water, thinking.
Not of what he and Maximilian had discussed, but of Inardle.
And Azhure.
He”d barely thought of anything else on the ride to rejoin Maximilian.
Since his return from death Axis had been tempted by women, but had never taken the
opportunity to surrender to that temptation. He”d been attracted to Ishbel, and to a lesser extent
Ravenna and Venetia, and there had been many opportunities from willing courtiers at Isaiah”s
palace of Aqhat whom he had waved away with a smile. But all these attractions and temptations
had been intellectual. Axis had realized that he had the opportunity, and he had turned those
opportunities over in his mind, but he never once came close to thinking, Yes, I will take that
woman.
He had remained faithful to Azhure.
Then he had met Inardle.
The attraction had been there instantly and Axis had supposed that like all other
temptations over the past two years he would mull it over in his mind, smile at the thought of
succumbing, and then walk away. The attraction would fade.
Instead, it had grown stronger, and was overlaid with other emotions: irritation, anger,
fear.
Irritation, anger, fear. Everything a man felt when he was falling in love, and fighting
that love tooth and nail.
Love? Inardle?
A half Skraeling?
She was so very different from Azhure. Inardle was so very different from Faraday. She
wasn”t someone he had ever thought he”d be attracted to—damn it, she was half Skraeling!
Perhaps that was the attraction. The feared, forbidden fruit, packaged in such loveliness.
“Shit,” Axis mumbled, rubbing a hand over his face, getting soap in his eyes, and trying
his best to rid his mind of the image of the Skraeling mounting SummerStar.
What was he going to do? Should he remain faithful to a woman who was, to all intents
and purposes, dead?
“What should I do, Azhure?” he murmured, but she didn”t answer, and eventually Axis
rose from the bath, sending water cascading over the floor of the tent, dried himself, and fell into
bed.
It took him hours to get to sleep, but when he did, his mind was made up, if not utterly
easy.
Azhure was dead, and Axis did not want to spend the rest of this new life yearning for
what he had lost.
CHAPTER TWELVE
On the Road to Serpent’s Nest
StarDrifter hugged his son as they met for breakfast in Maximilian”s command tent. “I
thought I might see you last night.”
“I was exhausted, StarDrifter, and Maxel kept me talking until late in the night. Blame
him. How”s Salome?”
“Still sleeping,” StarDrifter said, starting to fill his plate with the food servants had set
out on a side table.
“There can”t be long to go,” Axis said, once more sitting down at the central table where
he was already halfway through his own breakfast.
“A few weeks, we think,” StarDrifter said, sitting next to Axis.
Axis looked at Maximilian at the head of the table. “And will it be an Elcho Falling birth,
Maxel?”
Maximilian waggled a hand. Who knows? “If we continue at this pace we should be at
Elcho Falling within two weeks. Whether or not I unwrap Serpent”s Nest to reveal Elcho Falling
immediately rather depends on what I find when I get there.”
“Armat?” Axis said.
“Armat has broken camp,” BroadWing said. He had arrived in camp very early that
morning, together with most of the Strike Force, leaving only a few scouts to track both Armat
and the Emerald Guard bringing Inardle, Zeboath, and Garth to rejoin Maximilian.
Axis nodded his thanks.
Egalion, captain of the Emerald Guard, was also present, together with Ishbel. Egalion
had introduced himself to Axis when first the StarMan had entered, and the two men had spent
several minutes in conversation, liking each other immediately, before anyone else had arrived in
the tent. Ishbel had arrived only just before StarDrifter, had given Axis a hug of greeting and a
kiss on his cheek, lectured him on getting into trouble, and had then sat down with a smile on her
face and Maximilian”s eyes watching her carefully.
Ezekiel, the single remaining Isembaardian general, was not present. Although Maxel
trusted him, Ezekiel tended not to be included in the meetings of Maximilian”s closest advisors.
“Armat is marching slowly northeast,” BroadWing continued. “Not at a pace to catch us,
nor on a line to intercept us.”
Axis forked some more eggs into his mouth and then, having swallowed, looked between
his father and Maximilian. “I need to thank you,” he said. “The Strike Force saved my life.”
“Maximilian asked me to send it,” StarDrifter said. “Naturally, I had to consider the
request carefully and at some length before I gave my consent.”
Everyone laughed.
“I also need to thank and compliment BroadWing,” Axis said. “An incompetent haggle of
flighted bowmen—”
Everyone present knew he was referring to the Lealfast.
“—would only have exacerbated the danger to myself and my companions,” Axis
continued. “BroadWing, you commanded the Strike Force brilliantly, and if they responded in
like manner, then it was because of the training you have given them over the past few weeks.
You are an exceptional Strike Leader, my friend.”
“That title should truly belong to you,” BroadWing said.
Axis grinned. “Why is everyone trying to force ancient titles back onto my shoulders?”
he said.
“Because you have shoulders broad enough to bear them,” Maximilian said. “Axis, my
friends, this is as good a time as any to talk some strategy. We have a massive army moving up
behind us, determined to lay siege to Elcho Falling. We have between us some twenty thousand
men: Icarii, Escatorian, and the Isembaardians who chose to stay with us. Axis, I talked with
StarDrifter, Egalion, and BroadWing earlier today, and they concur with my decision to give you
complete command of all the disparate elements of what forces I have at my disposal. I am not
the brilliant war leader, you are. Take command.”
Axis looked between StarDrifter, BroadWing, and Egalion. “You agree with this?
StarDrifter, you are prepared to hand the Strike Force into my complete command, answerable
only to me, and not to you?”
“It”s yours, Axis,” StarDrifter said.
A slow smile spread over Axis” face. Command of the Strike Force again!
“And you, Egalion,” Axis said. “You are bound to Maximilian by strong obligations and
bonds. You can accept my command?”
“If it means Maximilian”s safety, yes,” Egalion said. “If it means serving under the
greatest legend this world has ever known, then yes again.” He extended his hand over the table.
“I am yours to command, Axis.”
Axis shook his hand, his smile broadening even further, then leaned back to look about
the table.
“Why do I suddenly feel so optimistic?” he said.
“Well, I don”t feel optimistic,” said Ishbel. “This is no reflection on you, Axis, but on the
odds we face. It isn”t just that Armat controls so many soldiers, hundreds of thousands to our
pitiful twenty thousand, but that he also has Ravenna and Lister with him. Lister, particularly, is
a powerful, powerful man. A god. And without Isaiah to counteract him…”
“I suppose we could hope that Armat puts a sword through Lister as he put a blade
through Vorstus,” Axis said. “But seriously, Ishbel, while I don”t discount him, I am not terrified
of him, either. He hasn”t exercised the best judgment to this point, and actually is in a fair
amount of danger in Armat”s camp. I may have jested about Armat killing him, but it is a
possibility. Lister will need to watch his step while he rides with Armat. And as for all those
hundreds of thousands of men…”
“When we attacked the men who pursued Axis,” BroadWing said, “Axis commanded us
not to kill any of them, but merely their horses. He also commanded us to whisper to them that
this was a message from the StarMan.”
Maximilian caught Axis” eyes and smiled.
“I was merely following your own strategy, Maxel,” Axis said.
“Axis wants it known that those men survived by his grace,” Maximilian said. “They”ll
not forget it. Likewise, I allowed Insharah to desert so readily and with good wishes. Neither he
nor his men will forget that, either.”
“I told Maxel this last night,” Axis said, “but should share it with the rest of you now. I
spoke briefly with Insharah while I was in Armat”s camp. I think the man already harbors doubts.
Maybe his men do, too.”
“I hope that there will be enough doubts within Armat”s force,” Maximilian said, “that he
cannot be sure of it. From what I know of Armat, he is not the most charismatic of generals. He
leads through fear, not through skill. It is a weakness.”
“The other generals?” Egalion said.
“Further south, I believe,” Axis said. “They command the other half of the Isembaardian
force between them. Considering their general tendency toward internal treachery and fighting,
we could also hope that they distract Armat at some point.”