"But if I had not been so cursed then I --"

"Could have done what? Destroyed Elcho Falling of your own volition, rather than Eleanon's?"

Ravenna dropped her eyes.

"Will you tell me where these 'eggs' are?"

"They are scattered evenly about the outer walls of the citadel. Start at the second level, the outer eastern corner, and from there you should be able to sense them out easily yourself."

"And can I do anything about them?"

"I doubt it."

A muscle worked in the corner of Maximilian's jaw. "What are the Lealfast doing? What are their plans?"

"I do not know this, either, Maximilian, truly. Maximilian --"

"Now you work for the One."

"No. StarDancer broke his hold over me."

"StarDancer is truly powerful."

"Perhaps he can aid you against the One."

Maximilian allowed a small silence to develop. "Did StarDancer tell you of his plan?"

"That I should trap the One in the Land of Nightmares? Yes?"

"Dare I ask if you think it has any merit?"

Ravenna gave a small, sad smile. "It will work, Maximilian, but only if you trust me completely and I cannot see the day you could do that."

"That is the first piece of truth you have spoken since I came in that door, I think."

"It has all been truth."

Maximilian grunted. "It is the perfect plan for you, isn't it. You get the power of the Lord of Elcho Falling for your son after all this."

For our son, Ravenna thought. "And yet be trapped inside the Land of Nightmares. I do not think that is power for him. Our son will never enjoy the privileges of Elcho Falling."

"Are you trying to tell me that you are willing to trap yourself and your son in the Land of Nightmares for an eternity?"

"Yes, to make amends for all I have --"

Maximilian cut her off with a harsh bark of laughter. "How long would that selfless resolution last, then? A year? A hundred? A thousand? Eventually you would grow tired of your promise and your repentance, and you would escape the Land of Nightmares and haul the One with you."

"Speak to Drava, Maximilian. Speak to the Lord of Dreams. Once I am trapped with our son and the One inside the Land of Nightmares, Drava can cut it off entirely from your world and his. He has been longing to do that for aeons, I think."

"I have had enough of casting the One in various prisons," Maximilian said. "I cannot believe that this would work."

"Speak to Drava. I am sure you would trust him."

Maximilian rose from his chair. "I do not trust you, Ravenna, nor this apparent repentance of yours."

"Nonetheless, it is genuine, Maximilian."

He studied her a moment, then banged on the door for the guards to let him out.

"I'm sorry, Maxel," Ravenna said. "For everything."

But Maximilian had gone, and did not hear her.

He paused in the corridor outside, shaking with anger and such deep regret that he did not think he could bear it.

He heard Garth walk up beside him.

"How did it end like this?" Maximilian said, his voice breaking down. "How could it possibly have ended like this?"

Garth didn't know what to say. How could it have ended like this? The bond the three of them had shared, the adventures, the laughter.

The journey beyond the hanging wall.

How could it have ended like this?

Garth felt tears well in his own eyes, and he put a hand on Maximilian's shoulder and stood close while they both wept.

While Maximilian was with Ravenna, Insharah sought out Ishbel.

"My Lady?" he said, as he entered the chamber where she sat.

"Insharah," Ishbel said, rising. She had much to do and consider, but she knew why Insharah had come, and Ishbel knew she owed him this and did not begrudge the interruption. She took Insharah's hands and kissed his cheek in greeting. "It is good to see you, and once more allied with my friends. Come, sit."

"My Lady," Insharah said, "I, as all my countrymen at Elcho Falling, need to know what you and Maximilian found in Isembaard."

Ishbel felt her tears welling, and wished she had the power to stop it. Insharah had not yet heard the story of Hairekeep, unless Axis or Georgdi had told him in the meantime . . . and he wouldn't be sitting here with such hope in his eyes if he'd heard that dreadful tale.

"There is little good news, Insharah. I am so sorry. We were at Aqhat and travelled north then east through Sakkuth and past Hairekeep. There . . . well, all those who had sheltered at Hairekeep had died."

Insharah sat back, withdrawing both physically and emotionally from Ishbel.

Ishbel remembered the piece of bone she had read with the name of Insharah's wife on it. She wanted to tell him, but couldn't.

He knew, anyway.

"Thank you," Insharah said in a flat voice, and he rose and left the chamber.

Ishbel sat for a long time, staring at the closed door, tears running silently down her face, wishing there had been something else she could have told him. Then she stood and walked to the chambers she shared with Maximilian.

Chapter 4.

Elcho Falling.

Ishbel waited for Maximilian in their chamber at the very top of Elcho Falling. Above her the stars reeled, and the rings of the golden crown swung lazily around the citadel. The luxuriously appointed chamber glowed with soft light.

She glanced upward, knowing that there were Lealfast almost certainly hovering above. Ishbel wanted to close the roof, but didn't want to give the Lealfast the satisfaction of knowing their presence had made her nervous.

So she wandered the chamber, waiting for Maximilian, her mind unable to stop worrying about what StarDancer had said.

Ishbel wondered if it would have made much difference to their current predicament if she had killed Ravenna when she'd had the chance, rather than bind her with curses. Even cursed, Ravenna had managed to create havoc.

StarDancer's solution was unthinkable. There must be another way of dealing once and for all with the One. They couldn't trust Ravenna. And Ishbel knew she couldn't divest Maximilian of his power. If she struggled, Ishbel thought she might, just might be able to think of some circ.u.mstance where she removed the curses about Ravenna (but that was, indeed, close to impossible), but to divest Maximilian of his power . . . unthinkable! Further, to allow Ravenna's child to a.s.sume the rights and privileges and power of the Lord of Elcho Falling, and then to have those rights and privileges and powers trapped in the Land of Nightmares?

Impossible. Impossible. Not only would it mean the end of Maximilian as Lord of Elcho Falling, but it would mean the end of the line of Lords of Elcho Falling, for the current Lord would be trapped in the Land of Nightmare.

Everything Maxel and she had fought so hard for would be as naught.

StarDancer's "solution" was no solution at all. It demanded too high a price. It was just another trap, yet another nightmare. It would destroy as much as the One would destroy.

Perhaps more.

G.o.ds, they may as well just hand everything to the One now! Would that not be better than seeing the line of the Lords of Elcho Falling die within the Land of Nightmares?

"We can't possibly allow it," Ishbel muttered, her loathing of Ravenna and everything she represented now consuming her.

If it wasn't for Ravenna . . .

"Ishbel."

She spun about, her face lighting up as Maximilian walked into the chamber.

Ishbel's smile died as she saw his face. Maximilian looked exhausted and emotionally drained. She started toward him and, as she did so, Maximilian waved a hand, almost without thought, and closed the roof over their heads.

Whatever was the matter, he didn't want to share it with the Lealfast.

"Maxel?"

He took her hand and tried a small smile for her, which faded the moment it appeared. "Come sit with me, Ishbel. I need to rest and we need to talk."

Ishbel waited until they were seated on a couch near a small brazier she'd lit earlier, then she wrapped his hand in both of hers. "What happened, Maxel? Did you examine the Dark Spire, talk to Ravenna? What do you think. Should we --"

He gave her a small smile. "Too many questions, my love. But yes, I examined the Dark Spire and I talked to Ravenna. Neither was a particularly pleasant experience."

"The Dark Spire?" Ishbel asked, not wanting to hear of Ravenna just yet.

"It is terrible, Ishbel. It has grown through many levels now, and has formed itself into a representation of Elcho Falling itself. It has birthed eggs . . . Ravenna has taken these and planted them about the outer walls of Elcho Falling. She told me where to look . . . Ishbel, I can't do anything about them. They are like little cancers. They have grown deep into the fabric of Elcho Falling itself, in scores of different locations. I can't get them out without destroying Elcho Falling in the process."

Ishbel didn't know what to say, or what to ask next. The very thought terrified her.

Oh, why hadn't she killed Ravenna when she had the chance?

"How bad is it, Maxel?"

"I don't know. I will investigate more tomorrow. But it is bad. I have no idea how to remove them, or even how to stop them growing."

"Can Garth help with his Touch?"

"No. Garth has tried. Nothing."

"Did you feel the One within the spire?"

Maximilian gave a terse nod. "I can feel him, but can do little against him. I cannot penetrate the spire, and even if I could . . . G.o.ds, Ishbel, I remember the power that the One sent seething down the path from the Twisted Tower toward me. He is so much stronger now than when the citadel expelled him. I fear that neither I nor Elcho Falling can touch him."

"Oh Maxel . . . there must be something we can do."

"I went to see Ravenna."

"I wish I had killed --"

"Ishbel, don't say it." Maximilian paused, his tongue running about his lips. "I talked to her, Ishbel. She confirmed what StarDancer said."

"You can't possibly be thinking --"

"I can't bear to think it, Ishbel! How can I trust her? How? To give her back her power and then to leave the fate of Elcho Falling in her hands? I cannot countenance it!"

Ishbel relaxed a little. She had not dared to admit it even to herself, but a tiny part of her had been terrified that Ravenna would somehow dupe Maximilian into agreeing to StarDancer's plan.

"Then what can we do, Maxel?"

"I knew there would come a time when I would regret the loss of the Twisted Tower," Maximilian said, "and this is it. While none of the knowledge in the Twisted Tower pertained specifically to the Dark Spire -- who could have foretold it? -- or to the One, there might have been something amid all those objects and memories that might aid us."

"Like what?"

"Something, perhaps, on how to repel disease within Elcho Falling's walls. On how to repel weakness. On how to repel invaders. I don't know, Ishbel. Both of us have been through every single object in that tower, but how many hundreds of memories and knowledges did we set to one side, thinking we would not need them in the raising of Elcho Falling?"

Ishbel nodded. When they had gone through the Twisted Tower with Josia they had specifically concentrated only on the knowledge needed to raise Elcho Falling. Everything else they had glimpsed was enough to remember objects, but they had not remembered specific details.

After all, they could always go back to the Twisted Tower whenever they needed to retrieve further information.

"I know on the forty-seventh level," Ishbel said slowly, her brow creased as she thought, "there was something about the walls, something to do with . . . construction . . . or the enchantment that went into them . . . "