TWO

The covert action against Vinz Corvestri was absorbing. For days the project ruled Aureste Belandor’s thoughts, and during that happy term he could almost forget the imminent loss of his daughter. At times her departure seemed nearly unreal, a shadowy menace of the distant future. But the days marched by, and all too soon came a morning to which he awakened with a sense of empty gloom.

He lay on his back in a behemoth of a bed, an elaborately carved ebony extravaganza hung in heavy dark damask, looking up at the arched supports of the tester above. His eyes moved to the center of the vaulted structure, where the initials of the bed’s previous owner, once incised upon a decorative shield, had been chiseled away long ago. He had ordered the initials removed at the behest of his wife, who had otherwise threatened to consign the expensive piece of furniture to the flames. And she, ordinarily the epitome of spineless complaisance, had demonstrated such an uncharacteristic, almost hysterical determination that he had deferred to her wishes upon that one occasion. Even then she had obdurately refused to lie down in it, and the banished Magnifico Onarto Belandor’s best bed had gathered dust for years in a dark storeroom until the Lady Zavilla’s obliging death in childbirth had permitted its reemergence.

He really ought to commission an artisan to restore the damaged woodwork, Aureste reflected for the hundredth time. Not that the rough-hewn reminder of his predecessor’s fall disturbed his repose in the slightest, but the visible defect compromised the worth of an otherwise valuable piece.

Something leaden pressed upon his mind. It took a moment to dispel the mists of sleep and identify the cause. Today was the day. It had come at last. Jianna was going away.

He rose, washed, and dressed himself without summoning assistance, for he could scarcely abide a human or Sishmindri presence at such a time. He wanted nothing to eat, for his normally healthy appetite had failed him; a weakness he did not intend to display at the family table. She would be down there now in the south hall at breakfast with her uncles, an aunt or two, a few resident cousins, a couple of her long-dead mother’s people, and sundry visitors; no Taerleezis among them today. The magnifico’s absence would be noted, but Jianna and Innesq would understand, and theirs were the only opinions that mattered. No need to trade strained pleasantries before an audience of dim-witted kin. He and his daughter had talked at length the previous night, and everything important had been said.

The tolling of a distant bell alerted him. There could be no further delays; she would be leaving within minutes.

Exiting the master suite, he made his way along the corridor, and nothing in his calm face or his swift confident stride hinted at inner perturbation. Down the central stairway, through the grand entry hall, out the front door, and there was the carriage, blazoned with the Belandor arms in silver and drawn by four matched greys. At the bottom of the drive waited the six armed riders assigned to protect the vehicle and its passengers throughout the three days of travel between Vitrisi and the neighboring city of Orezzia.

A fairly sizable group of kinsmen and retainers had gathered at the door to see Jianna off. Nalio and his endlessly dutiful wife were there, no doubt because he imagined that it was expected of them. The youngest Belandor brother looked pasty and puff-eyed in the chill light of early morning. He was attired in a tunic and fashionable parti-colored trunk hose that called unfortunate attention to spindly short shanks. Middle brother Innesq was likewise there, ensconced in his wheeled chair, with a servant to attend him. Innesq never called for Sishmindri assistance with the chair, or with much of anything else, for that matter. His aversion to what he termed “abuse” of the amphibians was idiosyncratic and difficult to fathom.

There were the other insignificant kinfolk present, too, together with random servants. And there at the center of it all was Jianna herself, in a new traveling gown of deep garnet wool and a matching hooded cloak trimmed with wide bands of black fox. Her dark hair had been drawn back into a simple twist, its elegant severity softened by many a curling tendril. She looked at once adult, yet still the child she had been, and so beautiful that his breath caught and for a ridiculous moment his eyes actually misted.

His vision cleared in an instant. He strode forward, and the path to her side opened magically. Gathering his daughter into an embrace, he held her for a moment.

“We’ll have no farewells.” He kissed her brow lightly and released her. “I’ll see you again in just one month. That’s no time at all. We need no farewells for that.”

She nodded. There were tears in her eyes.

“Come, won’t you smile?” Aureste urged. “You will soon be a bride. It’s a happy occasion.”

“Very happy.” She swallowed hard.

“What will it take to make you truly believe that?” He pondered. “Ah, I have it. Time. And not very much time at that, I suspect.”

“I’ll try to think so.”

“How can you doubt? Haven’t you learned in eighteen years that I am always right?”

She managed a genuine smile at that, and amended, “Often right.”

“Shall we compromise and say usually right?”

“Agreed. But just the same, nothing will be truly right in Orezzia until you come.”

“It will only be—”

“And stay for a long, long visit,” Jianna insisted. “Weeks, at the very least. Do you promise? You have to promise.”

“Promise. The Tribaris will think they’ll never be rid of me.”

“Good. That’s the only way I’ll be able to stand this.”

“I thought we just agreed—”

“We did, we did. I haven’t forgotten. Probably it will all turn out well in the end. I know you’ve chosen wisely for me; you always have. It will be all right.”

“Yes, it will. But listen to me now, Jianna.” A quick glance assured him that his family and servants had withdrawn a respectful distance. He spoke in a low tone meant for her ears alone. “If it should somehow happen that you are not content—that your new husband or his family members do not treat you with appropriate respect, consideration, or generosity—in short, if you find yourself seriously dissatisfied for any sound reason, either before or after the marriage ceremony, then you need only send a message to me. I will come to you, and if need be I’ll bring you back to Vitrisi. You shall not be trapped in a marriage that you do not desire.”

“You really mean that?”

“You will be content, or else you will come home. I give you my word.”

“Once I’m wed, couldn’t the Tribaris stop you from taking me back?”

“They could try,” Aureste observed mildly.

“And they’d fail. You’ve never made a promise to me that you couldn’t keep.”

“And I never will.”

“I know. I love you, Father.”

“Then trust me, and be happy.” He led her to the carriage, which she entered to join the two traveling companions already seated within: her designated chaperone, stately Aunt Flonoria Belandor, and the young maidservant Reeni. He closed the door, stood a moment looking in at her, then stepped back and reluctantly signaled. The coachman cracked his whip and the big vehicle began to move, its wheels crunching on white gravel. Jianna leaned out the window and waved. Family members and servants returned the salute. Aureste scarcely noted the squawking voices or the fluttering hands. He saw nothing but his daughter’s face.

As the carriage neared the bottom of the drive, the six armed riders swung into position. Vehicle and escort passed through the open gate, which was shut and locked behind them. The group gathered before the doorway quickly dispersed. Aureste did not see them go. His eyes remained fixed on the carriage until it disappeared from view, and even then he did not move, but stood staring off down the quiet street.

Eventually the sharp chill of the late-autumn breeze on his face recalled him to reality, and he looked around to find himself standing alone. He went back inside then and for a time wandered the marble corridors of Belandor House, which—despite a busy population of residents, guests, servants, and sentries—struck him that morning as empty and bleak. Repairing to his study, he busied himself with the household accounts, but found his attention wandering and therefore turned his thoughts to Corvestri Mansion, where his various agents labored in subversive secrecy. But the prospect of his hereditary enemy’s impending downfall, ordinarily a source of warm satisfaction, offered no pleasure today.

Aureste closed his ledgers and rose from his seat. In time of trouble, there was but one remaining source of comfort and advice remotely worthy of consideration.

Out of the study and along the corridor to the second salon, where a section of elaborately carved dark paneling concealed a doorway wide enough to permit passage of a wheeled chair. The door stood ajar. Innesq often left it that way in mute testimony to his contempt for subterfuge. He was probably safe enough in doing so, for the younger brother of the Magnifico Aureste, close friend of the Taerleezi governor, had little to fear from the authorities. Nevertheless, Aureste was frowning as he stepped through the door into a short, narrow passage, at the end of which stood another door, likewise open to afford a glimpse of the workroom beyond. The official ban upon arcane practice or investigation among the conquered Faerlonnish was widely disregarded—an open secret often ignored by the Taerleezi authorities, particularly in the case of highborn or very talented local savants. At least a token show of compliance was expected, however. The illicit workroom and its location should certainly remain inconspicuous. A modicum of discretion eased everyone’s life—a fact that Innesq Belandor seemed unwilling or unable to accept. His casual illegalities bordered on insolence, and the best of good counsel never seemed to exert much influence.

Aureste walked into the too-accessible sanctum to discover his brother crouched in the middle of the floor, surrounded by shards of broken glass and phosphorescent splashes whose vaporous exudations seemed to suck the warmth from the atmosphere. Innesq was hugging himself and shivering violently.

He looked up. His face—a finely etched, haggard, almost delicate version of his older brother’s—was bloodlessly white, his lips faintly blue. His dark eyes, deep-set and ringed with the shadows of chronic illness, seemed enormous and far too brilliant for comfort.

“Help.” Innesq spoke with difficulty through chattering teeth.

“How?” Aureste was already kneeling at the other’s side. He touched his brother’s hand and found it icy.

“Blanket. Fire.”

Aureste stepped to the hearth and replenished the dying blaze. The flames jumped, then inexplicably sank. A woolen throw lay across the arm of a nearby chair. Grabbing it up, he wrapped his brother’s shoulders, but Innesq’s convulsive shuddering hardly abated.

“A hot drink.” Aureste’s eyes raked the chamber in search of a kettle, of which there was none. “I’ll ring.”

“No. Wait.” Innesq laid a shaky hand on his brother’s arm. “How do you feel?”

“I? What nonsense is this? This is not the time—”

“Quiet. Pay attention. Tell me.”

So compelling were the other’s eyes that Aureste obeyed, halting in midsentence. His mind and senses opened. The frigid clasp of Innesq’s hand was draining the warmth from his flesh. The air of the workroom was cold, bitter, and hungry; ravenous for something unidentifiable and vital. Instinctively he shrank from the fangs of the atmosphere.

“Tell me,” Innesq insisted.

“As if we are not alone in this room. And cold,” Aureste admitted. Too cold; unnaturally cold and breathless, as if the air he drew into his lungs no longer sustained life. He inhaled and felt himself suffocating. Momentary fear took hold, to be swept away by a rush of anger. One of Innesq’s unnatural, illicit experiments had precipitated disaster of some incomprehensible variety. His arcane meddling had placed all of Belandor House in jeopardy. It was Innesq’s fault.

“This liquid you’ve spilled is the source of trouble, is it not?” Aureste kept his voice even. “I’ll remove it.”

“No. Do not touch that.” Innesq’s cold grip tightened. “Get us out.”

The urgency in his brother’s eyes postponed all queries. Aureste rose to fetch the wheeled chair that stood in the corner. He brought it near, then hauled Innesq from the stone floor to the cushioned seat. The ease of this task unnerved him. The emaciated body lay too lightly in his arms. Innesq had always been delicate, his health perennially precarious, and if he should die, now that Jianna was gone, there would be nobody left, nobody who mattered …

Aureste shied from the insupportable thought.

Swiftly he pushed the chair from the workroom, shutting the door behind him. Once through the corridor and back out into the second salon, he closed the concealed door in the paneling, then turned to survey his brother. Innesq’s face remained white to the lips—he was pallid at the best of times—but his violent tremors were starting to subside.

“I’ll ring for help.”

“No. Better, now,” Innesq whispered. “You?”

“Well enough.” Aureste drew a deep breath and felt the renewed warmth coursing along his veins. “What was all that? Shall I order the house evacuated?”

“No need. The worst is over. The workroom will clear itself within a day.”

“What happened?”

“I cannot answer with any great certainty,” Innesq returned mildly. His voice was weak but clear. His hands still shook.

“Then I suggest that you take a good guess. If you are ready to speak.”

“There is little to say at the moment, for I do not possess enough information. I was at work and all went as might be expected, until there came a disruption.”

“I won’t pretend to understand you. I know only that you’ve given me your word that these experiments of yours endanger no member of my household. It was upon such assurance that I permitted construction of that workroom whose secrecy you scarcely trouble to guard. And now I discover—”

“It is very curious.” Innesq spoke with an air of bemusement, apparently unaware of the burgeoning tirade that he interrupted. “It should not have been thus. It was wrong.”

“So I observed.”

“You do not understand me. More than wrong, it was impossible.”

“Do you think you’ve failed in all these years to teach me that nothing is impossible? This mad art or science—I hardly know which to call it—of yours knows no rule or limitation.”

“You could not be more mistaken, brother. The forces and phenomena that I study are bound by their own inviolable laws. Their logic does not manifest itself to the casual observer but, once discovered, maintains a perfect consistency.”

“Bah, it’s all so much perverted lunacy.”

“Then it is discouraging to consider how many of our Belandor forebears have devoted their lives to the pursuit of just such perverted lunacy.”

“Yes, and what did it bring them? Solitude, obsession, and premature death, more often than not. They’d have been wiser to turn their talents toward the betterment of our House and our fortunes. Pour all that misdirected energy into something more useful. More profitable. Shipping, for instance. Timber. Silver mining. Anything.”

“Aureste, you will never change.” Smiling faintly, Innesq shook his head.

“I suspect that’s not intended as a compliment, but no matter—we digress. You were about to explain the so-called impossibility in your workroom.”

“I cannot explain it; I can only offer a theory. First, let me assure you that the creation of malign atmosphere is something that cannot occur accidentally.”

“ ‘Malign atmosphere’—is that what you call it?”

“It is as good a term as any to describe an air so toxic and unnatural.”

“And you say it can’t occur accidentally—does that mean you did it deliberately?”

“Certainly not. I could not do it deliberately if I tried, because it cannot be done at all. Picture yourself dropping a coin from your hand and the coin does not fall to the floor, but rises to the ceiling. Or think of igniting a fire and watching the room sink into darkness as the flames drink the light from the air. I see you shake your head, because you have known from earliest childhood that these things violate the laws of nature. Well, you may trust in my word when I tell you that the incident in my workroom just now was equally profound a violation of arcane principle.”

“Perhaps it only seemed so. I’m certain you’ll sort it out eventually. I’ve every confidence in your curious abilities. In the meantime, you are unhurt, are you not? Nobody was inconvenienced, and I see little immediate cause for alarm.”

“You are scarcely considering the implications.”

“I’m in no humor to consider implications. Today my only child left my house. The loss consumes me.”

“Ah. Jianna.” Innesq nodded. “Yes, that is hard for you. But it is a loss that every parent must eventually endure, and certainly in my niece’s best interests that she marry and live outside of Vitrisi.”

“You needn’t remind me of that. You need hardly point out my responsibility for the hatred she encounters here in her home city. No, I haven’t forgotten that it’s entirely my own doing, if that’s what concerns you.”

“I intended no reproach. You know that.” Innesq met his brother’s eyes.

“Yes. I do know.” Aureste’s dark gaze fell before the other’s mild, calm regard. “Forgive me, I don’t mean to wrong you of all people. But today I hardly know what I say.”

“You are troubled. It is only natural. You would do well to turn your thoughts and attention in another direction, if you can. Listen to what I am telling you now; it is more important by far than Jianna’s departure.”

“To you, perhaps.”

“To everyone. I have been trying to make it clear to you that the accident in my workroom occurred in violation of arcane law. Nothing less than an alteration in the basic principles governing our existence can account for it.”

“Innesq, I’m certain all this would fascinate one of your fellow arcanists, but you must understand that such matters exceed the scope of my knowledge or interests. You’re bound to solve this new riddle of yours in time, but I cannot help you. She looked beautiful, didn’t she? Like the very incarnation of youth and promise. The Tribaris will fall under her spell at once. Who wouldn’t? I wish I could be there when they see her for the first time.”

“So vast and elemental a change is no impossibility,” Innesq continued. “In fact, it is an inevitability in the wake of the Source’s reversal. You are aware that the Source is capable of reversing its spin?”

“I know little of the Source or its idiosyncrasies. I’m not certain that Flonoria is the best possible traveling companion for her. She’s suitable in terms of age, rank, and general demeanor, but not particularly intelligent. Jianna will easily find ways of getting around her.”

“Should this reversal take place, the results will be catastrophic—to mankind, that is. The Overmind of the former masters will resume sway, and we humans will flee the Veiled Isles or die. As for the Sishmindris, I’m not certain of the effect of the change upon them, but it is unlikely to improve their sad lot. Certainly they fear it.”

“You’re forever fretting over the Sishmindris. I see no need for such concern. They’re only animals, if rather more teachable than most. Perhaps I’ll present one to the Tribaris when I travel to Orezzia next month. A fine gift, wouldn’t you say?”

“I would not. You might learn much from your victims, Aureste, if you but troubled to observe them.”

“I refuse to quarrel with you over those outsized frogs. Not today.”

“I do not seek to quarrel. It is best that you know, however, that the Sishmindris have been uneasy of late. They are far better attuned to the forces of the natural world than we humans, and they sense the imminence of cataclysm.”

“Surely you haven’t been talking with them.”

“I have. They are well worth listening to.”

“That’s absurd. Perhaps they possess certain brute instincts—I grant that’s possible—but there’s no intellect.”

“There is a great deal. The Sishmindris,” Innesq continued, forestalling his brother’s rejoinder, “foresee an upheaval so vast that the balance of nature will alter in its wake. Those so fortunate as to escape slaughter or enslavement at the hands of humanity are withdrawing to their ancient retreats.”

“Retreats?”

“Hidden fortifications constructed upon sacred sites.”

“Fortifications? Sacred sites? Come, you don’t take all this seriously? There’s apparently some migratory activity among these creatures, as there is among many other species, but what does it amount to beyond the hunt for food and breeding grounds?”

“Aureste, you are willfully blind. If you would only open your eyes—”

“My eyes are wide open, and they perceive reality, which is more than can be said for yours at times, clever though you are, brother. In any case, even if it were all true, mind-boggling upheaval and all, what exactly do you expect me to do about it? If it’s all as apocalyptic as you claim, what can anyone do?”

“If you ever bothered to glance through the Belandor family histories, you would know. There is talent in our family, Aureste. From generation to generation, it has always been present among us.”

“Certainly. And in our generation, you’ve got it. Why don’t you just use it as nature intended and—”

“And leave you in peace?”

“And leave me to manage Belandor affairs, as my position demands?”

“That sounds pleasantly restful, but I am afraid I cannot oblige. You must hear me, Aureste. We are not helpless to avert disaster. If I am correct and reversal is near at hand, then it is possible to influence the Source—that is, to cleanse the arcane anomalies presently impeding its rotation. This has been successfully accomplished in the past; more than once, if the histories are to be trusted. The combined abilities of some half a dozen arcanists of talent are required, and—”

“It is an arcane matter, then.” Aureste shrugged. “That’s your field of expertise, and I leave the affair in your hands. Probably you’re attaching undue significance to the dire croaking of a few peevish amphibians. You’ve always displayed an exaggerated regard for those creatures. But you may do as you please; I won’t interfere.”

“You cannot dismiss this matter so lightly. You must realize—”

“Come to me with solid proof—something beyond the stirring of the Sishmindris and a nasty little chill in your workroom—and perhaps you’ll convince me. In the meantime, do you think the six riders I sent with Jianna furnish adequate protection? Or shall I send another six after her along the road?”

* * *

“In the last century, your great-great-uncle Zariole married a Frovi of Orezzia,” Flonoria Belandor confided. “This is an incident rarely alluded to, for it is widely believed that the execution of the Fortificatri Ujei Frovi three hundred years ago compromised the gentility of the entire Frovi line. But that is arrant nonsense, for the collateral branch of House Frovi from which Zariole chose his bride remained untainted. Thus the integrity of our own Belandor lineage has never truly suffered a breach. Never allow yourself to believe otherwise.”

“Why would I believe otherwise, Aunt Flonoria?” Jianna inquired, wide-eyed.

“There are many malicious tongues in the world. You must not heed them. On the other hand, there are certain sound and solid standards that should be respected. When Tashe Divarra married the Jementu heiress, for example, the match was completely impossible. Her first cousin was Taerleezi middle class, actually in trade on Taerleez, and the thing simply couldn’t be countenanced. There are limits. But you understand that, do you not, niece?”

“Indeed, Aunt.” Jianna nodded earnestly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the young maidservant Reeni’s tongue emerge pinkly, wiggle once, and withdraw—a rudeness occurring outside Flonoria’s line of vision. She swallowed a rising giggle.

“And ever since then,” Flonoria continued, “the Divarras have been regarded as—not quite all they might be. Their quality is somewhat impaired. It is unfortunate, but such is the way of the world. There is a lesson to be learned here, niece.”

“Yes, Aunt.” Jianna’s expression was contemplative. Behind Flonoria’s back, Reeni’s pretty kitten face warped itself into a grimace of eye-popping grotesquerie. A sputter of laughter escaped Jianna, and she disguised the lapse with a fit of coughing.

“Ah, you are ill, my dear,” Flonoria sympathized. “The dust of the road has congested your lungs. The jolting of this carriage has doubtless aggravated the problem, upsetting your digestion and perhaps disrupting the delicate balance of your womanly parts. I shall instruct the coachman to halt, allowing you time to recover.”

“No need, Aunt,” Jianna replied, red-faced with suppressed hilarity. “I’m well, truly. There’s nothing wrong with my womanly parts that a little fresh air won’t cure.” Raising the nearest window shade, she leaned her head out to draw deep drafts of autumn mist down into her lungs while allowing free play to her facial expressions. Presently the giggles subsided and she took stock of her surroundings. The rutted road, still firm at this time of the year, wound through a jaggedly hilled, heavily treed wilderness that displayed no sign of human habitation. Sodden brown drifts of dead leaves sprawled over the ground, and countless bare branches arched black against a somber sky.

Gloomy. Desolate. Drab. Hard to believe that Vitrisi, with all its life and color, lay but a day and a half behind her. Home, along with everything dear and familiar, seemed infinitely distant. Orezzia, with its promise of vast change, was as yet unreal. There she would soon be a wife, unquestionably an adult, with a new name and a new life. She would no longer be Jianna Belandor, daughter of the Magnifico Aureste, but Jianna Tribari, wife of a noble Orezzian family’s oldest son and heir. There would be a great household of which she would one day be mistress. There would be a husband, family, retainers, husband, Sishmindri, visitors, husband, hangers-on, husband, fresh surroundings, strange ways, husband … a prospect at once alarming and alluring. Marriage, of course, was designed to unite great Houses, great fortunes, great political factions. The personal preferences of the participants, particularly the bride, counted for next to nothing. In most cases. But the daughter of Aureste Belandor was special. For her, things would be different.

Her happiness meant everything to her father. He had chosen carefully for her, and his judgment could be trusted. He had promised her contentment and she expected no less. With any luck, however, there could be more than that. Practical reality notwithstanding, there was such a thing as love in the world; even, occasionally, between husband and wife. Perhaps she would be one of fortune’s rare favorites. Perhaps the betrothed awaiting her in Orezzia would be someone wonderful. She would not make the mistake of spinning romantic dreams; she was not that foolish. And yet wedded happiness was no impossibility, not for her; she was, after all, the daughter of the Magnifico Aureste.

Jianna strained her vision as if expecting the face of her future to take shape out of the fog, but saw nothing beyond hills, trees, and the dark forms of the six mounted bodyguards surrounding the carriage. It never occurred to her to hail the guards. They never had anything to say beyond Yes, maidenlady; No, maidenlady; According to the magnifico’s commands, maidenlady. Really, they weren’t much better than Sishmindris. After a while the scene palled and she leaned back in her seat.

She must have daydreamed longer than she knew, for Aunt Flonoria had fallen asleep, her substantial form lax against the cushions. But Reeni was wide awake, busy fingers embroidering a fanciful letter J in gold thread upon one of her mistress’ handkerchiefs.

“Put that aside,” Jianna commanded in a low tone respectful of her aunt’s slumbers.

Reeni complied at once. Her look of guarded attentiveness suggested uneasiness, perhaps expectation of a well-deserved rebuke.

“I want to speak to you.”

“Yes, maidenlady.”

“I want to ask you—” Jianna paused uncomfortably.

“Yes, maidenlady?”

“Do any of your friends—the girls of your own class and age—do they ever talk about being married?”

“All the time, maidenlady. Sometimes it seems they don’t talk of aught else.”

“Well, and what do they say?”

“Oh, it’s always who am I going to marry, and when am I going to marry, and how many children will I have, and how many of ’em will be sons, and I want to find a palm reader to tell me, and—”

“That isn’t quite what I had in mind. I meant, do they ever talk about being already married? That is, about being with their husbands, alone at night, you know—”

“ ’Tisn’t like they’d be much alone at night or any other time, maidenlady. Not sleeping the half dozen to one bed in the garret of some great house, and mind you, those are the lucky ones. The scullery maids and spitboys and so forth just spread out on the kitchen floor, mostly, and the big shots get the places nearest the fire. And then the grooms and such lay down in the haymow above the stable, per usual, and—”

“Very well, you’ve made your point; they’re not often alone. Some of them do marry, though, and there are certain … marital functions—”

“Certain what, maidenlady?”

“Certain duties—activities, if you will …”

“Like cooking and cleaning?” Reeni’s eyes were a little too wide. All traces of uneasiness had vanished.

“Don’t tease, minx. You know what I’m talking about.”

“Are you talking about doing it, then?”

“Exactly.”

“Then why didn’t you just say so, maidenlady?”

“Why in the world do I put up with you?”

“I’ve no idea, maidenlady.”

“Neither do I. But come on. What do they say about—about—doing it? Tell me what you’ve heard.”

“Well.” Reeni considered. “What they say divides up in three groups, like. There’s one group says that it’s the best thing in the world, by far. Nothing else comes close; it even beats honey pastries. They say it’s like they’ve never been alive before, and now they finally know what life’s all about.”

“Yes.” Jianna felt her heartbeat quicken. “Tell me more.”

“Then there’s the other gang, says that it’s like a nightmare you can’t get out of. Says it’s disgusting, and it hurts, and a husband is like a rutting boar pig that owns you. One of that crew said she felt all dirty, like she’d been used as a piss pot, and she hated her man so bad that she wanted to take a knife and cut his thing off.”

“And did she?”

“Not so far, I don’t think. If she had, I’d’ve heard about it.”

“Probably.” Jianna nodded. “You said there were three groups?”

“Oh, aye. Those in the third group say ’tisn’t so much to put up with, and they don’t mind, usually.”

“Well. Not too enlightening. Which group do you belong to, Reeni?”

“Me, maidenlady? You know I’m not wed.”

“I know, but haven’t you ever—I mean, even once—?”

“Never, maidenlady. And I never will, not until the words are spoke and I’m a proper wife.”

“Ah, you’ve strong moral convictions.”

“Moral fiddlesticks. I know what’s what, that’s all. And I’m not about to give the lad I marry, whoever he may be, the joy of knowing he’s not the first with me.”

“I don’t think I can be hearing you correctly. You believe that it would give your groom some sort of satisfaction to find that he’s not your first?”

“I don’t believe, maidenlady, I know. Why, then he’d have the advantage of me forever and ever. And whenever there comes a falling-out between the pair of us, he could always sneer down his nose and tell me, ‘You got no say in this, I don’t listen to no little harlot. Ye’re lucky ye’re not out on the streets, like you should be, so don’t push it. And don’t be telling me to cut back on the beer, because I could tell you a thing or two. I could throw you out and nobody’d blame me. And don’t you forget it.’ And so on. Oh, there’d be no end, and that I won’t have. I won’t give any man the pleasure of rubbing my nose in it.”

“I see. Well, that’s one way of looking at it, I suppose.” Jianna subsided into abstracted silence. Reeni resumed her embroidery, and Flonoria snored on. Time crawled, its progress marked by a couple of rest stops and by the gradual darkening of the dull skies.

Presently her stomach growled and she found herself thinking of the evening to come, with its meal taken either in the common room of the Glass Eye, next inn along the road to Orezzia, or else in her own private chamber. The common room, with its smoky atmosphere and its assortment of anonymous travelers, offered the stimulating prospect of vaguely disreputable novelty. It was for that very reason, however, that Aunt Flonoria would undoubtedly prefer seclusion; and as official chaperone, she was in a position to insist.

Not that Flonoria was unkind or tyrannical. She was simply old, that was all—old, staid, and devoid of curiosity. Not her fault, but she did have a way of forestalling fun. Of course, Jianna reflected, she didn’t have to accept restraint tamely. Her father certainly wouldn’t. Her father wouldn’t let anyone, even the best of well-intentioned aunts, stand in his way. He’d find a way to get what he wanted—he was that clever, that determined, and an inspiration to his daughter. In her place, what would Aureste Belandor do?

Jianna was still thinking about it when the carriage paused for yet another rest stop. She breathed an impatient sigh. She had had enough of chilly wilderness interludes; she wanted the Glass Eye with its comforts and its interesting common room. Still, a chance to walk about a bit was not unwelcome. She glanced at her aunt, still soundly sleeping, then caught her maidservant’s eye. A slight jerk of her head communicated a command. Both girls alighted from the carriage and strolled a short distance in silence.

They had come to a stony stretch of road closely flanked by thick woods. The bare patches between the trees were filled with fog and impenetrable shadow. The grey air was dank and heavy, the carpeting of soggy dead leaves underfoot slippery and somewhat treacherous. Nothing interesting to see, hear, or do, and wasn’t travel supposed to be exciting? All the more reason, Jianna reflected, to experience the Glass Eye and its novelty to the fullest. She would dine tonight in that common room, eating all that exotic common food among all those colorfully grubby common people, no matter what Aunt Flonoria had to say about it.

“Reeni,” she remarked aloud, “I think we’re going to have a small accident in our room at the inn this evening.”

“An accident, maidenlady?” Reeni inquired, smiling.

“I’m afraid so. You’ll be responsible, but don’t worry—you won’t get into any trouble, even though it will be very careless of you.”

“What will be very careless of me, maidenlady?”

“Your treatment of my belongings.”

“I treat ’em like precious eggs.”

“Not tonight you won’t. Tonight you’re going to break a bottle of perfume, a large bottle. The one with all that musk and ambergris, I think. I don’t like that one anyway. It will happen while you’re unpacking my bag.”

“Please, no, maidenlady.”

“When you do it, try to make sure that the perfume goes splashing all over the place, particularly onto the bedding.”

“Please, maidenlady, don’t make me. My lady Flonoria will beat me something fierce for’t.”

“No she won’t. I’ll tell her … I’ll tell her that you’re subject to sudden spells, where you lose control of your—uh—your voluntary functions,” Jianna decided.

“My what, maidenlady?”

“Your—ummm—muscles, follicles, and—and your connective tissue. Your hands. Your feet. That sort of thing.”

“My lady Flonoria will turn me out, then.”

“No, she won’t, because it’s not your fault; it’s just something that happens to you sometimes. Nobody can hold it against you, and Auntie’s not cruel. Actually I expect she’ll be fascinated. She’ll think you’ve got something wrong with your womanly parts, and she’ll want to cure you. She’s got an entire bag full of nostrums, you know—”

“Aye, and I want no part of ’em!”

“And once you engage her sympathies, you’ll find that she’s really quite solicitous.”

“I’ve seen her solicitousing all over the place, and I’ll have none of her powders and potions!”

“Well, you’ll just have to get used to the idea, because you are going to break a bottle of perfume this evening, and the fumes will drive us out until such time as our bed linen has been changed and our room properly aired. We shall surely find ourselves obliged to dine in the common room along with the ordinary travelers, but I fear there’s no help for it.”

“I hear you, maidenlady. I catch your drift, but you got to promise me that I won’t lose my place over’t.”

“You goose, do you think I could do without you? Of course I promise. You trust me to look after you, don’t you?”

“I trust you to mean to, maidenlady.”

“Good, then we’re agreed. Now, when you break the bottle, I want you to let out a convincing cry of dismay. Think you can do that?”

“I think that’s slopping on too much gravy, maidenlady.”

“No, it’s just the right touch. You’ll see. I just want you to—”

“Begging your pardon, maidenlady, but all this is making me too nervous. I got to go.”

“Go?”

“Behind a tree, before my voluntary functions become un-voluntary.”

“Oh. Off with you, then. And while you’re about it, you might practice your cry of dismay.”

Reeni retired from view. Jianna cast a look back at the carriage, its once gleaming surface now liberally spattered with mud. The driver was dancing attendance on the horses. A couple of the guards had dismounted to light their clay pipes. Three others orbited the site in vigilant silence. The sixth, presumably answering nature’s call, was nowhere in evidence. Nothing interesting to be seen. Jianna strolled on, skirts lifted a fastidious inch to clear the wet leaves but otherwise blind to her surroundings, mind galloping on along the Orezzia road into the future.

A feminine shriek from the woods brought her back to the present. It was obviously Reeni practicing her cry of dismay as instructed, and very convincing it was, too. Perhaps a little too convincing, for the sound caught the attention of the guards, who promptly dropped their pipes and drew their short swords. Oh, bother. When they discovered the false alarm, they were bound to be annoyed, and there would be words.

The cry repeated itself. The girl was overdoing it. But an instant later one of the mounted guards yelled and clutched himself, while another tumbled headlong from his saddle. Jianna stared, astounded. The first man, bloodied and moaning, had his hand locked around the shaft of the crossbow quarrel protruding from his midsection. The other lay facedown in the dead leaves. Even as she stood gaping, a second volley flew from the woods and two more guards fell.

They could not be dead, not just like that. It was too fast and final.

A hand closed on her arm and she spun to face another guard, the one lost to view the last time she had looked. His face was set so hard that she instinctively recoiled, but already he was moving her, handling her as if she were a piece of baggage, half dragging and half pushing her along. For a moment she pulled back, then realized that he was steering her back to the carriage and abandoned resistance. When they reached the vehicle he shoved her inside to join her aunt, slammed the door shut, and positioned himself before it.

“Highwaymen?” she yelled at him, and received no reply. “Go get my maid,” she commanded, but he ignored her. Even in the midst of her alarm, the anger rose. She was the magnifico’s daughter, and he was a hireling; he ought to obey her. “Aunt Flonoria,” she appealed, turning to face her kinswoman. “Would you tell him that he has to go get—” She broke off with a gasp at sight of the quarrel transfixing the other’s throat. Flonoria’s expansive bosom was soaked with blood. Her eyes and mouth were wide open. Jianna’s own incredulous expression was not dissimilar. She half expected to see her aunt blink and return to life, but the moments passed and Flonoria remained dead.

The solid thunk of a quarrel striking the window frame recalled her own danger. Yanking the shade down, Jianna crouched trembling on the carriage floor. The activity outside was violent and lethal, but she could hear surprisingly little. Hurried footsteps, a couple of terse muffled warnings or commands, the snorting and shifting of nervous horses, and the repeated thump of missiles hitting the carriage. Then came a change: The crossbow fire ceased and there was shouting outside, accompanied by the clash of steel. Very cautiously she raised her head and applied her eye to the gap between window shade and frame. Her hands were cold but her fear was under control, for she never doubted her father’s ability to choose bodyguards capable of protecting her. The marauders would be driven off or, better, captured and executed for what they had done to Flonoria Belandor.

The scene she confronted did not confirm her expectations. The attackers had emerged from the shadows to finish their work. There were four of them—brawny figures roughly garbed in homespun and heavy boots, with kerchiefs hiding their lower faces. They were not the glamorous midnight-cloaked highwaymen of her imaginings. These men looked like farmers gone wrong. They had set their crossbows aside in favor of plain, heavy blades, which they plied with businesslike efficiency. One of them dispatched the driver within seconds, and then all four engaged the surviving guards. The two Belandor retainers acquitted themselves well, even managing to kill one of their attackers before they themselves were cut down.

Jianna swallowed a cry as the last of her defenders fell. She must be quiet, very quiet and still, and then perhaps the bandits wouldn’t notice her.

Idiot. The carriage was the first place they would check for passengers and valuables. Run away. If she sprang from the carriage right now and made a dash for the shelter of the foggy woods, she might still escape. She was young, light, and fleet. Perhaps she could outrun them. Even as she gathered herself to jump, fresh horrors froze her in place.

A burly fifth marauder emerged from the woods for the first time, and with him he dragged Reeni. The young girl—disheveled, hair streaming—struggled vigorously. Unable to escape, she changed tactics, lunging at her captor to claw his face. In doing so she dislodged his kerchief, uncovering a wide, fleshy nose, ripe lips, and heavy prognathous jaw. He raised his free hand to his cheek, and the fingers came away red with blood. Instantly the same hand balled into a fist that slammed Reeni’s jaw, sending her to the ground.

This time Jianna could not repress her own sympathetic cry, and did not even try. All five marauders heard her—their heads turned as one—but she hardly cared, for the outrage boiling up inside her momentarily quelled fear. No point in trying to hide, and she certainly did not intend to let these savages find her cowering like some trapped rabbit on the floor of the carriage. She was a Belandor of Vitrisi.

She stepped forth into the open. They were staring at her—four pairs of eyes above dingy old kerchiefs, and a fifth pair, the pale lifeless grey of aged slush, set in a square scratched face. They might kill her or worse, but for the moment she did not care.

“Leave my maid alone.” She addressed herself with an outward show of assurance to the dead slush eyes. “Don’t touch her again.”

He looked her up and down unhurriedly, then observed, “So. Skinny. Prinked up. High-nosed. About what I expected.”

Expected? She had no idea what he meant, and no inclination to analyze. “Reeni?” Jianna started forward. “Can you answer me? Are you badly hurt?”

“You stay still,” the bare-faced man advised, voice flatly expressionless.

He took a step toward her, barring her path, and she stopped, intimidated by his looming muscular bulk and his impassive square face, her brief rush of courage already ebbing. Ashamed of her fear, she lifted her chin and commanded, “Stand aside.”

He neither moved nor spoke. She forced herself to return his gaze, and discovered that the heavy-lidded eyes in the broad face were so wide-set that it was nearly impossible to meet both simultaneously. The opaque eyes revealed nothing at all, and her concealed fear deepened.

Reeni sat up slowly, looking dazed. Her jaw was twisted violently awry; beyond doubt it had been broken. When she met her mistress’ eyes and tried to speak, an unintelligible gabble emerged, concluding in a whimper of pain. Tears spilled from her eyes.

Jianna’s anger flared anew. “Do you vicious louts know who I am?” she inquired with an air of icy contempt. They had probably recognized the coat of arms on the carriage, but best to be certain. “My father is the Magnifico Belandor. He’ll pay well for our safe return. But if you hurt me or lay another hand on my servant, he’ll hunt you down wherever you hide and nothing in the world will save you. You’d do well to remember that. Now get out of my way and let me go to her.” Reeni’s assailant stood like a monolith. Sidestepping him, she advanced.

Despite his palpable menace, she was unprepared for the iron pressure of his grip on her arm. Taking her above the elbow, he swung her around and gave her a shove that sent her sprawling.

“I told you to stay still,” he said.

She lay on her back in the mud and the wet leaves, staring up at him. Never in her eighteen years had anyone lifted a hand against her. Even in the midst of obvious danger, an unconscious part of her had continued to view her physical self as somehow sacrosanct. Now her reluctant mind opened to new possibilities. She became aware that the fall had displaced her skirts, exposing the slender length of her legs. His flat gaze pressed her thighs. His four companions were motionless and piercingly watchful. She went cold inside. Determined to mask her terror, she climbed to her feet, met the empty grey eyes squarely, and remarked, “I’ve always believed that it is only the weakest and most cowardly of men who turn their wrath on women.”

His face did not change in the slightest. She might have thought that the insult went unheard had he not stepped forward to deal her cheek an open-handed blow that knocked her down again.

“You need to learn some manners,” he told her unemotionally. “Get up.”

Her ears were ringing and she could taste blood in her mouth. She shook her head to clear it.

“Up. Don’t make me wait.” Grasping her coil of dark hair, he hauled her to her feet. “Now, what was that clever remark you made just then? I don’t think I caught it all the first time, and I wouldn’t want to miss a single word, so you’d better say it again. Nice and clear. Come on.”

She stared at him.

“I said, spit it out. Are you really going to make me tell you again?”

“My father,” Jianna attempted, voice shaky. “My father is the Magnifico Aureste Belandor. He—”

“Have you forgotten what I told you to say? Or are you trying to make me angry?”

“Listen to me. My father—”

“Still not what I told you to say. You learn slowly. Maybe a reminder will help.”

He slapped her and she tottered, but his grip held her upright. Her eyes swam for a moment, but she was able to see his hand come up to strike again and she also saw Reeni, broken face contorted, behind him with a rock clutched in her fist.

One of his gang shouted a warning and his reaction was startlingly swift. Releasing Jianna, he wheeled in time to dodge a blow intended to smash his skull. The descending rock missed him by a whisper. He smiled slightly and Reeni shrank away from him, but there was no place to go. He caught her wrist and twisted. She cried out in pain and the rock dropped from her hand. Wrenching her arm behind her back, he forced her to her knees.

“Let her go. Please.” Jianna found her voice; a high, thin voice, but adequately steady. “Don’t hurt her, she was only trying to protect me. She’s a servant of House Belandor, and my father will—”

“I know all about your shit-licking kneeser father,” the slush-eyed man returned, shocking her into silence. “You want to see what I think of your father and all his precious little servants? Pay attention, I’ll show you.” Drawing a dagger from his belt, he deftly slit Reeni’s throat wide open.

A red torrent gushed from the wound. Reeni dropped to the ground. A few spasms convulsed her small frame, but very soon she lay still.

Jianna’s mind attempted to reject the reality of the scene, tried to dismiss it as a hideous hallucination, and failed. She stood staring for a numb eternity at the dead girl stretched out on the dead leaves. At last, her eyes rose. Reeni’s murderer was watching her, and his face told her nothing at all. She discovered in that instant that she hated him more than she had ever hated another human being.

“Come here,” he said.

He still clasped the bloodied dagger, and she wondered if he meant to use it next on her. She stood motionless and let the hatred show on her face.

“Disobedience. Disrespect. Two big mistakes,” he told her. “But you’ll learn.”

Three long strides brought him to her. She did not allow herself to flinch. Before she recognized his intention, he jabbed a short punch to the midsection that doubled her neatly. A second blow took the point of her chin. The world exploded around her, then ceased to exist.

* * *

She emerged from nothingness to find herself blind, sick, and disoriented. Her head throbbed cruelly. Various body parts ached. Her position—face down, head dangling—was momentarily incomprehensible. She could see next to nothing, but an animal odor filled her nostrils and she could hear men’s voices close at hand. She was moving, carried queasily along on something. Her wrists were bound behind her back, her ankles were likewise tied, and a blindfold wrapped her eyes.

They had trussed her up and dumped her like a sack of flour across the back of a horse or a mule, she realized. She had no idea where they were taking her or what they meant to do with her. Her confused mind struggled to resume normal functioning. If they intended rape and murder, she reasoned laboriously, there was no particular reason to remove her from the site of the attack. Probably they planned to hold her for ransom. They would let the Magnifico Aureste Belandor know the price of his daughter’s life and honor, they would tell him how and where to pay it, and they would set a deadline of some sort. Then they would settle back to wait. And while they waited, the Magnifico Aureste would contrive to track them down, and then he would see to it that they were hanged as they deserved for what they had done to Flonoria, Reeni, the driver, and the bodyguards.

So she bravely assured herself, but the thought of her murdered companions brought dreadful images. She saw again Aunt Flonoria’s staring dead eyes, and the fountain of blood spurting from Reeni’s severed throat. Nausea seized her then, and her flesh went clammy. She retched, but it had been hours since her last meal and there was nothing left in her stomach to lose. Only a very little while ago, she had been plotting to force Aunt Flonoria to dine this evening in the common room of the Glass Eye. It had seemed so tremendously important at the time.

She could see a sliver through a hairline gap at the bottom of the blindfold. She glimpsed dead leaves, churned mud, and nothing more, no matter how she shifted and strained. The movement only intensified her nausea, and she retched drily again. Untie me, let me sit up. The words quivered on her lips, but she did not let them fly. Into her mind thrust the vision of a square, impassive face with dead grey eyes, and she would not let herself ask anything of that face. A moan sought escape and she held that in, too.

Her mouth was dry and foul. She could not judge how long it had been since she had last tasted water, for she had lost all sense of time. The world had reduced itself to sick pain, bewilderment, and fear that left room for only one comforting certainty: No matter where these murderers were taking her, the Magnifico Aureste would find and rescue his daughter. Jianna Belandor would be safe at home within days or less, and her abductors would be punished. All of them.

The miserable blind span seemed to stretch on forever. Her thirst waxed and her headache sharpened. Eventually her limbs went cold and dead. At one point the band halted briefly, perhaps for relief and refreshment, but she could not be certain, for nobody removed her blindfold, loosened her bonds, or offered her water, and she refused to beg for it.

The journey resumed and the knife-edge of fear dulled as Jianna sank into a stuporous state. Thought and sensation receded; there were lost intervals during which consciousness may have lapsed. The voices around her faded. Either conversation had ceased or else she did not hear it. The tiny slice of the world visible below her blindfold was darkening. Night was coming on, or perhaps her eyes were failing.

Measureless time passed. She was chilled to the bone, parched, and light-headed when they finally halted. Someone cut the cords at her ankles, lifted her down, and set her brusquely on her feet. Her legs gave way at once and she would have fallen but for the support of a powerful arm whose touch was intolerable, for she knew on instinct whose it was. Expressionless square face, wide-set heavy-lidded eyes of dirty slush.

She tried to pull away from him, and his grip tightened. Then he was hurrying her along, forcing her on when she faltered, never slackening his pace when she stumbled. Resistance was pointless and she offered none.

He steered her up a low set of steps, probably stone, and through a heavy door or gate that groaned shut behind her. The still, musty quality of the air and the level flooring underfoot told her that they had entered a building of some sort. On they went for some chilly, drafty distance before she sensed herself passing through another doorway into a perceptibly warmer atmosphere. She caught the whiff of wood smoke and heard the crackle of a fire.

They stopped, and the man beside her spoke.

“Here, Mother. See what I’ve brought.”

“Well done, boy,” answered a woman’s voice, unusually deep and assured. “Get that rag off her face and let me take a good look at my new daughter.”