The Twisted Citadel

  "So did I," said StarDrifter, "but the glass pyramids that Isaiah and Lister use for communication were made by the Lealfast, and they tap into the power of the Star Dance, although anyone who commands power can use them. I don't know how, but the Lealfast still use the Star Dance."

  "One of them flew down to Aqhat," said Axis, "to stage an attempted assassination of Isaiah in order to encourage his push north. He escaped before my eyes, using powerful enchantment. If the rest of the Lealfast command such power, then they may be powerful allies."

  "Or powerful enemies," said Maximilian.

  Isaiah reentered the tent at that moment, and sat down at the table. In one hand he held a glass spire, about the height of a man's hand, which pulsated with a rosy light. He placed it on the table, then gave it a gentle shove, sending it sliding down the table to Maximilian.

  Every eye at the table followed its passage.

  Maximilian stopped the spire with one hand. He studied it briefly, then picked it up.

  "It is a thing of great beauty," he said softly. Then he lifted his eyes and looked again at Isaiah. "How does it work?"

  "You cannot use it?" Isaiah said, his tone a little challenging.

  Maximilian held Isaiah's gaze for a long moment, then looked back to the spire in his hand.

  Everyone at the table watched him, and for several heartbeats nothing happened.

  Then, suddenly, the glass glowed through the gaps of Maximilian's fingers. First pink, then red, then it flared suddenly into a deep gold before muting back to a soft yellow. The ascetic face of a middle-aged man appeared in its depths, his thin mouth curved in a slight smile.

  "Lister," said Maximilian softly. "Well met, at last."

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The Northern Borders of the FarReach Mountains, and the Sky Peaks Pass

  Lister stared into his glass pyramid at the face of the man who looked out at him.

  "My Lord of Elcho Falling," he said, and made a slight bow.

  About him snowflakes fell from the sky, twisting lazily in myriad fantastic patterns. As each one hit the ground, it transformed into a birdman or birdwoman, their features and the line of their wings rimed with frost.

  The Lealfast.

  They gathered about the black-clad Lister in a circle, intensely watchful, their forms gradually solidifying.

  Three of them--Eleanon, Bingaleal, and Inardle--stood at Lister's shoulder, exchanging unreadable glances before they looked into the glass spire that Lister held.

  "You have been a great trouble to my life," Maximilian said to Lister, "for I am led to believe that you were the one to orchestrate my seventeen years spent in the Veins."

  "The path to greatness must necessarily be strewn with obstacles that--"

  "Don't feed me such banalities, Lister. I am not in the mood for it this day." The focus of Maximilian's gaze changed slightly to take in Lister's companions. "Who are those who stand about you, and where are you?"

  "My companions are the Lealfast," said Lister, "and they are your servants. As am I. As for our location, we stand at the foot of the FarReach Mountains where they meet the Sky Peaks."

  "How soon will it take you to reach me?"

  "The Lealfast could be with you within the day, two at most, should you ask it. I, like my companion Isaiah, am confined somewhat by the limitations of human flesh. Nonetheless, I do command some powers and could be with you within ten days."

  "Then do it. Lister, what do you know of Kanubai? Something has happened."

  "DarkGlass Mountain has eaten him, my lord," Lister said. "I ever thought the pyramid was the greater danger."

  "Then you will do well to get here as quick as you may, Lister, that you may share with me the benefit of your infinite wisdom--as well as a plan of action that will see us all at home safe and sound before our hearths within the month. Now, step aside, that I may converse with whoever will speak for the Lealfast."

  Lister raised his eyebrows at Maximilian's tart voice, but obediently stepped aside for one of the Lealfast, a man of handsome aspect and keen, frosty eye.

  "Your name?" said Maximilian.

  "My name is Eleanon," said the Lealfast male, "and I speak for the Lealfast."

  "You are their commander?"

  "You are our commander," said Eleanon, his voice heavy with sincerity, "but I speak on behalf of the Lealfast Nation."

  "The entire `nation' of the Lealfast is currently with Lister?"

  "Yes, my lord," Eleanon said. "We number perhaps a quarter of a million. The larger majority are women with children and the older among us, but myself and my brother, Bingaleal, lead a fighting force of bowmen and women of some fifty thousand. We are experienced and able fighters, my lord, and we are at your command."

  Maximilian did not reply for a moment. Then: "And you and yours can be here within two days?"

  "If you desire it. Do you wish the entire Lealfast Nation to descend upon you?"

  Maximilian's mouth curved in a wry smile. "I think not, Eleanon. Your fighting force, however, I shall be very glad to welcome. Where will the great number of your people stay?"

  Eleanon leaned to one side and conferred with Bingaleal before turning back to Maximilian. "They will stay within the FarReach Mountains, my lord," he said. "It is safe enough for them at the moment, and provides good shelter. If needed, they can move. Quickly."

  Bingaleal and Inardle exchanged a look and a secret thought: The Nation can move from the FarReach Mountains as needed. Either way, north to Elcho Falling, or south to whatever the One might offer us.

  "Good," Maximilian said. "They can also act as sentinels should anyone, or thing, move north. Eleanon, do you have any reports of what is happening within Isembaard?"

  "Many thousands, tens of thousands, of Isembaardians are fleeing north through the Salamaan Pass,"

  Eleanon said. "Men, women, children."

  Maximilian sighed. "We shall need to provide for them. Nothing pursues them as yet?"

  "Nothing but rumor from Aqhat," Eleanon said. "We know nothing of any solid fact about what has happened in Isembaard."

  "Very well. Should I expect you the day after tomorrow, then?"

  "Yes, my lord."

  "Eleanon, is there any way you can warn me of your arrival two hours in advance?"

  Yes, said Eleanon, and Maximilian nodded.

  Good. Eleanon, who do you serve? Me, or Lister?

  If you tell us to tear Lister's head from his shoulders we shall do it, even though he has been a pleasant companion to us.

  Maximilian raised an eyebrow. "Good," he said again, this time in his speaking voice. "I shall see you and your fighters soon." He gave a very small smile. "You shall be some good news from my south, and I

  have had little of that recently. Is Lister still close?"

  Eleanon bowed, handing the pyramid back to Lister.

  "My lord?" Lister said.

  "I am assuming Vorstus is with you," Maximilian said, naming the man who had, for all his life, acted as Abbot of Persimius in Escator, and who had conspired with Lister to inter Maximilian in the Veins.

  "Yes, my lord."

  "With my crown."

  "Of course, my lord."

  "Then I will see you both within ten days."

  "I shall look forward to meeting you, my lord," said Lister, "and also to renewing my acquaintance with Isaiah."

  Maximilian gave a very small, tight smile, and the next moment the pyramid that Lister held dulled back into lifelessness.

  "Just think, Eleanon," Lister said cheerfully, "within two days you meet the StarMan, Axis SunSoar himself."

  Eleanon gave him a short look, then turned away.

  Are you certain we should still profess loyalty to the Lord of Elcho Falling? Bingaleal said in Eleanon's mind as they walked away from the group.

  Eleanon's stride did not falter and he gave no outward sign of Bingaleal's private communication.

  For the moment, he replied, while it suits our purpose.

&nbs
p; And the One? Bingaleal said.

  When we know more, Eleanon said, we can make our choice.

  Inardle watched Eleanon and Bingaleal walk away, feeling unsettled and disturbed. Her brothers were clearly attracted to the power the One offered, but Inardle preferred to keep a more open mind. The One was unknown, the Lord of Elcho Falling less so. The way of the Magi suited Eleanon and Bingaleal, but not so much Inardle, for the Magi had despised women and offered them little power.

  Still...the way of the Magi, and the One, offered such rewards that it could well be that the One was what the Lealfast needed.

  "I hope you have no weakness, Maximilian Persimius," Inardle muttered, "for otherwise you and your world are dead if the Lealfast should turn our backs to you."

  CHAPTER NINE

  The Infinity Chamber, DarkGlass Mountain

  The One could feel the use of the spires. The Lealfast had constructed the glass spires with Magi knowledge (with the power of the One) and their use always touched the One's soul.

  He moved slowly about the Infinity Chamber, running his hands over the ruined glass, restoring it to its full beauty and power. Within a day or two the Infinity Chamber would once again be whole, and would once again connect the pyramid with Infinity.

  Then would the One be at full power.

  He hummed as he worked, and occasionally sang snatches of song he could recall the Magi singing to him in reverence as they built the pyramid. He was trying out his voice, seeking the perfect pitch and timbre, endeavoring to make it as perfect and as beautiful as was the caged golden glass and the dimensions of this chamber. The One also appreciated deeply the ability to speak and sing. So long he had been nothing but an entity which had existed first in the abstract and then as a glass pyramid. Now he was flesh incarnate, and he could move and speak and act in a manner he'd never been able to previously. Physical form brought its own challenges, but the One enjoyed challenges.

  He always won.

  As he worked and sang, the One thought about the Lealfast. It was no accident that some of the Magi had escaped so far north when the traitor Boaz sought to destroy the pyramid two thousand years previously. The One had ensured that their knowledge did not die, but lived on within the Lealfast.

  They would be his new Magi.

  They might hesitate for the moment, but the One knew that eventually they would bow before him.

  Servants.

  "All my servants," the One whispered, his hands continuing their slow purposeful movement over the blackened glass, "all working my will."

  He paused a moment, amused as he recalled that he had come to flesh at that very same moment Ravenna had shown Maximilian Persimius the vision within the Land of Dreams.

  "Dear Ravenna," the One whispered, one of his fingers now stroking a piece of glass that once more glowed golden. "Sweet Ravenna, believing everything I show you. So malleable."

  The One's hands resumed their slow dance over the glass. The Persimius family had tried to destroy him through the renegade Magi, Boaz, who was a prince of the Persimius blood. They would not get the chance again. When the One moved against Maximilian Persimius and his erstwhile bride, Ishbel, the death strike would come from any one of four or five directions.

  Maximilian would never be able to anticipate or counter all of them.

  The One smiled, then resumed his singing, perfecting the pitch of his voice until the Infinity Chamber rang with its glory.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The Sky Peaks Pass

  If I'd had to listen to a single more `my lord' from Lister," Maximilian muttered, "I swear

  Iwould have shattered this damn glass."

  He looked up at the table. "It shall be most interesting for you, Axis, StarDrifter, and Salome, meeting your long-lost cousins."

  "I have only just got used to my new immediate family," Salome said. "Now you say there are fifty thousand more arriving the morning after next? And a quarter million more lurking in the mountains? I

  shall never remember all their birthdays."

  The group about the table laughed, then chatted about inconsequential things for a few minutes as they ate and drank.

  "Maxel," Axis said eventually, "we need to talk about the army. It is--"

  "I know," said Maximilian. "We can speak tomorrow. For now I am weary, and can think clearly of nothing but my bed."

  "Before you think too longingly of bed," Isaiah said, "there is something I need to talk to you about. I

  would also ask that Ishbel stays with us. This concerns both of you. It is a personal matter. Axis, would you stay, too?"

  The group broke up with that, leaving Maximilian, Isaiah, Ishbel, and Axis sitting about the remains of the meal. Serge and Doyle shepherded in some servants to clear the table and to set out fruit and cheese, and then the group was left alone.

  "If I can take a moment," Maximilian said to Isaiah, "before you speak? Thank you. The Isembaardian soldiers worry about their families. Who can blame them? And I worry about what is happening down south, what is happening at DarkGlass Mountain and with the Skraelings. Isaiah," he said, leaning forward a little, "I am going to test our newfound trust."

  "You want me to go there," Isaiah said.

  "Yes. I want you to go into Isembaard, do what you can for your people, and discover for me what that cursed glass pyramid is about, what it is doing, and what it has become. We know too little about it. Can you do that for me?"

  Ishbel answered before Isaiah could speak. "Maxel! That is too dangerous! Isaiah is a man apart from many others, and with powers that few can command, but even so you are surely sending him to his--"

  "I want to send some of Eleanon's Lealfast fighters with Isaiah," said Maximilian quietly. "They can move quickly, and they are of great power. They command the Star Dance, and, from what I have heard of the assassination attempt on your life, Isaiah, they are handy enough with their bows. Isaiah, I will give you half of Eleanon's force--twenty-five thousand. Will you go?"

  "Yes," Isaiah said, "if the Lealfast agree. I cannot travel as fast as they, Maxel, but I can move faster than ordinary men. Once I reach the river, I can travel faster."

  "We will discuss the details later," said Maximilian. "Axis, what do you think? If I send their Tyrant into Isembaard to rescue what he can, and with a strange, magical, powerful force at his back, will it ease some of the men's fears?"

  "It will surely surprise them," said Axis. "But, yes, it will allay their fears, for a while. At least you are being seen to do something, and they trust Isaiah. Mostly. But...are you sure about the Lealfast? We know so little about them. To trust them with such a mission is--"

  "Foolish?" said Maximilian. "Perhaps, but neither can I afford not to use them. I can't sit about for a year trying to gauge the Lealfast and their potential for treachery. I'll risk it, Axis. Isaiah knows how to look after himself, and how to command men."

  "Be careful, Isaiah," Ishbel said, meeting his eyes. "Please."

  Maximilian hesitated as he looked between them, then spoke. "Once the Lealfast are here we can hash out the details, but I needed to speak to you first, Isaiah."

  Then he looked at Ishbel. "Ishbel, I shouldn't have treated you the way I did last night. I--"

  "It doesn't matter, Maxel," she said. "You have chosen Ravenna."

  "Ishbel--" Maximilian said.

  "It is over now, Maxel," Ishbel continued, her tone even and calm, her posture relaxed. "That is the best for both of us, I think. I'm sick of harboring fears and grudges, and it is time we forgot what lies behind us and just concentrate on what waits ahead. We both need to get to Elcho Falling." She paused. "What lies between you and Ravenna doesn't bother me, Maxel. Truly. I wish you the best."

  "Ishbel--" Maximilian said again, his voice tight.

  "There was something you wanted to say to myself and Maxel?" Ishbel said to Isaiah, and Maximilian bit his tongue and looked away.

  Axis looked at Ishbel, his eyes narrowed. A pretty speech and, even better, one that so
unded relaxed and sincere. Had she truly turned her back on Maximilian?

  Isaiah took a deep breath, and now Axis looked at him. That had been a breath of sheer nerves. Stars, what was Isaiah going to say? "I need to talk to you about your child," Isaiah said to Maximilian and Ishbel. "Particularly now I won't be here much longer."

  "The child is dead," Ishbel said. "She no longer matters. There's nothing you need say. Please don't drag up the past, Isaiah."

  "She does matter, Ishbel," Isaiah said. He took another deep breath. "Kanubai rose into flesh in that moment when Ba'al'uz killed your daughter, and I took Ba'al'uz's head and that of the dog."

  Isaiah stopped there, wanting Maximilian and Ishbel to understand what he was trying to say without him actually having to say it.

  There was silence, everyone looking at Isaiah.

  "Maxel, Ishbel," Isaiah said softly, dragging each word out, "Kanubai took flesh and was born of the sacrifice of your daughter. That was his plan. He wanted to take the flesh and blood of his enemy. He was born of both of you. And now...whatever has taken him also has that blood coursing through its veins."

  Again a silence, save that this one was rigid with shock and horror.

  "I'm sorry," Isaiah whispered, looking at Ishbel. "I should have taken better care of you."

  Ishbel left after that. She could not bear to stay another moment, nor could she bear to see Maximilian's face.

  That child had been so important to him. It was bad enough that the baby girl had died, but now to hear this foulness...to hear that Kanubai, and whatever had taken him, had Maximilian's and Ishbel's blood coursing through it...that the girl had died to create flesh for Kanubai...No. That was too much.

  Ishbel could not have looked at Maximilian's face at that point.

  So she just rose and left.

  Maximilian caught up with her within six or seven paces, catching at her arm with his hand, forcing her to stop and face him.

  "Ishbel, I'm sorry."

  "Stop apologizing to me, Maxel. And just let me be for a while, please."

  "We need to speak at some point. Tonight or tomorrow."