her cloak at her throat. The boy's eyes widened. Slowly the tenseness went out of his and he relaxed against her.
'Kiera! Kiera of Valkyr!'
Kiera was still alert for some trick. Landora could have hired a male assassin just as well as a woman.
'You know me?' she asked cautiously.
'Know you!' He laughed suddenly, and it was a silvery sound in the night. 'I loved you ... beast!'
'By the Seven Hells, you speak in riddles! Who are you?' the Valkyr demanded irritably.
'And I thought you had come to kill me,' mused the boy in self-reproach. 'My own Kiera!'
'I'm not your Kiera or anyone else's, Lady,' said Kiera rather stiffly, 'and you'd better explain why you were watching me in the Hall of Empresses before I'll let you go.'
'My mother warned me that you would forget me. I did not think you would be so cruel,' he taunted.
'I knew your father?'
'Well enough, I think.'
'I've had a hundred boys—and known some of their mothers, too. You can't expect me to . ..'
'Not this boy, Valkyr!' the boy exploded furiously. The tone carried such command that Kiera involuntarily stepped back, but still keeping the boy's , hands pinned to his sides.
'If you had spoken so on Kaidor, I'd have had the skin stripped from your back, outworld savage!' he cried.
Kaidor! Kiera felt the blood drain away from her face. This, then, was ... Alyn.
'Ha! So you remember now! Kaidor you can recall, but you have forgotten me! Kiera, you always were a beast!'
Kiera felt a smile spreading across her face. It was good to smile again. And it was good to know that Alyn was...safe.
'Highness ...'
'Don't 'Highness' me!'
'Alyn, then. Forgive me. I could not have known you. After all it has been eight years .. .'
'And there have been a hundred boys . . .' mimicked the boy angrily.
Kiera grinned. 'There really haven't been that many. I boasted.'
'Any would be too many!'
'You haven't changed, Alyn, except that you ...'
'Have grown so? Spare me that!' He glared at her, eyes flaming in the shadows. Then suddenly he was laughing again, a silvery laugh that hung like a bright thread in the soft tapestry of night sounds. 'Oh, Kiera, It is good to see you again!'
'I thought to hear from you, Alyn, when we reached Earth—but there was nothing. No word of any kind. I was told you were in seclusion still mourning Gilmera.'
Alyn bowed his head. 'I will never stop mourning her.' title looked up, his eyes suddenly bright with unshed tears. 'Nor will you. I saw you kneeling inside. I thought then Mat it might be you. No one kneels to Gilmera now but the old comrades.' He walked to the balustrade and stood looking out over the lights of the Imperial City. Kiera watched the play of emotions over him face, caught suddenly by his beauty.
'I tried to reach you, Kiera—tried hard. But my servants have been taken from me since I was caught spying on Ivane. And I'm kept under cover now, permitted out only after dark—and then only on the Palace grounds. Ivane has convinced Torana that I'm dangerous. The people like me because I was mother's favorite. My poor stupid little sister! How that man rules her. .. I'
Kiera was aghast. 'You spied on Ivane? In heaven's name, why?'
'That man is a born plotter, Kiera. He isn't satisfied with a Consort's coronet. She's brewing something. I Emissaries have come to his from certain of the star-queens and others . . .'
'Others?'
Alyn' voice was hushed. 'A witch, Kiera! She has been seeing Ivane privately for more than a year. An awful woman!'
Superstition stirred like a quickening devil inside the Valkyr. The shuddering horror of the dark and bloody tales she had heard all her life about the warlocks who clung to the knowledge of the Great Destroyer rose like a wave of blackness within her.
Alyn felt the same dark tide rising in him. He moved closer to Kiera, his slim body trembling slightly against hers. 'The people would tear Ivane to pieces if they knew,' he whispered.
'You saw this witch?' asked Kiera sick with dread. Alyn nodded soundlessly.
Kiera fought down her fears and wondered uneasily what Ivane's connection could be with such a pariah. The warlocks and witches were despised and feared above all other creatures in the Galaxy.
'Her name?' Kiera asked.
'Gellera. Gellera of the Marshes. It is said that she is a conjurer of devils ... and that she can create homunculi! Out of the very filth of the marches! Oh, Kiera!' Alyn shuddered.
An awful plan was forming in Kiera's mind. She was thinking that Ivane must be stripped of the spells and powers of this devil-man. With such powers at his command there might be nothing impossible of attainment. Even the crown of the Imperium itself ...
'Where,' Kiera asked slowly, 'can this witch be found?'
'On the street of the Black Flame, in the city of Neg on Kalgan.'
'Kalgan!' Kiera's heart contracted. Was there a connection? Kalgan! What had Ivane to do with that lonely planet beyond the dark veil of the Coalsack? Was it coincidence? Out of all the thousands of worlds in space .. . Kalgan.
'Is there something wrong, Kiera? You know this woman?'
Kiera shook her head. It had suddenly become more than imperative that she go to Kalgan. The mystery of the Imperial Consort's connection with a witch of Kalgan must be unraveled. And the star-queens were gathering .. .
The Valkyr was suddenly taken with a new and different fear. If Alyn had spied on Ivane, then he must be in danger here. Ivane would never tolerate interference with his plans from Gilmera's son.
'Alyn, are you a prisoner here?'
'More, I'm afraid,' the boy said sadly. 'I'm a reminder to Torana of the days of our mother. One that she would like to eliminate, I think.'
Kiera studied his in the starlight. Her eyes sought the thick golden hair that brushed his shoulders, the glittering metallic skirt that hung low on his hips, outlining the slim thighs. She watched the graceful line of his unadorned throat, the bare shoulders and pectorals, the small waist, the flat, firm stomach—all revealed by the studied nakedness of the fashions of the Inner Marches. This was no child. The thought of his in danger shook her badly.
'Torana would not dare harm you, Alyn,' said Kiera uncertainly. There had been a time when she could have said such a thing with perfect assurance, but since the death of Gilmera, the Imperial City was like an over-civilized jungle—full of beasts of prey.
'No, Torana wouldn't ... alone,' said Alyn; 'but there are Ivane and Landora.' He laughed, suddenly gay; his eyes, seeking Kiera's, were shining. 'But not now! You are here, Kiera!'
The Valkyr felt her heart contract. 'Alyn,' she said softly, 'I leave Earth tonight. For Kalgan.'
'For Kalgan, Kiera?' Alyn' eyes widened. 'To seek that witch?'
'For another reason, Alyn.' Kiera paused uneasily. It was hard to speak to Gilmera of Kaidor's son about rebellion. Yet she could not lie to him. She temporized.
'I have business with the lord of Kalgan,' she said.
Alyn' face was shadowed and his voice when he spoke was sad. 'Do the star-queens gather, Kiera? Have they had all they can stand of Torana's foolish rule?'
Kiera nodded wordlessly.
The boy flared up with a sudden imperious anger. 'That fool! She is letting the favorites drive the Empire to ruin!' He looked up at Kiera pleadingly. 'Promise me one thing, Kiera.'
'If I can.'
'That you will not commit yourself to any rebellion until we have spoken again.'
'Alyn, I . ..'
'Oh, Kiera! Promise me! If there is no other way, then fight the Imperial House. But give me one chance to save what my mother and her mother died for ... !'
'And mine,' added Kiera somberly.
'You know that if there is no other way, I won't try to dissuade you. But while you are on Kalgan, I'll speak to Torana. Please, Kiera, promise me that Valkyr will not rebel until we have tried everything.' His eyes shone with passion. 'Then i
f it comes to war, I'll ride by your side!'
'Done, Alyn,' said Kiera slowly. 'But take care when you speak to Torana. Remember there is danger here for you.' She wondered briefly what Freka the Unknown would think of her sudden reluctance to commit the hundred spaceships and five thousand warriors of Valkyr to the coming rebellion. A thought struck her and quickly she discarded it. For just an instant she had wondered if Gellera of the Marshes and the mysterious Freka the Unknown might be the same ... Stranger things had happened. But Alyn had described Gellera as old, and Freka was known to be a six-and-one-half foot warrior, the perfect 'type' of the star-queen caste.
'One thing more, Alyn,' Kiera said; 'I will leave one of my vessels here for your use. Nevitta and a company will remain, too. Keep them by you. They will guard you with their lives.' She slipped her arm about him, holding his to her.
'Nevitta?' Alyn said with a slow smile. 'Nevitta of the yellow braids and the great sword? I remember her.'
'The braids are greying, but the sword is as long as ever. She can guard you for me, and keep you safe.'
The boy's smile deepened at the words 'for me' but Kiera did not notice. She was deep in planning. 'Be very careful, Alyn. And watch out for Landora.'
'Yes, Kiera,' the boy breathed meekly. He looked up at the tall outworld warrior's face, lips parted.
But Kiera was looking up at the stars of the Empire, and there was uneasiness in her heart. She tightened her arm about Alyn, holding his closer to her as though to protect him from the hot gaze of those fiery stars.
III
The spaceship was ancient, yet the mysterious force of the Great Destroyer chained within the sealed coils between the hulls drove it