reserve to the being within. He didn”t entirely trust the Lealfast. He wasn”t too sure of their
allegiance to Lister, nor was he sure of their apparent willingness to abandon Lister on a whim.
What did they want? What master did they truly serve?
Would they aid or hinder in Isembaard?
“I would like Maxel”s army to see us depart,” said Isaiah. “It will—”
“Help Maximilian?” said Bingaleal. “Perhaps. We can make a showing for him.”
“Good.” Isaiah hesitated. “How—”
“—will we carry you?” said Bingaleal.
Isaiah thought that if Bingaleal kept interrupting his every utterance to finish it for him
then their nascent friendship might come under severe strain.
“With great ease, Isaiah, river god,” Bingaleal continued. He reached out a hand, frost
trailing from the tip of his index finger along his arm to the point of his muscular shoulder. “You
are of the water, we are of the snow. We are brothers, you and I.”
He hesitated, then took a step closer and rested the palm of his hand against Isaiah”s
forehead. “Welcome to the flow, brother.”
For a heartbeat nothing happened, then Isaiah”s body faded, replaced just for an instant
with lines of frost, and then he and Bingaleal were gone.
Another heartbeat, and every head in the encampment lifted and stared into the sky as
tens of thousands of ghostly wings beat once, twice, and then a third time, before the sky,
suddenly, strangely, was clear.
Axis rode his horse up and down the lines, talking, smiling, giving encouragement,
barking orders. After only a few hours” sleep he was tired and fractious, but kept his irritation
buried, using it only sparingly, and only when needed.
Elsewhere Ezekiel and Insharah were doing much the same thing, and Maximilian, too.
Could four of them get this massive encampment moving? Axis had seen Isaiah do it, but Isaiah
was here no longer, three of his damned generals were here no longer, and the army needed,
somehow, to get used to a new commander and a new mission. At least the mutterings about
going home to aid their families was now far more muted. Isaiah and many thousands of Lealfast
had departed hours earlier in a showing that had left even Axis wide-eyed with admiration.
Axis hoped they”d be able to do something. If rumors kept reaching this army about
devastation back in Isembaard, Axis did not think Maximilian could keep control of them for
very long.
As for the three renegade generals, Kezial, Lamiah, and Armat, Eleanon and a large
contingent of the Lealfast remaining with Maximilian had gone during the night to fan out across
the vast spaces of the Outlands. He had not had a chance to speak with Eleanon save for a very
brief word as the Lealfast departed. Axis would have liked nothing more than to gallop his horse
out across the plains in search of the generals himself, but he had to concede the Lealfast could
do a far better, and far faster, task of it.
He hoped that by the evening Eleanon would return with good news.
As for everyone else…
Ishbel was packed and riding well forward in the column (well, that part of it which was
moving), Madarin having proved a little better at getting his mistress on the road than Axis was
at getting the rest of the army marching. Axis had caught a brief glimpse of her, enough to see that she”d apparently had little more sleep than had he.
StarDrifter and Salome, together with what Icarii had arrived in the camp, were grouped
together to one side of the chaotic encampment. The Icarii looked well rested, and from what
he”d seen of them Axis knew they were impatient to be up into the thermals. He didn”t know if
they”d had any interaction with the Lealfast yet. He knew his father hadn”t, but determined to
speak to BroadWing as soon as he could to discover if any of the other Icarii had spoken to their
cousins. Axis had no idea how, or if, the two groups would get along. Both were as arrogant as
the other, and from the little he”d seen of the Lealfast they didn”t appear overly eager to renew
their acquaintance with their long-lost relatives.
He hoped his father wouldn”t try to reimpose his authority as Talon over the Lealfast.
From what Axis had seen of the Lealfast, that would not be well received.
The column was a little smaller than it had been yesterday. Although he had not seen
Malat, Axis had been told by Georgdi, an hour or so earlier, that Malat had spoken to Maximilian
at dawn and requested that he be allowed to travel west into the Central Kingdoms. Malat wanted
to go home, to see what was left of his kingdom of Kyros, and for that Axis could not blame or
fault him. Maximilian had sent a contingent of two thousand Isembaardian soldiers with Malat”s
own men to help with…well, with whatever Malat found.
Axis hoped they would do well for Malat.
“My lord?”
Axis broke from his reverie and turned his horse around.
It was Insharah.
“My lord,” Insharah said, “there”s a problem with the horses of the fiftieth contingent.”
Axis sighed, and went back to the task of getting this great lurching beast onto its feet.
By late afternoon he was exhausted, but at least the entire army was now on the move.
He”d left Ezekiel in charge of keeping the rear of the great column in some order. Axis thought
he could trust Ezekiel…in the end, though, he had no choice. Senior commanders were
somewhat thin on the ground in this army, and Axis thought he”d speak to Maximilian about
promoting some of the better Isembaardian middle-ranking officers. Insharah, for one. The man
was more than capable, and was liked and trusted both by the Isembaardians and Axis.
Maximilian had spent the day riding up and down the column, speaking to the men,
pausing now and again to ride his horse a while alongside one of them as he chatted at length. It
was a good thing to do, and Axis was pleased to see Maximilian taking the initiative. Now
Maximilian had ridden closer to the front of the column, perhaps prepatory to making camp for
the night.
Axis pulled his horse to a halt about fifty paces from the main column and let it rest
awhile. He”d barely stopped all day, and the horse must be exhausted. He let the reins hang
loose, allowing the horse room to stretch his neck and blow out.
Where were the Lealfast? Axis had not heard from them all day, and now his imagination
was running riot. All the scenarios that vivid imagination came up with had one source: Axis
simply did not know, nor trust, the Lealfast.
Who were they, really? Why their apparent devotion to Maximilian? And what did they
want? What was their purpose?
And why hadn”t they come back with news of their hunt for the generals?
“Damn you, Eleanon,” Axis muttered.
“Unkind words,” Eleanon said behind him, “for one who has exhausted himself in the
hunt to right your wrong.”
Axis closed his eyes for a fraction of a moment, cursing silently, then opened them again
and swiveled about in the saddle.
Eleanon stood two or three paces away, behind and to one side of the horse, arms folded,
regarding Axis with his habitual unreadable expression. His wings trailed behind him, frost
glittering along their ridges and riming their ivory feathers.
“Will you dismount?” said Eleanon. “I find it difficult to crane my neck to address you.”
Axis wondered when he”d ever found himself at such a disadvantage. He tried not to
allow it to show on his face, however, and swung one leg casually over the horse”s wither and
slid to the ground, his boots crunching into the snow.
“I had expected to hear of your success before now,” said Axis.
“Success being all that you know, of course,” said Eleanon.
Axis allowed his mouth to curve in a small smile. “Success being something I am only
rarely good at,” he said. “I am sorry, Eleanon. I am tired and ill-tempered and thoughtless. I
would rather have been riding with you in the wind today than driving this grudging army
forward. Tell me, what news?”
“Not what you were hoping for,” Eleanon said, finally unfolding his arms. “We have
scoured most of the Outlands save for the area d irectly about and below Adab. We have seen no
sign of your generals.”
Axis opened his mouth, but Eleanon forestalled him. “They could not have ridden further
than Margalit in the time since they left this army, Axis, and even that city would have required
phenomenal—or enchanted—effort. That we could not find them…” He gave an expressive
shrug.
“They have gone to ground somewhere?”
Another shrug. “Perhaps. But there is more. Axis, there is the stink and trail of a gloomy
enchantment along the trail leading to Margalit.”