Enchanter (35 page)

Confused, Axis thought he must have somehow transferred back in time to the vision he had seen of Rivkah, young, lovely and pregnant.

But the woman who turned to him was Azhure, not his mother. But like Rivkah, her waist was thickened with midterm pregnancy.

She opened her eyes, and they widened as she caught sight of him.

Axis opened his mouth, unsure what to say, when a deep and musical voice boomed about him. "Are you true?"

"Yes, dammit!" Axis snapped without thinking, and the bridge, offended, muttered grumpily to herself.

"Azhure? Azhure?" He took one step forward, then just stood and held out his hand.

Azhure stood motionless, still too shocked to move or speak. Somehow she had always thought Axis would stride in across the bridge, and Azhure would meet him serenely, invulnerable behind her uniform and her position as commander in his army. They would talk about the baby sensibly, adults discussing the unexpected outcome of their Beltide excess. They would come to a civilised and utterly mature arrangement whereby Axis would still love and teach his child but neither it nor Azhure would stand between him and Faraday.

Indeed, Azhure could tell him about Belial's proposal, which would solve all their problems, and Axis would be comforted that Belial could relieve him of this small embarrassment.

. But here she stood, her hair down, barefoot and only a thin nightgown between her and Axis. There he stood, his face looking tired and strained, his entire body slumping with weariness, but holding his hand out to her as he had on Beltide night, and, oh, curse him! she could feel her blood surge as strongly as it had that night. All she wanted to do was to run light-footed across the space between them and let him hold her and comfort her and tell her that he loved her.

But he did not love her, and that thought alone managed to keep Azhure at a reasonably safe distance.

"Axis," she said in a voice considerably calmer than she felt. "Welcome to Sigholt."

Axis stood there, his hand extended, then strode the distance between them and hugged her tight.

Sicarius, watching from the door, sat up, but otherwise made no move towards the pair. He could feel the pull of their blood each to the other.

"Azhure," Axis whispered. "What have I done to you?" His hand, trembling, gently passed over her rounded abdomen, feeling the tug of the baby's blood.

"What any man will do to any woman when he lies with her at the right moment," she said, too lightly.

"Azhure," Axis asked, "what's wrong?"

"Oh, Axis." Azhure's voice was artificially cheerful as she disentangled herself. "I am sorry that I have presented you with this complication. I can assure you that I won't try to tie you down. Perhaps," Azhure's voice broke a little under the strain, "we can talk about this slight embarrassment in the morning, when you are rested."

Complication? Embarrassment? Axis couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Did she think she was any of these things? But he could see her discomfort, and was scared that she would dart away any moment.

"You're right, Azhure. It would be better if we could talk about this in more congenial surroundings. Do you know if there are quarters prepared for me?"

Azhure relaxed. "Yes, of course. Belial has kept the main apartment complex prepared, awaiting you. Axis, you cannot know how pleased all will be at your return. And there is so much to teD you!"

"Then show me these quarters, Azhure. I am sure that Belial will keep me busy in the morning. And I, as well, have news to share."

Azhure led him down the stairs, Axis raising his eyebrows at the huge hound which clattered after them, but making no other comment. Azhure chatted brightly, telling Axis some of what had been going on in the Keep in his absence.

Axis answered in monosyllables, his eyes drifting every few steps to her thickened body. She was going to make him a father! Axis felt light-headed — no other woman had ever done this for him. A father. The thought sobered him. He would not fail this child. This child would know its father. It would have no cause for doubts. No cause for nightmares.

The corridors were quiet, deserted at this time of the night, and no-one was there to see Azhure let Axis into the main apartment complex.

"Come in, Azhure," Axis said easily, "and help me light the lamps. Besides, there is something I have to say to you."

The main apartment suite consisted of several chambers grouped about a central one, where Axis and Azhure now stood. It was richly furnished with warm, mellowed woods and draped and cushioned in yellow and crimson damask. To one side a door to an equally opulent bedchamber stood ajar. The hound settled quietly by the door, his golden eyes on his mistress. "Azhure?"

She turned from the lamp she was lighting and smiled. "Yes?"

"How long have I been gone? Or should I," he grinned, "hazard a guess from the roundness of your belly?"

Azhure coloured. "It is the first week of Bone-month, Axis."

He sighed and turned away, rubbing his face tiredly. "Late. I had not thought to be gone so long. There is so much to be done."

"You will need your rest," Azhure said, putting down the lamp she was carrying and starting to edge for the door. The sooner she was gone from here the better.

Axis toyed with the fringe of a lampshade. "Azhure, there is one more thing I would ask of you," he said. "Yes?"

Axis raised his pale eyes. "Stay with me. Be my lover." Her whole body stiffened. "No, I cannot," she whispered. Why had she let herself be caught like this?

Axis walked over, his eyes locked in Azhure's. She went rigid as he approached, but he walked straight past her, his arm brushing hers, closed the door, and turned back. "And why is that? Why can you not stay?"

Azhure had spent months putting her arguments together for this moment.

Where were they now? Increasingly desperate, she blurted, "Because I am a simple peasant girl and you are an Icarii Enchanter."

Axis took a step closer to Azhure. "The simple peasant girl stayed behind in Smyrton," he said, "and before me is the woman who has mastered the Wolven."

And the woman who sent me reeling among the Stars at Beltide. Would he feel the Star Dance through her body again when he lay with her? "Stay with me.

Dance with me."

Azhure swallowed. "I am mortal, short-lived, and you will live for hundreds of years. You have seen how StarDrifter and Rivkah's marriage foundered on this. There is no hope for us. No hope."

Axis stepped yet closer. "I may be dead in a year or less, Azhure. What does a five-hundred-year lifespan count for when events of such magnitude threaten to envelop us all? And we are not StarDrifter and Rivkah. Stay with me." He smoothed a tendril of hair back from her cheek.

Azhure took a deep breath and closed her eyes, balling her hands into fists as she tried to ignore the soft stroking of his fingers. "Faraday," she said tightly.

Axis kissed the tender spot at the junction of her jaw and neck. "Faraday is many months and marry leagues away. Stay with me."

"Faraday loves you!" She felt his teeth against her skin, and it brought memories and desires flooding back.

"Faraday's love for me does not stop her sharing her bed with Borneheld.

Stay with me."

"Faraday loves you, and you her!"

Axis laughed softly and untied the laces of her nightgown. "What is love, Azhure? Can you tell me? Stay with me. Dance with me."

He tilted Azhure s head and kissed her mouth. "It is too late to be talking of remaining true when you stand here heavy with my child. Besides, Faraday is a noblewoman, a lady of court. She accepted my previous lover and she will accept you. Stay with me."

"Axis, do not ask this of me!"

"Azhure." He leaned back slightly, his hands slowly pulling the nightgown down over her shoulders and breasts, his fingers stroking. "What reason is there for you to go? You are my friend and my helpmeet, my ally. You fill my eyes and my thoughts. You carry my child. And you love me - you cannot deny that.

Would you deny me my child, deny the child its father? What reason is there to go? Stay with me. Feel the power of the Star Dance through my fingers, through my hands, through my body. Be my lover."

Azhure could not resist. She had fought as best she could. Axis was right, Faraday was far away, and Azhure would deal with it when she had to.

"Yes," she whispered, and in his darkened corner of existence the Prophet laughed loud and merrily.

They lay still and quiet on the bed, both awake, both unwilling to slip into sleep and waste the night in unconsciousness. After a while Azhure felt Axis'

hand caress her belly again, and she finally spoke.

"Axis, the baby hardly moves. They say that you must sing to it, awaken it, teach it."

Axis kissed her cheek. "Our child is a boy. I can feel it."

"You can? A boy?" Azhure laughed, and her own hand stole down to her belly. "A son."

Axis smiled at her excitement. "What would you like to call him? If I am to sing to him, awaken him, we should really grace him with his name."

Azhure rolled over a little so that she faced Axis. "You would let me name him? Don't you want to name him yourself?"

Axis gendy ran his hand around her back, slowly stroking her skin, feeling the ridged scars. She had endured so much pain already in life, so much rejection, so much uncertainty. And now she had carried his child for over six months without any support from him. "Tell me what you would like to name him."

Azhure did not have to think about it. "Caelum."

"Why Caelum?"

"When I was a small girl, after my mother had left me," Azhure said, "there was a blacksmith who would come to Smyrton every two weeks to ply his trade.

A big man. Dark. He called himself Alayne and he was kind to me. He told me stories, and for many years he was the only friend I had. Caelum...Caelum was the hero of his favourite story. The name is appropriate, surely. It means,"

"Stars in heaven, Azhure, I know what it means," Axis murmured. He had thought he'd led a lonely life, but his loneliness was nothing compared to the misery of Azhure's childhood. He had enjoyed the love and support of so many Brothers within the Seneschal, not the least Jaytne himself. All Azhure had were the fortnightly visits of a blacksmith who was occasionally kind to her and who told her stories of mythical heroes.

"Caelum is a fine name," he said finally.

"Axis," Azhure suddenly said. "Promise me you will never steal this baby to give to Faraday to raise!"

Axis sat up on his elbow, appalled. How could she think that he would do such a thing? Unbidden, StarDrifter's words from many months ago in Talon Spike echoed through his mind, "In ages gone past Icarii birdmen simply took the babies of human—Icarii unions and never spared a thought for the women who had struggled to birth their children." Did Azhure fear he would do that to her?

"Listen to me," he said, his voice rough with emotion. "I will never take our son from you. Both of us have suffered because our parents were torn from us.

Do you think that I would perpetuate the same pain on our son? Azhure, hear me, I swear on everything I hold dear that I will never, never, take our son from you. Believe me!"

Azhure finally let go of her fears. She reached up and cupped Axis' face in her hands. "Then awaken our son, Axis, and tell him that his parents love him dearly and will never desert him!"

Axis sat up and pulled Azhure against him. He put his arms around her and placed his splayed hands over her belly. "Awake, Caelum," he said clearly, and began to sing. Azhure closed her eyes and let his Song envelop her, feeling their baby - Caelum - stir to wakefulness in her womb. He twisted and turned so his entire body pressed against the outer wall of her womb, as close to Axis' hands as possible. The sensation was so exquisite it went way beyond the description of words.

How could she ever have considered Belial's proposal? Azhure wondered.

How could she ever have believed she could walk away from Axis? Beltide had been a point beyond which there was no turning back. No longer would she attempt to deny her love for this Enchanter who held her now.

Rivkah had told Azhure that it was a tragedy for a human woman to love an Icarii Enchanter, to be entrapped in a love which would cause only pain, but Azhure hoped these months with Axis and their son in Sigholt would somehow store up enough love and happiness to see her through the inevitable suffering.

Azhure's body relaxed completely against Axis', letting the rhythm of the Song he was singing wash through her, feeling her baby respond to his father.

After a long while Axis stopped, and he smiled and whispered into Azhure's ear. "You have grown a wonderful son within your body, Azhure. Speak to him.

Speak to your son. He loves you and would hear your voice."

"Me? But I thought it was only the Icarii father who could speak to babes still in the womb. Me? Why would he want to listen to me?"

"He loves you," Axis repeated, smiling against her ear. "You are his hero. He will hear you. He is awake."

Azhure slid her hands down over her belly, and Axis' covered hers. What would she say? Slowly, hesitantly, then with more confidence and joy, Azhure spoke to her son.

"Let Fly the Standard!'

w^v ivkah hurried along the corridors of Sigholt, i_^ increasingly fretful. She had woken early to find JL. ^^.Azhure gone, her side of the bed stone cold. Her clothes were still lying draped casually across the chair -Azhure was still in her nightgown. Had she gone for a midnight stroll through Sigholt and suffered some mishap - a fall perhaps? Was Azhure now lying injured some place?

Rivkah turned down the main corridor and hurried towards the stairwell that led to the roof. She halted by the door to the main apartment. The door was closed and nothing seemed amiss. But there was something...different.

Rivkah suddenly realised what it was as the faint odour of lamp oil registered. Had Azhure gone in there? Was she now asleep — injured, perhaps -

on the floor? Rivkah gripped the door handle and stepped into the central chamber.