firmly against her sternum. “I find all my strength,” he said, “in the beat of your heart.”
Then he kissed her again, and was gone.
CHAPTER TEN
Serpent’s Nest
Tomorrow, Elcho Falling,” Eleanon said softly, leaning against the rock wall of Serpent”s
Nest. They were high in the mountain, having followed stairwells and corridors that lay under
centuries of dust. Eleanon was sure that not even Ishbel could find them here tonight.
“Tomorrow, Elcho Falling,” Inardle said. She had her eyes focused far out into the
Infinity Sea.
Eleanon reached out a hand and touched her cheek softly. “Do you mind being with
Axis?”
“No,” she said.
“Do you love him?”
Inardle did not answer.
“Do not love him, Inardle. Surely you could not have fallen for his corrupt charms. He
yearns for Azhure, and—”
“Do not lecture me, Eleanon!”
Eleanon remained silent, studying Inardle. “You are Lealfast first and foremost, my
love,” he said eventually.
“I have as much Icarii blood in me as Axis.”
“You are Lealfast, Inardle, not Icarii! I can see now it was a mistake to send you to
Axis.”
“What?” she said, turning her face to him. “You think it a mistake to have me so close to
Axis, and thus to Maximilian? Do you think it a mistake that I now sit in on their close counsel,
and if I am not there, then I hear it from Axis” mouth later? Do you think it a mistake that Ishbel
now thinks to befriend me, and that—”
Eleanon held up his hands in surrender. “Peace, Inardle! Ah, you had me worried there. I
had thought you so besotted with Axis that you preferred him to me.”
“It has been a long time since we have been lovers, Eleanon.”
“But we can be again, yes, when this is all done?”
She shrugged.
“And when all is done, Elcho Falling will be ours, and we shall control our own destiny.
We shall be whole, Inardle. Not half and half. Whole. The One has promised this.”
“You believe him?”
“Yes. I had my doubts, but yes, now I believe him.”
“And what price does the One demand for this, Eleanon?”
“Elcho Falling. Its master.”
“Everyone wants Elcho Falling,” she said quietly, then sighed. “And so, shall you
commit your grand treachery against Maximilian tomorrow, Eleanon?”
“No. I— we—shall wait. We both learn all we can about Elcho Falling and its magics. We
learn how Maximilian and Axis plan to defend it.” Eleanon gave a short laugh. “Already
BroadWing is taking me into his confidence, and Axis will tell you whatever you ask him. Are
you with us, Inardle?”
“Of course, Eleanon.”
He nodded. “Have you heard about the curse the One placed on Maximilian? Has Axis
told you?”
“Yes. It seems…cumbersome.”
“As it is meant to be. It is to keep Maximilian occupied only, like giving a child a puzzle
to keep him quiet while the adults play games elsewhere.”
“And we are to play the games.”
Eleanon laughed. “Of course! We shall be the ones to deliver Elcho Falling, and
Maximilian, and Axis and all the cursed Icarii to the One, earning for ourselves, in the doing, a
home and a future.”
Inardle stayed for a long time after Eleanon had left, staring out over the ocean,
wondering where she could go from here.
There didn”t seem a single safe place left for her.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Serpent’s Nest
Is everyone out?” Maximilian asked Axis as they stood in the inner courtyard.
“Yes, the last horseman left an hour ago.”
“Everyone has taken possessions? Everything they need?”
“Yes, but we could not take much in the way of stores.”
“No matter. Elcho Falling will provide.”
Axis shifted on his feet. He held the reins of his horse, and his unease communicated
itself to the stallion, which began to toss its head and pull on the reins.
“Armat is not far distant,” Axis said. “Perhaps six hours. Eight at the most. Maximilian,
we are vulnerable outside the mountain. We—”
“Cannot stay inside it, Axis. Where are the mounted men positioned?”
“About a mile back down the road.”
“The Icarii, the Strike Force, and the Lealfast?”
“On the ground, slightly to the north of the mounted men. Maxel, they do not like to be
kept to the ground. I would like at least a few scouts in the air with Armat this close.”
“The air will be too dangerous for them. They stay on the ground. Make sure they
understand this, Axis.”
Axis nodded. “Georgdi is moving in with his twenty thousand, Maxel. The last I heard he
was an hour away.”
Maximilian smiled. “Then he will be here for the entertainment. Twenty thousand, eh?
The man is a miracle.”
Axis let his shoulders loosen a little. Maximilian was obviously relaxed—in fact, this was
the most unconcerned Axis thought he”d ever seen him.
“How do you feel?” Axis asked. “The rise of Elcho Falling was something you tried to
deny for a long time, and it will be a terrible burden, yet you seem so…”
“At peace with myself, Axis, finally. When I first realized that I would be the one to raise
Elcho Falling…it was a bleak moment. I did not think I could manage it, or be able to wear the
crown without failing.”
“But now?”
“But now…now with Josia”s aid I have virtually rebuilt the Twisted Tower, and together
with Ishbel—”
“Ishbel? Maxel, you know you can”t—”
“Axis, listen to me. I will do what I need to in order to ensure the survival of Elcho
Falling and of the land. You can advise me, but in the end it is I who will wear the crown of
Elcho Falling, and you will need to abide by my decisions.” He gave a small smile to take some
of the sting out of his tone and words. “I spent seventeen years crawling about in the blackness,
Axis. I have learned some devious means to achieve the end I want.”
Axis regarded him a long moment, then he finally gave a nod. “Have you told Ishbel
what Isaiah has said?”
“No, and I ask that you don”t, either. Ever since she was first named as my bride, she has
had, at various times, the entire world set against her. She needs what friends and friendship she
can, Axis. I don”t want her to know Isaiah”s words. Not just yet. She deserves a little peace
herself. Don”t upset it for her.”
That was a clear warning, Axis thought, and some of his unease returned. What was
Maximilian planning to do?
“We cannot spend the day chatting,” Maximilian said, his smile widening just a little,
“however pleasant that may be. Ride out to my army, Axis, and station yourself at its head.
Ishbel and I will be with you within the hour.”
He opened the door to the Reading Room and walked inside. Ishbel was standing in its
center, and she gave him a small smile as he entered.
She looked lovely, dressed in a gown of soft, clinging fabric that shimmered turquoise
and ivory and silver. Her hair had been loosely dressed with a web of pearls and diamonds
wound through its waves.
Maximilian walked over, took her hand, and kissed it. “I asked you to dress as a queen,”
he said softly, “and you have given me instead the moon and stars.”
She laughed. “All this courtly speak, Maxel! Is this what I must listen to henceforth?”
“I can assure you, my lady,” Maximilian said very softly, his eyes holding hers, “that I
will find much better uses for my mouth later tonight.”
She flushed, and he grinned and let her hand go. “Are we ready to raise Elcho Falling, my
lady?”
“Aye,” she said. “Shall I start the cleansing?”
He nodded, and Ishbel looked about, taking a deep breath. “It seems so strange, this
mountain so empty of everything but you and me. I can feel its sadness, and yet…”
“You can feel it waiting.”
She nodded, then bent down and picked up a bundle of dried sage-bush twigs. “Wait by
the door,” she said, and Maximilian moved out of her way.
Ishbel lit one end of the bundle of twigs. Once it was smoking well, she began a slow,
complex dance that started in the center of the Reading Room and gradually wound its way
through the entire space. As she danced—very slow, very elegant—she moved the bundle of
smoking twigs out at arm”s length, raised it up to shoulder height, then slowly downward in an
arc until she almost swept the floor with its burning embers, and then up again.
Maximilian leaned against the door frame, watching her. Ishbel was unwinding the
memory and influence of the Coil from the mountain, and when she was done here, she would do
the same dance at the main doors that led into the mountain, and then again at the front gates in
order to remove the memory and presence of anyone who had entered the mountain since the last