Part 29 (1/2)
Holy Flower, be thou my protection and strength!
Light! A dwelling fas.h.i.+oned from rainbows, standing on land that was an enormous faceted diamond... changing slowly, becoming ordinary, becoming real. The two despairing rulers could finally breathe. They smelled seaweed, felt rain on their faces, saw the villa's wet stone walls glimmering in the windy dark. Their boots touched rocky soil and they were safe, supporting each other to keep from collapsing.
The door of the dwelling opened. A lofty figure stood silhouetted within the frame and a flash of lightning revealed it to be inhuman, an exquisitely carved female statue of ivory and gold that nonetheless moved. As Prigo and Hakit Botal quailed in confusion, the thing emerged into the rain, bent down, and picked up the senseless Archimage in its gleaming arms.
”Are you injured?” the consoler asked the officials. They shook their heads mutely. The living statue began to carry its burden into the house, looking back over its shoulder and saying, ”Enter. There is food and drink for you inside, and warm clothing. Do not be afraid. I am a sindona, one of the White Lady's servants.”
”Is-is she going to be all right?” Prigo inquired timidly, following after.
”She will awake betimes and go about her work,” the consoler replied. ”As to the other, I cannot say.”
My love... speak to me!
The talismans have told me that you are no longer in the Dark Man's Moon, but they will not reveal your whereabouts except to say that you are in Sobrania. I know that Denby is dead. I know that you retain the Three-Winged Circle. Are you well? Did that madman harm you trying to take away your talisman?
Haramis, say a single word!
Only bespeak and I will See and come to you. We dare not wait any longer. The ground trembles beneath the palace and I am unable to calm it through my magic. I am uncertain whether these small earthquakes portend the start of the final catastrophe. The talismans that I possess refuse to speak of it.
If you know the truth, then tell me!
You know what the ancient spell says: The Wand of the Wings, your own talisman, is the key to the Sceptre and its unifier. Without it, the Burning Eye and the Three-Headed Monster are futile.
I am futile.
Come to me, here in the feathered barbarian's palace-or let me come to you! We must a.s.semble the Sceptre of Power together and use it before it is too late.
Haramis! Haramis, my only love... speak.
”Dawn... Tell me it is not yet dawn!” She struggled up from the improvised pallet. Queen Jiri was kneeling at her side, laving her forehead with a wet cloth. An impa.s.sive sindona consoler stood behind her, holding a basin of water. The sky visible through the villa window was full of pallid mauve clouds.
”They will be killed at dawn!” Haramis cried. ”Let me up-”
”Peace, dear!” The Galanari Queen put an arm about her. ”It lacks half an hour to sunrise. This-this odd servant of yours told us the impending fate of your sisters. It also said that you would have to sleep as much as possible to restore your strength, if you were to have any chance of saving them.”
The Archimage relaxed. ”Half an hour. Yes... it will suffice.” She sat up slowly, saying to the consoler, ”Bring me my cloak.” When the sindona left the room, Haramis accepted some of the wine that Jiri offered. ”Where are the other rulers?”
”Another kind of statue-person took them away into a viaduct across the road,” the Queen told her, ”explaining that it would bring them safely home to their own countries. I decided to stay with you, even though the nurse-statue tried to prevent me. It said that when the mudflow reaches Brandoba, there will be a great earthquake and a tidal wave will wash away the villa-along with whatever parts of the city are not already buried in mud. Is that true?”
Haramis pa.s.sed one trembling hand over her brow. ”The dire events will come to pa.s.s... unless I can prevent it.”
Jiri sat back upon her heels and looked calmly upon the Archimage. ”Can you?”
Shall I tell her? Haramis wondered. Tell her that it is not only Brandoba, but the entire world that is on the verge of destruction?
Her fingers dropped to the talisman hanging about her neck. The Circle's wings were open and the drop of amber with its fossil Black Trillium throbbed with each beat of her heart.
Holy Flower, can you not advise me? If I give Orogastus the third piece of the Sceptre, he might be able to prevent the ultimate unbalancing. He could certainly turn aside the deadly flow of mud. Is it my destiny to surrender to the Star? Black Trillium, is this what I must do?
But the Flower within the amber was silent, as always, and she was afraid to pose the questions to the talisman.
Eyes welling, Haramis turned for comfort to the older woman kneeling at her side. The maternal countenance of the Queen of Galanar wore a melancholy smile that still reflected invincible hope. Seen through the screen of tears, that smile reminded Haramis of another woman long dead, one who had bestowed upon her and her sisters magical amulets, who had sent them on their talisman quests, who had finally given over to Haramis her own precious cloak.
Daughter of the Threefold, do not lose heart.
”Binah?” Haramis whispered incredulously.
The White Lady who had been G.o.dmother to the Petals of the Living Trillium said: Years come and go with speed. That which is lofty may fall, that which is cherished may be lost, that which is hidden must, in time, be revealed. And yet I tell you that all will be well. Believe it, Daughter! Remember the last words of the Archimage of the Firmament. Remember...
Haramis blinked away the tears. Queen Jiri was now gazing at her with an expression of anxiety. The sindona consoler, standing there holding the s.h.i.+mmering white cape in its ivory hands, inquired, ”Archimage, are you well?”
”Yes,” she said. ”Help me to my feet.”
Jiri and the sindona raised her. Haramis put on her cloak, then said to the living statue, ”Return this good woman promptly to her realm of Galanar.” She then kissed Jiri on her cheek. ”Dear friend, whatever happens to me, you can be sure that your own people will soon have great need of your courage and wisdom. Do not fail them. If the Triune wills, I will come soon to a.s.sist you. Farewell.”
Clasping her talisman, Haramis disappeared.
”What did she mean?” Jiri asked the sindona. For the first time, she seemed fearful.
”She means that the day of the Sky Trillium has come upon the world,” the living statue said, ”but what its blossoming portends, only the Lords of the Air can say. Come along, Queen. I will take you home to your family and your loyal subjects. That which is hidden will, in time, be revealed.”
Chapter Thirty.
DISTANT clanks and rattles announced that the outer door of the imperial prison block was being unbarred. Queen Anigel stirred, opening her eyes with a soft yawn. ”Ah, dear friends-is it dawn already?”
”I fear so,” King Ledavardis said to her gently. They were all shackled in a row, slumped against the wall in heaps of stinking straw. High up near the torture chamber's ceiling were narrow embrasures, through which they could see dull purple clouds.
Anigel sat up and began to brush off and arrange her torn garments. ”Then we shall have to do our best to die well... I only regret that Kadi and I were deprived of our trillium-amber. The Holy Flower might have bolstered my puny sense of valor.”
”To say nothing of unlocking our fetters,” said Kadiya wryly. ”Ah, well. We must take solace from the knowledge that we will not suffer our fate in vain.”
Anigel's blue eyes seemed rapt by some comforting inner vision. ”We must all pa.s.s safely beyond sooner or later. But only a fortunate few are allowed to die in defense of a world. May the Lords of the Air come for us swiftly.”
The King and Archduke Gyorgibo murmured their a.s.sent, as did Kadiya. But unlike the Queen, who appeared calm almost to the point of entrancement, the others could not keep their eyes from the array of fiendish instruments mounted upon the wall opposite, nor from the stained and pitted granite slab three ells long that stood in the chamber's center. The slab was inclined, and cuffs for wrists and ankles were affixed to the lower end; just beyond the other end was a large brick structure resembling a forge. A bellows, operated by wooden gearing that Gyorgibo had said was connected to a windmill, had pumped air into the firebox all night, keeping it glowing, and from time to time a soot-stained minion had shuffled in to add charcoal and stoke it. Two ma.s.sive chains were attached to something buried in the bed of coals. Forming an inverted V, they joined to a single chain which was in turn suspended from a pulley device on an overhead iron beam. Gyorgibo had stubbornly refused to speak about what the thing hidden in the fire might be.
Voices could now be heard approaching, and a harsh peal of female laughter echoed along the vaulted corridor outside the chamber.
The Archduke said, ”My imperial sister is coming to supervise our final torment. She seems in high spirits.”
”Much good may it do her,” growled Kadiya. ”It is probable that the Archimage Haramis is still held by the Man in the Moon, and knows nothing whatsoever of our own imprisonment. I would give much to see Naelore's face when she discovers she has squandered the lives of crucial hostages for naught.”