“Yes,” said Ruan wearily. “Sindérian thought that might happen. She told me if we didn’t rescue the Princess soon enough, she might not want to be rescued. The Pharaxions are, after all, her mother’s people.” Then his glance sharpened. “You do mean to go after her? She won’t have seen you, she won’t have known you were here. Perhaps that would have made a difference.”
Kivik frowned. “But she went right to him. There seemed—there seemed to be some confidence between them.”
Ruan did not need to be told who he was. “Why would she not turn to Camhóinhann in the midst of death and confusion? You know something of who and what he was—and now that you have seen him, with all his rags of glory still about him, do you not understand? He was a great wizard, a noble prince—and still something of that high nobility shines out. That is what makes him dangerous. Perhaps most of all to someone like Winloki.”
As he spoke, Ruan saw eyes that had been dull take fire, faces that had looked sick and bewildered gain courage and determination. “Our horses,” said Skerry, glancing around him, as if wondering how he had managed to misplace them.
“Safely tethered under some trees,” said Aell with a gesture. “By good luck, just where the bulk of the hill will have shielded them from the worst of it.”
“Then we should not lose any more time,” said Kivik. He took several strides in that direction, then turned back with a shamefaced look. “I was forgetting—we can’t just leave her here unburied.”
“I will see to her and catch up with you later,” answered Ruan, kneeling beside Sindérian again. He never noticed the body of the owl lying stiff and still under a bush. “I would not leave her here for the wolves and wild beasts—” Then his body tensed, his breath caught in his throat. Had he seen her move? Or was it simply the edge of her cloak, a few tendrils of dark hair, lifted by the breeze? It could not be, and yet…
He put his ear to her chest; he placed a hand lightly over her mouth to feel if she was breathing. The others, who had just been turning to leave, were startled by the sound, half exultant, half disbelieving, that was torn from his throat. “She still lives! I don’t know how, but she lives.”
“Impossible,” said Skerry. He looked at Ruan—then back the way he had been about to go—then at Ruan again. “The fall alone—”
“Her heart beats, her breath comes and goes. I don’t say how long that will continue.” Then, seeing how the other men still hesitated, he waved them off. “Go. Go after Camhóinhann and the Princess. But be cautious. Even wounded, he is dangerous.”
“But what will you do?” said Kivik.
The stubborn set of Ruan’s jaw wavered, and then solidified. “I will take her to the Ni-Féa; there are healers among them, some of them extraordinarily gifted. It is only a two-day ride. If she can survive that long.”
“But you said—”
“I said I would not ask them for aid if my life depended on it. Hers is another matter. And yes, they will not be much interested in helping her, but I will find a way to convince them. It is her only chance.” He made another impatient gesture. “As you are Winloki’s only chance. Don’t delay a moment longer.”
But as Kivik and Skerry went off, almost at a run, Aell still lingered. It was plain that he was uncertain where his duty might lie.
“Do not follow them just yet,” said Ruan. Lifting Sindérian very gently, he moved in the direction of the horses. “Hand her up to me once I am mounted, and then go.”
And a little while later, when he was in the saddle: “Try to prevent our Skyrran friends from doing anything foolhardy. If they do—and I don’t catch up with you later—do what you can and then go home to Thäerie. Tell my grandfather all that has happened.”
Looping the reins around one hand, he reached down and took Sindérian’s limp body out of Aell’s arms, resting her in the position he hoped would do her the least harm, in his own.
“The Ni-Féa will help her,” he said fiercely. “They do not love me, my mother’s people, but there are those among them who would be very glad to see me at a disadvantage. And I—I will humble myself to the dust, I will give them my heart’s blood in a silver goblet, if that is what they ask.”
Then, with a flick of his reins, he was on his way.
Glossary
Adfhail the youngest acolyte to accompany the Furiádhin to Skyrra.
Aell (“air”; ale) son of a fisherman, a common soldier under Prince Ruan’s command.
Aethon (“furze”) itinerant wizard, educated at the Scholia on Leal, who brought word of Guenloie/Winloki’s survival to the council.
Alluinn (“many lakes”; al-oo-WIN) kingdom at the center of the northern empire. The name was also applied to the Empire itself. Pendawer kings and emperors ruled Alluinn for approximately a thousand years. Her downfall was the war with Otöi, in which wizards and mages made such reckless use of their magic that both empires fell and the world was Changed.
Anerüian (“midnight”; an-eh-ROO-yon) Pendawer full name of Prince Ruan. The youngest grandson of High King Réodan, human on his father’s side and Ni-Féa Faey on his mother’s. Named for the hour at which he was born.
Apharos (af-FAY-rows) Ouriána’s capital city on Phaôrax.
Arkenfell a northern kingdom, originally of the same tribal stock as Skyrra and Mistlewald, with whom they continued to be loosely allied.
Arvi Skyrran rider in Kivik’s army; Winloki’s bodyguard for a time.
Aurvang a town in Arkenfell, from which Sindérian, Ruan, and company sailed for Skyrra.
Autlands northeastern region of Skyrra, closest to Eisenlonde.
Baillébachlain (“town of bees, beehive”) the largest town on Leal, and the site of the wizards’ Scholia.
Brielliend a heavily forested region south of Rhüaddlyn. Although Ouriána’s troops were able to win much territory there, the eastern portion continued to resist.
Brihac a knight in the household of Prince Cuillioc.
Cadmin Aernan (“iron mountains”) a great range of mountains west of Alluinn running more or less north-south.
Cailltin (“hazel”) of Aefri nobleman and captain of a small troop of Rheithûnian fighters. He was betrothed to Sindérian. They parted just before the fall of Gilaefri, one of the last three Rheithûnian fortresses to be captured by Ouriána’s armies.
Camhóinhann (“still waters”; cah-VHOYN-ahn) enslaved and corrupted by Ouriána, he eventually became the High Priest of her cult, and the most powerful of the Furiádhin.
Ceir Eldig (“city of princes”) the capital of Alluinn and the seat of the Emperors; ruined and deserted after the Change.
Citadel the palace-fortress at Xanthipei, in which Cuillioc made his headquarters on his arrival in Mirizandi.
Corridon (“stone folk”) another name for the dwarves. Many humans believed the dwarves originally were generated from a stony matrix.
Cuillioc (“pledge” or “word of honor”; QWILL-ee-ahch) Prince of Phaôrax, Ouriána’s second-born son, sent by her to conquer Mirizandi. An honorable but conflicted man.
Cuirarthéros one of the last three fortresses to be conquered in Rheithûn. Sindérian was close enough at the time to psychically experience its downfall, and the death throes of hundreds of its inhabitants.