She walked into the chamber, greeting Isaiah and Maximilian, shocked at how tired they all looked. She"d thought Axis had looked terrible, but Maximilian particularly looked as though he"d spent the past few days fighting demons.
"The Skraelings?" Isaiah said as they all seated themselves.
"They are not far south of here," Inardle said. "Isaiah, they are becoming beautiful. I can describe it no other way. They are losing their vile, frightful appearance and they are becoming beautiful."
She paused. "And thoughtful."
Isaiah gave a small smile. "That is good news. It means they are moving in the right direction mentally. Did they tell you what decision they are likely to make?"
"They knew I had changed into River Angel form. They questioned me closely. They wanted to know if I had murdered as a River Angel."
"Ah," Isaiah said, knowing that she had.
"I explained to them why," Inardle said, "that it was justified, but they were deeply unhappy. Disappointed in me, and even themselves, so it seemed."
"And then?" Isaiah said.
Inardle shrugged. "Then they just vanished. I did not see them again."
"What do you think is happening, Isaiah?" Maximilian asked.
"They"re already changing," Isaiah said. "The process has begun. They need to drown themselves to completely change back to River Angels, but they"re on their way."
"Which means ." Axis said.
"Which means they will be driven to come here," Isaiah said.
"But they seemed so disappointed in me," Inardle said.
"As they were," said Isaiah. "You had killed, and that saddened them. But think . . . these were once Skraelings, but are now creatures who are disappointed at one who kills. That gives me hope."
Isaiah paused, the fingers of one hand tapping away at the table. "If you want a prediction, then here it is. The Skraelings will come to Elcho Falling"s lake. They will dive in and drown and complete their transformation. They will be driven to it. Whatever discussion they"ve been having over the past weeks has altered their mentality so greatly the change is now inevitable. But what will they do as River Angels? I am hopeful that what they will become will be a different incarnation of what once was. They hated that Inardle had killed as a River Angel. I suggest that they will not lift a finger to harm anyone when they become River Angels."
Maximilian smiled. "Then that"s good news."
"Not quite," Isaiah said. "It means they will not lift a single finger to aid you against the Lealfast. They will not touch them."
There was silence about the table, and Inardle realised that the three men had somehow, perhaps even unconsciously, been pinning their hopes on the Skraelings. It was a strange world indeed, she thought, when men such as these were frustrated that the Skraelings would not ally with them.
"Maximilian," Inardle said, "you can do nothing about the Lealfast, or the Dark Spire?"
"No," Maximilian said, without looking at Axis, who was trying to catch his eye. "Ishbel and I have spent sleepless nights -- thus our somewhat bedraggled appearance -- trying to remember what we could of the contents of the Twisted Tower, in case there was any hope there . . . but no hope and little memory. The Twisted Tower must be drifting farther and farther from this world, and with it goes all its knowledge."
"Then we need to discuss StarDancer"s --" Axis began.
"No," Maximilian said. "There is one further thing Ishbel and I can do."
Before Axis could press him for more information, Georgdi came into the room. "The Lealfast are winding up for the day," he said.
"I wonder what tomorrow will bring," Ishbel said quietly into the thoughtful silence.
Maximilian stood, Ishbel with him. Axis rose as well, wanting to speak with Maximilian, but he and Ishbel were gone before Axis had the chance.
In the cold depths of the night, Ishbel and Maximilian ventured to the edge of the Otherworld.
There, waiting for them according to the call Maximilian had sent out earlier in the night, stood Boaz.
"You face a dilemma," Boaz said. "Infinity has moved close to your world."
"The One, yes," Maximilian said. "Boaz, we need to ask how you managed to trap the demon Nzame when he waited in Threshold, and to drag him into Infinity. I --"
"Want to do the same with the One?" Boaz said, his face incredulous. "You can"t."
"We must be able to do it," Ishbel said. "I, as your descendant, or Maximilian as Lord of Elcho Falling."
Boaz gave a slow shake of his head, holding both Ishbel"s and Maximilian"s eyes. "What I did to trap Nzame," he said, "was to use the power of the One which I commanded as a Magus, and then drag Nzame through to Infinity."
"And then you escaped," Ishbel said.
"And then I escaped by transporting myself to the very edges of the Otherworld -- which at that time I called the Place Beyond -- where I lingered until my wife Tirzah could pull me into the world of the living. Ishbel, Maxel, you cannot do this with the One."
"But why not?" Ishbel cried.
"Because I used the power of the One to do it," Boaz said. "Neither of you command that power and even if you did you cannot use it against the One himself. He would toss it back in your faces as a useless and broken thing. The One is infinitely more powerful than Nzame. The One is Infinity. I could not touch him. Neither can you."
Ishbel and Maximilian shared a look.
"StarDancer has given you the only plan that can possibly work," Boaz said softly. "I am sorry."
"You would see the end of the Lords of Elcho Falling?" Ishbel said.
"I would prefer to see that than see the One step through the Infinity Gate into the world of the living and decimate it. No one could stand against him. No one. There is only going to be a moment when he can be trapped, and Ravenna is the one to do it."
"The Land of Nightmares will hold him?" Maximilian said.
Boaz gave a nod. "It will hold him."
Maximilian looked at Ishbel, and saw his own desperation reflected in her expression.
They sat in their chamber atop Elcho Falling, not speaking, communicating only through their silence and shared concern.
"How can we trust Ravenna?" Ishbel said finally. "How?"
"You can almost certainly trust her in this," said a strange voice, and both Maxel and Ishbel sat up, swivelling toward the sound.
A tall well-built man stood a few paces away. He smiled and walked to stand before their chairs. Thick cobalt hair fell down over his brow, and his eyes sparked with blue fire amid fine, almost ethereally beautiful, features.
"My Lord of Dreams!" Maximilian said, rising to his feet, Ishbel only a moment behind him.
"Drava, please," the Lord of Dreams said. He gestured to Maximilian and Ishbel to sit again, before he took a chair opposite them.
"You think you have a terrible choice before you," Drava continued, "but in reality it is an easy one. Ravenna, via StarDancer, offers you a good solution to your dilemma."
Ishbel wanted to say something, but she didn"t know the Lord of Dreams, so left it to Maximilian to lead the conversation.
"You think we can trust her?" Maximilian said.
"Yes," Drava said. "She has learned well from the ruin of her ambitions, and her learning has sickened her. She will not prove disloyal again."
"I can hardly believe that," Ishbel said, forgetting her decision to leave the conversation to Maximilian.
"You are jealous of her --" Drava began.
"Jealous?" Ishbel said. "She murdered Maximilian -- only my magic returned him from the gates of death! -- and sought to destroy his authority as Lord of Elcho Falling so that she might have it for herself! She has led armies against Elcho Falling, she claimed I would be the citadel"s doom, and --"
Drava waved a hand dismissively. "All that is behind her. Ravenna yearns for her mother Venetia and her little hut on the edge of the marshes in Escator."
"She will never have either of those again," Maximilian said.
"No, she will not," Drava said, "but she also seeks redemption. She is sick of betrayal. She will not betray you again."
Ishbel"s mouth tightened and she looked away from Drava, unwilling to concede the possibility.
"I need to talk through the problems," Maximilian said, and Drava gave a small nod.
"Ishbel"s ancestor said that the Land of Nightmares will hold the One," Maximilian continued. "I need your rea.s.surance on this point."
"It will hold him," Drava said. "It could contain all of roiling Infinity and not weaken."
"If we agree to this plan," Ishbel said, "then Ravenna will carry the Lord of Elcho Falling in her belly into the Land of Nightmares. What will that do to the baby?"
"It will corrupt him beyond knowing," Drava said.
"Then my next question," Ishbel said, "is . . . what will happen if this corrupted Lord of Elcho Falling ever escapes from the Land of Nightmares?"
"As the One cannot escape, then neither will the Lord of Elcho Falling," Drava said.
"Are you certain?" Maximilian said.
"Totally."
"But Ravenna can come and go?" Maximilian said.
"Once she has trapped her son and the One in the Land of Nightmarers, she will retain that ability," Drava said, "but I do not think she will do so. She will stay there. She knows what she risks if she tries to leave -- that either her son or the One will travel on her coat tails."
Ishbel sat back in her chair, sighing and rubbing at her brow. "Again it comes back to trust in Ravenna."
"What choice do you have?" Drava said. "The Dark Spire grows and the One sits within, waiting to emerge. No one in this world has the power to contain him. You have heard the consequences of allowing the spire to reach maturity -- would your distrust and jealousy of Ravenna truly mean you"d allow the One to oversee the destruction of this world? Or is this only about maintaining your own power?"
Maximilian winced at the brutal question. "No." He glanced at Ishbel, and saw resignation and acceptance in her eyes.
"Drava," Ishbel said quietly, "we really need to know we can trust Ravenna."
"Trust her," Drava said. "You could not up to a month ago, but you can now. She has completed her own journey over this past year."
They sat in silence for several minutes, Maximilian and Ishbel both coming to terms with what they must do, before Ishbel spoke again.
"What will happen to this citadel," she said, "if its lord remains trapped in the Land of Nightmares?"
"It will continue," Maximilian said, "its magic intact, but largely untouchable by anyone. It will wait, wondering if one day its Lord might return."
Something in Ishbel"s face relaxed then, as if knowing the citadel would remain in its beauty and power gave her consolation.
"And us?" she asked quietly.
Maximilian gave her a small smile. "Our decision, sweetheart. Whatever we want to do. Stay here, without our powers, or --"
"Wait," Ishbel said. "I control powers as the Lady of Elcho Falling, largely in my own right through blood and training. What happens to these if Ravenna traps her son as Lord of Elcho Falling and the One in the Land of Nightmares?"
"I don"t know," Maximilian said. "The possibility is that you might retain them. I don"t know. We will have to see."
Ishbel nodded, and Maximilian could see that she had finally accepted the necessity of StarDancer"s plan. Ravenna would get her powers back and be trusted to trap the One.
"It will not be long now," Maximilian said quietly.
Ravenna sat in her chamber. She had only been here a matter of days, but to her it felt like decades.
She hated being confined.
Suddenly a tall, beautiful man with cobalt hair materialised before her, and Ravenna gasped as she recognised the Lord of Dreams. She rose, then bowed her head. "Drava."
They had been lovers a long, long time ago, before Ravenna thought to return to the mortal world in pursuit of her ambitions.
"I have been speaking with Maximilian," Drava said without preamble.
Ravenna raised her head, looking at him with barely concealed hope.
There was only one reason Drava and Maximilian would have been conversing.
"I told Maximilian you could be trusted," Drava said.
Ravenna drew in a deep breath, holding it. Her eyes gleamed in hope.
"He is going to accept StarDancer"s plan," Drava finished.
Ravenna closed her eyes briefly, letting out her breath in a long, slow exhalation. "Thank you," she whispered.
"Ravenna," Drava said, and Ravenna looked at him again.