Alchymist

'Why would they do that?' Malien asked.

'They were using me in a patterner, to pattern a great torgnadr, or node-drainer. My affliction hindered the patterning, so they fixed it.'

'I see.'

'You can look if you like,' Tiaan said hastily. 'The scars are still there.'

'I can tell truth from lies, Tiaan. How is it now?'

'It still troubles me, especially at the end of a long day.'

'But better than the alternative, I dare say,' Malien said with a wintry smile.

Tiaan did not need to reply. She would never forget those months of paralysed helplessness in Nyriandiol and Snizort. 'You look different, Malien.'

'How so?'

'Not so – younger,' she corrected hastily. 'There seems a little more red in your hair, and your face isn't as lined…'

Malien picked up the metal platter, brushed away the crumbs and examined her face in it. 'I was just serving out my time when you first came here, but I have a purpose now. That can rejuvenate us, for a little while.'

'What purpose?' Tiaan said curiously.

'Keeping you out of trouble, for one thing.' Malien changed the subject. 'You escaped from Vithis?'

'I had no choice. When Urien's messengers returned from speaking to you, he would have had me killed.'

Malien laid down her slice of bread. 'Why do you think that?'

'To prevent me telling anyone else about the secret of flight 'But he doesn't have the secret. No one knows, save you and me.'

Tiaan's mouth fell open, 'But surely…? You did not tell them?'

'Why should I?' 'They are Aachim.'

'We were sundered from them thousands of years ago, and no matter how we may yearn to go back, Santhenar is our home now. We are our own people, Tiaan. We broke the clans in ages past and will never return to that futile struggle for supremacy. Besides, our Histories tell us to beware of Inthis First Clan, and especially of men like Vithis. He sounds too much like Tensor, and Pitlis before him, for my liking. Both were great men, but also great in folly that brought ruin upon kind. I would never put such a treasure into his hands.' 'He may be on his way here now. I… I hurt Minis during my escape – I may have killed him. I dared not stop to find out. And others certainly died. And then…' Tiaan felt so ashamed that she could not meet Malien's eye. She'd taken the easy way out and regretted every moment since. 'Yes?' Malien said mildly.

'The people of Clan Elienor were good to me while I was under their guard. And I escaped, knowing they would be punished severely.'

'Was your parole asked for, or given?' 'No.'

'Then your conscience is clear. Indeed, after they get over their initial dismay, Clan Elienor may feel a certain admiration for you, for outwitting them.' 'But Minis…'

Malien sighed. 'Disaster follows you everywhere you go, and that's something I must think about. You'd better tell me about it. Start from the day you left here.' That took all afternoon, several pots of tea, another meal and, late that night, a tot or two of liqueur from Malien's private stock. At the end of it, she said, 'For such a gentle young woman, you certainly have a talent for mayhem.' 'If Vithis had not held me against my will… If he hadn't been planning to-'

You don't need to explain.' Malien leaned back, pressing her fingers against her lips.

'There's one more thing.'

'Go on.'

'I did a foolish thing, Malien. Minis swore on the ring I made him – this ring – that he would do everything in his power to save me. And…'

'What?'

'I didn't believe him. He's so weak. I tried to reinforce his vow for him. I – I swore by the amplimet-' Malien started. 'I swore by the amplimet that if he failed me, he'd rue it all his remaining days.'

'That was.., not wise, Tiaan.'

Tiaan could see that she was disturbed. 'And surely, if he's alive, he does rue it.'

"'He may. So Vithis will track the amplimet and eventually discover that you came here. I won't be able to hold him back.'

'I'd better get going,' said Tiaan. 'I was expecting that. And, of course, the Well of Echoes-'

'It's stable now. I had a painful struggle after you left, before I tamed it, and more than once I thought it was going to defeat me. But what the amplimet did once, it may do again, and more quickly. It may have grown stronger too. Tell me, did it communicate with any other nodes?'

'Yes, at Nyriandiol and Snizort. But not since the Snizort node exploded.'

'I heard about that,' said Malien, shaking her head. 'Was it a unique problem, with that node, or might all nodes be at risk? I must take advice on the matter.'

'Is it safe for me to stay till the morning?' Tiaan said wistfully. 'I so long to sleep in a bed and not be afraid of what's out in the dark, hunting me. I've not felt secure since I left here.'

'You may sleep in perfect ease. In the morning we'll leave Tirthrax for somewhere safer.'

'You're coming with me?' Tiaan could not keep the joy out of her voice.

'Someone has to look after you,' Malien said dryly. 'Go up.

Your old room is ready and I've laid out clean clothes for you.'

How did you know I was coming?'

Vithis sent a skeet, ordering me to hold you if you came back. And indeed, where else could you have gone?'

'Where are we going?'

'To my own people, though I'm uncertain of the welcome either you or I will get there. Bathe and rest in security. I'll keep watch, if that comforts you. We're going to Stassor in the morning.'

Tiaan took out the amplimet, the other crystal, the helmet and the tesseract, and did as she was bade.

Malien woke Tiaan only minutes before dawn. To Tiaan's surprise, she was ushered into a different construct, which Malien had repaired during Tiaan's absence. Tiaan reached for the controls, discovered they were completely unfamiliar, and drew back. Malien motioned Tiaan into the seat beside her, took hold of a padded yoke and the machine lifted smoothly into the air.

'It flies!' Tiaan exclaimed.

'What we did together last winter rekindled my longstanding interest in the secret of flight. I feel quite rejuvenated.'

'Where did you find another amplimet?'

'I didn't. I use the Art in an entirely different way, if you recall. I've done so all my life. I found my own path to controlling a thapter.'

Tiaan was stunned. 'How long have you had this one working?'

'Three months, more or less, though I've tinkered with it nearly every day, improving it in various ways. Learning how to make your thapter fly was the hard part. Once we'd discovered that secret, making another was easy.'

'You once said you only had a minor talent for such work.'

'I dissembled. I've a very considerable talent, although for most of my life I've avoided using it.'

'Why, Malien?'

'You don't know your Histories well, do you?'

'Not of your time.'

'When I was young.., well, younger, at any rate, I was partner to Tensor, a brilliant man but one whose obsession led the world to the abyss. The war, and the invasion by the lyrinx that led to it, arose out of his folly. Because he was obsessed with devices, I swore not to use my talent, and for more than two hundred years I have not.'

'And now?'

'Times change, and so must we, to suit them. Not using my talent for the cause I believe in would be just as great a folly.'

'Does Urien know about your thapter?'

'No. I had warning of her messengers, so I made sure it looked innocuous. Even had they gone inside, they could not have flown it. It's designed to be controlled by my mind, and mine alone.'

'What if I were to put in my amplimet?' said Tiaan forlornly. She'd thought, after coming to Tirthrax, that she might obtain another set of carbon whiskers and diamond crystals, and make her construct fly.

'I wouldn't want to risk my life that way. Should it become necessary, I'll make changes so you can fly it.'

Passing through the entrance, which was hung with blue icicles as long as Tiaan was tall, Malien turned the thapter over the great Tirthrax glacier and followed it, winding up into the high mountains, until the air grew so thin that Tiaan's every breath was an effort. Malien did not seem to be troubled, but she had lived in the mountains all her life. It grew bitterly cold, even with the hatch closed.