were as somber as ever. Despite the frigid air he had
worn his mail shirt, and he rested gloved hands on the hilt of his
greatsword before him. Melia and Falken stood together nearby. The bard
held his lute, and the lady's amber eyes were thoughtful. Beside them
was Beltan. He had left his chamber for the first time that day, and
Travis knew the

619

ride here had caused him pain. However, the knight stood tall and
straight, and the wind blew his fair hair back from his brow. When he
saw Travis's eyes upon him he smiled, and in that moment his plain face
was as handsome as any king's.

Falken's boots crunched in the snow as he stepped toward Travis. "Are
you ready?"

Travis started to nod, then shook his head. "Can you wait a moment?
There's something I need to do first."

Falken cocked his head, then nodded. Travis turned and walked from the
circle. He passed between two of the weathered standing stones, then
moved to a dark line of trees. He halted before the tangled wall,
reached into his pocket, and drew out an object. He crouched down and
held the object out, toward the shadows within the forest.

It was the iron box Jack had given him.

He listened to the moan of the wind, then he heard it: the crystalline
sound of bells. The shadows beside a tree stirred, and a pair of small
green hands reached out. Travis held the box toward them. Short green
fingers closed around it. They brushed Travis's own-a soft touch,
knowing. Then the hands vanished into the shadows, taking the iron box
with them. Travis's sigh fogged on the air, but he knew the Stone would
be safer here, guarded by the folk of Gloaming Wood. He stood and
returned to the circle of stones and his friends. Falken gave him an
approving nod.

"All right," Travis said. "I'm ready now."

Grace stepped forward and squeezed his hand. "Do you remember what I
told you?"

Travis nodded and smiled at her, and she stepped back. He drew in a deep
breath, then regarded those around him. "Well," he said. "Good-bye,
everyone."

The words were so inadequate, but by the shining eyes of the others he
knew they understood.

"Take care of yourself, dear," Melia said.

It was time. Travis reached into the pocket of his tunic and drew out
the silver half-coin Brother Cy had given him. He raised the coin, then

halted. Beltan took several slow steps to stand before him. Then, with
stiff movements, he knelt in the snow at Travis's feet.

"Return to us," the knight said.

620

Travis could only nod, beyond words now. Then he gripped the half-coin
in his hand, shut his eyes, and sawnot darkness-but light.

He could not be certain, but ever afterward it seemed to Travis that the
gentle sound of a lute followed after him, and soft words sung by
Falken's voice:

"We live our lives a circle, And wander where we can. Then after fire
and wonder, We end where we began.

I have traveled southward, And in the south I wept. Then I journeyed
northward, And laughter there I kept.

Then for a time I lingered, In eastern lands of light, Until I moved on
westward, Alone in shadowed night.

I was born of springtime, In summer I grew strong.

But autumn dimmed my eyes, To sleep the winter long.

We live our lives a circle, And wander where we can. Then after fire and
wonder, We end where we began."

Here ends Beyond the Pale, Book One of The Last Rune. The journeys of
Travis and Grace will continue in Book Two, The Keep of Fire.

621 Many people made the writing of this book possible, and they did so
in many different ways. A novel grows out of who a writer is and has
been. In that respect, this book is a result of all whose lives have
touched me, great or small, over the years. No, I can't possibly mention
everyone who made me what I am-for good or for ill. However, I would
like to mention those who made a special contribution to this work you
are holding, and which-presumably-you have just read. This is their
story as well.

I am grateful to:

Carla Montgomery, for unwavering insight and inspiration.

Chris Brown, for support and understanding without conditions.

The members of the Central Colorado Writer's Workshop, for criticism and
camaraderie.

My mother and my siblings, for their love and companionship.

Anne Groell, my editor, for believing in this work enough to want to
make it even better.

Shawna McCarthy, my agent, for being brave enough to agree to represent
a book that was barely begun.

Danny Baror, my foreign rights agent, for helping to bring this book to

new lands and new readers it would not otherwise have reached.

622

Enya and Loreena McKennitt, for the magic of their music, which kept my
spirits and my fingers flying.

Most of all, I want to thank those who have given me the gift of reading
this book, and who have made these worlds and their people their own.
May we all learn to speak the rune of peace.

-Mark Anthony Denver, Colorado

623 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MARK ANTHONY learned to love both books and mountains during childhood
summers spent in a Colorado ghost town. Later he was trained as a
paleoanthropologist but along the way grew interested in a different
sort of human evolution-the symbolic progress reflected in myth and the
literature of the fantastic. He undertook Beyond the Pale to explore the
idea that reason and wonder need not exist in conflict. Mark Anthony
lives and writes in Colorado, where he is currently at work on After the
Dark, the third book of The Last Rune.

624 Don't miss

THE KEEP OF FIRE

the exciting second novel in

Mark Anthony's epic series, The Last Rune

Travis Wilder has returned from the otherworld of Eldh, hoping to settle
back into his humdrum life in the mountains of contemporary Colorado.
But he soon finds himself stalked by two shadowy organizations, each
aware of his incredible journey and each determined to exploit
it-whatever the cost to Travis . . . or to Eldh. Meanwhile, a terrifying
new contagion is spreading like wildfire, a disease with no cure, which
some are comparing to the Black Plague.

When the disease strikes his closest friend, Travis is drawn back to
Eldh, where the same epidemic, known as the Burning Plague, is wreaking
another kind of havoc. There, Travis and his former companion Grace
Beckett-herself from Earth, but now living on Eldh-must solve the riddle
of the plague. Where did it come from? What is its purpose? And how can
it possibly be stopped . . . before it completely destroys two
coexisting worlds: ancient Eldh and modern Earth.

Coming in December 1999 from Bantam Spectra

625 The biggest, brightest stars from Bantam Spectra

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626 The biggest,brighteststars from Bantam Spectra

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627

628 Reality is unraveling in the dusty Colorado town of Castle

City. Strange symbols are carved into storefronts, and ncieegen s co e
to life. Saloonkeeper Travis

e an ornate iron box and a Wilder is a d .

ni2 ` lme-Al : And in Denver, where dead - '.

' so Grace Beckett is witness to a . I I u 1 n scene of carnage. Theirs
is a tiny shro ded in a coming darkness, a destiny

t at draws them i .to the otherworld of Eldh.... ?lslh_ialand of gods
and monsters, myths and znecraft, conspiracy and blood. It is a world that

secretly coexisted beside ours for millennia. But )w the boundary
between worlds is crumbling in the face of a monstrous evil. And if
Travis and Grace cannot save this strange land, then both

worlds may pay the price.

US $6.99 / $9.99 CAN