Part 26 (2/2)

”Challenge whatever you will.” Nimbia shook her head and pulled the edges of her cape in tightened fists, with knuckles showing white. ”I give you leave as I have given you leave each time before. Try to find any proof

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that I was ever other than loving. You cannot, because none was ever there. Come, LothaJ, I would forget the pain and accept you even now, if it would spark the creation that would save our underbill.”

Nimbia looked at Lothai expectantly but his jaw was firmly set. He would speak no more.

Nimbia sighed. ”We waste the time of all those that have a.s.sembled here,” she said finally. ”And there is little time that is left.” She waved her arm at the banquet rooms beyond. ”Feast, my people. Make merry while you can. Prydwin's pipers will come for us all soon enough.”

The mournful melody of the pipers abruptly stopped. There was a moment's pause and then they began again, this time with the lively air that Astron had first heard when he arrived. Tentatively, two of the younger females began to dance. With a sudden enthusiasm, three of the pages mimicked their steps. Nimbia began clapping her hands. A smile reappeared on her face. In what seemed like an instant, the mood transformed into the gaiety it had been before.

”I do not understand.” Phoebe raised her voice above the music. ”What has happened to her? The moods of the woman on the throne change faster than the purest quicksilver.”

”My previous sojourns were brief,” Astron said. ”I witnessed the ring of djinns for the first time just as you did.”

”The mysteries of the realm can wait for later,” Kestrel said. ”More important is the reason why we came. If this Nimbia thinks we are her savior, then ask her for a boon before she forgets. What does she know of the things we seek?”

Astron hesitated. Nimbia had saved him from the sentrymen of Prydwin-far more so than he had her. And the pa.s.sions shown by the fey evidently were quite similar to those of men. He would like to have listened quietly for much longer.

”Excuse me, Queen Nimbia,” he said, ”but I have a request-knowledge in exchange for the small service

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we have performed in your behalf. If perhaps you know the location of harebell pollen or how to gain audience with a sage among you who knows the riddle of the ultimate precept...”

Nimbia stopped in mid-clap. She turned and regarded Astron for a moment with an amused smile. Then she broke into a gale of laughter, clasping her sides and poking her elbows at whomever was the closest.

”Yes, harebell pollen,” she said. ”That is all it would take. Who needs the logical precision of the male to temper the leaps of intuition if harebell pollen could be tossed through the ring? Even Prydwin's greatest triumphs-the realm of the chronoids, the realm of the reticulates-both could be challenged in a single judging. Yes, harebell pollen indeed.”

Nimbia tried to say more but she clasped her sides again, unable to speak. Astron looked from side to side for explanation, but saw only other mirthful faces. His nose wrinkled. He turned back to face Kestrel with a shrug.

Nimbia suddenly stopped laughing. She tapped Astron on the shoulder. He saw that her face was completely sober.

”It is the way of the fey,” she explained. ”We cannot sip life in only half measures, but must drink deeply from the cup of emotions. It is no less than the first dictum- reality must mirror pa.s.sion. How else can we create with a vividness that will live of its own volition?”

Astron started to reply but Nimbia shook her head. ”For now, no more words,” she said. ”Do not disturb the joyousness of the feast. I owe my people no less.” She reached out and gently touched his arm. ”Even though you are no more than a demon, I wish that you would abide with me for a while. Abide with me, since your saving of a queen might not yet be complete.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

Bubbles of Reality

ASTRON blew out all the candles except for the one on the far end of the oaken table. The remaining light was feeble, but he had had more than enough time to get familiar with the placing of even the tiniest obstacles in the small circular room. Fifteen marks Kestrel had gouged into the doorframe, one for each arising from his sleep. For the entire duration, Astron had been confined to the one room.

Despite the urgency, he had achieved no new progress toward his goal. The growing frustration made his stem-brain continuously active. A feeling of constant uneasiness ached just below his consciousness. He could not still the rumbling, no matter how hard he tried. With each pa.s.sing tick of time, the chances of the survival of his prince and hence his own shrunk all the more. Something had to be done soon, no matter how interesting the other distractions.

They were not prisoners exactly, but Nimbia's sentry-men made clear with the force of their thoughts that wandering around underbill was highly discouraged. After the queen had dismissed them, they had not seen her again. Apparently Astron and his companions were left to their own devices until she saw fit to call them back to her presence.

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