The Weeper had protected them.
Why it couldn”t bloody protect itself and StarDrifter at the same time, Ba”al”uz didn”t
know.
So he had quelled his power, stamped back to the cabin, and sat there for the day it took
to reach Narbon.
There he had disembarked with nary a word to the captain or crew, and set himself on the
road for Deepend with no delay.
Ba”al”uz wanted to get back to Aqhat with the utmost alacrity.
The loss of the Weeper was a stunning blow. What would he tell Kanubai? How could he
explain it?
StarDrifter. If it hadn”t been for StarDrifter…
But he had time. It would take him weeks, at the very least, to get back to Aqhat. He
could think of something to tell Kanubai.
But Ba”al”uz didn”t get weeks.
Kanubai found him the night after he left Narbon.
Ba”al”uz had been riding the horse he”d purchased in Narbon. It was late, well after dusk,
and he wanted to find a nice sheltered spot—or, better, an inn—to spend the night. The horse
was ambling along and Ba”al”uz was peering into the night and muttering about his ill luck in
finding suitable accommodation, when suddenly the horse shied to one side, tossing Ba”al”uz
onto the road, before it galloped back the way they”d come.
Cursing, Ba”al”uz managed to get to his feet. Then, just before he turned about and
trudged after the horse, a movement ahead caught his eye.
He stopped, squinting as he endeavored to make out what it was.
Again, a movement, and then something frightful coalesced into ghostly form two or
three paces away from Ba”al”uz.
It was the spectral figure of a jackal-headed naked man, and Ba”al”uz knew instantly who
it was.
“Great Kanubai!” he breathed, terror flooding his being as he abased himself full length,
pressing his face into the grit of the road”s surface. “Almighty One,” he muttered, raising his face
a finger”s breadth from the dirt in order to get the words out. “How blessed I am that—”
You have lost the Weeper.
“Almighty One, I had a companion who—”
You have lost the Weeper.
“I shall retrieve it.” Ba”al”uz dared a glance ahead, and saw that Kanubai, while
frightening, was still only very spectral. The god”s power was great, but not yet at full strength.
Perhaps Ba”al”uz would manage to survive a little longer, after all.
Kanubai”s head wove back and forth, back and forth, as if scenting this new land.
How you have disappointed me, Kanubai said.
“I shall retrieve it!” said Ba”al”uz.
It might be too late.
“No, I will—”
I need to grow strong, Ba”al”uz. I had hoped to do it with the Weeper.
Ba”al”uz wept. He wished Kanubai would stop accusing him. He”d done all he could, and
how could he have known the Weeper would prefer StarDrifter to such an extent that it wouldn”t
allow Ba”al”uz to touch it?
Maybe it had known why Ba”al”uz wanted it.
“Ishbel travels to you,” Ba”al”uz said, hoping to divert Kanubai.
It appeared to work.
Ishbel…she must reach me.
“She will, she will. Isaiah is desperate for her. He said he would dispatch men to fetch her
safely to Aqhat.”
I hope for your life that is the case.
“It will happen,” said Ba”al”uz, knowing that if it did not, then he was a dead man.
And if it didn”t happen, Ba”al”uz silently swore to himself that he”d murder Isaiah before
Kanubai thought to murder Ba”al”uz.
I need the sacrifice, Kanubai said. So badly.
“You shall have it,” said Ba”al”uz with as much confidence as he could muster.
“If I don”t,” Kanubai said, this time using a physical voice that grated through Ba”al”uz”
entire being, “then I shall crush you.” He paused, and Ba”al”uz could feel the weight of the god”s
eyes on him. “You need to reach me, Ba”al”uz. Fast. I shall give you a gift, I think.”
For an instant indescribable pain flared through Ba”al”uz” body, and then both pain and
Kanubai were gone, and Ba”al”uz was left weeping in frustration and anger in the dirt of the
roadway.
The horse was gone, but as it transpired, its loss did not worry Ba”al”uz overmuch.
Kanubai had given Ba”al”uz a gift, a new parcel of power that Ba”al”uz realized he could draw on
to travel more quickly than otherwise physically possible. It would not allow him to fly, but it
would shorten the journey by at least half.
Ba”al”uz made as much haste as he could. He knew he had been indescribably lucky in
his encounter with Kanubai. The jackal god had been angry, and with every reason.
The Weeper had been so important.
There was a possibility it could be retrieved—perhaps StarDrifter was still close.
For now, however, the most important thing was to get back to Isembaard and make
damn sure Ishbel had managed to get to Isaiah safely.
Ba”al”uz knew he wouldn”t survive her loss as well.
So he traveled on foot, moving south to Deepend, aided by the extra power Kanubai had
infused into his being so that he moved swiftly and remarkably effortlessly.
He could feel Kanubai”s added power swarming about his mind, twisting memories and
thoughts, blurring them very slightly at the edges. There were moments when he felt but mildly
disoriented, and moments when he felt utterly lost within the shadows that swirled through his
mind.
There were memories there that shouldn”t have been.
Stray thoughts that were not entirely his, but not Kanubai”s, either. Reflections, almost, of
other people about him, and possibly other people who had traveled this road.
Ba”al”uz began to chatter to himself far too much, and other travelers who encountered
him on the road gave him wide berth.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Narbon, Escator
Maximilian gave it two days before he left Venetia”s hut. Partly this was because his
shoulder ached more than he”d thought, and he simply didn”t want to ride. Partly it was because
the horses themselves were tired and needed the rest (one had mildly injured a fetlock during its
panic in the storm and needed time for it to strengthen). Partly it was because the weather had
turned poor: the storm itself may have passed, but low clouds and icy rain set in, which made
travel particularly unappealing. Partly it was because Maximilian wanted to reestablish contact
with BroadWing and the other Icarii before they recommenced their journey—he had not heard
from them since the day of the storm and he didn”t want to leave without knowing their fate.
And partly it was because he had to arrange for three additional horses.
As he had thought the first night, Venetia, Ravenna, and StarDrifter would be joining his
troupe.
Venetia and Ravenna he was glad of, and StarDrifter had brought the Weeper to him.
StarDrifter was also Axis” father, and Ishbel was now with Axis.
Maximilian felt very strongly that somehow they were being pulled together. He also
believed this somehow necessary. The threads were being gathered: Elcho Falling was being
rewoven, and for the moment Maximilian had no intention of trying to fight it. He could not stop
what was about to happen.
He could, in the end, only do his best.
On the morning of the third day after the storm, Venetia told Maximilian she”d had word
at dawn that four Icarii awaited him in Narbon.
Maximilian did not ask how she”d known, but just nodded his head.
“Then we ride within the hour,” he said, and he picked up the Weeper, and settled it into
the pack he slung on his back.
StarDrifter was happy to be on his way. Additionally, he was relieved to be out of
Coroleas once and for all, he was happy to be rid of Ba”al”uz, and he was ecstatic at the idea of
finally seeing Axis again.
He was far less enchanted with having to ride a horse. For his entire life, at least until five
years ago, StarDrifter had never ridden a horse—why, when he could fly and soar into the
heavens?
Now the necessity of depending on a horse for transport emphasized the loss of his
wings. StarDrifter was actually a very good rider. His natural grace and strength, as well as an
empathy with the animal, meant that the first time he”d had to ride a horse he”d done so with the
apparent ease of one with forty years” horsemanship behind him, but that did nothing to quell his
resentment.
Venetia had acquired the three extra horses, and the one she”d given StarDrifter was a
lovely animal. A big horse, fully seventeen hands, with the strong build that suggested he”d been
bred for hunting; he had a huge white blaze down his face and one startlingly blue eye that,
surrounded by the blaze, gave him a perpetually crazed look.
StarDrifter mounted the horse and gave its neck a soothing pat as it skittered a little under
his weight.
Narbon was a mere two hours ride south of Venetia”s hut, and StarDrifter had assumed