Jianna laughed. ‘Would you really like to know what she was? I met her once. She was a Joining — a Jiamad — created by men. She wore gloves to disguise her talons, and long-sleeved gowns to hide the fur.
And, yes, she was gifted — but not gifted enough to read a future a thousand years after her death.’ She turned her dark gaze on Memnon. ‘And what of Decado? I take it from your expression that he is not dead?’
‘No, Highness. He met Skilgannon, and together they killed three of my Shadows.’
‘Your invincible Shadows? Three of them?’ He thought she was going to become angry. Instead she smiled. As always the shock of her smile caused his breath to catch in his throat. It was exquisite, stunning. Even without the vile drawback of sexual arousal Memnon felt the extraordinary power of her beauty.
‘It is amusing, Highness?’ he managed to ask.
‘Only to me. The man I knew would not be killed by such creatures.’
‘Decado warned him. They were ready. The next time it will be different.’
‘There will be no next time. I do not want Olek killed. You understand me, Memnon? That man was -
is — the love of my life. If I can speak to him he will return to me.’
‘Of course, Highness. The Shadows were following Decado. It was mere happenstance that he was with Skilgannon and the others.’
‘Is he still with them?’
‘No, Highness. He rode north.’
‘And Olek?’
‘A woman with them was killed in the earthquake. They buried her and also headed north.’
‘Not my Reborn?’
‘No, Highness. A peasant from Petar.’
‘Good. What is their destination?’
‘Skilgannon seeks the lost temple,’ Memnon told her.
‘Of course he does. Haven’t we all? He will find the twisted crater that remains. Then he will seek to come after me. He will not succeed. Even if he reaches me he will be unable to kill me. I know him. I know his love for me.’
‘Then you also know how resourceful he is,’ put in Unwallis.
Memnon watched the Eternal closely, seeing her smile fade, and her dark eyes narrowing. ‘Yes, I do, Unwallis. And you are right to remind me of it. Skilgannon is unlike any other man I ever knew. He failed at nothing. Even at the tender age of sixteen he evaded the skills of trackers and assassins. By twenty-one he had won every battle he fought. Once, with only a handful of men, he assaulted a citadel, and killed a man I believed to be the finest swordsman alive. He should not be underestimated -
especially by me. Send a regiment of Eternal Guardsman and their Jiamads to the temple site. They can take ship from Draspartha.’
‘Yes, Highness.’
‘Now to more immediate matters. The army should cross the mountains within the next three days. I will ride with them. We will crush Agrias once and for all.’ She turned to Unwallis. ‘Now leave me. I wish to talk to Memnon.’
He looked crestfallen, but merely bowed and backed away. As the door closed behind him Jianna raised her arms above her head and stretched. Then she sighed. ‘We will talk on the balcony,’ she said.
Memnon followed her out into the fading light. She beckoned him to a wicker chair. He waited for her to seat herself, then slightly raised his gown and perched on the edge of his chair. He had no wish to stretch the gown, and spoil the line.
‘Has he bedded her yet?’ she asked.
He noted the jealousy in her voice. It was surprising. He had never known her show such emotion.
‘No, Highness. It is obvious they have great attraction for one another, but there has been nothing. .
carnal.’
She laughed. ‘You make the word carnal sound like something stuck to the bottom of a boot.’ The smile faded. ‘So, she is a virgin still. Good. I always enjoy being a virgin again.’ Jianna sat silently for a while. Then she spoke again. ‘When you watched him did he speak of me?’
Memnon had known this moment would arrive. He had planned to lie, but now that he had observed the depth of her feelings for the man he decided the truth would be far more potent. ‘Yes, Highness. I don’t think you would like to hear it, however.’
‘I will judge that! Speak!’
‘The Reborn now knows of her origins. She asked Skilgannon about you. He said you had been corrupted by power, and had become evil, and that he would do everything he could to end your reign.’
‘Yes, that is my Olek! A true romantic. Good and evil as separate as night and day. It will be so wonderful to see him again.’
Her response shocked him. ‘You are not angry?’
‘I might as well be angry at the sun for shining too brightly. Olek is an unusual man. He had great intelligence, and yet he insists on seeing the world in a basically simple way. He looks at my Reborns and no doubt says that I steal their bodies and banish their souls. Quite true. However, I look at those Reborns and say, “But they would not exist, save for my bones and my blood. Without me they would have had no life at all. They would never have been born. Therefore I have given them twenty years of life they would otherwise never have experienced. I have loaned them a part of my life. When the loan period is up I take it back.” Equally true. You think I am evil, Memnon?’
‘I do not know what evil is,’ he answered.
‘When you send out your Shadows to kill a rival, is that evil?’
‘I expect the rival would think so. Would you mind if I stood, Highness?’
‘Not at all.’
Memnon rose and smoothed his hands down the sides of his gown. ‘The material stretches badly,’ he explained.
Reaching up she took hold of his mutilated hand. ‘How are your Reborns faring?’
‘All dead, but one. And he will not last the winter.’
‘No more mutilations, Memnon. You are having difficulty walking now. How many toes have you taken?’
‘Two from each foot. I must find a way, Highness. Or I too shall be dead.’
‘Not for some years yet, my dear. There is still time.’
‘There is something wrong, and I cannot find it. The artefacts are flawless, and everything is fine until the children reach eight, sometimes nine. Then the cancers begin. They are eaten alive by them.’
‘I recall that you yourself were the only survivor of the. . the family created by Landis. The other children also died. In the end he used all the bones he found.’
‘That is a great shame,’ he said. ‘Perhaps with them I could create a more perfect duplicate.’
‘I do not think so. The bones were not human, Memnon.’
‘What?’ He was shocked. ‘Landis told me he found the remains of a great wizard from the past.’
‘Yes, he did. There was enormous excitement. According to legends the wizard, a man named Zhujow, made a pact with a demon lord. He was being hunted by a knight named Rulander. Zhujow called on the demon to give him the power to defeat the knight. The demon changed Zhujow into a Joining. Rulander still slew him. It was the bones of the Joining Landis discovered. That is why it was so difficult for him to refine the process and produce you. I still do not know how he did it, but I recall the horrors of his first attempts. One child clawed its way from the womb of the mother. Both died. Others were born hideously deformed and had to be destroyed. Then you arrived. Almost perfect.’
‘Why was I never told this before, Highness?’
‘When you were young Landis believed the knowledge would have a detrimental effect on you. As you grew older. .’ she shrugged, ‘the subject just never arose. Is it helpful to know?’
‘It could be. It might explain why the children’s bodies become so unstable. I need to study more.
Unwallis has become fascinated by Landis Kan’s journals of his experiments with Skilgannon. For myself I prefer the more detailed journals I have discovered in the artefacts chamber. They are more concerned with the various refinements he made.’