persuaded Boaz to accept his Elemental heritage. DarkGlass Mountain hates Elementals, because
it was two powerful Elementals, Boaz and Tirzah, who caused its destruction.”
“No wonder it hates me.”
“No wonder. Now, duck your head under, that I might rinse this lather from your hair.”
Ishbel held her breath as Isaiah pushed her under the water with gentle hands, using his
fingers to rinse and comb out the soap from her long hair. When she emerged again, spluttering a
little, he wrung out her hair, then put his arms around her shoulders, drawing her back against his
body as he continued to speak.
Ishbel felt very much at peace, even though Isaiah related a tale that would normally have
made her uncomfortable. This was due entirely to Isaiah”s presence, to his soothing touch, to the
depth of compassion that shone from his eyes, and due to that instantaneous bond they”d formed
that first time they”d communicated atop Serpent”s Nest. She felt very close to him, and at ease,
and she could not, at any point previously in her life, have imagined feeling this close to anyone.
Not even with Maximilian, Ishbel?
“Oh no, Isaiah,” she murmured, hardly even aware of either question or answer. “He
makes me too uncomfortable.”
I am not surprised.
“But where does my family fit into all of this?” Ishbel said.
“Boaz and Tirzah had three children. Their eldest was a girl, and in her adult life she
traveled north, to what are the Outlands—but which then were called something entirely
different—and she married a man called Imreen Brunelle.”
“Oh!”
“Aye, Ishbel, you are descended from the line of Boaz and Tirzah and, like them, you are
an Elemental. You are also, through Avaldamon, Boaz”s father, of the line of the Lords of Elcho
Falling, who are powerful mages, and powerful Elementals. DarkGlass Mountain hates you for
two reasons, Ishbel. You are not only an Elemental, but you are directly descended from the two people who caused its dismantling thousands of years ago.”
“May I ask a question?” Ishbel said.
“Of course,” Isaiah said.
“Maximilian can also hear the elements. He talked to me about the rings.” She gave a soft
laugh devoid of humor. “I didn”t want to listen.”
“Then he must also be an Elemental, Ishbel.” Gods, he thought privately, don”t you yet
realize, Ishbel? How can you be so blind? “The ability to hear the elements was not confined to
one family, nor even to one race. It appears in many families of this continent.”
“You are an Elemental, besides being a river god?”
He laughed. “Yes. I am truly multitalented.”
She smiled, and Isaiah almost cursed Ishbel for her easy manner in moving so smoothly
past Maximilian in their conversation.
“Why do I sense such foreboding and loss whenever I think of the Lord of Elcho
Falling?” Ishbel asked. “I dream of him constantly, and my dreams always terrify me. I had
thought that he was a lord of despair, but from what you say…not?”
“Most definitely not, Ishbel. He is a mage of such power that the very stars themselves
would bend knees before him, if they met. He is a man who, once he assumes his full power,
shall command me, and even your Great Serpent. DarkGlass Mountain loathes him because he is
the most powerful Elemental in existence, and thus is capable of destroying it. Kanubai hates
him…well, because a very long time ago the Lord of Elcho Falling was partly responsible for his
imprisonment. As to your vision of foreboding and loss…well, it is not for me to explain that.”
“I have also had a vision of handing to the Lord of Elcho Falling the Goblet of the Frogs.
Is that because he is such a powerful Elemental mage?”
“Yes. It truly belongs with him. In the right hands it might become a weapon.” And
sometimes, Ishbel, you need to open your eyes, and your ears, and your damn heart, and just
accept.
This thought also he kept from her, and Isaiah sighed, and gathered Ishbel a little closer.
She and Maximilian clearly had caused a rift in their relationship, and Isaiah wondered if they”d
be able to close that rift by themselves.
Sometimes lovers needed a little help.
Sometimes they needed to be shown just what they had lost.
And sometimes hopeful lovers, Isaiah thought ruefully, thought up any reason they could
to justify their own actions. He was more than a little in love with Ishbel himself, and most
assuredly attracted to her. Sitting here so close together had set his entire body afire.
Maximilian might tear apart the earth for her, but he wasn”t here now.
“I have no real idea why Ba”al”uz sent you to me,” Isaiah said, “but the excuse he gave
me was that you would make me a good wife. A wife stolen from a northern king makes a good
trophy. Such a wife would consolidate my position as tyrant, Ishbel. My generals mutter, and my
throne is often not as secure as I would like. Water god I may be, but when I am incarnate in
flesh I am as vulnerable as any man, and the swords of my generals beckon. If you became my
wife, then my position would be strengthened. You would be a help to me. It can be whatever
manner of marriage you wish—a true marriage or a pretense, I do not care. Either way you will
help consolidate my position.”
“I do not want a husband, pretend or otherwise, who will invade my homeland,” she said.
“I still do not understand why you do that. It is not like the being I know you are.”
He gave another small shrug. “I have my reasons, Ishbel, and for the moment I cannot
share them with you.”
“And this baby?” she said.
There was regret in her voice, and confusion and pain, and Isaiah was glad to hear it.
“Perhaps we can give it back to Maximilian when it is born, yes?”
That was a suggestion so close to the pact that she and Maximilian had made between
them that it left Ishbel wordless.
“We shall make a marriage soon, then. I shall arrange a Spectacle, which is a somewhat
grand and pretentious word for holding a high court, very formal, and announce to all and
sundry—making sure my generals are present—that we were married, um, shall we say, in the
heart of DarkGlass Mountain? Yes? That will give the marriage so much more importance. So
much more mystery.”
Ishbel smiled, partly at his words, partly at his teasing tone.
“I do not know that I want another husband,” she said.
Isaiah laughed, very soft and low, and one of his hands strayed to her breast. “Maximilian
had his serpent bride, and lost her. Now, perhaps, I shall take what has slipped through his
fingers.”
Ishbel sat up and moved away from him, crossing her arms over her breasts.
“I understand you have wives already. I do not wish to be your…what? eighty-fifth?
eighty-sixth? That is no honor.”
“I shall set aside my other wives, for they have never interested me. You shall be my only
wife. My Favored Wife.”
Ishbel sat in the gentle, warm waters of the Lhyl, and listened to the growing chorus of
the frogs in the evening.
“We can marry now,” Isaiah said to her, his eyes black in the gloom, “and, should you
wish to, consummate our marriage only after the child is born.”
“Why are you so afraid of your generals?”
“Because I failed badly once, and cannot afford to again. Help me, Ishbel.”
“Put aside your lust for war, I beg you.”
“I cannot, for otherwise we all die. Marry me, Ishbel.”
“I am already married.”
“You would not wear your husband”s ring, and he lost you. Marry me, yes?”
Ishbel sat, the water lapping away all her doubts, the song of the frogs soothing her
wariness, and thought about how easy and comfortable she had felt with Isaiah, and how easy
and comfortable he made her feel about something that had only ever frightened her with
Maximilian.
“I am not a good wife,” she said, “and I am an even worse woman.”
“I am a good teacher,” he said, and for some reason that made sense to Ishbel, and
clarified her path for her.
“Very well,” she said, and hoped that the seductive touch of both Isaiah and the River
Lhyl had not deprived her of all common sense. She glanced toward where she knew DarkGlass
Mountain rose. “Isaiah, are we in danger from DarkGlass Mountain, and what lurks beneath it?”
“Not just yet. We have some time.”
“When can we leave here?”
“Soon, my darling. Soon.”
They eventually walked back to the palace, the servants and attendants falling in behind
them as they left the riverbank, and no one among them, not even Isaiah, saw the ugly brindle
dog crouched down within the reed beds.
It watched the procession all the way back to the palace, but it had eyes for nothing but