An extraordinary craft waited in the clearing: a kind of boat, anchored by fine, strong, silver cables to a large, almost transparent bubble that floated high above the trees. This was what had been packed away in the mysterious containers Keela had seen in Samis’s camp. Calwyn recognised the soft, gleaming metal from which the Ancient Ones had built their city. Samis swung her into his arms, and dropped her over the side.
With swift, rough movements, Samis tied a silk scarf around Calwyn’s mouth. He droned a chantment of iron, and more silver cables slithered from the floor of the craft to twine around her wrists and ankles. She was helpless, propped against the side of the boat, but able to peer over the edge. Halasaa! she called. I’m not hurt. He is taking me away. Is Darrow – is everyone all right?
Yes, my sister. Halasaa’s words were jerky, confused. He sent her a mind-picture: the rope was still wound around Darrow’s throat. We will follow you – speak –
Samis threw back his large head and let out a commanding growl of ironcraft. Silver cables snapped back into the boat, which rocked and swayed alarmingly. Slowly the bubble rose into the air, lifting the narrow boat higher and higher, level with the treetops. We’re flying! cried Calwyn.
Halasaa and Tonno and the Tree People were just in time to see the bottom of the silver craft disappear above the trees. As the flying boat broke through the roof of the forest, Calwyn could just make out a carpet of snow-capped trees below, and a ceiling of cloud above. The white sea of the forest lapped about the Peak of Saar, its shadowy spire bare and jagged, piercing the clouds. The bubble climbed steadily, and suddenly the boat was enveloped in a damp, muffling white fog. Then, just as abruptly, the boat broke through the layer of cloud.
The moons and stars gleamed in the clear dark sky, and above the boat the silver bubble gleamed too, carried silently by the wind like some huge dandelion seed. The air was icy cold. Calwyn couldn’t hear any chantment from Samis. He manipulated some levers beside him, controlling the bubble, but not by magic.The only noise was the whistle of the cables that suspended the gently swaying boat from the bubble. The wind is carrying us away, she told Halasaa.
Yes, we saw you – heading south, to the sea.
To Spareth. Calwyn sensed that the connection with Halasaa was already beginning to weaken. Take care, my brother, take care of Darrow! Don’t worry about me, I’m strong now. As the wind bore them swiftly away, she tried to think of useful things to say. Help the Tree People! Darrow, I love you!
But there was no reply, and Calwyn never knew if her last words had reached Darrow.
Now they were above the clouds, moonlight flooded the craft, and for the first time Calwyn saw Samis clearly. ‘So,’ he murmured, and Calwyn shrank inwardly as his cool, elegant hand caressed her cheek. ‘You are not a child any more, little priestess.’
Calwyn glared at him with all the contempt she could muster. Any noble ideas of working with this man had vanished.
‘Come, little priestess. Sulking does not become you.’
Calwyn wished she could spit in his face. Samis tapped her cheek lightly. ‘My dear, you must do me the courtesy of gratifying my curiosity. Did my little scheme restore your powers?’
Calwyn’s eyes widened in shock, and that gave him the answer he sought. The sorcerer chuckled in satisfaction, and Calwyn cursed herself for giving away her secret so readily. The boat swayed as he returned to his seat, while Calwyn lay still, her thoughts spinning.
Samis had planned it all! It was Keela who had led them into the caverns, Keela who lured Calwyn onto the ice. Samis had tricked her into the healing waters. Did he know, or care, that Keela had fallen in too, and almost lost her life? He must have been waiting in the forest until they emerged.
The knowledge that she owed the return of her powers to Samis was dumbfounding.Why had he done it? He must want to use her gifts for some dark purpose of his own. But even so, she owed him a debt of gratitude. Thanks to him, she was a chanter again –
She was a chanter again. And more powerful than the last time she and Samis had met. Since then, she had learned songs of iron, and dances of healing. And she was strong. Her immersion in theWaters had done more than restore her gift of magic: it had made her invincible –
For an instant, the giddy lights of theWaters pulsed and sang through her veins once more. But then she remembered something that chilled her. She had learned one more thing since she’d last seen Samis. She had learned the dark chantments.
No. She couldn’t, she could never sing those terrible songs. But already, against her will, some of the simpler chantments were unspooling in her mind. A chantment to paralyse, a chantment to freeze his blood. There were a dozen ways to strike him dead.
Do not make the same mistake I made. Wouldn’t Marna have wanted her to use the dark chantments against Samis? Calwyn’s heart pounded. Samis could not keep her gagged forever. She would have to eat and drink; if he wanted her to sing for him, he would have to trust her.They were too far away for him to hurt Darrow or anyone else with chantment. She couldn’t find any reason why she should hold back.
But then, with a flood of emotion that she was reluctant to admit was relief, she realised that she couldn’t kill Samis. She didn’t know where he kept his half of the Wheel. Perhaps he carried it with him, but more likely he’d hidden it somewhere in the vast, ruined city of Spareth, where it would take a lifetime to find. She would have to wait.
Samis said, ‘No doubt you are wondering where we are going, and why I have brought you here.’ Calwyn stared at him over the top of her gag. The cables snapped and whirred against the side of the boat. ‘I wanted a chance to speak to you. It is a pity I have to go to such lengths to prevent your tiresome friends from interfering.’
It took all of Calwyn’s self-control not to scream at him in mind-speech. But some instinct told her to be silent.
Samis stared down at the moonlit clouds as though he were talking to himself. ‘You and I have much in common. We both possess unique gifts. You are a powerful chanter, my dear, but you are young. You need the wisdom of an experienced teacher, to guide you.’ He smiled. ‘Darrow is a pleasant companion, but he is young, too, and not fitted for that task. Especially now that he’s ill … He is ill, isn’t he? Keela said so.’ He looked at Calwyn inquiringly, and she felt herself flushing with rage. Of course Darrow was ill; Samis had made sure of it. Samis and Keela together had arranged for Darrow to be arrested in Gellan and taken to the Lazar-House.
‘Such a pity.’ Samis pulled down the corners of his long mouth. ‘I will miss my Heron – though I suppose you consider him your Heron, now.’
Calwyn had to look away; she couldn’t trust herself.
‘Of course, he doesn’t have to die,’ said Samis. ‘That is, if you will help me.’
Here was her own idea, mirrored back to her. But what had seemed logical and filled with hope in the caves of the Knot of theWaters was repugnant to her now. Help you!Why should I help you? You tie me up like a dog, you’ve tried to kill Darrow twice over, you nearly destroyed Antaris. So much evil has been done to Tremaris, it’s all your fault! And you want to make it worse!
Samis stared at her. ‘So – you can speak with your mind! Why, this is wonderful.Your gifts are even more extensive than I knew, little priestess. But you misjudge me, my dear. Why would I wish more harm to Tremaris?’
The snow-sickness – with no chanters to fight you, you could do whatever you please!
Samis snorted. ‘Why would I kill the chanters I need to serve me? I know you think ill of me, but credit me with some intelligence. I have no wish to be Emperor of a dead world, stripped of life and magic. That is why I’m taking you to Spareth, to help me find the answer to this riddle. If you and I together cannot solve it, then Tremaris is doomed indeed.’
Calwyn’s mind whirled. Was it possible that he was speaking the truth?
‘Think about what I have said,’ said Samis softly. ‘Sleep.’
An insect whine of chantment sounded in
her ear as Samis began a high, almost inaudible song of seeming. Calwyn screwed her eyes shut. She would not give in! She must stay awake, she needed to think. But it was no use. She was drawn into the artificial sleep he had used to stupefy them all at the camp. Calwyn’s head drooped and her body went limp. Samis watched her with narrowed eyes, swaying as the cloud-boat swayed, high above the trees. Then, casually, he drew a corner of a blanket over her sleeping body.
KEELA SAT VERY straight; her hair was twisted into a long rope down her back, and her face was pale, but determined. The anger and bewilderment of the others beat around her like waves washing against a rock. In a low, steady voice, she said, ‘He told me that if Calwyn swam in the Knot of theWaters, she might recover her gift of chantment. And it was true.’
‘And what if she’d drowned? What if you’d drowned?’ roared Tonno. ‘Did he care about that?’
Keela dropped her eyes. ‘He said that, without her power of magic, she was as good as dead to him anyway.’
‘He has lost himself the Clarion, with his tricks,’ said Darrow quietly. He dabbed at his neck with a bloodied cloth.
‘He said he didn’t need the Clarion any more.’ Keela twisted her hands in her lap. ‘I suppose he meant, if he had Calwyn, he didn’t need anything else.’
Halasaa touched Darrow’s shoulder. You know that Calwyn will not help him. She will fight, so long as there is breath in her body.
Darrow’s face hardened into a stony mask. ‘That’s what I’m afraid of.’
Look at me, child. Obediently, Keela met Briaali’s uncompromising, black diamond stare. The Knot of theWaters is a secret place, a sacred place. How did your friend know of it?
Keela shrugged. ‘He knows many things that no one else knows. What he doesn’t know, he guesses.’ She gave a small smile. ‘And guesses right, most of the time.’
‘We must go after them,’ said Darrow. ‘They will travel faster than we ever could, but at least we know where they’re going.’
‘He is returning to Spareth.’ Keela sought Darrow’s gaze. ‘I swear to you, that was always true. Not everything was a lie.’ Her eyes were on Tonno as she whispered, ‘Forgive me.’
Tonno scowled. ‘Why didn’t you go with him last night?’
‘I always planned to go with him when he came for Calwyn. But when I woke, I didn’t want to go…’ Keela’s soft voice faltered.
The Waters have changed you. Briaali put her wrinkled hand on Keela’s knee.
Leaning on Halasaa’s arm, Darrow pulled himself to his feet. ‘We must leave as soon as it’s light.’
‘Nothing else for it.’Tonno clambered up too.
Briaali held up a hand. Wait. The war of the Spiridrelleen is not set aside because your friend is gone. The Tree People gathered behind her, silent and impassive.
‘We cannot leave Calwyn alone with Samis.’ Darrow’s grey-green eyes flashed with their old steely glint.
My son, I would not have you abandon one you love. But every one of the warriors of the Spiridrelleen, every one who dwells behind the thicket of ice, is beloved by someone. Must they be sacrificed to your love?
‘Calwyn is the woman I love,’ said Darrow thickly. ‘But she is much more than that. She may be the saviour of Tremaris.’
Then she is a match for any chanter. Briaali challenged them, each in turn, with her flashing black eyes. I appeal to you, Voiced Ones. We need you. Your people have brought untold harm to this world. Will you not help us now?
There was a moment’s silence.
‘Calwyn is a powerful chanter,’ muttered Trout uncomfortably. ‘And she’s still got thatWheel. If she can get hold of Samis’s half, she can fix it by herself.’
Tonno scratched his head. ‘I hate to think of Mica, stuck in Antaris, not knowing what’s coming.’
I do not ask that you abandon the girl, or your quest. Only that you help us first.
‘Very well,’ said Darrow. His voice was flat and weary. ‘Tonno, Trout, if you wish to go with the Tree People to Antaris, I will not prevent you. But Halasaa and I will go on to Spareth.’
‘May I come with you?’ asked Keela in a small voice.
‘If you wish,’ said Darrow brusquely. But Halasaa looked at her kindly and, in return, he received the first sincere smile of Keela’s life.
CALWYN WOKE WITH the glare of morning sun in her eyes. A dark shape blotted out the sun’s dazzle as Samis stood above her. Instinctively, Calwyn shrank back, but the sorcerer was holding out a hot, savoury-smelling pastry.
Calwyn thought she must be dreaming.The silver boat still swayed beneath the floating bubble, under the pale blue dome of the sky. Below, a blanket of cloud hid the forest. Even the Peak of Saar had vanished. It was bitterly cold. How could Samis have produced a steaming hot pastry from nowhere?
I need water.
With one hand, he untied the silken scarf around her mouth and loosened the binding at her wrists, then handed her a tin cup of ice-cold water to gulp. ‘Eat!’ he ordered. ‘Be quick, little priestess, if you want to enjoy your breakfast.’
Calwyn was faint from hunger; how long had it been since she’d eaten? She reached out for the pastry. It was delicious. The buttery crust melted in her mouth, and the filling was hot and spicy. ‘How – ?’
Samis’s eyebrow lifted. ‘You surprise me, my dear. In your long journey, have you never improved the taste of dry bread?’
Of course. A spell of seeming. Already the spicy flavour of the meat was fading, and Calwyn found herself holding a stale crust. She said, ‘I don’t know any chantments of seeming.’
‘Indeed?’ Samis seemed surprised. ‘You’ve not troubled to learn them? Or was it too difficult for you?’
‘I’ve never tried,’ said Calwyn, nettled despite herself.
‘Perhaps you can’t change your voice – like this?’ He sang a shrill, falsetto note. ‘They say women find it almost impossible to keep these notes true.’
Indignantly, Calwyn opened her mouth to show him that she could sing any note he sang. Then she saw the lazy smile spread across Samis’s face. She would not be goaded, or tricked, into gaining another power of chantment. She would choose it of her own will.
‘Sing it slowly,’ she said. ‘So I can copy you.’
Samis raised an eyebrow, and sang a dozen whining notes, pausing after each to be sure Calwyn had heard it clearly. Before the last note was complete, Calwyn was stringing the song together. The chantment tingled on her lips, and a tiny, jewel-bright butterfly fluttered from her hand. It gleamed briefly in the sun’s light, then vanished like a burst bubble.
Samis gazed at her under hooded eyelids. ‘So.You can sing the Power of Seeming.’
Calwyn was elated, but she would not let him see it. ‘One simple illusion doesn’t make me a master of seeming.’
‘The Singer of all Songs need not know every chantment that’s ever been sung! If that were so, there would never be a Singer.’ Samis stretched out his legs comfortably. ‘What of the other powers of chantment? You have the Power of Tongue, obviously.The Power of Beasts, yes, I have heard you use that, and the Power of Winds. I know that you have visited Merithuros. Did you learn the Power of Iron there?’
Calwyn shook her head. ‘Only men can sing the chant-ments of iron,’ she said. Then, without warning, she sang a swift throat-song of ironcraft. The tin cup shot up from the floor of the balloon-boat toward Samis’s head.
But he was too quick. He lunged at Calwyn.The cup sailed harmlessly over the edge of the boat and was swallowed by the clouds below. A growl of ironcraft twisted the silver chain at Calwyn’s throat, choking her until stars burst before her eyes.
Deftly, brutally, Samis jerked the gag into her mouth and yanked it tight. He held her close, almost embracing her. His muscular arm was around her shoulders, and she could smell his body.The edge of his cloak was cool where it brushed her cheek. He tightened the silver cable that knotted her wrists together, though this time he left it just loose enough for comfort.
> Samis sat back, stretching out his legs once more, as though nothing had happened. ‘The Power of Iron, yes. And what of the Power of Becoming?’
Calwyn turned her head away to hide her tears of rage and humiliation. She cursed herself for trying such a stupid trick. She hardly knew whether she had intended to harm him, or to show off what she could do.
‘I don’t want to hurt you, little priestess.’ He leaned forward and touched her cheek with his fingertip, turning her to face him. ‘But there must be no more foolishness. Do you want Darrow to live or die? We must work together. Believe me, there is no other way. Do you understand?’
Calwyn swallowed. Samis had said nothing about the Wheel; he was looking for solutions elsewhere, in Spareth. In an instant, she made up her mind.
I will help you.
Samis’s thick eyebrows drew together. ‘You surprise me, little priestess. I thought you would show more resistance. I confess I am disappointed.’
There is one condition.
The sorcerer relaxed, and laughed. ‘That’s better. Name your price, my dear.’
Calwyn hesitated. She must be very careful now.Whatever happened, he must not find out that she carried the other piece of theWheel. You stole something from Antaris, a sacred relic of the Goddess. If you give it to me, I will help you.
‘Ah!’ Samis drawled. ‘Your yellow ladies were so generous – there were so many gifts. A sacred relic, you say? A statue, a jewel?’
A – a brokenWheel. Calwyn met his gaze unflinchingly.
‘There may be something of that sort,’ said Samis at last. ‘Among my possessions in Spareth. I will have to search for it.’ He smiled.
Calwyn stared at him. It seemed too simple. She suspected that, somehow, Samis was tricking her, instead of the other way round.
‘Now tell me,’ said the sorcerer. ‘Do you have the Power of Becoming?’
Yes, said Calwyn, after a moment.