Hammer of Time (The Reforged Trilogy) (45 page)

"And what is that?" asked Logan.

"That we may have just lost," Xia answered softly. "The only ground we held over Xartasia was being able to tell the Arcadians that Maeve had a more legitimate claim to the throne than someone who allied with the Devourers. But now they know Maeve's just as bad."

"Maeve made a mistake," Logan snarled. "Xartasia
knows
what she's doing!"

"That is small comfort to the people of Kaellisem," Anthem told the Prian. "The White Kingdom is fallen, they have grieved for a hundred years and now they finally have someone to blame."

"It's not–"

Maeve strode back into the room and everyone fell silent. She glanced at Logan and he replaced Anthem on the fibersteel floor. A little sheepishly, the Prian had to admit. But Maeve no longer hugged her wings to herself. She raised her sharp chin. Logan knew he would be proud of whatever she did next. Maeve handed her com back to Dain, who accepted it with a bob of her head.

"Panna and Ballad have information. Their recruitment efforts on Hadra have not been very successful, but they encountered one of Xartasia's own knights," the queen announced. She raised her hand to forestall any questions. "He is dead. Ballad protected Panna admirably. She was most emphatic on that matter. But before he died, Xartasia's knight told them something. My cousin has those Arcadians she needs, it seems. Her work there is done. Panna believes that her recruiters are now killing any of those who did not join Xartasia."

"Why?" Gripper asked in a small voice. "Why would she do that?"

"Perhaps out of bloody and petty vengeance. Perhaps to keep them away from us," Maeve said. "From me."

"So that's it?" Duaal kicked the couch and then slumped down onto it. "We've lost and Xartasia wins?"

Logan glanced at Anthem. It was impossible to read his expression. Not because it was stony, but because there were too many obvious feelings warring for control. Anger and despair, hope and joy all rippling across Anthem's fine feathers like waves across the sand.

"No," Maeve answered. "We are not finished yet! This knight told Panna that in order for Xartasia to execute her unknown plan, she has taken her people and Devourers to the Tower."

"Tower?" Xia repeated. "What tower?"

"Do you mean the Nnyth Tower?" asked Gripper. "The star wasps?"

Maeve nodded once. "That was Panna's conclusion, as well."

"The Nnyth…" Duke Ferris had sat again, rather pointedly with his back to Logan. The stiff-necked old fairy had never liked Logan and he had just proved himself the brutish, dangerous animal Ferris had always thought him. "You served at the Waygates, Your Majesty. That is known to all now. Then you know the Nnyth's wisdom in those mysteries."

"The Nnyth taught the first Spire Adepts," Maeve said, nodding. "It was from them that the Arcadians learned to use the Waygates."

"Yes, a'shae," Ferris agreed. "None know their ways better. Xartasia used a Waygate on Prianus to summon those Devourers that fly with her now. Perhaps she intends to bring more into the galaxy."

"But why go to the Nnyth for that?" Gripper asked. "Aren't there a bunch of Waygates left in the White Kingdom? She could use any of them."

"And that doesn't explain what she needs Arcadians for," Xia added. "When you said that no one understands Waygates better, that's just not true. As far as we know, the Devourers built them in the first place. They would know the most about the gates. What could she ask the Nnyth that the Devourers wouldn't know more about?"

"I do not know," admitted Ferris.

"The flight out to the galactic rim is long," Logan said thoughtfully. "That's not a journey she would want to make unless absolutely necessary. Whatever Xartasia's up to next, she's very sure that it's going to work. Everything up until now has been to make this move."

"How can you know that?" Ferris asked, finally looking at Logan again.

"He is right," Anthem interrupted. "Titania… Xartasia… is a clever and careful woman. She will not cast a hundred stones and just hope that one strikes her target. The Nnyth are the most ancient and powerful race of the galaxy – perhaps excepting the Devourers, but I know little of them – but even the Jinn cannot claim them as friends. Even in the days of the White Kingdom, we did not simply arrive unannounced at the Nnyth Tower."

"We need to go to the Tower," said Maeve. "We must discover Xartasia's plan there and stop it, if we can. Space is vast and dark on the edge of the galaxy. The Blue Phoenix has reached the Nnyth Tower undiscovered once before."

"When we first brought back the phenno for Xyn," Duaal said. He smiled sadly at Maeve. "That was your first time on the Phoenix. Tiberius hired you as a guide."

She smiled, too. It was a raw, painful thing and tears rolled down Maeve's cheeks at the memory of their dead friend. Logan felt it, too. Tiberius had been a good man. He deserved better than to be killed by Gavriel… but he had fallen fighting Duaal's tormentor, fighting for the honor of the boy who had been Tiberius' son in all but name. That, at least, was proper. It was right.

"We'll need to pick up a few things from Unbreakers to make the flight," said Duaal. "The Tower is a long way, even from Stray. But we can refuel in Gharib and be in the black inside a day. From there, it should take about a month to get out to the Rynn system on the rim."

"I can shave a few days off if we push the engines," Gripper added. "We just need to load up enough food to make the trip. Let's fly!"

Everyone looked at Maeve. "There may be words traded with the Nnyth," said Duke Ferris. "Who shall serve as your emissary? Who will be your voice, a'shae?"

Maeve paused. Logan recognized the calculating look in her gray eyes. After a moment, she inclined her head to the duke. "If you will agree, Your Grace, then I would like you to stand for me."

Duke Ferris' wings rustled and he beamed with pride. "Of course, my queen. It would be my greatest honor."

"Wait, why isn't Glass coming out to the Tower with us?" Gripper asked.

"She has responsibilities here is Kaellisem," Anthem said. He looked at Maeve. "What of the riots rising in the city? There has already been blood and it is only a matter of time until lives are lost. What do you want us to do, Maeve?"

"They are already at my tower, demanding answers. Gather the rest of Kaellisem there. The theater is in ruins and I must speak to my people."

"What's the point?" Duaal shook his head. "What do you think you can tell them now that will make the least bit of difference?"

"It will be done," Anthem said, saluting Maeve with one long white wing and ignoring Duaal's objections. He took out his com and began relaying orders to his knights.

"You're just torturing yourself," Duaal told Maeve. "Let this simmer down."

"Have you not always told me how appearances matter?" she asked with another small, sad smile that made Logan's heart ache. "A queen is more than the crown she wears or even the blood in her veins. I am no queen without my kingdom. I cannot ignore what they need, Duaal."

"No, I guess not."

Maeve returned her attention to Duke Ferris. "I have recalled Ballad and Panna from Hadra. Their work on that world is done, such as it has been. I will assign the pair to you. Ballad has proved himself a more than capable knight. He will protect you. Panna is intelligent, insightful and organized. She will be an excellent administrator. They should be back on Stray soon."

Ferris' eyebrows crept a fraction of an inch up his weathered face – he could not have liked Ballad much more than he did Logan – but he simply inclined his head. "Yes, Your Majesty. As you wish. I will prepare myself for the journey."

The duke turned and left. Duaal, Gripper and Xia scattered to begin preparations to get the Blue Phoenix into the black, leaving Logan alone with Maeve. And Dain and Anthem. The little handmaiden was helping Sir Anthem count out how many Arcadians each of his knights had to collect. Neither one paid much attention to the queen and the bounty hunter for the moment.

"Logan?" Maeve asked.

"Yes, a'shae?" Logan answered at once. He thought Maeve winced a little.

"I would like you to go with the Blue Phoenix."

Logan's heart was like lead, but he made himself bow. He had no wings to give the proper obeisance. "If that's what you want."

"You are not going to ask me why?"

"Does it matter?"

Maeve didn't answer that. "What happens here in Kaellisem will be for the Arcadians, to help and serve them. But what passes within the Tower, that may save or damn many more lives than that. I need you there. No one in the worlds is stronger than you."

"You are," Logan said before he could stop himself.

Maeve's cheeks burned with color. He turned away and left the mess before the urge to hold her overwhelmed him. Logan felt Maeve's eyes on him as he went.

________

"Yes, Sir Anthem," Syle said into the com. "I will bring them at once."

The yellow-eyed knight keyed off the little device and slid it back into the sash tied around the waist of his armor and returned his attention to the scene below.

A dozen or so Arcadians stood together, back to back and wings overlapping in fragile feathered shields. They were loyalists, those who either did not believe what the rest of Kaellisem said about the queen or – for reasons that eluded Syle – did not loathe her for it. A much larger throng of other winged men and women surrounded them, shouting and closing slowly in on the little ring of loyalists. Most of the aggressors were unarmed, but a few had taken up stones or shards of blackened glass. Pieces of the ruined theater. The disastrous enassui had become a symbol to Kaellisem of Queen Maeve's failure, a sign that the gods themselves decried her reign.

A pair of Gharib police cars circled high over the crowd of Arcadians and then raced off back toward their city without landing. Who had called them? Syle suspected the Dailon man, Vyron, or his wife. They insisted on taking an interest in things that had nothing to do with them. But it didn't matter now. Things were moving too fast. The Gharib police would not risk involvement unless things spilled out of Kaellisem. Syle doubted that would happen… the fairies were leaving, abandoning Queen Maeve in droves. Kaellisem would cannibalize itself within a week, leaving Maeve Cavainna alone and helpless to make any move at all against Xartasia.

Syle smiled. It was almost too easy. A single piece of information whispered into a few pointed ears had done a far better job than weeks of bombs. For all the work Syle had put into a variety of interesting devices, those had failed to topple Kaellisem. Sir Anthem Calloren and Logan Coldhand had proved entirely too clever for Syle's taste. He had assumed that the two men's rivalry for Maeve's affection would distract them more than enough for Syle to finish his work, but both proved more dedicated to their duties – or maybe to the queen herself – than that.

He considered ignoring Anthem's orders. It would be a good time to leave Kaellisem. His work was done, after all. The other knights would notice his absence, of course, but Syle would be long gone by then. He had money enough for a fast ship off Stray and with so many Arcadians on the planet these days. No one would notice the comings and goings of one more. But Syle was a professional. There was no name for his profession, but he took pride in his work. Surely the White Queen herself would have delicately applauded Syle's success.

It was a pity that she would never know the intricate details. By necessity, Syle operated in absolute silence, never once calling back to Xartasia to report his progress. Such long-range communications were logged and recorded at any terminal. Messy. And by the time Syle could tell his queen of his deeds in person, it would be far too late. The story would mean nothing.

Not for the first time, regret panged bitterly in Syle's chest. Perhaps it was for the best that Xartasia would never know what had passed in Kaellisem. The White Queen's heart broke the day her kingdom fell. She never knew that Anthem Calloren had survived the destruction. It was better that Xartasia never found out how he had betrayed her. Syle loved his queen. He would have spared her any pain.

One of the frightened loyalists broke from the ring and darted into the air, trying to escape, but three others leapt and tackled the woman swiftly back to the sandy ground. A low moan went up from the loyalists and then a louder, high-pitched note from the rest of the Arcadians. One of them brandished his sharp, crooked spike of black glass. Syle's smile became a wolfish grin. Better to do the job right. Let Maeve bring her failing people together for more lies. Let her make her empty promises. Let her drive the final spear through her own kingdom.

Syle whistled a sharp note and spread his wings. He dove down into the center of the crowd. Pale red Stray sunlight shone blindingly off his glass armor. Syle raised his spear and sang in a loud voice. "Queen Maeve calls you! It seems she has something to say."

"It's often not important what you do, but what you won't do."

– Vyron Fethru (234 PA)

Maeve flew from the hovering Blue Phoenix to her tower, her knights struggling to keep the growing crowd at bay. Even over the roar of the freighter's engines, she could hear their cries and angry songs. The gold-streaked crystal walls rang with voices. Maeve wanted to cover her ears, but Verra was working urgently on the queen's windblown black hair. She made herself sit patiently as the girl worked. Dain approached with a properly somber gray and red gown, like smoke and flame swirling together. Delicate coal-black embroidery curled around the edges. It was not a new addition to the royal wardrobe, but Maeve had never worn it before. She sighed and patiently let her handmaidens dress her.