Holy Flower, be thou my protection and strength!
Light! A dwelling fashioned from rainbows, standing on land that was an enormous faceted diamond... changing slowly, becoming ordinary, becoming real. The two despairing rulers could finally breathe. They smelled seaweed, felt rain on their faces, saw the villa"s wet stone walls glimmering in the windy dark. Their boots touched rocky soil and they were safe, supporting each other to keep from collapsing.
The door of the dwelling opened. A lofty figure stood silhouetted within the frame and a flash of lightning revealed it to be inhuman, an exquisitely carved female statue of ivory and gold that nonetheless moved. As Prigo and Hakit Botal quailed in confusion, the thing emerged into the rain, bent down, and picked up the senseless Archimage in its gleaming arms.
"Are you injured?" the consoler asked the officials. They shook their heads mutely. The living statue began to carry its burden into the house, looking back over its shoulder and saying, "Enter. There is food and drink for you inside, and warm clothing. Do not be afraid. I am a sindona, one of the White Lady"s servants."
"Is-is she going to be all right?" Prigo inquired timidly, following after.
"She will awake betimes and go about her work," the consoler replied. "As to the other, I cannot say."
My love... speak to me!
The talismans have told me that you are no longer in the Dark Man"s Moon, but they will not reveal your whereabouts except to say that you are in Sobrania. I know that Denby is dead. I know that you retain the Three-Winged Circle. Are you well? Did that madman harm you trying to take away your talisman?
Haramis, say a single word!
Only bespeak and I will See and come to you. We dare not wait any longer. The ground trembles beneath the palace and I am unable to calm it through my magic. I am uncertain whether these small earthquakes portend the start of the final catastrophe. The talismans that I possess refuse to speak of it.
If you know the truth, then tell me!
You know what the ancient spell says: The Wand of the Wings, your own talisman, is the key to the Sceptre and its unifier. Without it, the Burning Eye and the Three-Headed Monster are futile.
I am futile.
Come to me, here in the feathered barbarian"s palace-or let me come to you! We must a.s.semble the Sceptre of Power together and use it before it is too late.
Haramis! Haramis, my only love... speak.
"Dawn... Tell me it is not yet dawn!" She struggled up from the improvised pallet. Queen Jiri was kneeling at her side, laving her forehead with a wet cloth. An impa.s.sive sindona consoler stood behind her, holding a basin of water. The sky visible through the villa window was full of pallid mauve clouds.
"They will be killed at dawn!" Haramis cried. "Let me up-"
"Peace, dear!" The Galanari Queen put an arm about her. "It lacks half an hour to sunrise. This-this odd servant of yours told us the impending fate of your sisters. It also said that you would have to sleep as much as possible to restore your strength, if you were to have any chance of saving them."
The Archimage relaxed. "Half an hour. Yes... it will suffice." She sat up slowly, saying to the consoler, "Bring me my cloak." When the sindona left the room, Haramis accepted some of the wine that Jiri offered. "Where are the other rulers?"
"Another kind of statue-person took them away into a viaduct across the road," the Queen told her, "explaining that it would bring them safely home to their own countries. I decided to stay with you, even though the nurse-statue tried to prevent me. It said that when the mudflow reaches Brandoba, there will be a great earthquake and a tidal wave will wash away the villa-along with whatever parts of the city are not already buried in mud. Is that true?"
Haramis pa.s.sed one trembling hand over her brow. "The dire events will come to pa.s.s... unless I can prevent it."
Jiri sat back upon her heels and looked calmly upon the Archimage. "Can you?"
Shall I tell her? Haramis wondered. Tell her that it is not only Brandoba, but the entire world that is on the verge of destruction?
Her fingers dropped to the talisman hanging about her neck. The Circle"s wings were open and the drop of amber with its fossil Black Trillium throbbed with each beat of her heart.
Holy Flower, can you not advise me? If I give Orogastus the third piece of the Sceptre, he might be able to prevent the ultimate unbalancing. He could certainly turn aside the deadly flow of mud. Is it my destiny to surrender to the Star? Black Trillium, is this what I must do?
But the Flower within the amber was silent, as always, and she was afraid to pose the questions to the talisman.
Eyes welling, Haramis turned for comfort to the older woman kneeling at her side. The maternal countenance of the Queen of Galanar wore a melancholy smile that still reflected invincible hope. Seen through the screen of tears, that smile reminded Haramis of another woman long dead, one who had bestowed upon her and her sisters magical amulets, who had sent them on their talisman quests, who had finally given over to Haramis her own precious cloak.
Daughter of the Threefold, do not lose heart.
"Binah?" Haramis whispered incredulously.
The White Lady who had been G.o.dmother to the Petals of the Living Trillium said: Years come and go with speed. That which is lofty may fall, that which is cherished may be lost, that which is hidden must, in time, be revealed. And yet I tell you that all will be well. Believe it, Daughter! Remember the last words of the Archimage of the Firmament. Remember...
Haramis blinked away the tears. Queen Jiri was now gazing at her with an expression of anxiety. The sindona consoler, standing there holding the shimmering white cape in its ivory hands, inquired, "Archimage, are you well?"
"Yes," she said. "Help me to my feet."
Jiri and the sindona raised her. Haramis put on her cloak, then said to the living statue, "Return this good woman promptly to her realm of Galanar." She then kissed Jiri on her cheek. "Dear friend, whatever happens to me, you can be sure that your own people will soon have great need of your courage and wisdom. Do not fail them. If the Triune wills, I will come soon to a.s.sist you. Farewell."
Clasping her talisman, Haramis disappeared.
"What did she mean?" Jiri asked the sindona. For the first time, she seemed fearful.
"She means that the day of the Sky Trillium has come upon the world," the living statue said, "but what its blossoming portends, only the Lords of the Air can say. Come along, Queen. I will take you home to your family and your loyal subjects. That which is hidden will, in time, be revealed."
Chapter Thirty.
DISTANT clanks and rattles announced that the outer door of the imperial prison block was being unbarred. Queen Anigel stirred, opening her eyes with a soft yawn. "Ah, dear friends-is it dawn already?"
"I fear so," King Ledavardis said to her gently. They were all shackled in a row, slumped against the wall in heaps of stinking straw. High up near the torture chamber"s ceiling were narrow embrasures, through which they could see dull purple clouds.
Anigel sat up and began to brush off and arrange her torn garments. "Then we shall have to do our best to die well... I only regret that Kadi and I were deprived of our trillium-amber. The Holy Flower might have bolstered my puny sense of valor."
"To say nothing of unlocking our fetters," said Kadiya wryly. "Ah, well. We must take solace from the knowledge that we will not suffer our fate in vain."
Anigel"s blue eyes seemed rapt by some comforting inner vision. "We must all pa.s.s safely beyond sooner or later. But only a fortunate few are allowed to die in defense of a world. May the Lords of the Air come for us swiftly."
The King and Archduke Gyorgibo murmured their a.s.sent, as did Kadiya. But unlike the Queen, who appeared calm almost to the point of entrancement, the others could not keep their eyes from the array of fiendish instruments mounted upon the wall opposite, nor from the stained and pitted granite slab three ells long that stood in the chamber"s center. The slab was inclined, and cuffs for wrists and ankles were affixed to the lower end; just beyond the other end was a large brick structure resembling a forge. A bellows, operated by wooden gearing that Gyorgibo had said was connected to a windmill, had pumped air into the firebox all night, keeping it glowing, and from time to time a soot-stained minion had shuffled in to add charcoal and stoke it. Two ma.s.sive chains were attached to something buried in the bed of coals. Forming an inverted V, they joined to a single chain which was in turn suspended from a pulley device on an overhead iron beam. Gyorgibo had stubbornly refused to speak about what the thing hidden in the fire might be.
Voices could now be heard approaching, and a harsh peal of female laughter echoed along the vaulted corridor outside the chamber.
The Archduke said, "My imperial sister is coming to supervise our final torment. She seems in high spirits."
"Much good may it do her," growled Kadiya. "It is probable that the Archimage Haramis is still held by the Man in the Moon, and knows nothing whatsoever of our own imprisonment. I would give much to see Naelore"s face when she discovers she has squandered the lives of crucial hostages for naught."
King Ledavardis sighed. "I wouldn"t." He turned to Anigel. "It seems that I will not be your son-in-law after all, dear Queen. May I at least ask now for your blessing, and your forgiveness for the harm I inflicted upon your family and your kingdom so long ago?"
"I give them willingly. And... I have changed my mind about you, Ledo. If our fate had been otherwise, I would gladly have given the hand of my daughter Janeel to you in marriage."
Prince Tolivar, placed between Anigel and the King by a compa.s.sionate jailer, had remained so quiet that the adult captives thought he still slept. He said to Ledavardis, "I would also have been proud to be your brother. The way that you rescued Mother and me was-was legendary!"
"You stood up to the sorcerer most bravely yourself, Tola." The King clenched his right fist except for the little finger, which he extended to the Prince like a hook. "Join your own last finger with mine, thus! Come, now, don"t hesitate. I have a last gift for you... Tolivar of Laboruwenda, I dub thee a Corsair of Raktum, and herewith declare that you are both my brother and shipmate on the high seas!... There. Now we are sworn."
Awe and delight spread over the Prince"s features as he stared at the linked fingers. "I am a true pirate?"
"As ever was! Only remember that we Raktumians are reformed now, and the t.i.tle is one of honor."
"I-I will try to die honorably under the torture," Tolivar said to him in a voice barely steady. "But if I make a lot of noise, please do not hold it to my shame."
"Pirates never suffer in silence! Make all the noise you like, lad-and I shall bellow louder still, because I am the Pirate King."
The iron-bound door banged open. Four men, bare to the waist and having their heads covered with black leather hoods, marched inside. They were followed by the Empress Naelore, who was dressed in a maroon velvet robe trimmed with silver-blue diksu fur. She wore a simple platinum diadem on her coiled hair, and hanging from her neck was the Star of Nerenyi Daral.
"Good morrow," she said. When no one responded, she tossed her head, smiling thinly. "You will learn politeness soon enough! Unless a certain Archimage decides that she values your paltry lives above her talisman." She nodded to the torturers. "Make ready."
The men went efficiently about their business. One took a poker to the fire, two began cranking away at a winch behind the forge, and the fourth checked the restraints on the grisly stone slab.
The Empress struck a dramatic pose, hands on high, and cried out in a loud voice to the thin air. "Haramis, Archimage of the Land! I know that you are able to hear and see us. I, too, have secret friends in the realm of magic! One of them, speaking covertly in my ear, has told me how to secure the Three-Winged Circle. Come now, Archimage! Abase yourself before me and give up your talisman, and these captives will be spared. Ignore me and they will endure a frightful death."
The torturers wound away at the winch, hauling something out of the coals. Slowly, a white-hot iron drum emerged, an ell or so long and perhaps two handspans in diameter. Through it ran a horizontal bar, having at its ends rings connecting it to the twin chains. When the cylinder was hoist above the foot of the slab and somewhat cooled, the prisoners were able to see that the thing was a kind of roller. Its incandescent surface was studded with a myriad of sharp spikes.
"Heldo"s Holy Haunches!" breathed the awe-struck Ledavardis. The others, save Gyorgibo, who had known well enough what to expect, were too appalled to utter a word.
"Haramis!" Naelore lifted her Star. "Do not tarry! It is sunrise. The deadline that I posed to you has come."
Nothing happened.
Kadiya spoke out. "Empress, does the Star Master know and approve of this torture?"
"Be silent, witch!" Naelore commanded.
But Kadiya persevered. "I told you last night that my sister Haramis was visiting
the Three Moons. She is unable to respond to a magical hail. I myself was unable
to bespeak her, even using the two talismans. This ploy of yours is useless."
"Sister, why do you do this?" Gyorgibo cried in entreaty. "Kill me, if you must, but these others have done you no harm."
"She has!" the Empress raged. "The haughty White Lady! And if she lives, she will hear their cries, whether she resides with the Man in the Moon or hides in the lowest of the ten h.e.l.ls." And again she called out to Haramis, in tones increasingly furious and frenzied.
The Archduke shook his head. "Playing at sorcery has unhinged her reason."
"No," Anigel said sadly. "It is another kind of derangement that afflicts her."
"Be quiet!" Naelore roared. "Or I will have your tongues torn out!"
The captives fell silent. One of the hooded men said, "Imperial Majesty, all is
ready."
Drops of perspiration beaded the high brow of the Empress and her face was flushed. She began pacing back and forth in front of the five chained captives,
twisting her Star on its chain with a restless hand. "Which one shall be the first to feel the fiery roller"s caress? The ugly and foolhardy Pirate King?... Nay, I think not. He is insufficiently beloved by the White Lady. Why should she trade her talisman for the life of a one-eyed, hunchbacked sea-bandit? And for that same reason I will neither choose you, my worthless baby brother, even though your agony would give me the greatest pleasure." She uttered a giddy laugh.
Gyorgibo"s face had become a stony mask. He did not deign to speak.
The Empress paused to confront Anigel. "Shall it be this woebegone and grubby Queen? Poor pathetic creature! Ah-but you sprained your ankle attempting to escape, didn"t you, and fainted away from that insignificant pain as my warlords fetched you here. I fear you would perish with unseemly swiftness under the torture, perhaps before the Archimage even took note of your cries of agony."
"Try me, Skritek sp.a.w.n," hissed Kadiya, straining at her chains.
Naelore pretended to consider the suggestion. "The brave witch who would have thwarted our invasion and deprived me of my throne! But you wept when I gave your talisman to the Star Master. You bawled like a whipped snithe pup! I think I would like to see you weep again, and beg my clemency"-she stepped forward and seized Prince Tolivar by his hair-"as this treacherous brat finally pays the penalty for sinning so grievously against you."
"He is forgiven by us all!" Kadiya shouted.
But Naelore beckoned peremptorily, and two of the torturers came to unfasten the Prince from the wall fetters and drag him unprotesting to the long granite slab. The hooded men fussed about, having trouble adjusting the gyves to accommodate Tolivar"s slight body; but finally the boy was immobilized at the low end of the tilted slab.
The Empress came and brushed aside a lock of damp fair hair that had fallen into the Prince"s eyes. "You must be able to see, brave lad," she cooed. Then she shouted to the ceiling, "And the Archimage Haramis must also see! Watch his face, White Lady, as the fiery roller burns and crushes him from toe to head."
She snapped her fingers. Two of the torturers bent again to the winch, this time unwinding it. The other pair hauled away at a thick rope that swung the traveling block and tackle forward, so that the heavy, red-glowing drum came down precisely onto the slab"s upper end, less than an ell and a half away from the Prince"s feet. The spiked cylinder touched the inclined stone surface and, of itself, began to move with excruciating slowness toward the boy, shrieking hideously on its axle-bar. The men at the winch left off their labors and stood back expectantly, while the others on the rope controlled the roller"s progress, lest it do its job too quickly.
"Haramis!" Naelore cried. She stood at the slab"s opposite end, just behind Tolivar"s head. "Are you watching?"
The flagstone floor of the torture chamber trembled.
"Earthquake!" Ledavardis shouted, but no one heeded him- least of all the Empress. Her eyes were locked upon the advancing roller and her hands gripped the edge of the stone torture-bed.
The fiery cylinder on its chains was pulled sideways as the room swayed, but Naelore only braced herself, waiting. Spikes grated on the rough stone, flinging sparks in all directions, as all four torturers hauled at the rope and got the smoking roller back on course. It continued toward Prince Tolivar.
There was another tremor more violent than the first.
The torturers howled curses, staggering against one another and dancing about, trying to hang on to the rope while avoiding hot coals that spilled from the ruptured forge in an incandescent welter. A great crack rent the wall opposite the chained prisoners, and instruments of torment that had hung there fell clanging to the floor. From beneath the chamber came a profound rumbling, shot through with creaks and an uncanny moaning sound.