It all seemed to him a fool's endeavor, especially those patrols Cyndere had sent in search of Jordam. "She needs him to help her speak with the beastmen," Myrton had explained. "And to help them learn to trust her."

"Sounds like askin' for trouble," Caroon had replied. "But if a beastman goes free here, I'm not sleepin' without this weapon at my side."

A cry rang out from the tower window. He pushed his wagonchair to the ramp and let himself rush down the incline to the ground. Truth be told, Caroon loved any excuse to plunge down that ramp.

Inside Tilianpurth, he took the lift up to Cyndere's chamber. Myrton stood by the open door.

"Puzzle, puzzle," the chemist whispered. "Cyndere walked in to find Jordam snoring like a happy hog in a mud bath. It's like something flew him in through the window."

They peered through the narrow span. Caroon scowled. What he saw did not look much like a beastman. A giant, yes-muscled and scarred. But not a monster. Cyndere, the beastchild anxiously clinging to her hand, knelt beside the murmuring sleeper, leaned down, and kissed him on the brow.

His eyes opened.

At last Krawg led Warney to the frothy edge of the lake in the cloud world beyond the Forbidding Wall.

"Do ya think they'll string us up in the hangers if they find out we came down here?" asked Warney.

"Yup," said Krawg. "So don't dally. Let's look for clues and be on our way."

"It's a good thing Tabor Jan's away," said Warney. "Otherwise, I'd be twice as worried."

"I suspect his journey will be longer than he told us," said Krawg. "He may be takin' all them goats and birds to Bel Amica for a gift, but you and I both know what's on his mind. Remember those last days in Bel Amica? Lots of hushed meetings with Partayn's sister. If you know what I mean."

"I caught sight of 'em one bright morning," said Warney. "Just a few days before you left Bel Amica. They were walking slowly along a stretch of wall, lookin' out to sea. I couldn't hear a word they said, but they looked mighty uncomfortable. In a good way."

"Time wasn't right."

"No. Not yet."

They moved on in silence.

"Is the time right now?" Warney cautiously asked.

Krawg shrugged. "House Auralia don't seem to need defending, for now. No sign of Deathweed anywhere. Everything seems to be settlin'. And yet, nothin's quite what we thought it would be." He laughed, shaking his head. "Strange day, that day."

"Which?"

"Day of the ceremony. Remember? All gathered in the Sanctuary, distraught. No sign of Cal-raven for five whole days. No sign of anybody. Nobody's come back through the black gate. Then Scharr ben Fray steps up. We're all silent. Tabor Jan's standin' there, lookin' nervous and upset. We're all sure it's an announcement that the old mage is our new king."

"Oh, that day." Warney puffed out his cheeks. "Strange day."

Krawg stepped up onto a rock and spread his arms, then boomed his voice as if to a great assembly. "People of House Auralia, for many generations, the line of Cal-raven, Cal-marcus, and Har-baron has ruled you. Now we're a whole new house. But we've lost our leader. And due to history's cruelty, we've got no child to sustain the line. So it falls to those Cal-raven favored. And among those, it must be one blessed with the gifts of Tammos Raak."

"Lucky for him, then," muttered Warney.

"I did not seek this privilege for myself," said Krawg, continuing the charade. "But I would strive to learn from the trials of your past kings. And I would strive to recover the glory we saw in Auralia's colors. Will you accept me as your king?"

"And then," said Warney.

"And then," said Krawg. "A shout."

"Not a shout. A great commotion."

"A trumpet of alarm from the Sanctuary gates."

"And those gates," whispered Warney, "they opened."

"And House Auralia's guardians ushered in she who had knocked."

"And she came right down the stair," said Warney, "like a living flame. All draped in 'Ralia's colors."

"That very same cloak," said Krawg. "Not seen among the people in many a season. And her name came rippling across the crowd in waves. Jaralaine. Jaralaine. Jaralaine. Our queen."

"And she strode up the stair to stand before the cowering mage. And she said, *I declare-' "

"Let me tell it!" Krawg growled. Then he raised his hands as if to bless the birds that flew around them in the mist, birds flying strong, sure arcs like kites on hard winds. "I proclaim today the beginning of House Auralia's spring! A time for music and stories, for painting and sculpture, for discovery and new questions. A time to give shape to our gratitude."

"The people didn't know whether to laugh or cry."

"Then Queen Jaralaine proclaimed that unless her son were to return through the Black Gate, Tabor Jan would sit at her right hand for his faithfulness to her son and that should he marry, the throne would pass to his firstborn."

"And then the people were cheering again."

"And then she went out, and all the assembly followed her in fear and amazement. And she stopped before the stonemasters' statue."

"The beautiful statue," said Warney.

"Auralia wearing Cal-raven's ring and the ale boy pointing to the mountains."

"Yes. And there Jaralaine asked our forgiveness. One by one."

They walked on in silence, making their way down to the shore.

"Nobody'll believe that story," said Krawg.

"Truth never seems very true, does it?" said Warney.

Krawg kicked rocks into the water.

"Where do you suppose they are now, the three of them?" asked Warney.

"I don't plan to go back until I know."

"Ballyworms, Krawg. Look!"

Through a rift in the fog, a stone the shape of an altar emerged. From it rose a vertical line, bold as a binding promise against the water's shining span. "Is that what I think?"

"The king's sword."

Krawg stood before it, thrilling in the storm of dread and hope that the sight inspired, troubled by all that it did not answer. "Not sure what this means," he muttered. "Haven't found what we came for. But we found somethin'."

"Look at that." Warney opened his arms to the spectacle before them. The turbulent lake that spun as a great whirlpool, disappearing into the earth. The waterfall crashing down from the blazing clouds. The blasting spray that rose to merge with the continent of vapor.

"Wish I was a painter," Krawg sighed. "I'd paint ... this."

And at that moment, they heard a clear and searing note ring out through the fog.

"Someone is there!" Warney cried.

A figure was approaching along the misty shore of that bright lake, playing on a gleaming glass trumpet a song as bright and as vivid as Auralia's thread.

"I don't know that song," said Warney. "It's strange."

"But I know that face," said Krawg.

And Warney had to agree with him there.

A GUIDE TO THE CHARACTERS.

House Abascar (AB-uh-skar).

Adryen (AY-dree-en)-A cook.

ale boy-A former errand-runner; a friend of Auralia; gifted as a firewalker who can pass through flames without burning; now a survivor beloved for rescuing hundreds from House Abascar's collapse and from Cent Regus slavery. Some call him "Rescue."

Ark-restor (ark-RES-tor)-A former cook; later captured and enslaved to the beastmen.

Auralia (o-RAY-lee-uh)-A young, artistic girl discovered by Krawg in the wilderness when she was an infant. Her artistry was an extraordinary revelation of colors with miraculous effects. But her artistry stirred up trouble in House Abascar, which culminated in the fiery destruction of the house. Only the ale boy witnessed what happened to Auralia in the calamity.

Bowlder (BOL-der)-A defender, distinct in his size and strength.

Brevolo (BREV-o-lo)-A soldier; daughter of Galarand, sister of Bryndei.

Cal-raven (cal-RAY-ven)-A stonemaster; king of House Abascar; son of Cal-marcus.

Cortie (KOR-tee)-Orphaned when her parents, the merchants Joss and Juney, were slain by beastmen, she and her brother, Wynn, were led by the ale boy into the care of the remnant of House Abascar.

Em-emyt (em-EM-ut)-A soldier; eventually captured and enslaved to the beastmen.

Irimus Rain (EER-i-mus RANE)-A strategist and advisor to kings of House Abascar; eventually captured and enslaved to the beastmen.

Jaralaine (JARE-uh-lane)-Former queen of House Abascar; wife to King Cal-marcus, mother of Cal-raven. She ran away from Abascar and disappeared when Cal-raven was young. Later she was discovered in captivity to the beastmen.

Jes-hawk (JES-hawk)-The finest archer among Abascar's defenders; brother of Lynna.

Kar-balter (kar-BAL-tur)-A soldier; eventually captured and enslaved to the beastmen.

Krawg (KROG)-Once a thief known as "the Midnight Swindler"; arrested and cast out to be a Gatherer; now a harvester. Famous for discovering Auralia.

Lesyl (LES-el)-A musician.

Luci (LOO-see)-One of the triplets who have the gifts of stonemastery and thoughtspeaking.

Lynna (LIN-uh)-Jes-hawk's sister, who worked at the Mawrnash revelhouse after Abascar's collapse; betrayed the Abascar remnant to Ryllion after their exodus from Barnashum.

Madi (MAD-ee)-One of the triplets who have the gifts of stonemastery and thoughtspeaking; lost when she fell down a well while trying to hide from Ryllion. Her voice still speaks to Margi and Luci from beyond.

Margi (MAR-gee)-One of the triplets who have the gifts of stonemastery and thoughtspeaking.

Mulla Gee (MUL-uh GEE)-Once a Gatherer; eventually captured and enslaved to the beastmen.

Nat-ryan (nat-RIE-un)-The "pillarman" of House Abascar, who inspected the columns that supported its foundation.

Nella Bye (NEL-uh bie)-Once a Gatherer; lost her daughter in Abascar's collapse; eventually captured and enslaved to the beastmen.

Say-ressa (say-RESS-uh)-House Abascar's beloved healer.

Shanyn (SHAN-un)-A soldier and House Abascar's swiftest rider.

Tabor Jan (TAY-bor JAN)-King Cal-raven's closest friend and captain of the guard for the remnant of Abascar.

Warney (WOR-nee)-Formerly a thief known as the "One-Eyed Bandit"; then a Gatherer; now a harvester in the remnant of Abascar.

Wynn (WIN)-Orphaned when his parents, the merchants Joss and Juney, were slain by beastmen, he and his sister, Cortie, were led by the ale boy into the care of the remnant of House Abascar.

House Jenta (JEN-ta) Ryp ben Fray (RIP ben FRAY)-The eldest mage of the Jentan Aerial (the faculty of scholar-mages who teach in the Jentan School); a stonemaster; elder brother of Scharr ben Fray.

Tenderly (TEN-der-lee)-An acolyte of the Jentan School.

Zhan ry Wren (ZHAN ree REN)-The eldest female mage of House Jenta, living on Wildflower Isle with the rest of House Jenta's society that has been tricked into confinement there.

House Bel Amica (bel AM-i-kuh) Alysa (uh-LIS-uh)-A laborer enslaved by the beastmen; wife of Wilkyn.

Aronakt (AIR-un-akt)-An agile laborer enslaved to the beastmen.

Batey (BAY-tee)-A metalworker enslaved to the beastmen; husband of Raechyl.

Bauris (BOR-is)-A former soldier, once a guard appointed to young Cyndere; survived being thrown into a well by Ryllion; he seems mad to some, but others suspect he may see the world more clearly than anyone.

Cesylle (SES-il)-Emeriene's husband; a court representative; apprentice to Pretor Xa; a traitor.

Cesyr (SES-er)-Older son of Emeriene and Cesylle; given to the Seers as an apprentice until Cesylle's treachery was exposed.

Channy (CHAN-ee)-Younger son of Emeriene and Cesylle; given to the Seers as an apprentice until Cesylle's treachery was exposed.

Cormyk (KOR-mik)-A fisherman enslaved by the beastmen.

Cyndere (SIN-der)-The daughter of Queen Thesera and King Helpryn; widow of Deuneroi; sister of Partayn.