himself or not, Maximilian had indeed very clearly made his choice. Officially very much apart
so few days ago, Ishbel and Maximilian had just now presented a united front against Ravenna.
Ishbel turned then, catching Axis” eye, and she gave him a very slight smile.
He gave her a small nod in return. Your victory, Ishbel.
Then he looked at Isaiah, and saw that his eyes gleamed with amusement and not a little
pride.
“I apologize for that interruption,” Maximilian said, very much collected. “Bingaleal, if
we may take up where we left…you are certain you can work with Isaiah?”
Bingaleal looked at Isaiah and raised an eyebrow.
“We can work together,” Isaiah said, his voice quiet and even. “I am grateful for
whatever aid Isembaard may have.”
“Good,” Maximilian said. “You have fifty thousand among your force here, Bingaleal?”
“Give or take a few thousand,” said Bingaleal.
“And you travel light, no supplies?”
“What you see before you is all that we are,” Bingaleal said. “We eat food and drink wine
such as you when it is available, but otherwise we may exist on what we gather within the air
itself.”
At that point Bingaleal glanced at Axis, who gave the Lealfast man a small smile.
They feed from the Star Dance.
“We travel light and fast,” Bingaleal finished.
“Then take twenty-five thousand south, Bingaleal,” Maximilian said. “The rest, together
with Eleanon and Inardle, can remain here with me.”
Bingaleal inclined his head and then, as Maximilian looked away, sent his brother an
intense glance.
“Isaiah,” Maximilian continued, “how fast can you travel? I know the speed at which the
Lealfast can move, but—”
“We can take Isaiah with us,” said Bingaleal. “We have the means. We can all reach
Isembaard within a day, two at most.”
Maximilian looked surprised at that. “You can do that for Isaiah, but you left Lister to
travel at his own pace to reach me?”
“Lister and Isaiah are different propositions,” Bingaleal said, and with that oblique
answer Maximilian had to be content.
“My other purpose in calling you here,” said Maximilian, “is to discuss the three missing
generals. Ezekiel, what do you know of this?”
“I knew the night they”d fled,” Ezekiel said. “That first night, Maximilian, after you”d
taken „control.”” His mouth quirked. “They did not approach me to accompany them. They
thought me too much Axis” friend. I was not „safe.””
“If you knew the night they”d fled, Ezekiel,” Axis snapped, “then why not tell us?”
“Because I thought that if you were as good as the legends said, Axis, you would have
discovered their absence within hours.”
Eleanon and Bingaleal looked away, repressing smiles.
“You are right,” Axis said, “I should have known. Tell me, Ezekiel, you know these men
better than any here. Where will they be going?”
“Riding as hard as they can for the soldiers Isaiah left stationed along his route to this
point,” Ezekiel said. “Seize command of them—two hundred thousand and more, if I am not
mistaken.”
“Will they try to return to Isembaard?” Maximilian said.
Ezekiel shook his head. “No. They can see vast territories here waiting to be seized. The
Outlands and Central Kingdoms are in disarray because of civil war and the Skraelings”
invasion. The generals will see an opportunity.”
“But there is Maximilian,” said Axis.
“Of course,” said Ezekiel, the too heavy irony in his voice making Axis” eyes narrow.
“They will know that I cannot be certain of the Isembaardian soldiers here,” said
Maximilian. “The generals will certainly have supporters here to spread their word.”
“You could have done more today,” said Ezekiel, “to rally the Isembaardians to your
cause. By the gods, Maximilian, you sounded almost as if you were giving them permission to follow in the generals” footsteps!”
Maximilian gave a little shrug of his shoulders.
“If you cannot retrieve those three generals,” Ezekiel said, “then there will be war across
the Outlands. Maximilian, you face a greater and nearer crisis than whatever waits below the
FarReach Mountains, I think.”
“Then I shall need your help,” said Maximilian. “Do I have it?”
Ezekiel did not immediately respond. Then, finally, he gave a terse nod. “Save what you
can from Isembaard, Maximilian, and I will give you both my help and my loyalty.”
“Good,” said Maximilian. “Eleanon, if your brother flies down with half of the Lealfast
fighting force to Isembaard, then I shall need your help, and the rest of the Lealfast”s, to discover these generals before they can do much harm. It has been three days. They cannot have got far.”
“Maxel,” Axis said, “perhaps I can ride after them, too. Their escape is the result of my
negligence, and—”
“We can find them faster, StarMan,” Eleanon said, and Axis jumped a little at the use of
his old title.
“We have no need of Axis,” Eleanon said, looking at Maximilian. “All we need is a
description, and the direction which they were most likely to take, and we shall have them for
you within a day.”
Goodness, thought Axis, if this lot are as good as they think they are, then I could have
secured Tencendor against Gorgrael within a week, and relegated the Timekeeper Demons to the
dustbin within two.
“A description…” Maximilian said. “Ezekiel? You knew them better than anyone.”
Ezekiel was about to answer, but Axis forestalled him.
“I can do far better than a description,” he said quietly, and ran the Song of Recall
through his mind. It was one of the first Songs he had learned during his training as an
Enchanter, and it returned to him easily now.
Instantly the space within the center of the tent filled with a vision.
Axis and Isaiah, standing in Isaiah”s private chamber within the palace of Aqhat. Ezekiel,
white-haired but fit and hard, stood slightly to one side of the other four generals, Morfah,
Lamiah, Kezial, and Armat.
“Morfah,” said Axis, pointing him out, “is now dead, thanks to one of Maximilian”s
tricks. That,” Axis now pointed to a balding man with a deeply wrinkled face, “is Lamiah. The
taller, thinner man next to him is Kezial, and the youngest man Armat.”
“And that,” said Maximilian, “is one mighty surprise, Axis. I thought you had lost your
Enchanter powers?”
“Lost,” said Axis, looking between Eleanon and Bingaleal, “but now regained. Eleanon,
you have your men, now hunt them down.”
There was a slight challenge in his voice at the last, and Eleanon responded to it with a
sardonic tilt of his head.
“It is late,” said Maximilian, “and we are all weary. Isaiah, may I see you in the morning
before you leave? Eleanon, Bingaleal, and Inardle, do you need sleeping arrangements made for
you? No? Then I shall see you in the morning as well. Ishbel, Axis, can you stay a few moments,
please? I need to talk to you.”
A little later, as Eleanon, Bingaleal, and Inardle stood talking at the edge of camp,
Ravenna slid out of the shadows and approached them.
“I am sorry I did not make my acquaintance with you fully in Maximilian”s tent,” she
said, noting how the faces of all three Lealfast closed over as she approached, and how swiftly
they silenced their words.
Eleanon gave a little tip of his head and a lift of his eyebrows.
It could have meant anything.
“I heard, before I entered,” Ravenna continued, “your explanation to Axis regarding your
remarkable loyalty to Maxel.”
“Maximilian Persimius commands the loyalty of many people,” Inardle said.
“So truly he does,” Ravenna said, “if somewhat falsely.”
“Explain your „falsely,”” Bingaleal said.
Ravenna gave a slight shrug of her shoulders “Once,” she said, “the Lords of Elcho
Falling were great and powerful.”
“Once?” Bingaleal said, and his attitude, as that of Eleanon and Inardle, was now very
watchful indeed.
“Once,” Ravenna said. “But now…ah, my friends, so much has been forgotten.
Maximilian himself has lost fully two-thirds of the lore needed to wield the power of Elcho
Falling. Do you know of the Twisted Tower?”
The Lealfast exchanged a wary look, then Eleanon managed a nod. “We have heard of
it.”
“The Twisted Tower is almost empty,” Ravenna said. “Maximilian can no longer access
the knowledge he needs. His is but an empty title, my friends…unless he can somehow,
magically, find all those lost objects on the muddy road to the east. He means well, but…”
She gave an expressive shrug, then turned and left them watching her as she walked
away.
“I think it just as well, brother,” Eleanon said in a low voice, “that you shall be
journeying into Isembaard. Discover what you can before we must commit ourselves fully.”
Then he looked at Inardle. “Are you still so sure, sister, that the Lord of Elcho Falling
represents our only path to salvation?”
“I have only ever said that we need to be careful,” Inardle said, “and not leap into the new
and exciting at our later cost. We must be cautious.”