to go north. To Gorkenfort —”
Sudden emotion flared in Faraday’s eyes, but Drago did not see it.
“— where,” his mouth thinned, “I must meet with my mother. My ‘ancestral mother’. Do you know what this means?”
Emotion relaxed to puzzlement in Faraday’s eyes, but she did not question him. She shook her head. “What else?”
“And you are to find that which Noah lost,” Drago continued. “He said you would know what he meant.”
“Katie’s Enchanted Song Book,” she said. “It will, I believe, be a help against Qeteb.”
At the name of the Midday Demon, Drago stared into the trees at Faraday’s back.
He took a deep breath. “Faraday, Noah told me Tencendor must die and Qeteb must walk. How can I let this be? Gods, how can I let this?”
Faraday stared at him, almost unable to believe what he’d said, then she collected herself and gave him a brief hug. But all she could think of was the land dying, the trees toppling, the lakes disintegrating, the dust drifting … drifting …
She turned her head aside, not wanting him to see the tears in her eyes.
“It must be,” Drago repeated in a soft voice. He was still staring into the forest, almost unaware of Faraday, and certainly completely unaware of her own distress. “Whatever it takes, I will let nothing, nothing, stand in my way. I came back through the Star Gate to help Caelum and to save this land, and damn me to the pits of the AfterLife if I cannot repair the horror I helped sow.”
Faraday jerked her gaze back to his face, disturbed by his determination without quite knowing why. Drago would let nothing stand in the way of his quest. Tencendor would always come first in his affections and loyalties.
The land would always come first.
Faraday had known another man like that, and had been hurt beyond compare by him.
She turned away and walked back to the donkeys.
They took four days to move back to Zared’s camp. They could have moved faster, but both wanted to put off the moment when they would have to share their grim news with Zared. Both Drago and Faraday, each driven to chronic loneliness by either circumstance or choice, also needed the time to forge the bonds of a friendship that would prove comforting, but not taxing or dangerous or potentially painful.
Both found themselves very much aware of the other, and aware of the other’s reaction. For one that was a welcome surprise, for the other a frightening and unacceptable risk.
“Can you tell me what happened with Gorgrael?” Faraday asked one day as the thin Snow-month sun filtered down through the forest canopy and she caught Drago watching her from the corner of an eye. The lizard rode with her that day, curled up behind her back, snuggled between Faraday’s warmth and that of the donkey.
Drago nodded. His passage back through the Star Gate had shattered all the enchantments that had crippled his memories. “I came to awareness early.” His voice was very quiet. “I was growing in Azhure’s womb, RiverStar wrapped tightly about me. Maybe the third or fourth month of life. I knew even then that I had … that I had a task. I believed I should be Axis’ heir. I knew it!”
He turned to stare at Faraday. “I cannot know how. But I knew it. I was so stupid. I imagined a life full of greatness and pride, of reverence and of muscle-throbbing power. I thought of thrones and courts and the masses of Tencendor spread at my feet.”
Drago’s eyes slipped back to the path before them. “I understood the power of both my parents. I revelled in it. And I thought to be twice as powerful as them because in me was combined the power of both.
“And then … then I became aware of Caelum. Gods, Faraday, you cannot know the resentment that swept me! Another son? Born before me? A son that my mother rocked to her breast, only thin layers of flesh between us. A son that my father tossed high in the air and proclaimed StarSon.
“I thought that title should have been mine.”
To that Faraday said nothing. But now? she wondered. Now?
Drago glanced at Faraday, his mouth crooked. “Of course, I set about my ambitions all the wrong way. I wanted to escape from that womb and set things to rights so badly. The moment I knew I could survive beyond it I beat my way out, dragging RiverStar with me.”
“You almost killed Azhure.”
“I know that now. Then, I did not care. She was useless. She had done her task in breeding me.”
“And so you conspired with Gorgrael?”
Drago was silent a while before he replied, and when he did his voice was distant. “Yes. So then I conspired with Gorgrael. With his help, I hoped to be rid, not only of Caelum, but also of my parents. One or both of them would surely die in Caelum’s rescue.”
“You underestimated Azhure.”
“Yes. I surely did.” Drago sighed. “Gorgrael’s mind was so easily manipulated. My success with him blinded me to the fact that my parents might have greater power.”
“You were very stupid.”
Drago stared at her, but let the remark lie. “Then I almost ruined Caelum. Now I will do my best to help him.”
“Of course you must,” Faraday said, and Drago glanced at her, trying to interpret her remark.
But her face was in shadow, and he could not read her expression.
As soon as Drago looked away, Faraday spoke again. “If circumstance shows you a path that is distasteful, Drago, but one that will result in a freed Tencendor, will you take it?”
He took a long time to reply. “Stop trying to convince me that —”
“Will you?”
“There is only one person who can persuade me to —”
“Then Caelum will do that,” Faraday said.
Drago’s face closed over. “I can hardly imagine that ever being the case. He rightly loathes me.”
“Will you do whatever you have to in order to aid Caelum and Tencendor?”
“Yes!”
“Then that is enough,” Faraday said. “No-one can ever ask more of you.”
Drago sat on his donkey and wondered if he had just been outwitted. She was as smooth-tongued as WingRidge. He suddenly grinned, dissipating the tension between them. “You retain the sharp skills of a Queen immersed in court intrigue, Faraday.”
She laughed softly. “Naturally. One never knows when they will come in handy.”
“We worry,” said a soldier by the name of Gerlien.
“I know,” Zared answered, rubbing the bridge of his nose between forefinger and thumb. He’d hardly slept the past few nights. “But —”
“Sire? We do not know if our wives and children are safe or wander the plains demented. We must find out.”
To one side, Askam lounged against a tree and watched. Zared had command. So be it. He could deal with this nasty mess, then.
“We must wait for Drago and Faraday to —”
“How much longer must we wait?” Another man stepped forward from the group facing Zared.
“What do you propose?” Zared snapped. “That we just march out into the plains? How long do you think we would last before one of the Demons’ miasma found us? There is no shelter out there, and at least two weeks between us and Carlon!”
“Zared, hush one moment.” Leagh stepped to her husband, and took his arm, although she kept her eyes on the knot of men before