Mallenia stood up, a grin on her face.
“Stop!” he called as she approached him. “Stay where you are! Before I know it you’ll be wanting to kiss me because you think I’m so sweet…”
“Exactly.”
“… and adorable.”
“True.” She was nearly upon him, but he dodged and banged his hip on the stone fountain. “What do we have to do to rid you of your bad mood? Perhaps we should let you think you have seduced us both?” Mallenia’s tone was mocking and she was amused to see him blush. It was hard to see how the calm, eloquent Rodario, who had been philosophizing about Girdlegard’s future, and this infuriated man could be one and the same person. At least she knew now how to make her pet Rodario put in an appearance.
The actor raised his hands to push her away. “Don’t come too close. I’ll have to give the matter a lot of thought before I kiss either one of you ever again.”
“Yes, you will,” she said, laughing and turning away. “You’ll find me with Coira.”
Rodario perched on the edge of the fountain, reached into the water and cooled his face. “Women!” he murmured. “Sharing me out! Me! The very nerve of it!”
The water ran down to the tip of his nose, over his cheeks and mouth into his smart little beard. He felt a little calmer.
Of course he was attracted to the Ido girl, and the thought of having both women really was not to be sneezed at-but actually he felt insulted. His masculine pride was hurt. His Rodario pride. How could this be happening to a descendant of the Incredible Rodario? He should be conquering hearts, not being haggled over and shared out like a sack of grain.
“To make a pact like that! What a nerve!” he muttered, feeling the cool dampness dripping onto his shoulder as the water soaked through his shirt. The fountain was splashing more loudly now.
It was so hot that he did not find this unwelcome, but he could not explain why the jet of water had changed direction.
Rodario turned his head-and froze. Towering four paces high behind him was a being similar to a human, but formed entirely of water. It had a broad head and a snoutlike face with long teeth. Teeth made of solid water…
Turning round again he pretended he had not noticed anything untoward as he peeled himself away from the stone surround of the fountain and walked over to the house entrance. He must call Coira to come and see this phenomenon and tell him what it was. It was really not the normal way for a fountain to conduct itself!
The splashing grew louder, then he heard the Zhadar calling down from the rooftops, and felt a wave swirl round his legs. In an instant it had pulled him off his feet and he disappeared into the water, spluttering madly.
Coira opened her eyes, having felt something cold on her forehead. Mallenia was sitting next to her, wiping her face with a damp cloth. “This time you’re looking after me,” she said, weakly.
“You have heatstroke,” replied the Ido girl. “Rodario should have been taking better care of you.”
“You had a talk with him, I heard.”
Mallenia passed her something to drink. “I told him that we had agreed to share him.”
The maga felt giddy. “But he was not to be told anything at all!” she protested. “You’ve broken our agreement on purpose.”
“It didn’t make sense otherwise. One of these days he was going to work out for himself that we women had made common cause and that we were in charge, not him. He can take out his anger on me. It’s not your fault.”
Coira sighed and emptied her glass. “So that’s why he was shouting.”
“He looked so cute,” the Ido girl said dreamily. “He was as helpless as a young child again. You would have given him to me straightaway if you’d seen him like that.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw something move in the shadows in a corner where a pile of bricks was stacked. Hadn’t they moved too? They seemed to have formed a little tower. She furrowed her brow. “It’s this confounded heat,” she said. “I can’t take the heat.”
“What did Rodario say?”
“He said he’d have to think about it.”
“I knew it! Now he’ll reject both of us!” Coira sat up where she had been lying. “That really wasn’t very bright.”
“Keep calm,” Mallenia told her, clasping her hand. “He has a head on his shoulders and will soon realize what he is being offered. What we have offered him. If he throws this opportunity away, he’s too stupid to be companion to either of us.”
The maga thought hard, then smiled shyly. “Maybe. I don’t fancy stupid men.”
Mallenia caught another movement in the same corner.
The bricks were actually moving closer together. She stared at the place intently.
The bricks were forming stacks and piling up wildly. They shaped a leg, but then the supply ran out, so square bricks broke out of the wall as if following some silent command.
Coira’s attention was caught by this movement, too. The brick creature was growing taller by the minute and, at the same time, the fabric of the walls was becoming steadily more damaged, until they started to cave in. Outside, the Zhadar were shouting.
Mallenia dragged the maga up, seeing giant cracks appear in the roof above their heads. “Let’s get out! Quick! The building’s going to collapse!”
The two girls ran to the door-but they were met by a wall of water with Rodario swimming within it, trying to get out.
The rear of the building crashed down.
“Get out through the window at the back,” the Ido ordered, tugging Coira along. “Didn’t you say there was no magic here?”
The maga had no answer. The shock was overwhelming, as was the realization that she must bear the responsibility and guilt for allowing their party to walk into a trap.
XXVI
Girdlegard,
Former Queendom of Sangpur,
Southwest,
Spring, 6492nd Solar Cycle
“Is it still tailing us?” Ireheart turned left and found himself in a wider lane that seemed unfamiliar. How did that happen? They appeared to have got lost trying to escape. “This confounded maze!”
“No,” Slin called out, bringing up the rear. “I can’t see it anymore.”
“I know why,” barked Balyndar, stopping in his tracks and grabbing Ireheart by the collar. “It’s in front of us!”
The creature made of shields, spears, daggers, knives, swords and countless other weapons rounded the corner. It had taken on a shape vaguely like a scorpion with six sets of pincers snapping open and shut.
“Charming,” said Slin, pointing to the right. “Get in here. The alley will be too narrow for it.”
“Then it’ll just turn itself into a snake,” Ireheart replied in a fury. “It can pursue us wherever we go. Running away is no use at all.”
“Yes it is. It means we stay alive until we’ve thought of a way to outwit it,” wheezed the fourthling.
“Shoot it with your crossbow,” Balyndar snapped. “You’re never able to keep up with us, anyway.”
Ireheart was racking his brains. Only magic would get them out of this spot, but if they could not find their way back to the queen they were wasting their time. All this running was tiring them out and the steel creature would fall on them and scrape the flesh off their bones. He caught sight of his own crow’s beak dangling at the end of the poisonous sting. Balyndar’s morning star was next to it. “What works with iron?” he mused wildly, getting nowhere.
“Rust?” suggested Balyndar sarcastically.
“An enormous magnet,” said Slin.
“What a great idea! And where do you propose we get one of those? Can you find us a pulling-stone big enough to attract and immobilize four hundred sackfuls of iron and steel?” the fifthling mocked.
“And what about the rust idea? Where’d you get that all of a sudden?” Slin snarled back.
The creature was drawing close, so they had to charge on.
Ireheart thought the pulling-stone idea was not to be discounted. Such magnets were fashioned from a mineral that made most metals, including iron, stick to it. Only gold, silver and other precious metals were unaffected. But to stop this enemy we’d need a whole mountain of magnets. It’s a waste of time just hanging around waiting for a miracle. Time is one thing we don’t have.