of horror?”
“It was what Isaiah expected to see,” said Bingaleal, “and I did not want him to see me as
I truly am. Isaiah needed to see a victim of the One, not an ally. What now for you, Eleanon?”
“For the moment I am keeping the fighters within the FarReach Mountains with the rest
of the Nation,” he said, “until Maximilian raises Elcho Falling, which is when Axis expects me
to return, full of humbleness and contrition.”
Bingaleal smiled. “Of course. But you are not remaining within the FarReach
Mountains?”
Eleanon shook his head. “I want to see what is happening between Inardle and Axis,” he
said. “I want to see how well she is positioned. Inardle can work much good for us, brother, if
Axis has become besotted with her.”
“Be cautious with Inardle,” said Bingaleal. “I do not trust her as once I did.”
“She is a female,” said Eleanon.
“And thus,” Bingaleal said, “she has the potential to subdivide. She can never be a part of
the One as can we.”
“But she can still be useful,” said Eleanon.
“She can still be useful,” said Bingaleal, “but you should be cautious in sharing secrets
with her, Eleanon. Go discover, then, if she has slid cold treachery between Axis StarMan”s
sheets.”
When Eleanon had gone, Bingaleal turned to find a Skraeling standing just behind him.
Bingaleal jumped, wondering how much the Skraeling might have overheard.
“What do you want?” he snapped, annoyed at himself for being so obviously startled.
“To talk,” said the Skraeling.
“What is there to talk about?” said Bingaleal. He looked behind the Skraeling at the army
of Skraelings still massed across the plains behind Hairekeep, their front ranks only ten or twelve
paces away.
Bingaleal felt the tiniest frisson of fear. There were millions of the creatures, all silent, all
waiting, all staring at Bingaleal. In all the time he”d known the creatures they had been chilling,
yes, but now…now they had a singularity of purpose about them, a steadiness of eye, that he
found potentially terrifying.
With what had the One infused them? Purpose? Cunning? Knowledge?
Power?
The Skraeling lifted its top lip and silently snarled. “We are your fathers,” it said. “Have
you forgot that?”
“We have long grown up and left the nest,” Bingaleal said.
“You still owe us life,” said the Skraeling.
“We owe you nothing,” Bingaleal said, holding the Skraeling”s eye.
“Who continued south to worship adoringly at the One”s feet while you dithered in the
FarReach Mountains, uncertain of who to support?” the Skraeling said. “Do you think that the One has not remarked upon that fact? That he has not noted well that it was we who came to him
unhesitatingly? That it—”
“You fled south to slaver at the feet of Kanubai,” Bingaleal said. “Not the One. Your
allegiance turned with the swiftness of a treacherous wind. Do you not think the One has not
noted that? Our decision was deliberate and considered. Yours was born on the back of your
innate idiocy.”
Something in the Skraeling”s face stilled. “You think to despise us,” it said softly. “You
think to outwit us. You think to turn the One against us. No, no. You cannot do that. We were his
first, and he will never forget that.”
The Skraeling stared at Bingaleal a heartbeat longer, then he melted back into the mass of
Skraelings.
Bingaleal looked at them for a long moment, needing to show them he was not cowed;
then his mouth turned up in a slight sneer, and he lifted into the air.
The One sat cradled within the heart of the Infinity Chamber. His eyes were open, but
they did not see the interior of the chamber; rather, they looked upon the ground outside
Hairekeep where the Skraeling had just confronted Bingaleal.
The One smiled, then his eyes refocused within the chamber, and he picked up the
red-haired adolescent cat, stroking its back and murmuring softly to it.
There was looming a great battle between the Lealfast and the Skraelings. The One
wondered which he should allow to emerge victorious.
The Skraelings were so useful, but the Lealfast potentially more so.
The One sighed, and tickled the cat under its chin.
“It is time to move,” he said. “We shall leave the Book of the Soulenai here.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
On the Road to Serpent’s Nest
Axis was riding with Maximilian and Ezekiel, discussing tactics that Armat might use in
any possible siege of Elcho Falling. They had let their horses” reins lengthen, allowing their
mounts the opportunity to relax back to a walk and stretch out their necks while the rest of the
convoy moved past at a brisk trot.
“Siege engines?” Axis said.
“We use them as needed,” Ezekiel said. “Expect them from Armat.”
“Against a mountain?” Axis said, raising an eyebrow at Maximilian.
“Elcho Falling has its own defenses,” Maximilian said. “I do not think siege engines will
be of any concern…but it has been so long since Elcho Falling stood, and who can tell?”
“We should—” Axis began, then stopped as a soldier rode up.
“My lord,” the man said, saluting Maximilian. “The contingent of the Emerald Guard
with the physicians is rejoining the rear of the convoy.”
Maximilian grinned and gathered up the reins of his horse. “Garth is back! Axis, keep the
convoy moving, would you, while I—”
“Ezekiel can do that, surely,” Axis said. “I”d prefer to come back with you, Maxel. I”d
like to see—” Inardle “—Zeboath, and check that Inardle is well.”
Maximilian gave him a guarded look, but nodded, and the two men turned their horses
for the rear of the convoy.
She was riding a horse, which surprised Axis. He”d expected to see her still resting in a
wagon, not sitting easy on the back of a rather large bay gelding watching him with wary eyes.
Inardle looked well, which also surprised Axis, who had somehow assumed her to remain
swollen and bruised despite it being almost two weeks since she”d been injured. But her wing,
while still splinted, was now back to its normal size, as was her left arm. All her bruises had
vanished.
In fact, she looked rather lovely. Her hair was freshly washed and plaited into the elegant
crown atop her head, and she was dressed in pale gray, almost silvery clothes: very slim,
form-fitting trousers and a top of soft, almost gauzy fabric that wound simply about her breasts
and left her shoulders and arms bare. Axis had no idea from where she”d managed to acquire the
clothes. Did the Emerald Guard carry with them, as standard rations, gauzy silky textiles in case
they should encounter a ball?
“Inardle,” Maximilian said, giving her a nod of greeting, “perhaps we could talk later,
once we have struck camp. Meet me in my command tent for a meal tonight.” Then he looked
past her. “Garth! Come, my friend, ride with me and tell me all your adventures.”
Axis pulled his horse in beside Inardle”s as Maximilian and Garth rode on ahead.
“You look very well,” he said.
“Garth and Zeboath have given me great care,” she said.
“The wing…it looks vastly improved.”
“Yesterday Garth and Zeboath changed the splints. Now, at least, I can bend it.”
“And…it is healing well?”
“No,” Inardle said after a slight hesitation. “Two of the tendons have not been healing as
well as they should.”
“Will you be able to fly?”
“I don”t know.”
That would hurt, he knew. “But perhaps you can still travel through the air in your more
magical guise.”
“Not if I can”t fly.”
Stars, Axis thought, the Lealfast”s command of the Star Dance was fragile indeed.
“Well,” he said, “at least you ride a horse skillfully.” That was no idle compliment.
Inardle sat a horse with the natural ease and strength of a born horsewoman.
She didn”t respond.
“Where in the world did you get those clothes?” Axis eventually asked as they merged
with the back units of the main convoy.
Inardle turned her head and smiled at him. “Not all my command of the Star Dance is as
fragile as you seem to think.”
It was late afternoon, and Maximilian gave the command to make camp. Axis had been
riding forward with one of the Isembaardian units, but now he rode back to find Inardle, who he”d left riding with the supply wagons.
“How much luggage have you managed to acquire in the past week?” Axis said with a
hint of a grin. “Have you several trunks stuffed with garments as fine as that you wear now?”
“Just a small pack,” Inardle said. “Garth and Zeboath have given me several jars of
creams to rub into my wing.”
“It still pains you.”
“At times,” she replied.
“Well, I”ll get my body servant, Yysell, to put your pack into my tent for the time being,
until we can arrange a sleeping place for you. You can wait there, too, if you like, until it is time