Their contradictions drained her. Bladebreak, Yargazon, Zeikthey kept touching her, a caress or kiss, even their voices softening, as if they had a right to those intimacies, as if what they felt was affectionyet the threat of violence saturated their behavior. With Yargazon, the brutality was deliberate, but she didnt think the others even realized it. Bladebreak didnt think twice about stroking the consort of the prince regent while his own wife slept nearby. The imbalance in their culture, with so many men for every woman, sexualized everything. They acted as if they thought it gave their women an intolerable power over them. They couldnt see her as human, only as a threat.
What astounded her wasnt that Markus had absorbed those ideas, but that he tried to move past them. Maybe having known Ardoz helped him understand Allegra, because he had already once stepped outside the rigid constraints on love in his own culture.
Bladebreak idly slid his hand over Allegras fist. Then he said, “Are you holding something? He pried open her hand and took the dodecahedron. “Whats this?
“A good luck charm. Her pulse leaped. “Please dont take it.
“Why not? Maybe I should keep it.
“Ivan, give it back to her. Ardoz brushed the curls off his patients forehead. “Drummer? he asked. “Can you hear me?
The prince stirred, but didnt open his eyes.
“If you wake up, Ardoz said, “I can give you some water.
Drummers lashes lifted, then lowered.
Bladebreak held up the dodecahedron, examining the small block. “Why should I give anything back to her?
Ardoz looked up at the shapeand Allegra knew with terrible certainty that he had either learned or deduced the truth about how she made spells. She felt dizzy with fear, for if he revealed her, she had no doubt Bladebreak would retaliate against the “witch.
“Ivan, stop tormenting her, Ardoz said. “Let her have the toy. With amusement, he said, “Unless you like playing with childrens blocks.
“Very funny, Bladebreak said sourly. He pushed the block into Allegras hand. She sagged with relief, afraid to look at Ardoz or do anything that might spur him to change his mind about revealing her.
Bladebreak motioned at Drummer. “Ask him about the army. Sometimes people talk when theyre asleep.
Ardoz brushed the curls off Drummers forehead. “Tell me, golden prince. What is kindle powder?
“For saints sake, Bladebreak said. “Ask something useful.
“You never know what will be useful. Ardoz spoke to Drummer in a soothing voice. “You can talk to me, princeling. I wont hurt you. Tell me about kindle powder.
Drummer shifted and murmured in his sleep.
“What was that? Ardoz lowered his head. “Gum?
“Gunpowder, Drummer mumbled. “Doesnt work
“Powder? Bladebreak asked. “What, he needs womens cosmetics? Hes not beautiful enough already?
Allegra thought Drummer probably meant the gum-powder used in Aronsdale to make paste, but she kept quiet. Reminding them that he came from a country they despised wouldnt help him.
Ardoz massaged Drummers neck under the spill of his curls. “What is gunpowder?
“Called thatin old scrollstales of lost continent.
“Hes telling us folktales, Bladebreak said. “How useful.
“Do you think your powder will ever work? Ardoz asked Drummer.
“Someday Drummer sighed, and his breathing slowed as he sank deeper into sleep.
“Well, you see, Bladebreak said. “If he knew anything, Dusk would have had it out of him by now.
“I suppose. Ardoz moved down to Drummers feet and began changing the bandages. When he uncovered the foot, Allegra cringed. In the shadows, she could just see the stump where his toe had been.
“This is bad, Ardoz said. “He needs a doctor.
“The army doesnt have a doctor, Bladebreak said.
“We can have one brought from the palace.
“Heh. Thats right. Bladebreak gave a relieved laugh. “I keep forgetting we have their resources at our disposal. He rubbed his hand down Allegras back. “We cant leave her without restraints, though. Well take her to Dusk, see what he wants.
No. Allegras sense of panic flared. She couldnt go back to Yargazon. She clenched the dodecahedron and the jagged edges of a spell skittered around her mind, slipping by, slipping by. She had the sleep song in her mind, but she needed to sing, to hear the words, and it would take time to build a spell once she began. But the moment she started, they would gag her.
Frantic, with a force driven by desperation, she sought the only person who had ever spoken to her of mages working together, perhaps the only person alive who could manage such a feat.
Jarid, help me! The plea burst out of her, and she reached with a strength that in normal times, she could never have done.
Nothing.
Please. She whispered the word in her mind. Then, frantic, she shouted the thought. Please! Jarid, help me.
Suddenly the song flooded her mindand she understood. In his fourteen years of blindness, Jarid had achieved what no other mage had ever donehe could make spells simply by envisioning the shape rather than touching it. In his fourteen years of deafness, he had learned to hear in his mind as clearly as if he spoke aloud. He took her song and filled her with it. For one spectacular moment, her song and his power swelled together.
With a groan, Allegra released her spell. She thought she would explode into fragments, burn to ashes, blaze in a million fireworks. She could barely contain the immensity of the power he lent her. And in that instant of union, she thought, Sleep.
The world burst apart. Then the backlash of the spell hit Allegra and oblivion claimed her.
CHAPTER 26
THE SLEEPERS OF ALTAIR
Allegra lifted her head. The world was a blur. Gradually she realized she was lying against someone. Colonel Bladebreak. He had fallen to the side and lay sleeping, one of his legs under her and the other thrown across her body.
It took an effort to push him away and sit up. Drummer lay on his stomach, the blanket covering his hips and legs. Her stomach lurched at the blood that stained the bandage on his foot. But he was breathing more easily than before. Ardoz was sprawled on the carpet, fast asleep, his fingers tangled in the cloth he had used to clean his hand.
Allegra felt slowed and thick. She climbed to her feet, then swayed while nausea swept over her. How long had she slept? The tent was light as if the sun had risen. Werent the armies supposed to be in battle? It had been close to dawn when Bladebreak and Ardoz found her. Surely by now someone had noticed them missing.
She limped to the entrance. Dimly, in the back of her mind, a thought surfaced. She should hide. But she couldnt hold on to the thought. The spell had scorched her mind, seared away her mage gifts and left her dull.
It was quiet outside. Nothing stirred. She saw no people or animals. From the position of the sun, dawn must have been at least an hour ago. She went down a row of tents and passed a sentry snoring on the ground. She kept going through a silent camp, past sleeping soldiers and still tents.
Eventually the tents thinned out, until she was limping across the desert. She had been walking in a haze, aware of only what lay in her path. Now she stared around. Behind her, crags and low hills sheltered the Jazid camp; in front of her, a barren plain stretched out. In the distance, the towers of glorious Quaaz gleamed like an enchanted city out of a mythological tale.
She kept going.
She reached companies of the Jazid army that had been forming up at the edge of the plain in the predawn hours. They were in armor, their swords readyand they all lay on the ground, row after row of warriors. Asleep. Their horses stood by them. Asleep.