by JANRAE FRANK
Perhaps it was not possible for a ruler, even a mere lord, to stand with his feet balanced in two such different worlds – a precarious balance at best. Especially with so powerful an enemy as Galee. Is she the ancient monster? Or merely a younger descendant? Perhaps StealsThunder should give her a hug. StealsThunder was the only Fae who had ever eaten a Lemyari. At least that Tiderider knew of. She claimed that if she sniffed or licked her fingers after touching someone she would know instantly if they were Lemyari because she never forgot a taste. That brought a wry smile to his grim lips despite his sorrow amid the carnage.
Only two rooms remained to be searched in the direction he had last seen Leeza traveling. He felt certain of where he would find her. He neared the rooms Juna had shared with his summerflies. He opened the door to Juna's harem room. There were four opulent gilded beds and matching dressers of walnut heartwood with huge mirrors and elegant claw footed chairs. A long divan in the middle flanked a low table accompanied by over-stuffed chairs suitable for draping oneself over in a seductive manner. A wealth of cushions filled every crevice on the floor, and it was in one of those crevices that Leeza had cornered Pelaui. She had apparently tried to block the rain of Leeza's blows because her arms and hands were cut. It had done her no good. Her chest and stomach bore mute testament to Leeza's fury at their betrayal of Channadar. Tiderider began to search around the room, looking now under the beds. He found no further sign of Leeza.
Sysymi must have fled into Juna's room, which meant he would find Leeza there. Juna's room was bright and airy, full of sky blues and bright golden hues of sunlight, blond woods. Mobiles of birds hung from the ceiling, turning slowly in a breeze from the broken windows. The open bed was plain, a simple thing, covered by a joyful azure spread with golden birds that matched the carpet – a carpet marred by crimson drops of blood. Tiderider followed the blood trail to a deep box of a wardrobe. He paused before the wardrobe, listening to an intermittent thunk of metal against wood and a squish of metal into something softer, and then a dull, detached voice repeating, "You killed him."
Tiderider opened the wardrobe. A dead leg popped out and hung from it, half concealed by the clothing. The golden Fae saw Sysymi's body slumped in one corner and Leeza curled up in the other, striking the dead summerfly with one blade and the bottom of the wardrobe with the other.
"Leeza," Tiderider spoke softly, not wanting to shake her. His hands shot out, snagging her palms, popping the blades from her hands with his thumbs and then snatching them away. He wiped the blades and thrust them through his belt. "He is asking for you. Channadar needs you, Dragonfly."
"He's alive?" Leeza's slanted green eyes fastened on Tiderider, hope flaring in their depths.
"He's badly hurt, but he was alive when they carried him from here."
"Take me to him."
Tiderider helped her from the cabinet. "You look like one of the Faery folk, your hair like that and dressed so fierce." He ruffled the blond hair hanging to her hips.
"Dynarien said that."
"Willodarusson?" Seeing then that she was more composed than he had first suspected, Tiderider drew her blades from his belt. He handed them back to her hilt first and saw the maker's mark. "GimliGloikynen? Blades out of legend, Dragonfly."
"Dynarien Willodarusson gave them to me and the Horn of Sephree as well and many other things. Badree Nym magic."
"Beast repellent. Our folk have gotten hit with those things a few times." His instinct warned him to keep her talking, keep her focused. "Let me tell you, as we walk, about a certain white haired Nym who styles herself Mally the warrior princess and how she bested a creature they call the Beast, but whose name is actually Anksha. Mally rides around on a one-horned goat she pretends is a unicorn, waving a wooden sword."
Leeza's eyes cleared, reflecting a sudden trust. All the games were gone and a different dance had begun. Dynarien said it might; that it could; and it had. She was a dragonfly.
Tiderider pulled the linked crystals from his pocket and put it in her hand, folding her fingers over it.
She frowned for an instant in question, and then her eyes went distant again. Leeza looked up at him in shock. "This crystal ... it's a memory stone."
"When the two are locked together, yes."
Leeza sucked in a long breath, flicked back a strand of waist length blond hair, and met Tiderider's eyes. "He knows about... He really loves me."
Tiderider gave her a slow nod. "His child. And he loves you, Dragonfly. Only the crystal can show you how much."
* * * *
Queiggy leaped off his chair as the Guildsmyn carefully carried the heavily wrapped flattish, long rectangular object into the converted great hall of the appropriated branch wing, followed by others with several chests of objects from the Faes' apartments. They would be storing everything in this wing, except those things that had been specifically designated by Da'Shanagara as going into the great hall the Fae were staying in. The survivors intended to camp here in a single chamber with their wounded lord. The bodies of their slain Chosen lay wrapped in their colors along the farthest wall, including Juna who was cloaked in the colors of Hellsguard, the black with stars, and the white and blue birds of purity and defiance of the darkness they stood fast against.
"What's that?" Queiggy demanded, running his fingers along the fabric, feeling the shielding, which could not keep it from him in his highly sensitized state.
"A very expensive, precious antique mirror, which Da'Shanagara insists must be kept with Lord Channadar at all times." Aramyn eyed Queiggy suspiciously as the wing master appeared to become more agitated by the moment.
"Sneaky! Sneaky! Sneaky!" Queiggy stamped his feet. "Teach me to keep an eye on my relatives."
"You're related to Channadar?"
"Enough over there!" Sha stalked across to them. She had managed to move Channadar into a bed in the corner near the door, with a divan to the side along the wall and given him some privacy with decorative folding screens, the only thing she could find on short notice. The Fae would have it their way and no other. Her patient did not need the noise Queiggy was making. "Take it elsewhere, Queiggy."
Sha noticed for the first time that the Wing Master no longer carried the sword cane. Queiggy walked as straight as the younger myn, a sword belted at his side. The healer had known the mon since she was a child. He had to be at least seventy or eighty and she had watched him grow old; yet she would swear she was now watching him grow younger.
Mikkal moved among the survivors, offering comfort, talking, and listening. The temple had responded as swiftly as the Guild. Everyone had. The whole compound had been thrown into motion by the call of the horn. The survivors had gathered pallets into a circle like the comfort nesting of the lycans, piling them with cushions, pillows, and blankets. Tables had been placed along the outer edges, laden with food, tea, and wine.
Sha had barely started to return to Channadar when Tiderider entered with the blond Fae she had passed on the stairs earlier that night. Then the newcomer's face registered as Tiderider guided her to Channadar, changed somehow, and yet still Leeza. The young mon had, apparently, bleached her hair nearly white and it fell to her waist. Sha did not remember it being that long.
* * * *
The three Chosen, Da'Shanagara, Juniperarrow, and Starsilent, rose from the cushions, approaching without a word to anyone to regard Leeza curiously. She stiffened, her hand tightening on Tiderider's arm, wondering what their expressions meant. He ignored her tension, their looks, and Sha's approach, bringing her to Channadar's side, where he settled her in the closest chair. Tiderider took the crystal from her, and released the two halves. He laid one beside Channadar's face on the pillow and secured the other once more around Leeza's neck.
Sha narrowed her eyes to stare at the mon she had taken for Leeza between the veiling of her lashes to try and part the illusion – if illusion it was – as Tiderider lifted the long white blond hair to slip the silver chain around her neck and clasp it. This had to
be some new trick of the Fae, for this was clearly not Leeza. Or had the firefly been a Fae all along?
Tiderider fastened the other half about Channadar's neck.
As the clasp closed Channadar's eyes opened. "You found ... her?"
"Yes."
Leeza slipped her hand into his, pressed her face against his. She could not miss the purple stain of pollendine on his lips – healers only gave it to the dying. The bottle sat beside a glass on the bedside table. She glanced at Tiderider and saw from his faint flicker of expression that he had noted the pollendine also. Then her attention returned to Channadar.
"Leeza, Dragonfly ... marry me ... now. Mikkal waits."
There would be no secrets, no games. The Chosen stood around them, waiting for her answer. "Yes."
She noticed Tiderider gesture for Mikkal, and she knew then they had all been waiting for her from the first while he searched. Channadar intended to give his unborn son his name before he died. The words were spoken, witnessed, and recorded in utmost simplicity. Despite the brevity of ceremony, it exhausted Channadar.
"I hurt," he said softly.
Leeza glanced around and saw Tiderider pour a measure of the pollendine into a glass, which he pressed into her hand.
Together they got Channadar up enough to let him drink it. "Leeza ... my people ... take care of them... I love you." Then his eyes closed.
Leeza began to cry softly, certain that he would never wake again, and Tiderider withdrew to give them privacy.
* * * *
Tiderider gestured the others away, leaving Leeza alone with his lord. The tall Fae had many matters yet to attend to, the hour approached when Meileilyki would expect to find them before the mirror. Queiggy and Aramyn had seen to the placement of the mirror and chests, awaiting them patiently as they approached with Sha.
"How is Lord Channadar?" Queiggy asked.
Sha shook her head. "I don't expect him to last the night. We've done all we could for him. Only his need for Leeza has kept him alive this long."
"From this moment until the child she carries reaches its majority, Leeza is Mistress of Hellsguard." Queiggy decreed.
"I will inform Mohanja immediately," Aramyn walked out.
Tiderider's eyes turned distant listening to them, his expression reflective as he closed the humans out entirely, like a deadly porcelain doll. "Leave us, Sha. Take your people with you." He saw her mouth begin to shape words and interrupted her before they could escape her lips. "Withdraw your people to beyond the doors at least. This deep within the Wing nothing can reach us. Our lord is dying... We must mourn our losses. Grant mine a few hours alone together."
Sha shared a glance at Queiggy and Mikkal who nodded agreement. Sha drew a black bottle from her pocket and pressed it into Tiderider's hand. "Should he wake in too much pain or wish to have an end to it..."
Tiderider turned the bottle over in his hand. "What is this?"
"The Gentle Path. We give it to those whose death is arriving in too much agony. It gives them an easier death."
Tiderider nodded, shifting the bottle into his own pocket.
Then they gathered their people, leaving quietly through the rear door, giving the Fae their privacy.
Chucomei slid into the shelter of Tiderider's arm, leaning her head against his shoulder, to whisper, "What game is this? Who is she, this Fae? You've persuaded everyone she's Leeza, but she is not Leeza."
Tiderider's lips brushed her dark hair. "In time. Follow my lead and do not question."
The last shrouding remained around the mirror as Tiderider set the final touches in readiness to meet with Meileilyki. They had missed the appointed time yesterday. If they missed too many, the queen might become alarmed and simply attempt to send the units of the Thirteen through the instant the anchoring was in place on the other side. Because the tides of magic were a constantly shifting pattern in Faewin, they had to be monitored and adjusted with great frequency, making permanent gates impossible. Hence their reliance on the mirror and moon gates. The instability had proved to be both a bane and a blessing: although difficult to work with at times, it made the Fae versatile and able to react at a moment's notice. It also made them extremely creative and inventive as well as gamers of great skill: they danced the Great Dance with consummate mastery, combining subtlety and flamboyance.
They laid Juna's body, wrapped in the colors of Hellsguard, before the mirror. Tiderider placed the survivors in seated ranks, the Chosen would stand when the time came and he placed them nearest; their fireflies next, with the fireflies of the slain behind them. Finally he sent Chucomei-Who-Calls-The-Birds with a widowed firefly, who would take Leeza's place sitting with Channadar, to bring her for the meeting.
Leeza started to take her usual place beside Tiderider; instead he set her directly to herself apart from him, taking only Chucomei under his arm. She felt alone, unprotected, and exposed. At his nod, the curtain was drawn. As always the mirror swirled and cleared. Meileilyki stood forth, her brow furrowed, concerned. She dressed in lacquered armor as if prepared for battle. Four units of the Chosen stood ready arrayed around her. Clearly the queen knew the day foreseen had arrived.
"Where are my sons?" Meileilyki demanded.
"My Lady Queen, your son Juna is slain. He died well, defending his brother," Tiderider responded in a formal tone. "Channadar lies grievously wounded. The healer fears he will not survive the night."
Leeza swallowed, her eyes filling. She had feared. They had not spoken those words, yet she had sensed them in his weaknesses, in the stain of pollendine upon his lips, the urgency with which they had been waiting for her to perform the marriage to legalize the child she carried. Until that instant she had been able to hold it in. Now she had to fight for this last bit of stoicism.
Tiderider stepped from Chucomei to her side, taking her hand to draw her closer to the mirror. "This is Dragonfly, Channadar's mate and wedded wife. She carries his child."
Meileilyki regarded her with curiosity, but not disapproval, so her words came as even more of a surprise when she asked, "But what became of his firefly? I swore to care for her. This woman is a trueblood. Where is his firefly?"
Leeza felt totally confused, looking to Tiderider for explanation. He took her hands, placing them gently on the pointed tips of her ears. Her heart skipped a beat, her pulse racing. "Dynarien did this."
Tiderider had the same kind of impish tiny smile that Channadar always got. "When you go to a god for help be careful what you wish for little Fae, you just might get it. Even from a yuwenghau," he whispered and then said to Meileilyki, "For three years we have called her Leeza, as a game, but in truth, she was always Dragonfly. There never was a firefly, but only Channadar's trueblood mate. This is how we hid her."
The other three Chosen came closer, staring as if seeing her for the first time. Da'Shanagara ran his fingers through her hair, head tilted suspiciously. "Trueblood. For three years we've been treating a trueblood like a summerfly and we're only half bloods ourselves. And you put up with it?"
"She plays the game well," Juniperarrow smiled. "Best I've ever seen it played."
Tiderider motioned them back, continuing his talk with Meileilyki, telling her all that happened except the truth of Leeza's origins. The bodies of the slain were passed through the mirror with all reverence and honor.
The queen knelt, flicking back the covering to gaze on Juna's face. "He ended better than he lived. He could not find the balance between the game and the reality. Summerdancers should be kept out of the ranks of the Chosen and sheltered better. His loyalties were never in question, only his wisdom."
"Juna loved his brother." Tiderider bowed his head. No more needed to be said. Juna had fought hard for a place beside Channadar, accepting nothing less. The young half-blood had been impossible to refuse; his love and devotion too great to be denied; and he had died for it. The brothers would soon lie together in death as they had stood together in devotion and love. "The time nears when the hunted must hun
t the hunters."
"Yes." Meileilyki hissed, bending across her son's body. "Yes! I have hurried the anchoring, but it is secure." She gestured, sending the ranks of the Chosen forming up around her. Her spiritmyn began a chant of vengeance and battle, blessing the Chosen. Two priests rose, male and female, Willodarian and Daveranan. Each of the Chosen was marked on their foreheads, cheeks, and chins with green and brown symbols, banyan oil mixed with the paint. Then the Daveranan priest opened her bag of earth and smudged their faces still more. They turned their palms up to receive a bit of earth, which they rubbed together and then along their arms.
* * * *
The council met in an emergency session after word of the attack upon Lord Channadar went out. Sha suspected that Galee had called it or arranged for one of the lords to call it once the horn of Sephree awakened most of the palace. It had spoken only to those who could hear it with their hearts, yet that had been enough to set off a reaction that awakened those who could not hear its call. Sha had been practically dragged in from her bed and Mohanja with her.
They found only Derryl missing and Eshraf. Somehow Galee had managed to exclude the very mon who should be sitting in the Grand Master's place. That frightened Sha. More and more of the lords seemed to be siding with Galee, turning to her for protection when they should be turning to Mohanja.
"My sources says that Channadar is slain," Galee said, regarding Sha closely.
"Channadar was alive when last I saw him," Sha repeated obstinately. "He lived long enough for Mikkal to marry him to his firefly and legalize their child."