interred, and when they had opened the pyramid into Infinity…the stopper over the abyss had
cracked.
Now Kanubai was seeking out helpers, for that great day when he would finally break
free.
Like most of the insane, Ba”al”uz was a complete pragmatist. There was nothing he could
do to stop Kanubai, and everything to gain if he aided him. Kanubai would be grateful when he
finally stepped into the sunshine, and more than ready, perhaps, to repay those who had helped
him.
Since then, Ba”al”uz had become the whisperer”s devoted servant, willing to do all he
could to aid him. For the moment, that was little more than keep his eyes and ears open.
Great Lord, Ba”al”uz whispered.
He felt Kanubai”s interest, although the god did not speak.
An unusual event. Isaiah has brought back from the dead a man who I believe to be Axis
SunSoar, former lord of the Icarii people in Tencendor. A man who was once of great power, but
who is now powerless, and helpless. I do not know why Isaiah wants him, and I do not know
how Isaiah managed to drag him out of death.
Isaiah is my enemy, Kanubai said. His voice sounded thick and a little muddled in
Ba”al”uz” mind, but it was much clearer than it had been twenty years ago, when Ba”al”uz had
struggled to understand the god. The fact that Kanubai”s voice was now so much clearer meant
that Kanubai was much, much closer than once he had been.
And mine, said Ba”al”uz. I dislike him intensely. Shall I kill him for you?
Kanubai did not respond, and Ba”al”uz could feel his interest seeping away.
I will watch for you, said Ba”al”uz. Inform you, as needed.
Do that, said Kanubai, and then his presence was gone, and Ba”al”uz blinked, and was
once more aware of his surroundings.
CHAPTER FOUR
Baron Lixel’s Residence, Margalit
The negotiations between Maximilian, King of Escator, and Lady Ishbel Brunelle took
many days, the process not helped by the marked hostility between Ishbel and StarWeb. Lixel
was beginning to wish Maximilian had never included StarWeb in his delegation, for the
birdwoman was proving more than awkward to deal with. Coupled with this was the fact Ishbel
was conducting her own negotiations, unheard of when generally a woman”s parents or legal
guardians did the negotiating on her behalf.
But then, this wasn”t precisely a normal family situation, was it?
By the third day of the negotiations, Lixel had become painfully aware that without
StarWeb they might have concluded the entire deal within a brief three hours, and that mostly
spent deciding over which wine they”d prefer to settle the matter. He wasn”t sure how much
latitude Maximilian had given StarWeb, but was beginning to suspect the Icarii woman was
overstepping the bounds.
The matter of the dowry, the lands, the manorial rights, the riches, and the marriage itself,
all hung on one issue. According to StarWeb, Maximilian insisted that while a marriage
ceremony could take place, the marriage would not be officially ratified, or made legal, until
Ishbel produced a live child.
At that Ishbel had balked. “A marriage is between a man and a woman,” she insisted. “It
does not depend on children for legality.”
“Nonetheless,” StarWeb countered, “children are important to Maximilian, and the
marriage will be as nothing to him without them.”
“It is an insult to me,” Ishbel said, “to suggest that I am nothing without the production of
children. That I am nothing but a vessel in which to carry a child.”
The talks had centered on this argument for almost three days, and Lixel was despairing
of finding any way round it. He tended to side with Ishbel. It was insulting to her to hinge the
marriage”s legality on the production of live children; a marriage was far, far more than the
children it created…it was an alliance between a man and a woman, between their families and
their lands, and the children were incidental, if generally much desired and loved.
Lixel had also begun to half suspect that these demands made of Ishbel were in the
manner of a test. Maximilian, through StarWeb, was pushing Ishbel as far as he dared, perhaps to
see what manner of woman she was.
Or perhaps what manner of offer she truly represented.
“What Maximilian would like,” StarWeb said for the hundredth time, “is that you meet
and, if all is agreeable, that a civil marriage ceremony take place…between the man Maximilian
and the woman Ishbel, if you like. Once a child is born, then the marriage becomes a legality,
between the King of Escator and the Lady Ishbel Brunelle.”
“The child would be a bastard,” Ishbel said, as she had been saying for three days.
“Not so,” said StarWeb. “There has already been a marriage ceremony…it just has not
been ratified. The child would not be regarded as a bastard at all.”
Lixel closed his eyes, trying to summon the strength to step in and try to mediate some
compromise. But before he could do so, Ishbel spoke again.
“Perhaps if Maximilian would agree not to wait until the child is born to ratify the
marriage, but to do so when it is clear that I carry Maximilian”s child.”
Lixel opened his eyes, astounded at this concession on Ishbel”s part. There had been no
hint of it until now, but to give way that much ground…even if the concession had been days in
the arriving…
“Done!” said StarWeb. “Marriage shall be ratified when you are pregnant…and in Ruen.”
“Accepted,” said Ishbel. “Although the dowry won”t be Maximilian”s until the marriage
is ratified, either. Until then, I remain in control of all properties and rights.”
Lixel looked at StarWeb, sure she would object. To his surprise, she inclined her head.
“Then I am sure Maximilian will be most keen to get you pregnant,” she said. “You shall surely
not lack any attention from your husband.”
“That”s going too far, StarWeb,” Lixel put in, noting that Ishbel had colored faintly at
that last. “You overreach yourself.”
StarWeb shrugged, not in the slightest bit apologetic, and Lixel thought he”d best regain
some control of the situation.
“It is a long and arduous journey between Margalit and Ruen, my lady,” he said to Ishbel.
“May I suggest, should Maximilian be agreeable to the terms mooted about this table, that you
meet halfway? Perhaps at Pelemere? That way, it is not so far distant for either of you to return
home if, at the eventual meeting, you don”t suit each other.”
Ishbel hesitated, then inclined her head. “Agreed,” she said, and StarWeb smiled.
“Then I shall return immediately to Ruen,” she said, “and put it to Maximilian. I am sure
he shall agree.”
She rose. “At Pelemere then, my lady,” and with that she stepped to the window and
lifted out into the gloomy sky.
Ishbel hoped she had done the right thing. She”d held out as long as she could, loathing
StarWeb for her persistence, and for putting her, Ishbel, archpriestess of the Coil, into such a vile and humiliating position. She hadn”t wanted to capitulate at all, but the Great Serpent had been
so insistent the marriage take place…and if the only way that it was going to take place was to
agree that it need not be ratified until she was pregnant, well then…
She had not been going to agree, but last night she”d dreamed that the Great Serpent had
appeared before her, on his knees (if a serpent could manage such a feat), reminding her that the
marriage must take place. It must. So much depended on it.
Shaken and worried, Ishbel had capitulated as far as her own pride would allow her.
Ishbel sighed, her hand creeping over her belly, hesitating, then making the sign of the
Coil. She would be unable to get pregnant—if Maximilian thought he”d get an heir out of her
then he would be sadly disappointed—because she”d given up all her reproductive abilities when
she”d been inducted into the Coil.
Would it matter?
No, she decided. A civil marriage would still take place—the marriage would be
legal—but the formal union between her and Maximilian, between their lands and wealth and
titles, would never eventuate. A marriage with the man would surely be enough for the Great
Serpent. It was all he had wanted. Surely.
Ishbel wondered if she even need bed with him. Perhaps she”d manage to find a way
around that, as well.
A thousand leagues to the southwest, Ba”al”uz sat cross-legged in the open window of his
chamber in the palace of Aqhat, staring at the great pyramid across the River Lhyl.
Tonight Kanubai communicated less in whispers than in shared emotion. There was
seething resentment directed toward Isaiah, which Ba”al”uz could understand, given his own
seething resentment of the tyrant, although he did not yet understand why Kanubai should also
resent him so much—and with the faintest undertone of fear.
Ba”al”uz also felt a dark hatred at imprisonment from Kanubai, as well as a cold,