exists,” Goldman put in. “The throne no longer exists. Axis destroyed both. Surely Zared is heir to nothing but memories?”
There was a moment of silence, then Hurst spoke up, his face red. “But is that right? The Icarii have their Talon, the Ravensbund have their Chief, and now the Avar even have their head, the Mage-King Isfrael! Why should the Acharites not have their head … nay, their pride back?”
The room broke into uproar, and Goldman was once again forced to stand and hold up his hands for quiet.
“May I remind you, my friends,” he said very softly, “that the term ‘Acharites’ is no longer lawful.” One of Caelum’s first edicts on taking the Throne of the Stars had been to ban the use of the term “Acharites” for the human population of Tencendor. To him it smacked too much of the hatreds that had torn Tencendor apart in the first instance.
“Whether we are Acharites, or Tencendorians, or bloody Manmallians,” said the silversmith angrily, “doesn’t change the fact that I’d prefer to have a King Zared ruling my life than a petty Prince Askam. No! Wait … there’s more. It doesn’t change the fact that whether prince or king or pauper for all I care, Zared is the man I’d prefer to have at my back in a street brawl, in a war, or as a drinking companion in a tavern. I respect Zared, I like Zared, and what I think of Askam doesn’t bear spoken word in this company!”
“And what’s more,” cried a voice, “Zared is the rightful ruler, not Askam!”
“Gentlemen! Gentlemen!” Goldman cried. “Please … listen to me! Quiet down now! Yes … yes … thank you, that’s better. Gentlemen, I am Master of the Guilds of Carlon. I am your spokesman, your voice. What would you have me do?”
Silence.
“I think,” Heavorand said quietly, “that a little visit to Zared might be in order. I think the Prince needs to know just how his people –”
No-one in the room missed the use of the phrase “his people.”
“– feel about a number of issues.”
“Will he act?” said a voice. “Or will he back away?”
“If it is your wish,” Goldman said, “then I, with Heavorand, will make my way north … on a trading trip, should Askam enquire. Once with Zared, I am sure I can phrase matters in such a way that Zared will be hard put not to act.”
He regarded the room silently, then grinned conspiratorially.
The great silvery keep of Sigholt sat quiet in the night air, reflecting stray moonbeams across the Lake of Life. At this time of night few people were about. Two or three guards moved about its walls, a servant trotted silently through the courtyard from barracks to kitchens, an Icarii Enchanter stood on the roof, mesmerised by the stars. Around the crescent of the lake, the town of Lakesview sat fat and secure on the shoreline. It was a well-established town now, its people indulging in some trading, some agriculture and much contentment. The nearby valleys and slopes of the Urqhart Hills in the immediate vicinity of Sigholt gave them all they wanted in food and recreation; few within the town pushed themselves to do much more than enjoy what proximity to the wondrous lake was given to them by the magical Keep and the extended family of SunSoars resident within its luminous grey walls.
Almost perfectly centred on the strip of shore between Lakesview and Sigholt was a substantial stone building. Over five storeys high, most of its large unglassed windows and permanently open doors faced the lake, as if the building wished to absorb as much of the breeze, or perhaps as much of the lake, as it could.
From one of the ground-floor doors two Icarii birdmen emerged. They walked slowly towards the lake, eventually standing in close conversation as the waters lapped at their feet. One wore an ivory-coloured uniform with an embroidered device that resembled a twisted knot of golden braid centred on his chest. The other birdman had striking red plumage and hair, the skin of his face and hands so white they seemed to glow in the moonlight.
StarSon Caelum SunSoar, supreme ruler of Tencendor, stood at one of the windows in the map-room of Sigholt, wondering what they talked about so quietly. Caelum was one of the most powerful Icarii Enchanters born, a child of the Star Gods, and even though his keen eyesight could easily pick out the birdmen so far below, he baulked at using his powers to listen to their actual words. Caelum was ever polite, and he trusted the two men below as few others.
Still, they were an enigmatic pair. WingRidge CurlClaw, the birdman in the ivory uniform, was captain of the Lake Guard, a somewhat eccentric force who had dedicated themselves entirely to the service and protection of the StarSon. Even so, Caelum sometimes felt they kept themselves at a distance, not only from the life of Sigholt, but even from himself.
But in itself that distance, and its essential peculiarity, was not surprising – and had a great deal to do with the birdman WingRidge currently conversed with, SpikeFeather TrueSong. The Lake Guard was formed exclusively from the six hundred children SpikeFeather had rescued from Talon Spike many years ago. Rather than risk the children to possible Gryphon attack on the ice trails of Talon Spike, SpikeFeather had pleaded with the Ferryman to take the children to safety via the waterways. The children had reached Sigholt safely, but they had been subtly changed by the experiences in the waterways with Orr, and when they reached their majorities they had formed the Lake Guard. They announced their complete dedication to the service of the StarSon, and chose as their uniform breeches and plain ivory tunics with the strange emblem on their chests.
None of the Lake Guard ever explained it.
If no-one quite understood the Lake Guard, then all trusted them. Again and again the Guard pledged their loyalty to the StarSon. Their lives were dedicated to his word, their hearts to his cause. They might disappear for days, sometimes weeks on end, but they claimed their ultimate duty was always to the StarSon. Caelum, as everyone else, did not doubt it. They were an accepted part of Sigholt, and as mysterious as the Keep itself.
SpikeFeather was almost as enigmatic. He, too, had been changed by his contact with Orr the Ferryman. As payment for Orr transporting the children to Sigholt, SpikeFeather had dedicated his life to the Ferryman, and for the past twenty years had spent much of his time in the waterways with Orr. What SpikeFeather did down there, or what Orr did to the birdman, Caelum did not know.
As Caelum watched, WingRidge and SpikeFeather parted company, WingRidge rising slowly in the air towards the walls of Sigholt where Caelum supposed he would inspect the members of the Lake Guard stationed there, SpikeFeather walking slowly about the shoreline of the lake, apparently deep in thought.
Caelum sighed and turned back into the circular map-room. The centre table was covered with documents, piles of accounts, reports from several of the major towns, and ledgers bound with ribbon and stuffed with loose pages. Caelum fought the urge to sigh again and wandered slowly over to the table, running a hand through his thick, close-cropped black curly hair. Was there never an end to the paperwork? Sigholt sometimes seemed full of secretaries and notaries and bureaucrats, all of them there supposedly to keep track of the vast amount of paperwork that governing Tencendor somehow generated, but Caelum sometimes wondered if they were of any use – his desk never seemed to clear of the damned stuff.
No wonder Axis had handed control of Tencendor over to him! Caelum smiled softly, thinking of his parents, and knowing in his heart that it was far more than paperwork that
