'Will they attack, do you think?'

'I doubt it. Despite the war in Almadin, enemy territory is a long way from here. Even if they took this place they could not hold it, for the scrutators have a mighty army in Borgistry. No, they're just spying.'

'Could they recognise me from that height?' she asked anxiously. Since Kalissin, she lived in fear of being used for flesh-forming again.

'Lyrinx sight is not as good as ours in daytime, but best cover yourself in case it comes lower.' He gave her a scarf to wind around her face.

The donkey grunted and groaned all the way up. The fractured rock and ash kept sliding beneath its weight. Once, the poor beast lost its footing and would have fallen, had not Gilhaelith steadied it.

'The poor thing,' said Tiaan. 'It feels wrong to be on its back, doing nothing while it struggles so hard.'

'It's earning its keep, as we all must do,' said Gilhaelith.

'I'm not earning mine!' she muttered.

'Work hard; master your Art. We've little time left.'

Tiaan had been working hard, but a prentice would have spent years on crystals alone; she'd had a scant week. Even allowing for her experience it was no way to learn the Secret Art, much less master it. But the war, the world, her enemies would not wait.

Alie and Gurteys stood by the front door, and both frowned when they saw the state of Tiaan's gown. She ignored their unfriendly glances. Did they think she was trying to take Gilhaelith away from them?

That night she drove herself harder than usual. She could not bear being dependent. It reminded her of her mother.

The next day Gilhaelith returned Tiaan to her attic hiding place as a local warlord appeared unannounced. He pretended to be checking on an order of brimstone, but as his eyes darted all around and his army of retainers wandered where they were not supposed to, clumsily questioning Gilhaelith's servants, it was clear that he was really looking for the thapter, and Tiaan. Whether for himself, or as a paid informant to Vithis, it did not matter. Tiaan shivered all the while he was there.

Once he had gone the lesser servants, led by Gurteys, stood around talking in low voices, after which they sent a deputation to Gilhaelith. Tiaan was not privy to what was discussed, though afterwards he was unusually silent and distant. She gathered that her presence, and the thapter, threatened everyone.

As she was wheeling down the hall late that night, something struck her painfully on the left ear. It felt like the handle of a broomstick. By the time she recovered and heaved the chair around, the culprit had disappeared in the darkness.

She did not call for a servant to help her to bed; Tiaan felt too afraid. Fortunately, when she was resigned to spending the night in her chair, Gilhaelith came by and lifted her into bed. Her arms were not yet strong enough to do it for herself. She resolved to work on that.

Later, brooding in the darkness, she became aware of an unpleasant smell, like week-old fish. Every time she moved, it grew stronger. Tearing the covers back she dragged herself to the far end. A large and extremely rotten fish had been wedged between the mattress and the end of the bed. Scooping the slimy creature up in one arm, she tossed it out the window. The stench lingered all night.

The unpleasantness, which had begun with the women, soon spread to the male servants, all except Nixx, Foreman Mihail, and Fley. Most of the servants just shunned her, but Gurteys and her friends subjected her to all kinds of torments, including abandoning her in the privy for hours. Tiaan might have spent all day there had Gilhaelith not come looking for her.

Gurteys made an excuse, which Gilhaelith accepted. He took no interest in the servants and had no idea what was going on. Tiaan kept her silence. She had never been one to tell tales. Besides, she understood why they were doing it. They were terrified that Vithis would find her hiding here and put the lot of them to the sword.

Two days later Gilhaelith tightened the last bolt of the walker and tossed his wrench onto the table. 'It's done!'

Tiaan wheeled herself across the tiled bas.e.m.e.nt floor. The walker resembled a four-legged spider and she wasn't sure she wanted to get inside. It would be like being part of a machine. On the other hand, she would not be quite so helpless.

She circled away, going round and round the thapter. Its black metal skin was stacked against the far wall, exposing a mess of mechanical innards. It looked as if it would never move again.

From here, Tiaan could feel the pull of the amplimet, which was back in its cavity. She had not touched it in ages. She occasionally felt twinges of longing for it, though Tiaan was not sure if that was withdrawal. Something had definitely changed since she'd used it in the port-all to create the gate. Not having touched the crystal since she came here, its pull was fading. She would never be free of it but she could, if she so chose, have left it behind. That was just as well since it now belonged to Gilhaelith. She had used her hedron in the controller of the walker.

She longed to be back in the thapter, to soar carefree through the sky. The freedom of the air meant so much more, now that she lacked mobility on the ground. But she had to learn to walk before she could fly first the repairs must be completed. Then a way must be found to tame, or at least shackle, the treacherous amplimet.

Tiaan had devoted much thought and experimentation to finding a replacement for it, but had found no other crystal that would allow her to draw upon the strong force required for flight. For the time being, she was bound to use the amplimet. Tiaan hated being reliant on it, and it bound her to Gilhaelith too, which did not please her. She liked him now, but since he did not trust her, she was not going to trust him. Heaving the wheels so hard that they spun in place, she headed for the walker.

Shortly, held securely in a webbing of leather and canvas straps, she gripped the controller arm with her right hand and the metal frame with her left. Emptying her mind, Tiaan mentally stroked the hedron into life. The field appeared in her inner eye, here a wavering aurora of pale yellow surrounded by cream, and further off, another wobbling yellow globe. It was rather like a double-yolker egg. Identifying a darker whirlpool, Tiaan caught it as it drifted by, traced a path through ethyric s.p.a.ce and tugged gently. Power poured into the crystal and the walker took off with a jerk, its foot pads sc.r.a.ping on the floor. One limb went one way, its mate the other. The legs splayed and it staggered sideways like a crab, tilting from side to side.

Gilhaelith laughed, which reminded her of her similar experience with the thapter. The wall loomed up. She choked the flow and the walker stalled, canted sideways with its legs unceremoniously spread. Coordinating four legs was harder than she had expected. Tiaan took a deep breath and concentrated, moving one leg at a time, and then the pairs, front and back. They did not want to go the right way, and the back brace, gouging her flesh with every movement, did not help.

Circling around the room, she edged up beside Gilhaelith, moved backwards and forwards without getting any closer, and stopped.

'How is it?' he asked.

'It takes a bit of getting used to.' She moved it sideways and back, which was no better. 'I'm either too close or too far away. But at least I'll be able to work on the thapter.'

He smiled. 'I'm glad. You'll have plenty to do while I'm away.'

The walker jerked, then froze, one leg in the air, as the field vanished from her mind. 'Where are you going?'

'Here, on the top of the mountain, the whole world can see who visits me. Some of my customers don't like other people knowing their business. And nor do I.' He sighed. 'I'll leave you to your work.'

Tiaan watched him go. After all this time she still did not know what he wanted of her, or what his real plans were. Maybe the secret business had to do with her. And what if Vithis came back? The servants would not lie for her.

FORTY-THREE.

Only once Gilhaelith had gone did Tiaan appreciate that she was alone in a fortress full of strangers. And they were were strangers, for while he was there she had been able to ignore them. She wished she had taken the trouble to get to know them at the beginning she might have made a friend or two. Apart from Nixx, Gurteys, her mute husband Fley, Mihail and Alie, she did not know their names. Tiaan supposed that was part of the problem. strangers, for while he was there she had been able to ignore them. She wished she had taken the trouble to get to know them at the beginning she might have made a friend or two. Apart from Nixx, Gurteys, her mute husband Fley, Mihail and Alie, she did not know their names. Tiaan supposed that was part of the problem.

She planned to keep watch on the amplimet while he was away, but could not find it anywhere. Did he not trust it, or her?

On the first morning, Tiaan became so immersed in the disa.s.sembly of an intricate part of the thapter that she did not notice the absence of the servants. After lunch, driven by an urgent need to use the privy, she rang the bell beside the door. It was not answered, even after twenty pulls.

There was no trouble getting the walker into the privy chamber, but getting out of the machine by herself proved to be a nightmare. She ended up falling, bruising herself from shoulder to knee. This privy, no more than a squatting hole, was disgusting and using it by herself proved impossible. She ran a piece of cord from a cloak hook on the wall to the door handle and tried to hang on to that. She fell twice, ending up so soiled that it took half the water barrel to clean herself up.

Fortunately no one came by to see her in that state. Weeping with humiliation, she pulled herself into the walker and went to her room. Getting out again, she fell and bruised her other side. Too sore and worn out to heave herself into bed, Tiaan slept on the floor and swore she would overcome her disability. Never again would she endure such helplessness.

She managed to dress herself in the morning, and shortly after, Fley happened to pa.s.s by and helped her into the walker. She did not plan to get out until Gilhaelith returned.

As always, her escape was work. Tiaan kept going all day, all night and into the following day, until she could no longer keep her eyes open. At midday she went to her room, locked the door and slept in her harness. She did not use the privy again. When she simply had to urinate she did it outside, which took rather a lot of coordination.

Tiaan, woken one night by a need to relieve herself, crept the walker towards the undulating walkway. She always went that way, knowing she would not meet anyone. As she went through the front door, voices came echoing down the wall.

'... heave her, and her wretched thapter, out the window into the lake.'

Tiaan recognised the voice but could not put a face to it.

'There's a price for her, and it,' said another. It sounded like Gurteys.

'I'll not listen to that kind of talk,' snapped a third. 'Gilhaelith has looked after my family for four generations, and I'll '

'That'll count for naught if the scrutators find it here. We'll die horribly, Iryle. Well, not me!'

'Master has been good to us.'

'And I'd risk my life for him,' said Gurteys. 'Even my family's lives, should it come to that. But I'll not risk so much as a little toe for her.'

'And if we do chance everything,' came an unknown voice, 'where's the reward?'

'Ten thousand gold tells is the price for her,' said Gurteys. 'And the same for her flying machine. Imagine that two thousand each!'

Tiaan heard a sharp intake of breath, a door banged and the voices were cut off. She headed in the other direction, out behind the skeet houses. Ten thousand gold tells was the worth of a town. No one could resist that kind of temptation. Unable to sleep, she went the long way to the bas.e.m.e.nt to work on the thapter, and made sure she had a long knife within reach at all times.

Despite her efforts, the repairs were going slowly. Tiaan had begun to despair that the thapter would ever be finished. Vithis would return, search Nyriandiol and find it. And her.

The servants did not come after her perhaps they hadn't yet found the courage to betray their master, or perhaps too many remained loyal. She knew Fley had, for she saw Gurteys abusing him outside her door. Mute Fley said nothing, but the look on his face was savage.

In the morning, Tiaan heard that Gilhaelith was coming up the mountain. She had missed him and was surprised to discover it. She now found it impossible to concentrate on her work and was constantly clacking up the ramps to see if he had arrived. The servants gave one another bitter, knowing glances.

That checked her. Her impulse had been to go flying down the hall, to show how well she could control the walker. Instead she made her face impa.s.sive, staying back until he had greeted his servants and handed them a variety of packages.

Gilhaelith turned to her. Tiaan stood where she was, rocking the walker like a boat on the sea. He seemed drawn.

'You look thin, Tiaan.'

'I've been working hard. The walker has done a lot for me. But you appear tired ... Gilhaelith.' She rarely used his name and it always sounded strange.

'A long journey, and hard bargaining, and bad news at the end of it. The Aachim are preparing to move at last. I believe it means war.'

'On us?' she cried.

'On humanity! But we could well end up casualties.'

'Oh.' She moved the machine back and forth on its spindly legs, conscious that she had not had a bath in a week.

'I must make preparations for the security of Nyriandiol. How goes the thapter?'

'Slowly, though I have spent weary hours at it. It may take another week.'

'I pray we have that long. What a.s.sistance I can render is yours to command, though I have many calls on my time. Still,' he smiled tiredly, 'I'm sure we'll find a way. I'd better get started.'

Tiaan wondered if he was putting on a show for the house, for the smile did not reach his eyes and his brow was furrowed.

Late that evening he came to her room, where she sat by the bed in the walker, waiting for him. Tiaan's hands were clenched in her lap. The servants' talk about the reward had so terrified her that she had to take further steps to protect herself. She planned to do something quite foreign to her nature and was not sure how to go about it.

'You look exhausted,' she said. 'Is there more than you have said?'

'There is. The lyrinx are ma.s.sing in south-west Meldorin, just across the sea from Taltid, where the scrutators have their largest army. Vithis's Aachim are moving down into Almadin. If Aachim and lyrinx unite, they will destroy an army and a civilisation.' He rose.

'G-Gilhaelith?'

He stopped with his hand on the latch. 'Yes, Tiaan?'

'Could you help me?'

'Of course. What can I do for you?'

'Could you help me to get ... to get ready for bed?' She blushed.

The smile vanished. 'I'll call Gurteys.'

'No!' she cried.

'What's the matter?'

'We don't get on very well,' Tiaan said lamely.

'Sanya then.'

'Sanya?'

'The woman who helps you with your toilet.'

'She and I don't get on either.'

'Who would would you would like to attend you?' said Gilhaelith with a trace of irritation. you would like to attend you?' said Gilhaelith with a trace of irritation.

'I don't want to be attended by any any of them,' she said, determined to get it out at last. 'They hate me.' of them,' she said, determined to get it out at last. 'They hate me.'

'They will do what they are told.' Gilhaelith strode back and forth, casting her sideways glances. 'What's the matter with ...?' He seemed to be rea.s.sessing her.

'They resent me. They don't like it that you and I are together a lot. They don't want things to change, and they don't think anyone is good enough for you, least of all a cripple cripple and a foreigner like me.' and a foreigner like me.'

'What do you mean good enough good enough?'

Did he really have no idea what they were thinking? She looked into his eyes and saw that he did not. He could read strangers but was blind to his own staff. 'They think,' she said slowly, because just to say it was embarra.s.sing, 'that we will become lovers ... if we are not already. That I am after you.'

'After me?' me?'

'And that when I get you, and become mistress of Nyriandiol, I will dismiss them and bring in my own people.'

'That's absurd. I've never had a lover. Why would I start now?'

You might have put it a bit more kindly, she thought. 'Do you really know so little about human nature? They have never seen you with a woman. Now you are constantly with me.'

'They have nothing to worry about,' he said abruptly.

She had not expected more, nor wanted it. Nonetheless, it was another rejection of her femininity. She was, after all, a cripple. Tiaan took a deep breath. The only way to protect herself was to bind him to her as tightly as possible. She could not risk him taking the servants' side. From here he could probably complete the repairs of the thapter by himself, and if he dared use the amplimet there would be no need for her. The thought made her cold inside. 'And they're afraid.'

'Of what?'