Catherine Fisher - Incarceron

Incarceron (Incarceron #1) Catherine FisherTo Sheenagh Pughbrilliant poet, wise webmistress.CRYSTAL EAGLE, DARK SWANWho can chart the vastness of Incarceron?Its halls and viaducts, its chasms?Only the man who has known freedomCan define his prison.--Songs of Sapphique***Finn had been flung on his face and chained to the stone slabs of the transitway. Hisarms, spread wide, were weighted with links so heavy, he could barely drag his wrists offthe ground. His ankles were tangled in a slithering mass of metal, bolted through a ring inthe pavement. He couldn't raise his chest to get enough air. He lay exhausted, the stoneicy against his cheek. But the Civicry were coming at last.He felt them before he heard them; vibrations in the ground, starting tiny and growing untilthey shivered in his teeth and nerves. Then noises in the darkness, the rumble ofmigration trucks, the slow hollow clang of wheel rims. Dragging his head around, heshook dirty hair out of his eyes and saw how the parallel grooves in the floor arrowedstraight under his body. He was chained directly across the tracks.Sweat slicked his forehead. Gripping the frosted links with6one glove he hauled his chest up and gasped in a breath. The air was acrid and smelledof oil.It was no use yelling yet. They were too far off and wouldn't hear him over the clamor of thewheels until they were well into the vast hall. He would have to time it exactly. Too late, andthe trucks couldn't be stopped, and he would be crushed. Desperately, he tried to avoidthe other thought. That they might see him and hear him and not even care.Lights.Small, bobbing, handheld lights. Concentrating, he counted nine, eleven, twelve; thencounted them again to have a number that was firm, that would stand against the nauseachoking his throat.Nuzzling his face against the torn sleeve for some comfort he thought of Keiro, his grin,the last mocking little slap as he'd checked the lock and stepped back into the dark. Hewhispered the name, a bitter whisper: "Keiro."Vast halls and invisible galleries swallowed it. Fog hung in the metallic air. The trucksclanged and groaned.He could see people now, trudging. They emerged from the darkness so muffled againstthe cold, it was hard to tell if they were children or old, bent women. Probably children--theaged, if they kept any, would ride on the trams, with the goods. A black-and-white raggedflag draped the leading truck; he could see its design, a heraldic bird with a silver bolt inits beak."Stop!" he called. "Look! Down here!"7The grinding of machinery shuddered the floor. It whined in his bones. He clenched hishands as the sheer weight and impetus of the trucks came home to him, the smell ofsweat from the massed ranks of men pushing them, the rattle and slither of piled goods.He waited, forcing his terror down, second by second testing his nerve against death, notbreathing, not letting himself break, because he was Finn the Starseer, he could do this.Until from nowhere a sweating panic erupted and he heaved himself up and screamed,"Did you hear me! Stop! Stop?They came on.The noise was unbearable. Now he howled and kicked and struggled, because theterrible momentum of the loaded trucks would slide relentlessly, loom over him, darkenhim, crush his bones and body in slow inevitable agony.Until he remembered the flashlight.It was tiny but he still had it. Keiro had made sure of that. Dragging the weight of thechain, he rolled and wriggled his hand inside his coat, wrist muscles twisting in spasm.His fingers slid on the slim cold tube.Vibrations shuddered through his body. He jerked the flashlight out and dropped it and itrolled, just out of reach. He cursed, squirmed, pressed it on with his chin.Light beamed.He was gasping with relief, but the trucks still came on. Surely the Civicry could see him.They must be able to see him!8The flashlight was a star in the immense rumbling darkness of the hall, and in thatmoment, through all its stairs and galleries and thousands of labyrinthine chambers heknew Incarceron had sensed his peril, and the crash of the trucks was its harshamusement, that the Prison watched him and would not interfere."I know you can see me!" he screamed.The wheels were man-high. They shrieked in the grooves; sparks fountained across thepaving. A child called, a high shout, and Finn groaned and huddled tight, knowing none ofit had worked, knowing it was finished, and then the wail of the brakes hit him, thescreech in his bones and fingers.The wheels loomed. They were high above. They were over him.They were still.He couldn't move. His body was a limp rag of terror. The flashlight illuminated nothing buta fist-thick rivet in an oily flange.Then, beyond it, a voice demanded, "What's your name, Prisoner?"They were gathered in the darkness. He managed to lift his head and saw shapes,hooded."Finn. My name's Finn." His voice was a whisper; he had to swallow. "I didn't think youwere going to stop ..."A grunt. Someone else said, "Looks like Scum to me.""No! Please! Please get me up." They were silent and no one9moved, so he took a breath and said tightly, "The Scum raided our Wing. They killed myfather and they left me like this for anyone who passed." He tried to ease the agony in hischest, clenching his fingers on the rusty chain. "Please. I'm begging you."Someone came close. The toe of a boot halted next to his eye; dirty, with one patchedhole."What sort of Scum?""The Comitatus. Their leader called himself Jormanric the Winglord."The man spat, close to Finn's ear. "That one! He's a crazed thug."Why was nothing happening? Finn squirmed, desperate. "Please! They may comeback!""I say we ride over him. Why interfere?""Because we're Civicry, not Scum." To Finn's surprise, a woman. He heard the rustle ofher silk clothes under the coarse travelcoat. She knelt and he saw her gloved hand tug atthe chains. His wrist was bleeding; rust made powdery loops on his grimy skin.The man said uneasily, "Maestra, listen ...""Get bolt-cutters, Sim. Now."Her face was close to Finn's. "Don't worry, Finn. I won't leave you here."Painfully, he looked up, saw a woman of about twenty, her hair red, her eyes dark. For amoment he smelled her; a drift of soap and soft wool, a heart-stabbing scent that brokeinto his10memory, into that black locked box inside him. A room. A room with an applewood fire. Acake on a china plate.The shock must have shown on his face; from the shadow of her hood she looked at himthoughtfully. "Y be safe with us." ou'llFinn stared back. He couldn't breathe.A nursery. The walls stone. The hangings rich and red.A man came hastily and slid the cutter under the chain. "Watch your eyes," he growled.Finn dropped his head on his sleeve, sensing people crowding around. For a moment hethought one of the fits he dreaded was coming over him; he closed his eyes and felt thefamiliar dizzying heat sweep his body. He fought it, swallowing saliva, gripping the chainsas the massive cutters sheared them open. The memory was fading; the room and thefire, the cake with tiny silver balls on a gold-bordered plate. Even as he tried to keep it, itwas gone, and the icy darkness of Incarceron was back, the sour metallic stench of oilywheels.Links slid and rattled. He heaved himself upright in relief, dragging in deep breaths. Thewoman took his wrist and turned it over. "This will need dressing."He froze. He couldn't move. Her fingers were cool and clean, and she had touched him onhis skin, between the torn sleeve and the glove, and she was looking at the tiny tattoo ofthe crowned bird.She frowned. "That's not a Civicry mark. It looks like ..."11"What?" He was alert at once. "Like what?"A rumble miles off in the hall. The chains at his feet slithered. Bending over them the manwith the cutters hesitated. "That's odd. This bolt. It's loose ..."The Maestra stared at the bird. "Like the crystal."A shout, behind them."What crystal?" Finn said."A strange object. We found it.""And the bird is the same? You're sure?""Yes." Distracted, she turned and looked at the bolt. "Y weren't really--" ouHe had to know about this. He had to keep her alive. He grabbed her and pulled her tothe floor. "Get down," he whispered. And then, angrily, "Don't you understand? It's all atrap!'For a moment her eyes stared into his and he saw their surprise fractured into horror. Shejerked out of his grip; with one twist was up and screaming, "Run! Everyone run!" But thegrids in the floor were crashing open; arms came out, bodies were heaved up, weaponsslammed down on the stone.Finn moved. He flung the man with the cutters back, kicked the false bolt off, and wriggledout of the chains. Keiro was yelling at him; a cutlass flashed past his head and he threwhimself down, rolled, and looked up.The hall was black with smoke. The Civicry were screaming, racing for the shelter of thevast pillars, but already the12Scum were on the wagons, firing indiscriminately, red flashes from the clumsy firelocksturning the hall acrid.He couldn't see her. She might be dead, she might be running. Someone shoved him andthrust a weapon into his hand; he thought it was Lis, but the Scum all wore their darkhelms and he couldn't tell.Then he saw the woman. She was pushing children under the first wagon; a small boywas sobbing and she grabbed him and flung him in front of her. But gas was hissing fromthe small spheres that fell and cracked like eggs, its sting making Finn's eyes water. Hepulled out his helm and dragged it on, the soaked pads over nose and mouth magnifyinghis breathing. Through its eye grid the hall was red, the figures clear.She had a weapon and was firing with it."Finn!"It was Keiro, but Finn ignored the shout. He ran for the first truck, dived under it, andgrabbed the Maestra's arm; as she turned he knocked the weapon aside and shescreamed in anger and went for his face with her nailed gloves, the spines clawing at hishelm. As he dragged her out, the children kicked and struggled with him, and a cascadeof foodstuffs was tossed down around them, caught, stowed, slid efficiently into chutesdown the grids.An alarm howled.Incarceron stirred.Smooth panels slid aside in the walls; with a click, spotlights13of brilliant light stabbed down from the invisible roof, roaming back and forth over thedistant floor, picking out the Scum as they scattered like rats, their stark shadowsenormous. "Evacuate!" Keiro yelled.Finn pushed the woman on. Next to them a running figure was drilled with light andevaporated soundlessly, caught in mid-panic. Children wailed.The woman turned, breathless with shock, staring back at the remnants of her people.Then Finn dragged her to the chute.Through the mask his eyes met hers."Down there," he gasped. "Or you'll die."For a moment he almost thought she wouldn't.Then she spat at him, snatched herself out of his hands, and jumped into the chute.A spark of white fire scorched over the stones; instantly, Finn jumped after her.The chute was of white silk, strong and taut. He slid down it in a breathlessness thattipped him out at the other end onto a pile of stolen furs and bruising metal components.Already hauled to one side, a weapon at her head, the Maestra watched in scorn.Finn picked himself up painfully. All around, the Scum were sliding into the tunnel,encumbered with plunder, some hobbling, some barely conscious. Last of all, landinglightly on his feet, came Keiro.The grids slammed shut.14The chutes fell away.Dim shapes gasped and coughed and tore off masks.Keiro removed his slowly, revealing his handsome face smeared with dust. Finn swungon him in fury. "What happened? I was panicked out there! What rook you so long?"Keiro smiled. "Calm down. Aklo couldn't get the gas to work. Y kept them talking well ouenough." He looked at the woman. "Why bother with her?"Finn shrugged, still simmering. "She's a hostage."Keiro raised an eyebrow. "Too much trouble." He jerked his head at the man holding theweapon; the man snicked back the trigger. The Maestra's face was white."So I don't get anything extra for risking my life up there." Finn's voice was steady . Hedidn't move, but Keiro looked over at him. For a moment they stared at each other. Thenhis oath-brother said coolly , "If she's what you want.""She's what I want."Keiro glanced at the woman again, and shrugged. "No accounting for taste." He nodded,and the weapon was lowered. Then he slapped Finn on the shoulder, so that a cloud ofdust rose from his clothes. "Well done, brother," he said.152***We will choose an Era from the past and re-create it.We will make a world free from the anxiety of change!It will be Paradise!--King Endor's Decree***The oak tree looked genuine, but it had been genetically aged. The boughs were so hugethat climbing them was easy; as she hitched up her skirt and scrambled higher, twigssnapped and green lichen dusted her hands. "Claudia! It's four o'clock!"Alys's screech came from somewhere in the rose garden. Claudia ignored it, parted theleaves, and looked out.From this height she could see the whole estate; the kitchen garden, glasshouses, andorangery, the gnarled apple trees in the orchard, the barns where the dances were held inwinter. She could see the long green lawns that sloped down to the lake and thebeechwoods hiding the lane to Hithercross. Farther to the west the chimneys of AltanFarm smoked, and the old church steeple crowned Harmer Hill, its weathercock glintingin the sun. Beyond, for miles and miles, the countryside of the Wardenry lay open beforeher, meadows and villages and lanes, a blue-green patchwork smudged with mist abovethe rivers.16She sighed and leaned back against the trunk. It looked so peaceful. So perfect in itsdeception. She would hate to leave it."Claudia! Hurry!"The call was fainter. Her nurse must have run back toward the house, because a scatterof pigeons flapped up, as if someone was climbing the steps by their cote. As Claudialistened, the clock on the stables began to strike the hour, slow chimes sliding out into thehot afternoon.The countryside shimmered.Far off, on the high road, she saw the coach.Her lips tightened. He was early.It was a black carriage, and even from here she could make out the cloud of dust itswheels raised from the road. Four black horses pulled it, and outriders flanked it; shecounted eight of them and snorted a silent laugh. The Warden of Incarceron was travelingin style. The blazon of his office was painted on the coach doors, and a long pennantstreamed out in the wind. On the box a driver in black and gold livery wrestled with thereins; she heard the rattle of a whip clear on the breeze.Above her a bird cheeped and fluttered from branch to branch; she kept very still and itperched in the leaf cover near her face. Then it sang; a brief creamy warble. Some sort offinch, perhaps.The coach had reached the village. She saw the blacksmith17come to his door, a few children run out of a barn. As the riders thundered through, dogsbarked and the horses bunched together between the narrow overhanging houses.Claudia reached into her pocket and took out the visor. It was non-Era and illegal, but shedidn't care. Slipping it over her eyes she felt the dizzying second as the lens adjusted toher optic nerve; then the scene magnified and she saw the features of the men clearly: herfathers steward, Garrh, on the roan horse; the dark secretary, Lucas Medlicote; the men-at-arms with their pied coats.The visor was so efficient she could almost lip-read as the coachman swore; then theposts of the bridge flashed past and she realized they had reached the river and thelodge. Mistress Simmy was running out to open the gates with a dishcloth still in herhands, hens panicking before her.Claudia frowned. She took off the visor and the movement made the bird fly; the world slidback and the coach was small. Alys wailed, "Claudia! They're here! Will you come andget dressed!"For a moment she thought she wouldn't. She toyed with the idea of letting the carriagerumble in and climbing down from the tree and strolling over, opening the door, andstanding there in front of him, with her hair in a tangle and the old green dress with thetear in its hem. Her father's displeasure would be stiff, but he wouldn't say anything. If sheturned up naked he probably wouldn't say anything. Just "Claudia. My dear." And the coldkiss printed under her ear.18She swung over the bough and climbed down, wondering if there would be a present.There usually was. Expensive and pretty and chosen for him by one of the ladies of theCourt. Last time it had been a crystal bird in a gold cage that trilled a shrill whistle. Eventhough the whole estate was full of birds, mostly real ones, which flew and squabbled andchirruped outside the casements.Jumping off, she ran across the lawn to the wide stone steps; as she descended them,the manor house rose in front of her, its warm stone glowing in the heat, the wisteriahanging purple over its turrets and crooked corners, the deep moat dark under threeelegant swans. On the roof doves had settled, cooing and strutting; some of them flew tothe corner turrets and tucked themselves into loopholes and arrow slits, on heaps of strawthat had taken generations to gather. Or so you'd think.A casement unclicked; Alys's hot face gasped, "Where have you been! Can't you hearthem?""I can hear them. Stop panicking."As she raced up the steps the carriage was rumbling over the timbers of the bridge; shesaw its blackness flicker through the balustrade; then the cool dimness of the house wasaround her, with its scents of rosemary and lavender. A serving girl came out of thekitchens, dropped a hasty curtsy, and disappeared. Claudia hurtled up the stairs.In her room Alys was dragging clothes out of the closet. A silken petticoat, the blue andgold dress over it, the bodice19quickly laced. Claudia stood there and let herself be strapped and fastened into it, thehated cage she was kept in. Over her nurse's shoulder she saw the crystal bird in the tinyprison, its beak agape, and scowled at it."Keep still.""I am still!""I suppose you were with Jared."Claudia shrugged. Gloom was settling over her. She couldn't be bothered to explain.The bodice was too tight, but she was used to it. Her hair was fiercely brushed and thepearl net pinned into it; it crackled with static on the velvet of her shoulders. Breathless,the old woman stepped back. "Y ou'd look better if you weren't scowling."I'll scowl if I want to." Claudia turned to the door, feeling the whole dress sway. "One dayI'll howl and scream and yell in his face.""I don't think so." Alys stuffed the old green dress into the chest. She glanced in the mirrorand tucked the gray hairs back under her wimple, took a laser skinwand out, unscrewedit, and skillfully eliminated a wrinkle under her eye."If I'm going to be Queen, who's to stop me?""He is." Her nurse's retort followed her through the door. "And you're just as terrified ofhim as everyone else."It was true. Walking sedately down the stairs, she knew it had always been true. Her lifewas fractured into two; the time20when her father was here, and the time he was away. She lived two lives, and so did theservants, the whole house, the estate, the world.As she crossed the wooden floor between the breathless, sweating double row ofgardeners and dairywomen, lackeys and link-men, toward the coach that had rumbled toa halt in the cobbled courtyard, she wondered if he had any idea of that. Probably. Hedidn't miss much.On the steps she waited. Horses snorted; the clatter of their hooves was huge in theenclosed space. Someone shouted, old Ralph hurried forward; two powdered men inlivery leaped from the back of the coach, opened the door, snapped down the steps.For a moment the doorway was dark.Then his hand grasped the coachwork; his dark hat came out, his shoulders, a boot,black knee breeches.John Arlex, Warden of Incarceron, stood upright and flicked dust off himself with hisgloves.He was a tall, straight man, his beard carefully trimmed, his frockcoat and waistcoat of thefinest brocade. It had been six months since she had seen him, but he looked exactly thesame. No one of his status need show signs of age, but he didn't even seem to use askinwand. He looked at her and smiled graciously; his dark hair, tied in the black ribbon,was elegantly silvered."Claudia. How well you look, my dear."She stepped forward and dropped a low curtsy, then his hand21raised her and she felt the cold kiss. His fingers were always cool and slightly clammy,unpleasant to touch; as if he was aware of it, he usually wore gloves, even in warmweather. She wondered if he thought she had changed. "As do you, Father," shemuttered.For a moment he remained looking at her, the calm gray gaze hard and clear as ever.Then he turned."Allow me to present our guest. The Queen's Chancellor. Lord Evian."The carriage rocked. An extremely fat man unfurled from it, and with him a wave of scentthat seemed to roll almost visibly up the steps. Behind her Claudia sensed the servants'collective interest. She felt only dismay.The Chancellor wore a blue silk suit with an elaborate ruffle at the neck, so high shewondered how he could breathe. He was certainly red in the face, but his bow wasassured and his smile carefully pleasant. "My lady Claudia. The last time I saw you, youwere no more than a baby in arms. How delightful to see you again."She hadn't expected a visitor. The main guestroom was heaped with the half-sewn train ofher wedding dress all over its unmade bed. She'd have to use delaying tactics."The honor is ours," she said. "Perhaps you'd like to come into the parlor. We have ciderand newly baked cakes as refreshment after your journey." Well, she hoped they did.Turning, she saw three of the servants had gone and the gaps in the line had22closed swiftly behind them. Her father gave her a cool look, then walked up the steps,nodding graciously along the row of faces that curtsied and bobbed and dropped theireyes before him.Smiling tightly, Claudia thought fast. Evian was the Queen's man. The witch must havesent him to look the bride over. Well, that was fine by her. She'd been preparing for this foryears.At the door her father stopped. "No Jared?" he said lightly."I hope he's well?""I think he's working on a very delicate process. He probably hasn't even noticed you'vearrived." It was true, but it sounded like an excuse. Annoyed at his wintry smile she ledthem, her skirts sweeping the bare boards, into the parlor. It was a wood-paneled roomdark with a great mahogany sideboard, carved chairs, and a trestle table. She wasrelieved to see cider jugs and a platter of the cook's honeycakes among a scatter oflavender and rosemary.Lord Evian sniffed the sweet scents. "Wonderful," he said. "Even the Court couldn't matchthe authenticity."Probably because most of the Courts backdrop was computer-generated, she thoughtsweetly, and said, "At the Wardenry, my lord, we pride ourselves that everything is in Era.The house is truly old. It was restored fully after the Years of Rage."Her father was silent. He sat in the carved chair at the head of the table and watchedgravely as Ralph poured the cider into23silver goblets. The old man's hand shook as he lifted the tray. "Welcome home, sir.""Good to see you, Ralph. A little more gray about the eyebrows, I think. And your wig fuller,with more powder."Ralph bowed. "I'll have it seen to, Warden, immediately."The Warden's eyes surveyed the room. She knew he wouldn't miss the single pane ofPlastiglas in the corner of the casement, or the prefabricated spiderwebs on the pargetedceiling. So she said hastily, "How is Her Gracious Majesty, my lord?""The Queen's in excellent health." Evian spoke through a mouthful of cake. "She's verybusy with arrangements for your wedding. It will be a great spectacle."Claudia frowned. "But surely ..."He waved a plump hand. "Of course your father hasn't had time to tell you about thechange of plans."Something inside her went cold. "Change of plans?""Nothing terrible, child. Nothing to concern yourself about. An alteration of dates, that's all.Because of the Earl's return horn the Academy."She cleared her face and tried to allow none of her anxiety to show itself. But her lips musthave tightened or her knuckles gone white, because her father stood smoothly and said,"Show His Lordship to his room, Ralph."The old retainer bowed, went to the door, and creaked it open. Evian struggled up, ashower of crumbs cascading from his suit. As they hit the floor, they evaporated withminute flashes.24Claudia swore silently. Something else to get seen to.They listened to the heavy footsteps up the creaking stairs, to Ralph's respectful murmursand the rumble of the fat man's hearty enjoyment of the staircase, the paintings, the urnsfrom China, the damask hangings. When his voice had finally faded in the sunlit distancesof the house Claudia looked at her father. Then she said, "Y ou've brought the weddingforward."He raised an eyebrow. "Next year, this year, what's the difference? Y knew it would oucome." "I'm not ready ...""You've been ready for a long time."He took a step toward her, the silver cube on his watch chain catching the light. Shestepped back. If he should drop the formal stiffness of the Era, it would be unbearable; thethreat of his unveiled personality turned her cold. But he kept the smooth courtesy. "Letme explain. Last month a message came from the Sapienti. They've had enough of yourfianc. They've ... asked him to leave the Academy."She frowned. "For what?""The usual vices. Drink, drugs, violence, getting serving girls pregnant. Sins of stupidyoung men throughout the centuries. He has no interest in education. Why should he?He's the Earl of Steen and when he is eighteen he will be King."He walked to the paneled wall and looked up at the portrait there. A freckled cheeky-faced boy of seven looked down at25them. He was dressed in a ruffled brown silk suit, and leaning against a tree."Caspar, Earl of Steen. Crown Prince of the Realm. Fine titles. His face hasn't changed,has it? He was merely impudent then. Now he's feckless, brutal, and thinks he is beyondcontrol." He looked at her. "A challenge, your future husband."She shrugged, making the dress rustle. "I can deal with him.""Of course you can. I've made sure of that." He came over to her and stood before her,and his gray gaze appraised her. She stared straight back."I created you for this marriage, Claudia. Gave you taste, intelligence, ruthlessness. Youreducation has been more rigorous than anyone's in the Realm. Languages, music,swordplay, riding, every talent you even hinted at possessing I have nurtured. Expense isnothing to the Warden of Incarceron. Y are an heiress of great estates. I've bred you as oua queen and Queen you will be. In every marriage, one leads, one follows. Though this ismerely a dynastic arrangement, it will be so here."She looked up at the portrait. "I can handle Caspar. But his mother ...""Leave the Queen to me. She and I understand each other." He took her hand, holding herring finger lightly between two of his; tense, she held herself still."It will be easy," he breathed.26In the stillness of the warm room a wood pigeon cooed outside the casement.Carefully, she took her hand from his and drew herself up. "So, when?""Next week.""Next week!""The Queen has already begun preparations. In two days we set off for Court. Make sureyou're ready."Claudia said nothing. She felt empty, and stunned.John Arlex turned toward the door. "You've done well here. The Era is impeccable, exceptfor that window. Get it changed."Without moving she said quietly, "How was your time at Court?""Wearisome.""And your work? How is Incarceron?"For a fraction of a second he paused. Her heart thudded. Then he turned and his voicewas cold and curious. "The Prison is in excellent order. Why do you ask?""No reason." She tried to smile, wanting to know how he monitored the Prison, where itwas, because all her spies had told her he never left the Court. But the mysteries ofIncarceron were the least of her worries now."Ah yes. I nearly forgot." He crossed to a leather bag on the table and tugged it open. "Ibring a gift from your future mother-in-law." He pulled it out and set it down.27They both looked at it.A sandalwood box, tied with ribbon.Reluctant, Claudia reached out for the tiny bow, but he said, "Wait," took out a smallscanning wand, and moved it over the box. Images flashed down its stem. "Harmless."He folded the wand. "Open it."She lifted the lid. Inside, in a frame of gold and pearls, was an enameled miniature of ablack swan on a lake, the emblem of her house. She took it out and smiled, pleaseddespite herself by the delicate blue of the water, the bird's long elegant neck. It's pretty."Y but watch." es,The swan was moving. It seemed to glide, peacefully at first; then it reared up, flapping itsgreat wings, and she saw how an arrow came slowly out of the trees and pierced itsbreast. It opened its golden beak and sang, an eerie, terrible music. Then it sank underthe water and vanished.Her father's smile was acid. "How very charming," he said.283***The experiment will be a bold one and theremay well be risks we have not foreseen. ButIncarceron will be a system of great complexity and intelligence. There could be nokinder or more compassionate guardian for its inmates.--Project report; Martor Sapiens***It was a long way back to the shaft, and the tunnels were low. The Maestra walked with herhead bent; she was silent , her arms hugging herself. Keiro had put Big Arko to watch her,Finn stayed right at the back behind the wounded.In this part of the wing, Incarceron was dark and mostly uninhabited. Here the Prisonrarely bothered itself to stir, putting its lights on infrequently and sending few Beetles out.Unlike the stone transitway above, these floors were made of a metallic mesh that gaveslightly underfoot; as Finn walked he saw the gleam of a rat's eyes where it crouched,dust falling on its metal scales.He was stiff and sore, and as always after an ambush, angry. For everyone else the pent-up tension had burst; even the injured chattered as they stumbled, and their loud laughterhad the energy of relief in it. He turned his head and looked back. Behind them the tunnelwas windblown and echoing. Incarceron would be listening.29He couldn't talk and he didn't want to laugh. A bleak stare at a few joking remarks warnedthe others off; he saw Lis nudge Amoz and raise her eyebrows. Finn didn't care. Theanger was inside, at himself, and it was mixed with fear and a hot, scorching pride,because no one else had had the guts to be chained like that, to lie there in all thatsilence and wait for death to come rolling over him.In his mind he felt the huge wheels again, high above his head.And he was angry with the Maestra.The Comitatus took no prisoners. It was one of the rules. Keiro was one thing, but whenthey got back to the Den he'd have to explain her to Jormanric, and that turned him cold.But the woman knew something about the tattoo on his wrist, and he had to find out whatthat was. He might never have another chance.Walking, he thought about that flash of vision. As always it had hurt, as if the memory--if itwas one--had sparked and struggled up from some deep, sore place, a lost pit of thepast. And it was hard to keep it clear; already he had forgotten most of it, except the cakeon a plate, decorated with silver balls. Stupid and useless. Telling him nothing about whohe was, or where he had come from.The shaft had a ladder down its side; the scouts swarmed over first, then the Prisonersand the warband, lowering goods and the wounded. Last of all Finn climbed down,noticing how30the smooth sides were cracked here and there where shriveled black ferns broke out.Those would have to be cleared, otherwise the Prison might sense them, seal off thisduct, and reabsorb the whole tunnel, as it had last year when they'd come back from araid to find the old Den gone, and only a wide white passageway decorated with abstractimages of red and gold."Incarceron has shrugged its shoulders," Gildas had said grimly.That was the first time he had heard the Prison laugh.He shivered, remembering it now, a cold, amused chuckle that had echoed down thecorridors. It had silenced Jormanric in mid-fury, had made the hairs on his own skinprickle with terror. The Prison was alive. It was cruel and careless, and he was inside it.He leaped down the last rungs into the Den. The great chamber was as noisy and untidyas ever, the warmth of its blazing fires overwhelming. As people clustered anxiouslyaround the plunder, pulling the grain sacks open, tugging out food, he pushed through thecrowd and made straight for the tiny cell he shared with Keiro. No one stopped him.Inside, he latched the flimsy door and sat on the bed. The room was cold and smelled ofunwashed clothes, but it was quiet. Slowly, he let himself lie back.He breathed in, and inhaled terror. It came over him in a wave, appalling; he knew thehammering of his heart would kill him, felt cold sweat ice his back and upper lip. Until now31he had kept it at bay, but these shuddering heartbeats were the vibrations of the giantwheels; as he jammed his palms into his closed eyes he saw the metal rims loomingabove him, lay in a screeching fountain of sparks.He could have been killed. Or, worse still, crushed and maimed. Why had he said hewould do it? Why did he always have to live up to their stupid, reckless reputation?"Finn?"He opened his eyes.After a moment, he rolled over.Keiro was standing with his back to the door."How long have you been there?" Finns voice cracked; he cleared his throat hastily."Long enough." His oathbrother came and sat on the other bed. "Tired?""That's one word for it."Keiro nodded. Then he said, "There's always a price to pay. Any Prisoner knows that." Helooked at the door. "None of them out there could have done what you did.""I'm not a Prisoner.""Y are now." ouFinn sat up and rubbed his dirty hair. "Y could have done ouit.""Well, yes, I could." Keiro smiled. "But then, I'm extraordinary, Finn, an artist of theft.Devastatingly handsome, utterly ruthless, totally fearless." He tipped his head sideways,as if32waiting for the snort of scorn; when it didn't come he laughed and pulled off his dark coatand jerkin. Unlocking the chest, he dropped the sword and firelock in, then searchedamong the heap of clothes and dragged out a red shirt flamboyantly laced with black.Finn said, "Next time you, then.""Have you ever known me not take my turn, brother? The Comitatus have to have ourreputation pounded into their thick heads. Keiro and Finn. The fearless. The best." Hepoured water from the jug and washed. Finn watched wearily. Keiro had smooth skin, lithemuscles. In all this hell of deformed and starved people, of halfmen and pock-beggars, hisoathbrother was perfect. And he took great care to stay that way. Now, pulling the red shirton, Keiro threaded a stolen trinket into his mane of hair and looked at himself carefully inthe fragment of mirror. Without turning he said, "Jormanric wants you."Finn had been expecting it; even so it chilled him. "Now?""Right now. You'd better clean up."He didn't want to. But after a moment he poured out fresh water and rubbed at the greaseand oil on his arms.Keiro said, "I'll back you about the woman. On one condition."Finn paused. "What?""That you tell me what this is really all about.""There's nothing ..."Keiro threw the ragged towel at him. "Finn Starseer doesn't33sell women or children. Amoz yes, or any of the hard cases. Not you."Finn looked up; Keiro's blue eyes gazed straight back."Maybe I'm just getting like the rest of you." He dried his face in the gritty rag, then, notbothering to change, headed for the door. Halfway there Keiro's voice stopped him."Y think she knows something about you." ouRuefully, Finn turned. "Sometimes I wish I'd picked someone less sharp to watch myback. All right. Y There was something she said ... that might ... that I need to ask her es.about. I need her alive."Keiro moved past him to the door. "Well, don't sound too keen or he'll kill her in front ofyour face. Let me do most of the talking." He checked for listeners outside and lookedback over his shoulder. "Scowl, and stay silent, brother. It's what you're good at."***THE DOOR to Jormanric's cell had the usual two bodyguards in front of it, but a wide grinfrom Keiro made the nearer grunt and step aside. Following his oathbrother in, Finnalmost choked on the familiar sweet stench of ket, its intoxicating fumes heavy in the air. Itcaught in his throat; he swallowed, trying not to breathe too deeply.Keiro elbowed through the pairs of oathbrothers, right to the front, and Finn trailed afterhis flashy red coat among the drab crowd.34Most of them were halfmen. Some had metallic claws for hands, or plastic tissue inpatches where the skin had gone. One had a false eye that looked exactly like a real one,except that it was blind, the iris a sapphire. They were the lowest of the low, enslaved anddespised by the pure; men whom the Prison had repaired, sometimes cruelly, sometimesjust on a whim. One, a dwarfish, bent man with wiry hair, didn't step out of the way fastenough. Keiro floored him with one blow.Keiro had a peculiar hatred for the halfmen. He never spoke to them, and barelyacknowledged they existed, rather like the dogs that infested the Den. As if, Finn thought,his own perfection was insulted by their existence.The crowd fell back, and they were among the warband. The Comitatus of Jormanric wasa shambling and feckless army, fearless only in its own imagination. Big and Little Arko;Amoz and his twin, Zoma; the frail girl Lis, who went berserk in fights; and her oathsister,Ramill, who never said a word. A crowd of old lags and brash big-mouthed boys, slycutthroats, and a few women expert in poisons. And, surrounded by his muscle-boundbodyguard, the man himself.Jormanric, as always, was chewing ket. His few teeth worked automatically, scarlet withthe sweet juice that stained his lips and beard. Behind him his bodyguard chewed inunison.He must be totally immune to the drug, Finn thought. Even if he couldn't do without it.35"Keiro!" The Winglord's voice was a drawl. "And Finn the Starseer."The last word was heavy with irony. Finn scowled. He pushed past Amoz and stoodshoulder to shoulder with his oathbrother.Jormanric sat sprawled in his chair. He was a big man, and the carved throne had beenmade especially for him; its arms were notched with raid tallies and stained with ket. Aslave known as the dog-slave was chained to it; he used them to taste his food forpoison, and none of them ever lasted long. This one was new, taken on the last raid, ahuddle of rags and tangled hair. The Winglord wore a metallic warcoat and his hair waslong and greasy, plaited and knotted with charms. Seven heavy skull-head rings weresqueezed on his thick fingers.He eyed the Comitatus with a hooded glare."A good raid, people. Food and raw metal. Enough for everyone's share to be plentiful."A buzz from the room. But everyone meant only the Comitatus; the hangers-on would liveon the scraps."And yet not as profitable as it might have been. Some fool annoyed the Prison." He spatout the ket and took another piece from the ivory box at his elbow, folding it carefully intohis cheek. "Two men were killed." He chewed slowly, eyes fixed on Finn. "And a hostagewas taken."Finn opened his mouth, but Keiro trod firmly on his foot. It was never a good idea tointerrupt Jormanric. He spoke slowly,36with irritating pauses, but his appearance of stupidity was deceptive.A thin sliver of red spittle hung on Jormanric's beard. He said, "Explain, Finn."Finn swallowed, but Keiro answered, his voice cool. "Wing-lord, my oathbrother took agreat risk back there. The Civics could easily not have stopped or even slowed. Becauseof him we have enough food for days. The woman was a whim of the moment, a smallreward. But of course the Comitatus is yours, the decision yours. She means nothing, oneway or the other."The of course was a silken sarcasm. Jormanric didn't stop chewing; Finn couldn't tellwhether the needle-stab of such a veiled threat had even registered.Then he saw the Maestra. She was standing at the side, guarded, chains linking herhands. There was dirt on her face, and her hair was coming undone. She must have beenterrified, but she stood tall, her gaze on Keiro and then, icily, on him. He couldn't meet thatscorn. He looked down, but Keiro nudged him and at once he forced himself upright,outstaring them all. To seem weak, to look doubtful here, was to be finished. He couldnever trust any of them, except Keiro. And then only because of the oath.Standing arrogantly he returned Jormanric's glare."How long have you been with us?" the Winglord demanded."Three years.""Not an innocent anymore, then. The blankness has gone37from your eyes. Y no longer jump at screams. Y no longer sob when the lights go out." ou ouThe Comitatus tittered. Someone said, "He hasn't killed anyone yet.""About time he did," Amoz muttered.Jormanric nodded, the metal in his hair clinking. "Maybe that's so." His eyes watchedFinn, and Finn stared straight back, because this was a bleary mask the Winglord wore,a bloated, slow disguise over his shrewd cruelty. He knew what was coming now; whenJormanric said, almost sleepily, "Y could kill this woman," he didn't even blink. ou"I could, lord. But I'd rather make some profit. I heard them call her Maestra."Jormanric raised a ket-red eyebrow. "Ransom?""I'm sure they'd pay. Those trucks were heavy with goods." He paused, not needing Keiroto tell him not to say too much. For a moment the fear shivered back, but he fought itdown. Any ransom would mean Jormanric would take a share. Surely it would sway him.His greed was legendary.The cell was dim, its candles guttering. Jormanric poured a cup of wine, tipped a splashdown for the small dog-creature, and watched it lap. Not until the slave sat back,unharmed, did he drink himself. Then he raised his hand and turned it outward to showthe seven rings. "Do you see these, boy? These rings contain lives. Lives I stole. Eachone of them was once an enemy, killed slowly, tormented in agony. Each one of them is38trapped here in a loop around my fingers. Their breath, their energy, their strength, drawnout of them and held for me, until I need it. Nine lives a man can live, Finn, moving fromone to another, fending off death. My father did it, I'll do it. But as yet I only have seven."The Comitatus eyed one another. At the back women whispered; some strained to seethe rings over the heads of the crowd. The silver skulls shimmered in the drug-laden air;one winked at Finn, crookedly. He bit his dry lips and tasted ket; it was salty as blood,made blurs swim in the corners of his eyes. Sweat soaked his back. The chamber wasunbearably hot; high in the rafters rats peered down, and a bat flicked out and back intothe darkness. Unnoticed, in one corner, three children dug in the pile of grain.Jormanric heaved himself up. He was a huge man, a head higher than anyone else. Helooked down at Finn. "A loyal man would offer this woman's life to his leader."Silence.There was no way out. Finn knew he would have to do it. He glanced at the Maestra. Shelooked back, pale, her face gaunt.But Keiro's cool voice broke the tension. "A woman's life, lord? A creature of moods andfolly, a frail, helpless thing?"She didn't look helpless. She looked furious, and Finn cursed her for it. Why couldn't shesob and beg and whimper! As if she sensed him, she dropped her head, but every inch ofher was stiff with pride.39Keiro waved a graceful hand. "Not much strength for a man to covet, but if you want it, itsyours."This was too dangerous. Finn was appalled. No one teased Jormanric. No one made himlook ridiculous. He wouldn't be so far gone on ket not to feel that thrust. If you want it. Ifyou're that desperate. Some of the warband understood. Zoma and Amoz exchangedcovert smiles.Jormanric glowered. He looked at the woman and she glared back. Then he spat out thered weed and reached for his sword."I'm not as choosy as preening boys," he snarled.Finn stepped forward. For a moment he wanted only to drag the woman away, but Keirohad his arm in a grip of iron and Jormanric had turned to the Maestra; his sword was ather neck, the sharp point whitening the delicate skin under her chin, straining her headupward. It was over. Whatever she knew, Finn thought bitterly, he would never find it outnow.A door slammed at the back.An acid voice snapped, "Her life is worthless, man. Give her to the boy. Anyone who liesdown before death is either a fool or a visionary. Either way, he deserves his reward."The crowd parted hastily. A small man strode through, his clothes the dark green of theSapienti. He was old but upright, and even the Comitatus moved aside for him. He cameand stood by Finn; Jormanric looked down at him heavily.40"Gildas. What does it matter to you?""Do as I say." The old man's voice was harsh; he spoke as if to a child. "Y get your last ou'lltwo lives soon enough. But she"--he jerked his thumb at the woman--"won't be one ofthem."Anyone else would be dead. Anyone else would have been hauled out and hung down theshaft by his heels while rats ate his insides. But after a second Jormanric lowered thesword. "Y promise me." ou"I promise you.""The promises of the Wise should not be broken." The old man said, "They won't be."Jormanric looked at him. Then he sheathed the sword. "Take her."The woman gasped.Gildas stared at her irritably. When she didn't move, he grabbed her arm and pulled hernear. "Get her out of here," he muttered.Finn hesitated, but Keiro moved at once, pushing the woman hastily through the crowd.The old mans grip, fast as a claw, caught Finn's arm. "Was there a vision?""Nothing important.""I'll be the judge of that." Gildas looked after Keiro, then back. His small black eyes werealert; they moved with a restless intelligence. "I want every detail, boy." He glanced downat the bird-mark on Finn's wrist. Then he let go.41Instantly Finn pushed through the crowd and out.The woman was waiting out in the Den, ignoring Keiro. She turned and stalked in front ofFinn back to the tiny cell in the corner and he motioned the guard away with one jerk of hishead.The Maestra turned. "What sort of Scum hole is this?" she hissed."Listen. You're alive ...""No thanks to you." She drew herself up; she was taller than he was, and her anger wasvenomous. "Whatever you want from me, you can forget it. Y murderers can rot in hell." ouBehind him, Keiro leaned on the doorframe, grinning. "Some people have absolutely nogratitude," he said.424***Finally, when all was ready, Manor convened the council of the Sapienti and asked forvolunteers. They must be prepared to leavefamily and friends forever. To turn their backs on the green grass, the trees, the light of thesun.Never again to see the stars. I"We are the Wise," he said. "The responsibility for success is ours. We must send ourfinest minds to guide the inmates."At the appointed hour, as he approached the chamber of the Gate, they say he murmuredhis fear that it would be empty. I He opened the door. Seventy men and women werewaiting for him. In great ceremony, theyentered the Prison.They were never seen again.--Tales of the Steel Wolf***That evening the Warden held a dinner for his honored guest.The long table was dressed with a magnificent service of silver, the goblets and platesengraved with linked swans. Claudia wore a dress of red silk with a lace bodice and satopposite Lord43Evian, while her father at the head of the table ate sparingly and spoke quietly, his calmgaze moving over the nervous guests.All their neighbors and tenants had obeyed the summons. And that's what it was, Claudiathought grimly, because when the Warden of Incarceron invited, there was no refusal.Even Mistress Sylvia, who must be nearly two hundred, flirted and made mincingconversation with the bored young lord next to her.As Claudia watched, the young lord carefully stifled a yawn. He caught her eye. Shesmiled at him sweetly. Then she winked and he stared. She knew she shouldn't teasehim; he was one of her father's attendants, and the Wardens daughter would be far abovehim. Still, she was bored too.After the endless courses of fish and peacock and roast boar and sweetmeats, there wasdancing, the musicians up in a candlelit gallery above the smoky hall. Ducking under theraised arms of the long line of dancers she wondered suddenly if the instruments wereaccurate--surely violas were from a later period? That came of leaving details to Ralph.The old retainer was an excellent servant, but his research was sometimes hurried. Whenher father wasn't here, she didn't care. But the Warden was precise about detail.It was well after midnight when she finally saw the last guests to their carriage and stoodalone on the steps of the manor. Behind her, two link-boys waited sleepily, their torchesguttering in the breeze.44"Go to bed," she said without turning. The glimmer and crackle of the flames faded. Thenight was quiet.As soon as they were gone, she ran down the steps and under the arch of the gatehouseto the bridge over the moat, breathing the deep stillness of the warm night. Bats flittedover the sky; watching them, she tugged off the stiff ruff and the necklaces, and fromunder the dress she stepped out of the stiffened petticoats and dumped them with reliefinto the old disused privy below the bank.Much better! They could stay there till tomorrow.Her father had retired earlier. He had taken Lord Evian up to the library; perhaps theywere still there, talking money and settlements and discussing her future. And afterward,when his guest was gone and all the house was silent, her father would pull back the blackvelvet curtain at the end of the corridor and open the door of his study with its secretcombination, the one she had tried for months to work out. He would disappear in therefor hours, perhaps for days. As far as she knew, no one else ever entered the room. Noservant, no technician, not even Medlicote, the secretary. She herself had never been in.Well, not yet.Glancing up at the north turret she saw, as she'd expected, a tiny flame in the window ofthe topmost room. She walked quickly to the door in the wall, opened it, and climbed thestairs in the dark.45He thought of her as a tool. A thing he had made ... bred, was his word. She tightened herlips, her fingers groping over the cold greasy wall. Long ago she had come to know hisruthlessness was so complete that to survive she would have to match it.Did her father love her? As she slowed for breath on a stone landing she laughed, a quietamusement. She had no idea. Did she love him? She certainly feared him. He smiled ather, had sometimes picked her up when she was small, held her hand on grandoccasions, admired her dresses. He had never denied her anything, had never struck heror been angry, even when she'd had tantrums and broken the string of pearls he'd givenher, or ridden off for days to the mountains. And yet as far back as she could rememberthe calmness of his cold gray eyes had terrified her, the dread of his displeasure hungover her.Beyond the third landing the stairs were cluttered with bird droppings. They were certainlyreal. She picked her way through, groped along the corridor to the bend, climbed anotherthree steps, and came to the iron-barred door. Grasping the ring, she turned it softly andpeered in. "Jared? It's me."The room was dark. A solitary candle burned on the sill, its flame guttering in the draft. Allaround the turret, the windows had been rolled back, in a disregard of protocol that wouldhave given Ralph kittens.The observatory roof rose on steel beams so narrow, it46appeared to float. A great telescope had been wheeled to face the south; it bristled withfinderscopes and infrared readers and a small flickering monitor screen. Claudia shookher head. "Look at this! If the Queen's spy sees this, the fines will cripple us."He won't. Not after the amount of cider he sank tonight."At first she couldn't even find him. Then a shadow at the window moved and the darknessresolved into a slender shape that straightened from the viewfinder. "Take a look at this,Claudia."She felt her way across the room, between the cluttered tables, the astrolabe, the hangingglobes. Disturbed, a fox cub streaked to the sill.He caught her arm and guided her to the telescope. "Nebula f345. They call it the Rose."When she looked in, she could see why. The creamy explosion of stars that filled the dimcircle of sky opened like the petals of a vast flower, millennia of light-years across. Aflower of stars and quasars, worlds and black holes, its molten heart pulsing with gaseousclouds."How far away is it?" she murmured."A thousand light-years.""So what I'm looking at is a thousand years old?""Maybe more."Dazzled, she withdrew her eye from the lens. When she turned to face him, tiny flickers oflight blurred her sight,47played, over his tangle of dark hair, his narrow face and spare figure, the unlaced tunicunder his robe."He's brought the wedding forward," she said.Her tutor frowned. "Y Of course." es."Y knew?" ou"I knew the Earl had been expelled from the Academy." He moved into the candlelight andshe saw his green eyes catch the glimmer. "They sent me a message this morning. Iguessed this might be the result."Annoyed, she brushed a pile of papers off the couch onto the floor and sat wearily,swinging her feet up. "Well, you were right. We've got two days. Its not going to beenough, is it?"He came and sat opposite her. "To finalize tests on the device, no.""Y look tired, Jared Sapiens," she said. ou"So do you, Claudia Arlexa."There were shadows under his eyes and his skin was pale. Gently she said, "Y should ouget more sleep."He shook his head. "While the universe is out there wheeling over me? Impossible, lady."She knew it was the pain that kept him awake. Now he called the fox cub and it came andjumped on his lap, rubbing and butting his chest and face. Absently he stroked its tawnyback."Claudia, I've been thinking about your theory. I want you to tell me about how yourengagement was arranged."48"Well, you were here, weren't you?"He smiled his gentle smile. "It may seem to you as if I've been here forever, but I actuallycame just after your fifth birthday. The Warden sent to the Academy for the best Sapientavailable. His daughter's tutor could be nothing less."Reminded of her father's words, she frowned. Jared looked at her sideways. "Did I saysomething?""Not you." She reached out to the fox but it turned away from her, tucking itself tidily intoJared's arm. So she said sourly, "Well, it depends which engagement you mean. I've hadtwo.""The first.""I can't. I was five. I don't remember it.""But they betrothed you to the King's son. To Giles.""As you said, the Warden's daughter doesn't get second best." She jumped up andprowled around the observatory, picking up papers restlessly.His green eyes watched her. "He was a handsome little boy, I remember."Her back to him, she said, "Y Every year after that the Court painter would send a little es.picture of him. I've got them all in a box. Ten of them. He had dark brown hair and a kind,sturdy face. He would have been a fine man." She turned. "I only really met him once.When we went to his seventh birthday party at Court. I remember a boy sitting on a thronetoo big for him. They had to put a box for his feet. He had big brown eyes. He wasallowed to kiss me on the cheek, and he was so49embarrassed." She smiled, remembering. "Y know how boys go really red. Well, he ouwent scarlet. All he could mumble was, 'Hello, Claudia Arlexa. I'm Giles.' He gave me abunch of roses. I kept them till they fell to pieces."She went to the telescope and sat astride the stool, hitching her dress up to her knees.The Sapient stroked the cub, watching Claudia adjust the eyepiece and gaze through it."Y liked him." ouShe shrugged. "You'd never have thought he was the Heir. He was just like any other boy.Y I liked him. We could have gotten along." es,"But not his brother, the Earl? Not even then?"Her fingers turned the fine dials. "Oh him! That twisted grin. No, I knew what he was likestraightaway. He cheated at chess and tipped the board over if he was losing. Hescreamed at the servants, and some of the other girls told me things. When my ... whenthe Warden came home and told me Giles had died so suddenly ... that all the planswould have to be changed, I was furious." She sat up and turned quickly. "What I swore toyou then still goes. Master, I can't marry Caspar. I won't marry him. I detest him.""Calm down, Claudia.""How can I!" She was on her feet now, pacing. "I feel as though everything's crashed in onme! I thought we'd have time, but a few days! We have to act, Jared. I have to get into thestudy, even if your machine is untested."50He nodded. Then he lifted the cub off and dumped it on the floor, ignoring its snarl ofdismay. "Come and look at this."Beside the telescope the monitor nickered. He touched the control and the screen rippledwith words in the Sapient tongue of which he had never, for all her pleading, taught her aword. As he scrolled through in a bat whipped through the opened room and vanishedback into the night. Claudia glanced around. "We should be careful."''I'll shut the windows in a moment." Absently Jared stopped the text. "Here." His delicatefingers touched a key and the translation appeared. "Look. This is a fragment of a burneddraft of a letter written by the Queen, retrieved and copied by a Sapient spy in the Palace,three years ago. Y asked me to find anything that might support your absurd theory--" ou"Its not absurd.""Well, your unlikely theory, then, that Giles's death was--""Murder.""Suspiciously sudden. Anyway, I found this." She almost pushed him aside in hereagerness. "How did you get it?"He raised an eyebrow. "Secrets of the Wise, Claudia. Let's just say a friend in theAcademy went searching in the archives." As he went to the windows she read the texteagerly... As for the arrangement we spoke of before, it is unfortunate, but great changes oftenrequire great sacrifices. G has been kept aloof from others since51his father died; the people's grief will be real but short-lived and we can contain it. It barelyneeds saying that your part will be beyond value to us. When my son is King I canpromise you all I...She hissed in annoyance. "Is that it?""The Queen has always been very careful. We have at least seventeen people in thePalace, but evidence for anything is rare." He slid the last window down, closing out thestars. "That took a lot of finding.""But it's so clear!" Eagerly she read it again. "I mean ... grief will be real ... When my sonis King ..."As he came over and lit the lamp she looked up at him and her eyes were bright withexcitement. "Master, it proves she killed him. She murdered the King's Heir, the last of theHavaarna dynasty, so that his half brother, her own son, could have the throne."For a moment he was still. Then the flame steadied and he looked up at her. Her heartsank. "Y don't think so." ou"I thought I taught you better than that, Claudia. Be rigorous in your argument. All thisproves is that she intended her son to be King. Not that she did anything about it.""But this G--""Could be anyone with that initial." Remorselessly he stared her down."Y don't think that! Y can't..." ou ou"It's not what I think that matters, Claudia. If you make an52accusation like this, you need proof so complete, there can be no question of any doubt."He eased himself into a chair and winced. "The Prince died in a fall from his horse.Doctors certified it. His body lay in state in the Great Hall of the Palace for three days.Thousands filed past it. Y own father ..." our"She must have had him killed. She was jealous of him.""She never showed any sign of that. And the body was cremated. There's no way of tellingnow." He sighed. "Don't you see how this will look, Claudia? Y ou'll just be a spoiled girlwho doesn't like her arranged marriage and is willing to rake up any sort of scandal to getout of it."She snapped, "I don't care! What--"He sat up. "Quiet!"She froze. The fox cub was on its feet, ears pricked. A whisper of draft gusted under thedoor.Instantly they both moved. Claudia was at the window in seconds, darkening the glass;turning, she saw Jared's fingers on the control panel for the sensors and alarms he hadfitted on the stairs. Small red lights danced."What?" she whispered. "What was it?"For a moment he didn't answer. Then his voice was low. "Something was there. Tiny.Perhaps an eavesdropping device."Her heart thudded. "My father?""Who knows? Maybe Lord Evian. Maybe Medlicote."They stood a long time in the dimness, listening. The night was still. Somewhere a distantdog barked. They could hear the53faint baas of the sheep in the meadow beyond the moat, and an owl, hunting. After a whilea rustle in the room told them the cub had curled back up to sleep. The candle gutteredand went out. In the silence she said, "I'm going into the study tomorrow. If I can't find outabout Giles, at least I can learn something about Incarceron.""With him in the house ...""It's my last chance."Jared ran long fingers through his untidy hair. "Claudia, you must go. We'll talk about thistomorrow." Then all at once his face was white, his hands flat on the table. He leaned overand breathed hard.She came around the telescope quietly. "Master?""My medication. Please."She grabbed the candle, shook it back into light and cursed the Era for the hundredthtime. "Where ... I can't find it...""The blue box. By the astrolabe."She groped, grabbing pens, papers, books, the box. Inside was the small syringe and theampules; fitting one on carefully, she brought it to him. "Shall I ...?"He smiled gently. "No. I can manage."She brought the lamp closer; he rolled his sleeve up and she saw the innumerable scarsaround the vein. He made the injection carefully, the microinfuser barely touching the skin,and as he replaced it in the box, his voice was calm and steadier.54"Thank you, Claudia. And don't look so scared. This condition has been killing me for tenyears and it's in no hurry. It will probably take another ten to finish me off."She couldn't smile. Times like this terrified her. She said, "Shall I send someone ...?""No, no. I'll go to bed and sleep." Handing her the candle, he said, "Be careful how you godown the stairs."She nodded, reluctant, and crossed the room. At the door she stopped and turned. Hestood as if he had been waiting for that, closing the box, the dark green of the Sapientcoat with its high collar glinting with strange iridescence."Master, that letter. Do you know who it was written to?"He looked up unhappily. "Y And it makes it even more urgent that we get into his study." es.The candle flickered as she breathed in dismay. "Y mean ..." ou"I'm afraid so, Claudia. The Queen's letter was addressed to your father."555***There was a man and his name was Sapphique. Where he came from is a mystery.Some say he was born of the Prison, grown from its stored components. Some say hecame from Outside, because he alone of men returned there. Some say he was not aman at all, but a creature from those shining sparks lunatics see in dreams and namethe stars. Some say he was a liar and a fool.Legends of Sapphique***"Y have to eat something." Finn scowled down at the woman. She sat facing resolutely ouaway from him, her hood over her face.She didn't say a word.He dumped the plate and sat on the wooden bench next to her, rubbing his tired eyes withthe palms of his hands. Around them the noise of the Comitatus at breakfast rang andclattered. It was an hour after Lightson when the doors that were not broken had sprungopen with that great crack of sound it had taken him years to grow used to. He looked upat the rafters and saw one of the Prison's Eyes watching curiously; the small red lightstared unblinkingly down.56Finn frowned. No one else took any notice of the Eyes, but he loathed them. Getting up,he turned his back on it. "Come with me," he snapped. "Somewhere quieter."He walked quickly, not turning to see if she followed. He couldn't wait any longer for Keiro.Keiro had gone to see about their share of the plunder because Keiro always saw tothose things. Finn had realized long ago that his oathbrother was almost certainlycheating him, but he could never bring himself to care that much. Now, ducking under anarchway, he came out at the top of a wide staircase that curved elegantly down intodarkness.Out here the noise was muted and echoed strangely in the cavernous spaces. A fewscrawny slave girls hurried past, looking terrified, as they always did when one of theComitatus even glanced at them. From the invisible roof vast chains hung in loops likegreat bridges, each link thicker than a man. In some of them the uber-spiders had nested,creaming the metal with sticky web. Half a desiccated dog hung head-down from onecocoon.When he turned, the Maestra was there.He stepped forward, his voice low. "Listen to me. I had to bring you. I don't want to hurtyou. But back there, in the transitway, you said something. Y said you recognized this." ouDragging back his sleeve, he held his wrist out to her.She flicked one disdainful glance at it. "I was stupid to feel sorry for you."57Anger rose in him but he held it down. "I need to know. I have no idea who I am or whatthis mark means. I don't remember anything. "Now she did look at him. "You're a cell-born?"The name annoyed him. "That's what they call it."She said, "I have heard of them but have never seen one before."Finn glanced away. Talking about himself disturbed him. But he sensed her interest; itmight be his only chance. He sat down on the top step, feeling the cold chipped stoneunder his hands. Staring out into the dark, he said, "I just woke up. That was all. It wasblack and silent and my mind was totally empty and I had no idea who or where I was."He couldn't tell her about the panic, the terrible screaming panic that had surged up andmade him beat and bruise himself against the walls of the tiny airless cell.Couldn't say that he had sobbed himself into a vomiting fit; that he had cowered in thecorner shaking for days--the corner of his mind, the corner of the cell, because each wasthe same and each was empty.Perhaps she guessed; she came and sat by him, her dress rustling."How old were you?"He shrugged. "How do I know? It was three years ago.""About fifteen then. Young enough. I've heard some of them are born insane, and alreadyaged. Y were lucky." ou58The barest sympathy. He caught it despite the harshness of her voice, remembered herconcern before the ambush. She was a woman who felt for other people. That was herweakness and he would have to play on it. As Keiro had taught him."I was insane, Maestra. Sometimes I still am. Y can't imagine how it is to have no past, ouno idea of your name, where you came from, where you are, what you are. I found I wasdressed in a gray overall with a name printed on it, and a number. The name was FINN,the number 0087/2314.I read those numbers over and over. I learned them, scratchedthem on the stones with sharp fragments, cut them in letters of blood on my arms. Icrawled around the floor like an animal, filthy, my hair growing long. Day and night werelights that came on and went off. Food slid in on a tray through the wall; waste went out thesame way. Once or twice I made an effort and tried to scrabble through the hole, but itsnapped shut too quickly. Most of the time I lay in a sort of stupor. And when I slept, Idreamed terrible dreams."She was watching him. He sensed she was wondering how much was true. Her handswere strong and capable; she worked hard with them, he could see, but she hadreddened the nails too. Quietly he said, "I don't know your name."My name doesn't matter." She kept her gaze level. "I've heard of these cells. The Sapienticall them the Wombs of Incarceron. In them the Prison creates new people; they emergeas infants or adults, whole, not like the halfmen. But only the young ones survive. TheChildren of Incarceron."59"Something survived. I'm not sure it was me." He wanted to tell her about the nightmaresof fractured images, the times he woke even now in a panic of forgetfulness, groping forhis name, where he was, until Keiro's quiet breathing reassured him. Instead he said,"And there was always the Eye. At first I didn't know what it was, only noticed it in thenight, a tiny red point glowing near the ceiling. Slowly I realized it was there all the time,came to imagine it was watching me, that there was no escape from it. I began to thinkthere was an intelligence behind it, curious and cruel. I hated it, squirmed away, curled upwith my face against the damp stones not to see it. After a while, though, I couldn't stopglancing around to check it was still there. It became a sort of comfort. I got scared itwould go away, couldn't stand the thought of it leaving me. That was when I started to talkto it."He had not told even Keiro this. Her quietness, her closeness, that smell of soap andcomfort, he must have known something like them once, because they drew out hiswords, hard now, reluctant."Have you ever talked to Incarceron, Maestra? In the darkest night when everyone else isasleep? Prayed and whispered to it? Begged it to end the nightmare of nothingness?That's what the cell-born do. Because there is no one else in the world. It is the world."His voice choked. Careful not to look at him she said, "I have never been that alone. Ihave a husband. I have children."60He swallowed, feeling her anger puncture his self-pity. Perhaps she was working on himtoo. He bit his lip and pushed the hair from his eyes, knowing they were wet and notcaring. "Well, you are lucky, Maestra, because I had no one but the Prison, and the Prisonhas a heart of stone. But gradually I began to understand that it was huge and that I livedinside it, that I was a tiny, lost creature, that it had eaten me. I was its child and it was myfather, vast beyond understanding. And when I was sure of that, so sure that I was numbwith silence, the door opened.""So there was a door!" Her voice was edged with sarcasm."There was. All the time. It was tiny and it had been invisible in the gray wall. For a longtime, hours perhaps, I just watched the rectangle of darkness, fearing what might come in,the faint sounds and smells from beyond. Finally I summoned up the courage to crawl to itand peer out." He knew she was looking at him now. He gripped his hands together andwent on steadily. "The only thing outside the door was a tubular white corridor lit fromabove. It ran straight in either direction, and there were no openings in it, and no end. Itnarrowed eternally into dimness. I dragged myself up--""Y could manage to walk, then?" ou"Barely. I had little strength"She smiled, humorless. He hurried on. "I stumbled on till my legs wouldn't hold me, but thecorridor was as straight and featureless as before. The lights went out and only the Eyes61watched me. When I left one behind I found another ahead, and that comforted me,because stupidly I thought Incarceron was watching over me, leading me to safety. I sleptwhere I fell that night. At Lightson there was a plateful of some bland white food by myhead. I ate it and walked on. For two days I followed that corridor until I grew convinced Iwas walking on the spot, getting nowhere, that it was the corridor that was moving,streaming past me, that I was on some terrible treadmill and would walk forever. Then Islammed into a stone wall. I beat on it in despair. It opened, and I fell out. Into dark-ness."He was silent so long she said, "And found yourself here?"She was fascinated, despite herself. Finn shrugged. "When I came around I was lying onmy back in a wagon with a pile of grain and a few dozen rats. The Comitatus had pickedme up on one of their patrols. They could have enslaved me or cut my throat. The Sapientwas the one who talked them out of it. Though Keiro takes the credit."She laughed harshly. "I'm sure he does. And you never tried to find this tunnel again?""I tried. I've never succeeded.""But to stay with these ... animals.""There was no one else. And Keiro needed an oathbrother; you can't survive here withoutone. He thought my... visions ... -might be useful, and maybe he recognized I was recklessenough for him. We cut our hands and mixed blood and crawled under62an arch of chains together. It's what they do here--a sacred bond. We guard each other. Ifone dies, the other takes revenge for him. It can never be broken."She glanced around. "He's not a brother I would choose. And the Sapient?"Finn shrugged. "He believes my flashes of memory are sent by Sapphique. To help usfind the way out." She was silent. Quietly he said, "Now you know my story, tell me aboutthe skin-mark. Y spoke of a crystal..." ou"I offered you kindness." Her lips were tight. "In return I'm kidnapped and likely to bemurdered by a thug who believes he can store lives up for himself. In silver rings!""Don't joke about that," Finn said uneasily. "It's dangerous."Y believe it?" She sounded astonished. ou"It's true. His father lived for two hundred years ...""Total rubbish!" Her scorn was absolute. "His father may well have lived to old age, butprobably because he always took the best of the food and clothing, and left any danger tohis stupid followers. Like you." She turned and glared at him. "Y played on my oucompassion. Y ou're still doing it.""I'm not. I put myself at risk to save you. Y saw that." ouThe Maestra shook her head. Then she caught his arm and before he could pull away,pushed the ragged sleeve up.His dirty skin was bruised but unscarred."What happened to the cuts you made?"63"They healed," he said quietly.She let go of his sleeve in disgust and turned away. "What will happen to me?""Jormanric will send a messenger to your people. The ransom will be your weight intreasure.""And if they won't pay it?""Surely they will.""If they won't?" She turned. "What then?"Unhappy, he shrugged. "Y end up a slave here. Processing the ore, making weapons. ouIt's dangerous. Little food. He works them to death."She nodded. Looking straight out into the dark emptiness of the stairway, she took abreath and he saw its mistiness in the cold air. Then she said, "In that case we make adeal. I get them to bring the crystal and you release me. Tonight."His heart thumped. But he said, "It's not that easy ...""It is that easy. Otherwise I give you nothing, Finn Cell-born. Nothing. Ever."She turned and her dark eyes watched him steadily. "I am the Maestra of my people andwill never submit to Scum."She was brave, he thought, but she had no idea. In less than an hour Jormanric couldhave her screaming to give him any-thing he wanted. But Finn had seen that too often,and it sickened him."They must bring it with the ransom.""I don't want them to have to. I want you to take me back64to where you found me, today, before lockup. Once we get there--""I can't." He stood up abruptly. Behind them the clang of the signal bell sent a flock of thesooty doves that infested the Den flapping out into the dark. "They'd skin me alive!""Y problem." She smiled sourly. "I'm sure you can invent some story. Y our ou're an expert.""All I've told you is true." Suddenly he needed her to believe him.She put her face close to him and her eyes were fierce. "Like the hard-luck tale at theambush?"Finn stared back. Then he dropped his gaze. "I can't just free you. But I swear, if you getme this crystal, you'll get home safely."For a moment the silence was icy. She turned her back on him and hugged herself. Heknew she was about to tell him. Her voice was grim."All right. A while ago my people broke into a deserted hall. It had been bricked up fromthe inside, maybe for centuries. The air was foul. When we crawled in we found someclothes gone to dust, some jewelry, a skeleton of a man.""So?" He waited, intent.She looked at him sidelong. "In his hand was a small cylindrical artifact made of crystal orheavy glass. Inside it is a hologram of an eagle with open wings. In one claw it holds asphere. Around its neck, like yours, it wears a crown."65For a moment he couldn't speak. Before he could draw breath she said, "Y must swear oumy safety."He wanted to grab her hand and run with her, now, back to the shaft and climb up and upto the transitway. But he said, "They have to pay the ransom. I can't do anything now if wetried, we'd both be killed. Keiro too."The Maestra nodded wearily. "It will cost everything we have to make my weight intreasure."He swallowed. "Then I swear to you--on my life, on Keiro's life--that if they do, no harm willcome to you. That I'll make certain the exchange is honest. That's all I can do."The Maestra drew herself up. "Even if you were once cell-born," she breathed, "you arefast becoming Scum. And you're as much a prisoner here as I am."Without waiting for his answer, she turned and swept back into the Den. Slowly, Finnrubbed a hand around the back of his neck, feeling the damp of sweat. He realized hisbody was a knot of tension; he made himself breathe out. Then he froze.A dark figure was sitting ten steps down the dark stairs, lounging against the balustrade.Finn scowled. "Don't you trust me?""Y ou're a child, Finn. An innocent." Keiro turned a gold coin over thoughtfully between hisfingers. Then he said, "Don't swear on my life again.""I didn't mean ...""Didn't you?" With a sudden jerk his oathbrother stood,66strode up the steps, and stood face-to-face with him. "Fine. But remember this. Y and I ouare joined by sworn contract. If Jormanric finds out you're double-crossing him in any way,we both end up as the last of his pretty little rings. But I don't intend or die, Finn. And youowe me. I brought you into this warband, when your head was empty and you were stupidwith fear." He shrugged. "Sometimes I wonder why I bothered."Finn swallowed. "Y bothered because no one else would put up with your pride, your ouarrogance, and your thieving ways. Y bothered because you saw I would be as reckless ouas you. And when you take on Jormanric you'll need me at your back."Keiro raised a sardonic eyebrow. "What makes you think--""Y will one day. Maybe soon. So help me in this, brother, and I'll help you." He frowned. ou"Please. It means a lot to me.""You're obsessed with this stupid idea that you came from Outside.""Not stupid. Not to me.""Y and the Sapient. A pair of fools together." When he didn't answer, Keiro laughed ouharshly. "Y were born in Incarceron, Finn. Accept it. No one comes in from Outside. No ouone Escapes! Incarceron is sealed. We were all born here and we'll all die here. Y ourmother dumped you and you can't remember her. The bird-scar is just some tribemark.Forget it."He wouldn't. He couldn't. He said stubbornly, "I wasn't born here. I can't remember being achild, but I was one. I67can't remember how I got here, but I wasn't bred out of some artificial womb of wires andchemicals. And this"--he held up his wrist--"will prove it."Keiro shrugged. "Sometimes I think you're still out of your head."Finn scowled. Then he stalked back up the stairs. At the top he had to step oversomething crouched there in the dark. It looked like Jormanric's dog-slave, straining atthe end of its chain to reach a bowl of water that some joker had placed just out of reach.Finn kicked the bowl nearer and strode on.The slave's chain clanked.Through its tangle of hair, its small eyes watched him walk away.686***It was decided from the beginning that the location of Incarceron should be known onlyto the Warden. All criminals, undesirables, political extremists, degenerates, lunaticswouldbe transported there. The Gate would be sealed and the Experiment commence. It wasvitalthat nothing should disturb the delicate balance of Incarceron's programming, whichwouldprovide everything needed--education, balanceddiet, exercise, spiritual welfare, and purposefulwork--to create a paradise. ;One hundred and fifty years have passed.The Warden reports that progress is excellent.--Court Archives 4302/6***"That was so delicious!" Lord Evian wiped his plump lips with a white napkin. "Y really oumust let me have the receipt, my dear."Claudia stopped tapping her nails on the cloth and smiled brightly. "I'll have someonecopy it for you, my lord."Her father was watching from the head of the table, the crumbs of his ascetic breakfast oftwo dry rolls gathered nearly in a pile on the side of his plate. Like her he had finished at69least half an hour ago, but his impatience was hidden with iron control. If he wasimpatient. She didn't even know.Now he said, "His Lordship and I will ride out this morning, Claudia, and take a brief lunchat one p.m. exactly. Afterward we will resume our negotiations."Over my future, she thought, but only nodded, noticing the fat lord's dismay. He couldn'tbe such a fool as he seemed or the Queen wouldn't have sent him, and though he triedhard, a few shrewd comments had slipped out. But he was hardly a rider.The Warden was aware of that. Her father had a grim humor.As she stood he rose with her, meticulously polite, and drew the small gold watch from hispocket. The timepiece gleamed. It was beautiful, digitally accurate, and totally out of Era.It was his one eccentricity, the watch and the chain and the tiny silver cube that hung fromit.He said, "Perhaps you'd touch the bell, Claudia. I'm afraid we've kept you long enoughfrom your studies."She went quickly to the green tassel by the hearth and he added without raising his head,"I spoke to Master Jared in the garden earlier. He looked very pale. How is his healththese days?"Her fingers froze a fraction from the bell. Then she pulled it firmly. "He's well, sir. Verywell."He put the watch away. "I've been considering. Y won't need a tutor after your marriage, ouand, besides, there are several70Sapienti at Court. Perhaps we should allow Jared to return to the Academy."She wanted to stare at him in horror in the dim mirror, but that would have been what heexpected. So she kept her face bright and turned lightly. "As you wish. I'd miss him, ofcourse. And we are in the middle of a fascinating study of the Havaarna Kings. He knowseverything there is to be known about them."His gray eyes watched her closely.If she said another word her dismay would show and it would decide him. A pigeonfluttered on the tiles outside.Lord Evian creaked to his feet. "Well, if you do, Warden, I assure you some other familywill snap him up. Jared Sapiens is renowned through the Realm. He could name his fee.Poet, philosopher, inventor, genius. Y should hold on to him, sir." ouClaudia smiled in pleasant agreement but inside she was startled. It was as if the greasyman in the blue silk suit knew what she couldn't say for herself. He smiled back, his smalleyes bright.The Warden's lips were tight. "I'm sure you're right. Shall we go, my lord?"Claudia dropped a curtsy. As her father followed Evian out and turned to close the doubledoors, he met her eyes. Then the doors clicked shut.She sighed in relief. Like a cat eyes a mouse, she thought. But all she said was, "Now,please."Instantly paneling slid back; maids and men raced out and71began removing cups, plates, candelabra, centerpieces, glasses, napkins, kedgereedishes, fruit bowls. Windows snapped open and burned-out candles relit; the roaring firein the log-filled hearth vanished without a whiff of charred wood. Dust vaporized; curtainschanged color. The air sweetened itself with potpourri.Leaving them to it, Claudia hurried out. She crossed the hall decorously holding her skirts,then raced up the curved oak staircase and dived through the concealed door on thelanding, passing instantly from contrived luxury into the chilly gray corridors of theservants' quarters, bare walls roped with wires and cables and powerpoints, smallcamera screens and sonic scanners.The back stairs were stone; she pattered up and opened the quilted door, and steppedout into the luxurious, Era-perfect corridor.Two steps took her across to her own bedroom.The maids had already cleaned it. She double-locked the door, flipped on all the securityblocks, and crossed to the window.Green and smooth, the lawns were beautiful in the summer sunshine. The gardener's boy,Job, was wandering about with a sack and a spiked stick, stabbing stray leaves. Shecouldn't make out the tiny music implant in his ear, but his jerky movements and suddenstruts made her grin. Though if the Warden saw him, he'd be sacked.Turning, she slid back the drawer of her dressing table, took72out the minicom, and activated it. It flashed on and showed her a distorted echo of herown face, grotesque in curved glass. Startled, she said, "Master?"A shadow. Two vast fingers and a thumb came down and lifted the alembic away. ThenJared sat down before the hidden receiver."I'm here, Claudia.""Is everything set? They ride out in a few minutes."His thin face darkened. "I'm concerned about this. The disc may not work. We need trials...""No time! I'm going in today. Right now."He sighed. She knew he wanted to argue, but despite all their precautions, someonemight be listening; it was dangerous to say too much. Instead he murmured, "Please becareful.""As you've taught me, Master." For a brief second she thought about the Warden's threatagainst him, but this wasn't the time. "Start now," she said, and cut the link.Her bedroom was dark mahogany; the great four-poster hung with red velvet, its testerembroidered with the black swan singing. Behind it was what looked like a small garde-robe set into the wall, but as she walked through the illusion it became an en-suitebathroom with every luxury--there were limits even to the Warden's strictness on Protocol.As she stood on the toilet seat and peeped out of the narrow window, sunlit dust swirledin motes about her.She could see the courtyard. Three horses were saddled; her73father was standing by one, both gloved hands resting on the reins, and with asuppressed whoop of relief she saw that his secretary, the dark watchful man calledMedlicote, was climbing onto the gray mare. Behind, Lord Evian was being heaved intothe saddle by two sweating stable hands. Claudia wondered how much of his comicawkwardness was an act, and whether he'd been prepared for real horses rather thancyber-steeds. Evian and her father were playing an elaborate and deadly game ofmanners and insults, irritation and etiquette. It bored her, but that was how things were atCourt.The thought of a future lifetime of it turned her cold.To hide from it she jumped down, and tugged off the elaborate dress. Underneath shewas wearing a dark jumpsuit. For a moment she glanced at herself in the mirror. Clotheschanged you. Long ago, King Endor had known that. That was why he had stopped Time,imprisoned everyone in doublets and dresses, stiffed them in conformity and stiffness.Now Claudia felt lithe and free. Dangerous, even. She stepped back up. They were ridingthrough the gatehouse. Her father paused and glanced toward Jared's tower. She smiledsecretly. She knew what he could see.He could see her.Jared had perfected the holo-image in the long nights of sleeplessness. When he hadshown her herself, sitting, talking, laughing, reading in the window seat of the sunny tower,she had been fascinated and appalled.74"That's not me!"He'd smiled. "No one likes to see themselves from the outside."She had seen a smug, pert creature, her face a mask of composure, every actionconsidered, every speech rehearsed. Superior and mocking."Is that really how I am?"Jared had shrugged. "It's an image, Claudia. Let's say its how you can appear."Now, jumping down and running back into the bedroom, she watched the horses paceelegantly over the mown lawns, Evian talking, her father silent. Job had vanished, and theblue sky was mottled with high clouds.They'd be gone at least an hour.She took the small disc from her pocket, tossed it, caught it, put it back. Then she openedher bedroom door and peered out.The Long Gallery ran the length of the house. It was paneled in oak and lined withportraits, books in cabinets, blue vases on pedestals. Above each door the bust of aRoman emperor gazed sternly down from its bracket. Far down at the end sunlight madebrilliant slanting lozenges across the wall, and a suit of armor guarded the top of the stairslike a rigid ghost.She took a step, and the planks creaked. The boards were old, and she scowled,because there was no way to turn that75off. There was nothing she could do about the busts either, but as she passed eachpainting she touched the frame control and darkened them--after all, there were almostcertainly cameras in some of them. She held the disc gently in her hand; only once did itgive a discreet bleep of warning, and she already knew about that, a crisscross of faintlines outside the study door, easily dissolved.Claudia glanced back down the corridor. Far off in the house a door banged, a servantcalled. Up here in the muffled luxury of the past, the air was fragrant with juniper androsemary, pomanders of crisp lavender in the laundry cupboard.The study door was recessed in shadow. It was black, and looked like ebony; a barepanel, except for the swan. Huge and malevolent, the bird stared down at her, neckstretched in spitting defiance, wings wide. Its tiny eye glinted as though it were a diamondor dark opal.More likely a spyhole, she thought.Tense, she lifted Jared's disc and held it carefully to the door; it clamped itself on with atiny metallic click.The device hummed. A small whine emerged from it, changing tone and pitch frequently,as if it chased the intricate combination of the lock up and down the scales of sound.Jared had gone into patient explanations as to how it worked, but she hadn't really beenlistening.Impatient, she fidgeted. Then froze.Footsteps were running up the stairs, lightly pattering.76Perhaps one of the maids, despite orders. Claudia flattened herself into the alcove,cursing silently, barely breathing.Just behind her ear, the disc gave a soft, satisfied snap.At once she turned, had the door open, and was inside in seconds, one arm whippingback out to snatch the disc.When the maid hurried by with the pile of linen, the study door was as dark and grimlylocked as ever.Slowly, Claudia withdrew her eye from the spyhole and breathed out in relief. Then shestiffened, her shoulders tight with tension. A curious, dreadful certainty swept over her thatthe room behind her was not empty, that her father was standing at her back, closeenough to touch, his smile bitter. That the horseman she had seen leave had been hisown holo-image, that he had outguessed her as he always did.She made herself turn.The room was empty. But it was not what she'd expected. For a start it was too big. It wastotally non-Era. And it was tilted.At least she thought so for a moment, because the first steps she took into its space werestrangely unsteady, as if the floor sloped, or the perspective of the bare gray walls rose toodd angles. Something blurred and clicked; then the room seemed to gently even out,become normal, except for the warmth and the sweet faint scent and a low hum shecouldn't quite identify.77The ceiling was high and vaulted. Sleek silver devices lined the walls, each winking withsmall red lights. A narrow illumination strip lit only the area directly below it, revealing asolitary desk, a neatly aligned metal chair.The rest of the room was empty. The only thing marring the perfect floor was a tiny speckof black. She bent down and examined it. A scrap of metal, dropped from some device.Astonished, still not quite sure she was alone, Claudia gazed around. Where were thewindows? There should be two-- both orieled casements. Y could see them from ououtside, and through them a white pargeted ceiling and some bookshelves. Often she'dwondered about climbing up the ivy to get in. From outside, the room had looked normal.Not this humming, tilted box too big for its space.She paced forward, gripping Jared's disc tightly, but it registered no warnings. Reachingthe desk, she touched its smooth, featureless surface and a screen rose up silently withno visible controls. She searched, but there was nothing, so she assumed it was voice-operated. "Begin," she said quietly.Nothing happened."Go. Start. Commence. Initiate."The screen stayed blank. Only the room hummed.There must be a password. She leaned down, placed both hands on the desk. There wasonly one word she could think of, so she said it."Incarceron."78No image. But under the fingers of her left hand a drawer rolled smoothly open.Inside, on a bed of black velvet, lay a single key. It was intricate, a spun web of crystal.Embedded in the heart of it was a crowned eagle; the royal insignia of the HavaarnaDynasty. Bending closer, she looked at its sharp facets that glittered so brilliantly. Was itdiamond? Glass? Drawn by its heavy beauty she bent so close her breath misted on itsfrostiness, her shadow blocking the overhead light so that the rainbow glints went out.Might it be the key to Incarceron itself? She wanted to lift it. But first she ran Jared's disccautiously over its surface.Nothing.She glanced around once. Everything was quiet. So she picked up the key.The room crashed. Alarms howled; rays of laserfire shot up from the floor, ringing her in acage of red light. A metal grille slammed over the door; hidden lights burst on and shestood frozen in the uproar in terror, her heart slamming in her chest, and in that instant thedisc jabbed a pepperpoint of red pain urgently into her thumb.She glanced down at it. Jared's message was breathless with terror.He's coming back! Get out, Claudia! Get out!797***Once Sapphique came to the end of a tunnel and looked down on a vast hall. Its floor wasa poisoned pool of venom. Corrosive steams rose from it. Across the darkness stretcheda tautwire, and on the far side a doorway was visible, with light beyond it.The inmates of the Wing tried to dissuade him. "Many have fallen," they said."Their bones rot in the black lake. Why should you be any different?"He answered, "Because I have dreams and in those dreams I see the stars." Then heswunghimself up onto the wire and began to cross. Many times he rested, or hung in pain. Manytimes they called on him to return. Finally, after hours, he reached the other side, and theysaw him stagger, and vanish through the door.He was dark, this Sapphique, and slender. His hair was straight and long. His real nameis only to be guessed at.--Wanderings of Sapphique***Gildas said testily, "I've told you many times. Outside exists. Sapphique found a waythere. But no one comes. Not even you."80"Y don't know that." ouThe old man laughed, making the floor sway. The metal cage hung high over the chamberand was barely big enough for both of them to squat in. Books on chains dangled from it,surgical instruments, a swinging cascade of tin boxes stuffed with festering specimens. Itwas padded with old mattresses from which wisps of straw fell like an irritating snow ontothe cooking fires and stewpots far below. A woman looked up to yell in annoyance. Thenshe saw Finn and was silent."I know it, fool boy, because the Sapienti have written it." Gildas pulled a boot on. "ThePrison was made to hold the Scum of humanity; to seal them away, to exile them from theearth. That was centuries ago, in the time of Martor, in the days the Prison spoke to men.Seventy Sapienti volunteered to enter the Prison to minister to its inmates, and after themthe entrance was sealed forever. They taught their wisdom to their successors. Evenchildren know this."Finn rubbed the hilt of his sword. He felt tired and resentful."No one has entered since. We know about the Wombs too, though not where they are.Incarceron is efficient; it was designed to be. It doesn't waste dead matter, but recycleseverything. In those cells it grows new inmates. Perhaps animals too."But I remember things ... bits of things." Finn gripped the81cage bars as if to hold on to his belief, watching Keiro cross the floor of the hall far below,arms around two giggling girls.Gildas's gaze followed his. "Y don't. Y dream Incarceron's mysteries. Y visions will ou ou ourshow us how to Escape.""No. I remember."The old man looked exasperated. "Remember what?"He felt foolish. "Well... a cake. With silver balls and seven candles. There were people.And music ... lots of music ... He hadn't realized that until now. He was oddly pleased, untilhe caught the old man's eye."A cake. I suppose it may be a symbol. The number seven is important. The Sapientiknow it as the sigil of Sapphique, because of the time when he met the renegade Beetle.""I was there!""Everyone has memories, Finn. Y our prophecies are what matter. The visions thatdescend on you are the great gift and strangeness of the Starseer. They're unique. Thepeople know that, the slaves and the warband, even Jormanric. It's in the way they look atyou. Sometimes they fear you."Finn was silent. He hated the fits. They came suddenly, dizzy sickness and blackouts thatterrified him, and Gildas's relentless interrogation after each one left him shivering andsick."One day I'll die from one," he said quietly."It is true few cell-born live to be old." Gildas's voice was harsh, but he looked away.Buckling the ornate collar over his green robe he muttered, "The past is gone; whatever itwas, it82doesn't matter anymore. Put it out of your head or it will drive you to madness."Finn said, "How many other cell-born have you known?""Three." Gildas tugged the plaited end of his beard free irritably. He paused. "Y ou're rarebeings. I spent my life searching before I found you. A man rumored to be cell-born usedto beg outside the Hall of Lepers, but when I finally coaxed him to speak I realized hismind had gone; he babbled about an egg that talked, a cat that faded out to just a smile.Years later, after many rumors, I found another, a worker of the Civicry in the Ice Wing. Sheseemed normal enough; I tried to persuade her to speak to me of her visions. But shenever would. One day I heard she had hanged herself."Finn swallowed. "Why?""They told me she had gradually begun to believe a child followed her, an invisible childthat clutched her skirts and called her, woke her at night. Its voice tormented her. Shecouldn't shut it out."Finn shivered. He knew that Gildas was watching him. The Sapient said gruffly, "Findingyou here was a chance in a million, Finn. Only you can guide my Escape.""I can't ...""Y can. Y ou ou're my prophet, Finn. My link with Incarceron. Soon now you'll bring me thevision I've waited a lifetime for, the sign that my time has come, that I must followSapphique and seek the Outside. Every Sapient makes that journey. None83have succeeded, but none have had a cell-born to guide them."Finn shook his head. He'd heard this for years and it still scared him. The old man wasobsessed with Escape, but how could Finn help him? How could flashes of memory andthe skin-tingling, choking lapses into unconsciousness help anyone?Gildas pushed past him and grasped the metal ladder. "Don't talk about this. Not even toKeiro."He climbed down and his eyes were on a level with Finns feet before Finn muttered,"Jormanric will never just let you go."Gildas glared up through the rungs. "I go where I want.""He needs you. He rules the Wing because of you. On his own he--""He'll manage. He's good at fear and violence."Gildas descended one rung, then pulled himself up, his small wizened face lit with suddenjoy. "Can you imagine how it will be, Finn, one day, to open a hatch and climb out ofdarkness, out of Incarceron? To see the stars? To see the sun!"For a moment Finn was silent; then he swung down on a rope past the Sapient. "I've seenit."Gildas laughed sourly. "Only in visions, fool boy. Only in dreams."He clambered with surprising agility down the diagonal of lashed ladders. Finn followedmore slowly, the rope's friction warm through his gloves.Escape.84It was a word that stung him like a wasp, a sharpness that pierced his mind, a longing thatpromised everything and meant nothing. The Sapienti taught that Sapphique had oncefound a way out, that he had Escaped. Finn wasn't sure if he believed that. The storiesabout Sapphique grew in the telling; every itinerant storyteller and poet had a new one. Ifa single man could have had all those adventures, tricked all those Winglord's, made thatepic journey through the Thousand Wings of Incarceron, he must have lived forgenerations. The Prison was said to be vast and unknowable, a labyrinth of halls andstairs and chambers and towers beyond number. Or so the Sapienti taught.His feet hit the ground. Glimpsing the snake-green iridescence of Gildas's robe as the oldman hurried out of the Den, Finn ran after him, making sure that his foil was in its sheathand that he had both daggers in his belt.The Maestra's crystal was what concerned him now.And getting it was not going to be easy.The Chasm of Ransom was only three halls away, and he crossed the dark empty spacesquickly, alert for spiders or the inbred shadowhawks that swooped high in the rafters.Everyone else seemed to be there already. He heard the Comitatus before he camethrough the last archway; they were shouting and howling Insults across the abyss, theirscorn ringing back from the smooth unclimbable slabs.On the far side the Civicry waited, a line of shadows.85The Chasm was a jagged crack across the floor, a sheer face of black obsidian. If astone was dropped down it, no sound ever came up. The Comitatus considered itbottomless; some even said that if you fell into its depths, you fell right through Incarceroninto the molten heart of the earth, and certainly heat rose from it, a miasma that made theair shimmer. In the center, split off by whatever Prisonquake had formed the abyss, rose aneedle-thin rock called the Spike, its flat platform cracked and worn. From each side abridge of scorched metal rusted and dark with pig-grease led there. It was a neutral placethat belonged to no one, a place for truces and parleys, of hesitant exchange among thehostile tribes of the Wing.At the unfenced edge, from which he often had troublesome slaves thrown screamingdown, Jormanric lounged on his throne, the Comitatus around him, the small dog-slavecrouched at the end of its chain."Look at him," Keiro's voice whispered in Finn's ear. "Big and thick.""And as vain as you."His oathbrother snorted. "At least I've got something to be vain about."But Finn was watching the Maestra. As they led her in, her eyes glanced quickly at thecrowd, the rickety bridges, her people waiting in the shimmering air beyond. Over there,just for a moment a man cried out, and at the sound her face lost its86composure; she tugged away from her guards and screamed, "Sim!"Finn wondered if that was her husband. "Come on," he said to Keiro, and pushedforward.Seeing them, the crowd moved back. It's in the way they look at you, Finn thoughtbitterly. Knowing that the old man was right made him angry. He came up behind theMaestra and grabbed her arm. "Remember what I said. No harm will come to you. Butare you sure they'll bring this thing?"She glared at him. "They won't hold anything back. Some people know about love."The jibe stung him. "Maybe I did once."Jormanric was watching them, his dull eyes barely focused. He jabbed a ringed finger atthe bridge and yelled, "Get her ready!"Keiro pulled the woman's hands behind her and shackled them. Watching, Finn muttered,"Look. I'm sorry."She held his gaze. "Not as sorry as I am for you."Keiro smiled archly. Then he looked to Jormanric.The Winglord heaved himself up and strode to the Chasm edge, glaring out at the Civicry.The greasy chainmesh creaked as he folded his great arms across his chest. "Listen,over there!" he thundered. "Y get her back for her weight in treasure. No more, no less. ouAnd that means no alloy and no junk."His words rang in the steaming heat.87"First, your word there'll be no treachery." The reply was cold with fury.Jormanric grinned. Ket-juice glistened on his teeth. "Y want my word! I haven't kept my ouword since I was ten and knifed my own brother. You're welcome to it."The Comitatus sniggered. Behind them, half in shadow, Finn saw Gildas, his face sour.Silence.Then, from deep in the shimmering heat haze came a clang and a thud. The Civicry werehauling their treasure across to the Spike. Finn wondered what they had--ore certainly, butJormanric would be hoping for gold and platinum and most precious of all, micro-circuitry.After all, the Civicry were one of the richest groups in the Wing. That had been the reasonfor the ambush.The bridge shuddered. The Maestra grasped the rail to steady herself.Finn said quietly, "Let's go." He glanced behind himself. Keiro had drawn his sword."I'm here, brother.""Don't let the bitch go till you get every last ounce," Jormanric rasped.Finn scowled. Pushing the Maestra in front, he began the crossing.The bridge was a web of woven chainwork; it swung with every step. Twice he slipped,once so hard that the whole88structure swayed crazily and nearly tipped the three of them into the abyss. Keiro swore;the Maestra's fingers gripping the metal links were white-knuckled.Finn did not look down. He knew what was below nothing bur blackness and heat thatrose and scorched your face, bringing strange drowsy fumes it was unwise to breathe.As she inched forward, the Maestra's voice came back to him, hard and cold. "If theydon't bring ... the crystal? What then?""What crystal?" Keiro asked slyly.Finn said, "Shut up." Ahead in the dimness he could see the Civicry--three men, asagreed, waiting by the weighing platform. He edged up close behind the Maestra. "Don'teven try to make a run for it. Jormanric will have twenty weapons trained on you.""I'm not a fool," she snapped. Then she stepped onto the Spike.Finn followed, taking a deep breath of relief. It was a mistake. The fumes of the heat hazechoked his throat; he coughed.Keiro pushed past him, sword drawn, and grabbed the woman's arm. "On this."He shoved her onto the weighing platform. It was a vast aluminum construction, draggedhere in pieces and reassembled with immense difficulty for occasions like this, though inall Finn's time with the Comitatus he had never seen it used. Jormanric didn't usuallybother with ransoms.89"Look hard at the marker, friend." Keiro turned silkily to the Civic leader. "Not such alightweight, is she?" He grinned."Perhaps you should have kept her on a stricter diet."The man was stocky, muffled in a striped coat, bulky with concealed weapons. IgnoringKeiro's taunt he came and glanced at the needle on the rusting dial, exchanging a swift,snatched look with the Maestra. Finn recognized him from the ambush. The one she'dcalled Sim.The man gave Finn a filthy glare. Taking no chances, Keiro pulled the Maestra back andheld his dagger to her neck. "Now pile it on. And don't try anything."In the moment before the treasure began to be poured, Finn wiped sweat from his eyes.He swallowed again, trying not to breathe too hard, wishing desperately he had tiedsomething over his mouth and nose. Faint, horribly familiar, the spots of redness began toswim before his eyes. Not now, he thought frantically. Please.Not now.Gold was slithering and rattling. Rings, cups, plates, elaborate candlesticks. A bag wasupended and silver coins cascaded out, forged probably from the ore smuggled bytraders; then a deluge of delicate components robbed from dark and unfrequented partsof the Wing--broken Beetles, Eye-lenses, a Sweeper with its radar mangled.The needle began to move. Watching it, the Civicry dumped a sack of ket and two smallpieces of the precious ebony wood90that grew somewhere in a stunted forest even Gildas had only-heard rumors of.Keiro grinned at Finn.As the red needle edged across, a heap of copper wire and Plastiglas went on, a handfulof crystal filaments, a patched helm, and three rusted foils that would certainly snap at thefirst good blow.The men worked hurriedly, but it was clear they were running out of goods. The Maestrawatched tight-lipped, Keiro's knifepoint whitening the skin under her ear.Finn's breath was ragged. Prickles of pain sparked behind his eyes. He swallowed andtried to whisper to Keiro, but he had no breath and his oathbrother was watching the lastsack--of useless tinware--being placed on the heap.The needle swung over.It stopped short."More," Keiro said quietly."There's nothing more."Keiro laughed. "Y love the coat you're wearing better than her?" ouSim tore the coat off and flung it on. Then, with a glance at the Maestra he tossed hissword and firelock after it. The other two men did the same. They stood empty-handedand each of them watched the needle quiver.It didn't quite make the mark."More," Keiro said.91"For God's sake!" Sim's voice was harsh. "Just let her go!" Keiro glanced at Finn. "Thiscrystal. Is it there?" Dizzy, he shook his head.Keiro smiled icily at the men. He pressed the blade; a glistening trickle of dark bloodedged it. "Beg, lady."She was very calm. She said, "They want the crystal, Sim. The one you found in the losthall.""Maestra ...""Give it to them."Sim hesitated. It was only for a second, though through his nausea Finn saw it strike theMaestra like a blow. Then the man put his hand into his shirt and pulled out an object thatcaught a glimmer of light, so that a brief rainbow rippled in his fingers. 'We've found outsomething," he said. "Something it does ..."She stopped him with a look. He tossed the crystal slowly down onto the pile.The needle touched the mark.At once Keiro shoved the woman away. Sim grabbed her arm and pulled her onto thesecond bridge. "Run!" he yelled.Finn crouched. Saliva welled in his throat as he picked up the crystal. Inside it an eaglespread wide wings. It was the same as the mark on his wrist. Finn.He looked up.The Maestra had stopped and turned, her face white. "I hope it destroys you."92"Maestra!" Sim had her arm but she shook him off. Gripping the chains of the secondbridge, she faced Finn and spat words at him."I curse the crystal, and I curse you.""There's no time," he said hoarsely. "Just go.""You've destroyed my trust. My compassion. I thought I could tell truth from lies. Now I'llnever dare show kindness to a stranger again. For that I can never forgive you!"Her hatred scorched him. Then, as she turned away, the bridge lurched.The abyss swung crazily. In a second of frozen horror the Maestra screamed and hegasped, "No!" staggering one step toward her. Then Keiro had hold of him and wasshouting and something was cracking and as if the pain in his head had slowed themdown he saw the chains and rivets that held the bridge snapping and jerking out, heardJormanric's great howl of laughter and knew this was treachery.The Maestra must have realized too. She stood upright.She gave him one look, her eyes to his; then she was gone, she and Sim and the otherswere gone, down and down, and the bridge was a crazy contraption slamming andshedding wrecked ironware in a clattering uproar against the side of the cliff.Screaming echoes faded.Crumpling to his knees, Finn stared, appalled. A wave of nausea shuddered through him.He clutched the crystal, and through the roaring in his ears heard Keiro say calmly, "I93should have guessed the old rogue would do that. And a lump of glass doesn't look muchfor all your trouble. What is it?"Then Finn knew, in a second of sour clarity, that he was right, that he must have been bornOutside; knew it because he held in his hand the one object that no one in Incarceron forgenerations had ever seen or would even guess the purpose of, and yet it was familiar tohim, he had a word for it, he knew what it was.It was a key.Darkness and pain roared up and swallowed him. He fell into Keiro's firm grip.9495UNERGROUND, THE STARS ARE LEGENDS96978***The Years of Rage are ended and nothing can be the same. The war has hollowed themoon and stilled the tides. We must find a simpler way of life. We must retreat into thepast, everyone and everything, in its place, in order. Freedom is a small price to pay forsurvival.---King Endor's Decree***Finn felt himself fall for a thousand miles down the abyss before he crashed onto a ledge.Breathless, he raised his head. All around, darkness roared. Beside him, leaning backagainst the rock, someone was sitting. Finn said instantly,"The Key ...""At your side."He groped for it in the rubble, felt its smooth heaviness. Then he turned.A stranger sat there. He was young and had long dark hair. He wore a high-collared coatlike a Sapient s, but it was ragged and patched. He pointed to the rock face and said,"Look, inn.In the rock was a keyhole. Light shone through it. And Finn saw that the rock was a door,tiny and black, and in its transparency stars and galaxies were embedded.98"This is Time. This is what you must unlock," Sapphique said.Finn tried to lift the Key, but it was so heavy he needed both hands, and even then itshook in his grasp. "Help me," he gasped.But the hole was closing, swiftly, and by the time he got the Key steady, there was nothingleft but a pinhole of light."So many have tried," Sapphique whispered in his ear. "Have died trying,"***FOR A second Claudia was stock-still with despair.Then she moved. She shoved the crystal key into her pocket, used Jared's disc to makea perfect holocopy of it nestled in the black velvet and slammed the drawer shut. Fingershot with sweat she took out the box prepared just for this emergency and flipped out theladybugs. They flew, landing on the control panel and the floor. Then she clicked the blueswitch on the disc to red, swung, and aimed it at the door.Three of the laserlights fizzed and died. She slid through the gap they left, flinching fromimaginary bolts of weaponry. The grille was a nightmare; the disc chuntered and clicked,and she howled at it in desperation, sure it would break down, run out of power, but slowlya white-hot hole melted in the metal as the atoms scrambled and re-formed.In seconds she was through it, had the door open, was in the corridor.It was silent.99Amazed, she listened. As the study door clicked shut behind her, the panic alarms weresliced off as if they rang in some other world.The house was peaceful. Doves cooed. And below, she heard voices.She ran. Up the back stairs, right to the attics, then down a passageway through theservants' garrets to the tiny storeroom at the end; it stank of wormwood and cloves.Diving in she groped hastily for the mechanism that opened the ancient priesthole, herfingernails scraping grime and spiderwebs and then, yes, there! The latch barely wideenough for her thumb.As she jabbed it, the panel grated; she flung her weight on it, heaved it, swearing, and itshuddered open and she fell in.Once she had it shut and her back against it, she could breathe.Before her, the tunnel to Jared's tower ran into darkness.***FINN LAY crookedly on his bed.He lay there a long while, gradually becoming aware of the noises of the Den outside, ofsomeone running, of the clatter of dishes. Finally, groping with his hand, he found that ablanket had been laid carefully over him. His shoulders and neck ached; cold sweatchilled him.He rolled over and looked up at the filthy ceiling. Echoes of a long scream were ringing inhis ears, the tingling of alarms and panicking, flashing lights. For a sickening moment hehad100the sense that his vision had stretched into a long dark tunnel leading away from him, thathe could step into it and grope his way toward the light.Then Keiro said, "About time."Blurred and distorted, his oathbrother came and sat on the bed. He made a face. "Youlook rough."Finn's voice, when he tried it out, was hoarse. "Y don't" ouSlowly he focused. Keiro's mane of blond hair was tied back. He wore Sim's striped coatwith far more panache than its owner ever had, a wide studded belt slung around his hips,a jeweled dagger strapped to it. He spread his arms. "Suits me, don't you think?"Finn didn't answer. A wave of anger and shame was rising somewhere in him; his mindsquirmed away from it. If he let it in, it would drown him. He croaked, "How long? Howbad?""Two hours. You've missed the shareout. Again."Carefully Finn sat up. The seizures left him dizzy and dry-mouthed.Keiro said, "It was a bit more severe than usual. Convulsions. Y jerked and struggled, oubut I held you down and Gildas made sure you didn't injure yourself. No one else tookmuch notice; they were too busy gloating over the treasure. We carried you back."Finn flushed with despair. The blackouts were impossible to predict, and Gildas knew ofno cure, or so he said. Finn had no idea what happened after the hot, roaring darknessengulfed101him, and he didn't want to know. It was a weakness and he was bitterly ashamed of it,even if the Comitatus held him in awe. Now he felt as if he had left his body and had comeback to find it sore and empty, that he was aslant inside it. "I didn't have them Outside. I'msure of it."Keiro shrugged. "Gildas is desperate to hear about your vision."Finn looked up. "He can wait." There was an awkward silence. Into it he said, "Jormanricordered her death?""Who else? It's the sort of thing that amuses him. And it's a warning to us."Grim, Finn nodded. He swung his feet off the bed and stared down at his worn boots. "I'mgoing to kill him for that."Keiro raised an elegant eyebrow. "Brother, why bother? Y got what you wanted." ou"I gave her my word. I told her she'd be safe."Keiro watched him a moment, then said, "We're Scum, Finn. Our word means nothing.She knew that. She was a hostage; if they'd gotten hold of you, the Civicry would probablyhave done the same, so think no more about it. I've told you before, you brood over thingstoo much. It makes you weak. There's no room for weakness in Incarceron. No mercy fora fatal flaw. Here it's kill or be killed." He was staring straight ahead and there was an oddsourness in his voice that was new to Finn. But when he turned his smile was sharp. "So.What's a key, then?"Finn's heart thumped. "The Key! Where is it?"102Keiro shook his head in mock wonder. "What would you do without me?" He held up hishand and Finn saw that the crystal was dangling from one hooked finger.He snatched at it, but Keiro jerked it away. "I said, what's a key?"Finn licked paper-dry lips. "A key is a device that opens.""Opens?""Unlocks."Keiro was alert. "The Winglocks? Any door?""I don't know! I just... recognize it." He reached out hastily and grabbed it, and this time,reluctantly, Keiro let it go. The artifact was heavy, woven of strange glassy filaments, andthe holographic eagle in its heart glared at Finn majestically. He saw that it wore a finecollar shaped like a crown around its neck, and tugging back his sleeve he compared itwith the fading blue marks in his skin.Over his shoulder Keiro said, "It looks the same.""It's identical.""But it means nothing. In fact, if anything, it means you were born Inside.""This didn't come from Inside." Finn nursed it in both hands. "Look at it. What material dowe have like this? The workmanship ...""The Prison could have made it."Finn said nothing.But at that moment, just as if it had been listening, the Prison turned all the lights off.103***WHEN THE Warden softly opened the observatory door the wall-screen was lit withimages of the Havaarna Kings of the Eighteenth Dynasty, those effete generations whosesocial policies had led directly to the Years of Rage. Jared was sitting on the desk, onefoot propped on the back of Claudia's chair, the fox cub in his arms; she was leaningforward and reading from a pad in her hand."... Alexander the Sixth, Restorer of the Realm. Created the Contract of Duality.Closed all theatres and public forms of entertainment... Why did he do that?""Fear," Jared said dryly. "By that time any crowd of people was seen as a threat to order."Claudia smiled, her throat dry. This is what her father must see; his daughter and herbeloved tutor. Of course he would know perfectly well that they knew he was here."Ahem."Claudia jumped; Jared looked around. Their surprise was masterly.The Warden smiled a cold smile, as if he admired it."Sir?" Claudia stood up, her silk dress uncreasing. "Are you back already? I thought yousaid one.""That was indeed what I said. May I come in, Master?"Jared said, "Of course," and the cub streaked from his hands and jumped up thebookshelves. "Were honored, Warden."The Warden walked to the table littered with apparatus104and touched an alembic. "Y Era detail is a little ... eccentric, Jared. But the Sapienti ourare not so bound by Protocol, of course." He lifted the delicate glassware and raised it sothat his left eye, hugely magnified, gazed at them through it. "The Sapienti do as they will.They invent, they experiment, they keep the mind of mankind active even in the tyranny ofthe past. Always searching for new sources of energy, new cures. Admirable. But tell me,how is my daughter progressing?"Jared linked his frail fingers. Carefully he said, "Claudia is always a remarkable pupil.""A scholar.""Indeed.""Intelligent and able?" The Warden lowered the glass. His eyes were fixed on her; shelooked up and gazed calmly back at him."I'm sure," Jared murmured, "that she'll be a success in everything she attempts.""And she would attempt anything." The Warden opened his fingers and the flask fell. It hitthe corner of the desk and smashed, an explosion of glass slivers, sending a ravenscreeching out through the window.Jared had leaped back; now he froze. Claudia stood behind him, quite still."I am so sorry!" The Warden surveyed the wreckage calmly, then took out a handkerchiefand wiped his fingers. "The clumsiness of age, I'm afraid. I hope it didn't contain anythingvital?"105Jared shook his head; Claudia caught the faintest glimmer of sweat on his forehead. Sheknew her own face was pale. Her father said, "Claudia, you'll be pleased to know thatLord Evian and I have finalized the dowry arrangements. Y had better begin gathering ouyour trousseau, my dear."At the door he paused. Jared had crouched and was picking up the sharp, curvedfragments of glass. Claudia did not move. She watched the Warden, and his lookreminded her, for a moment, of her own reflection as she stared at it in the looking glasseach morning. He said, "I won't take lunch after all. I have a lot of work to do. In my study.We seem to have an insect problem."When the door closed behind him, neither of them spoke. Claudia sat, and Jareddumped the glass into a disposer and switched the monitor on for the tower stairs.Together they watched the Warders dark angular figure pick a fastidious way through themouse droppings and hanging webs.Finally Jared said, "He knows.""Of course he knows." Claudia realized she was shivering; she pulled an old coat ofJared's around her shoulders. She had the jumpsuit on under her dress, her shoes wereon the wrong feet, and her hair was scrunched back in a sweaty tangle. "He came herejust to show us that.""He doesn't believe the ladybugs set the alarms off.""I told you. The room has no windows. But he won't admit that I got the better of him, andhe never will. So we play the game.""But the Key ... to bring it away ..."106"He won't know if he just opens the drawer and looks at it. Only when he tries to pick it up.I can put the original back before then."Jared wiped his face with one hand. He sat shakily. "A Sapient should not say this, but heterrifies me.""Are you all right?"He turned his dark eyes to her, and the fox cub jumped back down and pawed at hisknee."Y But then you terrify me equally, Claudia. Why on earth did you steal it? Did you want es.him to know it was you?"She frowned. Sometimes he was too acute. "Where is it?"Jared looked at her a moment, then made a rueful face. He took the lid from anearthenware crock and dipping a hook in, lifted the Key out of the formaldehyde. Theacrid smell of the chemical filled the chamber; Claudia pulled the coat sleeve over herface. "God. Wasn't there anywhere else?"She had thrust it into his hand and had been too busy dressing to see where he put it.Now he unwrapped it carefully from the protective seal and laid it on the gnarled, singedwood of the workbench. They stared down at it.It was beautiful. She could see that clearly, its facets catching the sunlight from the windowin brilliant rainbow glints. Embedded in its heart the crowned eagle glared out proudly.But it seemed too fragile to turn in any lock, and its transparency showed no circuitry. Shesaid, "The password to open the drawer was Incarceron!'107Jared raised an eyebrow. "So you thought...""It's obvious, isn't it? What else could such a key unlock? Nothing in this house has a keylike that.""We have no idea where Incarceron is. And if we did we couldn't use it."She frowned. "I intend to find out."For a moment Jared considered. Then, as she watched, he placed the Key on a smallscale and weighed it accurately, took its mass and length, noting the results in his precisescript. "It's not glass. A crystal silicate. Also"--he adjusted the scale--"it has a very peculiarelectromagnetic field. I would say its not a key in a strictly mechanical sense but somevery complex technology, very pre-Era. It won't just unlock a prison door, Claudia."She'd guessed that. She sat down again and said thoughtfully, "I used to be jealous of thePrison."Astonished, he turned, and she laughed."Y Really. When I was tiny and we were at Court. People flocked to see him--the es.Warden of Incarceron, the Guardian of the Inmates, Protector of the Realm. I didn't knowwhat the words meant, but I hated them. I thought Incarceron was a person, anotherdaughter, a secret spiteful twin. I hated her." She picked up a pair of compasses from thetable and opened them. "When I found out it was a prison, I imagined him going down intothe cellars here with a lantern and a huge key--a rusty, ancient key. There would be anenormous door, studded and nailed with the dried flesh of criminals."108Jared shook his head. "Too many gothic novels."She balanced the compasses on one point and spun them. "For a while I dreamed of thePrison, imagined the thieves and murderers deep under the house, banging on the doors,struggling to get out, and I used to wake up scared, thinking I could hear them coming forme. And then I realized it wasn't that simple." She looked up. "That screen in the study. Hemust be able to monitor it from there."Jared nodded and folded his arms. "Incarceron, all the records say, was made andsealed. No one enters or leaves. Only the Warden oversees its progress. Only he knowsits location. There is a theory, a very old one, that it lies underground, many miles belowthe earth's surface, a vast labyrinth. After the Y ears of Rage half the populations wereremoved there. A great injustice, Claudia."She touched the Key lightly. "Y But none of this helps me. I needed some proof of the es.murder, not..." A flicker.A dissolving of light.She jerked her finger away."Amazing!" Jared breathed.A fingerprint of darkness remained there in the crystal, a circular black opening, like aneye.Inside it, far off, they saw two glimmers of moving light, tiny as stars.1099***You are my father, Incarceron.I was born from your pain.Bones of steel; circuits for veins.My heart a vault of iron.--- Songs of Sapphique***Keiro lifted his lantern. "Where are you, Wise One?" Gildas had not been in his sleepingcage or anywhere in the main chamber, where the Comitatus had defiantly lit flares inevery brazier and were celebrating their victory with raucous song and boasting. It hadtaken a few clouts of Keiro's fist among the slaves to find someone who had seen the oldman, heading for the hovels. Now they had tracked him down to a small cell; he wasbandaging a suppurating sore on a slave-child's leg, his mother holding a feeble candleand waiting anxiously."I'm here." Gildas glared around. "Bring that lantern closer. I can't see a thing."Finn came in and saw the light glimmer on the boy, noticing how sickly he looked."Cheer up," he said gruffly.The boy smiled, terrified.110"If you'd only touch him, sir," the mother murmured.Finn turned. She might once have been pretty; now she was haggard and thin."The touch of a Starseer cures, they say.""Superstitious bloody nonsense," Gildas snorted, tying the knot, but Finn did it anyway,putting his fingers lightly to the boy's hot forehead."Not so different to yours, Wise One," Keiro said silkily.Gildas straightened, wiped his fingers on his coat, and ignored the taunt. "Well, that's thebest I can do. The wound needs to drain. Keep it clean."As they followed him out he growled, "Always more infections, more disease. We needantibiotics, not gold and tinware."Finn knew him in this mood; the dark gloom that kept him sometimes for days in his cage,reading, sleeping, speaking to no one. The Maestra's death would be tormenting the oldman. So, abruptly he said, "I saw Sapphique.""What!" Gildas stopped dead. Even Keiro looked interested."He said--""Wait." The Sapient looked around hastily. "In here."It was a dark archway and it led to one of the vast chains that hung in loops from the Denroof. Gildas put his foot in the links and climbed until the darkness hid him; when Finnclambered after him he found the old man on a narrow shelf high in the wall, shovingancient birdmuck and nests aside."I'm not sitting in that," Keiro said.111"Stand then." Gildas took the lantern from Finn and propped it on the chain. "Now. Tell meeverything. Each word, exactly."Finn put his feet over the edge and looked down. "It was a place like this, high up. He wasthere with me, and I had the Key.""That crystal? He called it a key?" Gildas looked stunned; he rubbed his stubbly whitechin. "That is a Sapient word, Finn, a magic word. A device for unlocking.""I know what a key is." His voice was angry; he tried to be calm. "Sapphique told me touse it to unlock Time; there was a keyhole in some black, shining rock, but the Key wasso heavy I couldn't manage it. I felt... devastated."The old man gripped Finns wrist, a hard, fierce grip. "What did he look like?""Young. Long dark hair. Like the stories.""And the door?""Very small. The rock had light inside, like stars."Keiro propped himself elegantly against the wall. "Strange dreams, brother.""Not dreams." Gildas released him; the old man looked incredulous with joy. "I know thatdoor. It has never been opened. It lies about a mile from here, up in Civicry land." Herubbed his face with both hands and said, "Where is this Key?"Finn hesitated. He had strung it on an old piece of string around his neck, but that hadbeen too heavy, so now it was belted inside his shirt. Reluctantly, he tugged it out.The Sapient took it reverently. His small hands with their112raised veins explored it; he brought it close to his eyes and gazed at the eagle. "This iswhat I've been waiting for. 1 ' His voice was choked with emotion."The sign fromSapphique." He looked up. "It decides everything. We leave at once, tonight, beforeJormanric gets to know what this thing is. Sudden and swift, Finn, we begin our Escape.""Now wait a minute!" Keiro peeled himself off the wall. "He's not going anywhere. He'ssworn to me."Gildas looked at him in distaste. "Only because he's useful to you.""And not to you?" Keiro laughed in scorn. "Y ou're a hypocrite, old man. A glass trinket anda few ravings when he's off his head are all you're interested in."Gildas stood. He barely came to Keiro's shoulder, but his glare was malevolent, his wirybody tense."I would be careful, boy. Very careful."Or what? Y turn me into a snake?" ou'll"You're already doing that to yourself."With a shiver of steel Keiro drew his sword. His eyes were blue and icy.Finn said, "Stop this." Neither of them even looked at him."I've never liked you, boy. I've never trusted you," Gildas said grimly. "You're a preening,arrogant thief who considers only his own pleasures, who would murder if it suited him--asit certainly already has. And you'd like nothing more than to make Finn your twin."113Keiro's face was flushed. He raised the sword so that the sharp tip menaced the oldman's eyes. "Finn needs me to protect him from you. I'm the one who looks after him,holds his head when he's sick, watches his back. If we're speaking home truths, I couldsay that the Sapienti are old fools clutching rags of sorcery--""I said that's enough!" Finn stepped between them and shoved the blade aside.Glowering, Keiro whipped it away. "You're going with him? Why?""What's there to stay for?""For God's sake, Finn! We're well in here--food, girls, all we want! We're feared,respected--powerful enough to tackle Jormanric any time now. Then we'll be Winglords,both of us!"And how long," Gildas sneered, "before two is one too many?""Shut up!" Finn turned, furious. "Look at you both! The only friends I have in this hell and allyou can do is fight over me. Do either of you care about me? Not the seer, the fighter, thefool who takes all the risks, but me, Finn?" He stood shivering, suddenly bone-weary, andas they stared at him he crouched, hands to his head, his voice breaking. "I can't standthis anymore. I'm dying here, terrified, living between seizures, dreading the next one, Ican't bear it anymore, I've got to get out, find out who I am! I have to Escape."114They were silent. Dust fell slowly through the beam of the lantern. Then Keiro sheathed hissword.Finn tried to stop shivering. He looked up, dreading to see the mockery in Keiro's eyes,but his oathbrother held out a hand and pulled Finn up until they were face-to-face.Gildas growled, "I care for you, you fool boy."Keiro's eyes were sharp and blue. "Be quiet, old man. Can't you see he's manipulating usboth, as ever? You're so good at that, Finn. Y did it to the Maestra and you do it to us." ouHe released Finns arm and stepped back. "All right. Let's say we try to get out. Have youforgotten how she cursed you? A dying curse, Finn. Can we go up against that?""Leave that to me," Gildas snapped."Ah yes. Sorcery." Keiro shook his head in disbelief. "And how do we know the Key willopen this door? Doors only open if Incarceron wants it."Finn rubbed his chin. He made himself stand upright. "I need to try."Keiro sighed. He turned away, gazing down at the fires of the Comitatus, and Gildascaught Finn's eyes and nodded. He seemed quietly triumphant.Keiro swung back. "All right. But secretly. Then if we fail no one will know.""Y don't have to come," Gildas said. ou"If he goes, I go."As he said it his foot dislodged a scatter of birdmuck from115the ledge; watching it fall, Finn thought he saw a shadow flicker below. He grabbed thechain. "Someone was there."Keiro stared down. "Are you sure?""I thought so."The Sapient pulled himself to his feet. He looked dismayed. "If it was a spy, if he heardabout the Key, we're in trouble. Get weapons and food and meet me in ten minutes at thefoot of the shaft." He looked at the Key, its rainbow shimmer. "I'll keep this.""No you won't." Finn took it back firmly. "It stays with me.As he turned away with it, he felt a sudden strange warmth in its heaviness, and glanceddown. Under the eagle's claw a circle of paleness was fading. Inside it he thought he saw,just for a moment, the shadow of a face, staring at him.A girl's face.***"I HAVE to confess that I detest riding." Lord Evian walked between the flowerbedsexamining the dahlias attentively. "It all seems such an unnecessarily long way from theground." He sat next to her on the bench and gazed out at the sunny countryside, thechurch steeple shimmering in the heat haze. "And then your father wanting to come homeso abruptly! I do hope it wasn't some sudden illness?""I suppose he must have remembered something," Claudia said carefully.116The afternoon light warmed the honey-colored stone of the manor; it glinted on the darkgold waters of the moat. Ducks arrowed toward the floating bread; she threw more forthem, shredding it in her fingers.Evian's reflection showed his smooth face as he leaned over. His mouth said, "Y must oube a little anxious, as well as eager, about this marriage."She tossed a crust to a moorhen. "Sometimes.""I assure you, everyone says you'll manage the Earl of Steen without any problems. Hismother dotes on him."Claudia had no doubt of that. Suddenly she felt weary, as if the whole effort of acting herpart was overtaking her. She stood, her shadow darkening the water. "If you'll excuse me,my lord, I have so much to see to."He didn't look up, reaching his plump fingers to the ducks. But he said, "Sit down, ClaudiaArlexa."His voice. She stared in astonishment at the back of his head. The nasal whine wasgone. Instead he sounded strong and commanding. He looked up.She sat, silent."This will come as a shock, I'm sure. I enjoy my disguise, but it can be tiresome." The oilysmile was gone too, and that made him look different, his heavily lidded eyes a little tired.Older."Disguise?" she said."Assumed persona. We all have them, don't we, in this tyranny of Time? Claudia, can webe overheard here?"117"It's safer than the house.""Yes." He turned on the bench, the pale silk suit rustling, and she caught a waft of theexquisite perfume he doused himself with. "Listen to me now. I have to speak with you,and this may be the only chance. Have you ever heard of the Steel Wolves?"Danger. There was danger here and she had to be very careful. She said, "Jared is athorough teacher. The Steel Wolf was the heraldic symbol of Lord Calliston, who wasfound guilty of plotting treason against the Realm, and was the first Prisoner to enterIncarceron. But that was centuries ago.""A hundred and sixty years," Evian murmured. "And that's all you know?""Yes." It was true.He glanced quickly across the lawns. "Then let me tell you that the Steel Wolf is also thename of a secret organization of courtiers and ... shall we say ... malcontents who long forrelease from the endless playing at an idealized past. From the tyranny of the Havaarnas.They ... we ... would have the Realm ruled by a queen who cared for her people, whowould let us live as we want. Who would open Incarceron."Her heart thudded with fear."Do you understand what I'm saying, Claudia?"She had no idea how to deal with this. Biting her lip she watched Medlicote come out ofthe gatehouse and look around for them. "I think so. You're one of this group?"118He had seen the secretary too. He said swiftly, "I may be. I'm taking a great chancetalking to you. But I think you're not so much your father's daughter."The secretary's dark figure crossed the drawbridge and strode toward them. Evianwaved limply. He said, "Think about it. There are not many who would mourn the Earl ofSteen." He stood. "Are you looking for me, sir?"John Medlicote was a tall man of few words. He bowed to Claudia and said, "I was, mylord. The Warden sends his compliments and begs me to inform you that thesedispatches have arrived from Court." He held out a leather satchel.Evian smiled and took it daintily. "Then I must go and read them. Excuse me, my dear."Claudia dropped an awkward curtsy, watching the small man stroll beside the graveservant, talking lightly of the prospects for the harvest, tugging documents out to read.She crumbled bread between her fingers in silent disbelief.There are not many who would mourn the Earl of Steen.Was he talking about assassination? Was he sincere, or was it some plan of the Queen'sto trap her, to test her loyalty? If she reported it or kept silent, either way might be amistake.She tossed the bread on the dark water, watching the bigger mallards with their green-sheened necks peck and bully the smaller ones aside. Her life was a labyrinth of plotsand pretense, and the only person she could trust in all of it was Jared.119She dusted her fingers together, cold in the sun. Because he might be dying."Claudia." Evian had returned; he held a letter up between plump fingers. "Good news,my dear, of your fianc." He looked at her, his face unreadable. "Caspar is travelingnearby. He will be here tomorrow."It shook her. She smiled rigidly and threw the last crumbs onto the water. They floated forseconds. Then they were snatched away.***KEIRO HAD stuffed a pack with plunder--fine clothes, gold, jewels, a firelock. It must havebeen heavy, but he wouldn't be complaining; Finn knew it would hurt him far more to leaveany of it behind. For himself, he had brought one spare set of clothes, some food, asword, and the Key. That was all he wanted. Looking down at his share of theaccumulated riches in the chest had filled him with self-loathing, brought back theMaestra's scorching stare of scorn. He had shut the lid with a bang.Seeing Gildas's lantern ahead, he ran behind his oathbrother, glancing back anxiously.Incarceron's night was inky. But the Prison never slept. One of its small red Eyes opened,turned, and clicked as he raced below it, and the sound swept a small shiver of dismaythrough his skin. But the Prison would watch curiously. It played with its inmates, allowedthem to kill, wander, fight, and love until120it grew tired and tormented them with Lockdowns, with twisting the very shape of itself.They were its only amusement, and maybe it knew there was no Escape."Hurry." Gildas was waiting impatiently. He had brought nothing but a satchel of food andmedicines and his staff; he strapped that to his back and glanced up the ladder into theshaft. "We get up to the transitway; the top may be guarded, so I'll go first. From there it'stwo hours to the door.""Through Civicry territory," Keiro muttered.Gildas eyed him coldly. "Y can still go back." ou"No he can't, old man."Finn spun, Keiro at his side.From the sides and shadows of the tunnels the Comitatus swaggered; red-eyed, ket-high,crossbows drawn, firelocks in their hands. Finn saw Big Arko flex his shoulders and grin;Amoz swung his fearsome axe.Among his bodyguards, glowering and huge, Jormanric stood. Red juice stained hisbeard like blood."No one's going anywhere," he growled. "Neither is that Key."12110***The eyes in the corridor were dark and watchful and there were many of them."Come out," he said.They came out. They were children. They wore rags and their skin was livid with sores.Their veins were tubes, their hair wire. Sapphique reached out and touched them."You are the ones who will save us," he said.--Sapphique and the Children***No one spoke. Finn stepped away from the ladder; he drew his sword and realized Keirowas already armed, but what use were two blades against so many?Big Arko broke the tension. "Never thought you'd run out on us, Finn."Keiro's smile was steely. "Who says we are?""The sword in your hand says it."He lumbered toward them, but Jormanric stopped him with the back of a mailed gloveagainst his chest. Then the Winglord looked beyond Finn and Keiro. "Can there really bea device that will open every lock?" His voice was slurred but his eyes122were intent. Finn felt Gildas step down from the ladder."I believe so. It was sent to me from Sapphique." The old man tried to push past, but Finncaught hold of his belt and stopped him. Annoyed, Gildas jerked free and pointed a bonyfinger. "Listen to me, Jormanric. I have given you excellent advice for many years. I'vehealed your wounded and tried to bring some sort of order into this hellhole you'vecreated. But I come and go when I choose and my time with you is over.""Oh yes," the big man said grimly. "That's true enough."The Comitatus exchanged grins. They moved closer. Finn caught Keiro's eye; togetherthey closed around Gildas.Gildas folded his arms. His voice was rich with contempt. "Do you think I fear you?""I do, old man. Under all that bluster, you fear me. And you have cause." Jormanric rolledket around his tongue. "Y ou've stood behind me at enough hand loppings, tonguesplittings, seen enough men's heads spitted on pikes to know what I will do." Heshrugged. "And your voice has grated on me of late. I'm sick of being lectured andberated. So here's a proposition for you. Get lost before I cut your tongue out myself.Climb the ladder and join the Civicry. We won't miss you."That wasn't true, Finn thought. Half the Comitatus owed life and limbs to Gildas. He'dpatched them and sewn their wounds after too many fights, and they knew it.Gildas laughed sourly. "And the Key?"123"Ah." Jormanric's eyes narrowed. "The magic Key and the Starseer. I can't let them go.And no one ever deserts the Comitatus." He turned his stare on Keiro. "Finn will beuseful, but you, deserter, the only Escape you'll make is through Death's Door."Keiro didn't flinch. He stood tall, his handsome face flushed with controlled anger, thoughFinn sensed the finest tremble in the hand that held the sword. "Is that a challenge?" hesnapped. "Because if its not, I make it one." He looked around, at all of them. "This isn'tabout some crystal trinket, or about the Sapient. This is about you and me, Winglord, andit's been coming a long time now. I've seen you betray anyone who's threatened you, sendthem into ambushes, poison them, bribe their oathbrothers, make your warband a sludgeof ket-heads without a brain cell between them. But not me. I call you a coward,Jormanric. A fat coward, a murderer, a liar. Worn out, finished. Old?Silence.In the dark shaft the words rang as if the Prison whispered them mockingly around andaround. Finn's grip on his sword was so tight, the cords scorched him; his hearthammered. Keiro was crazy. Keiro had finished them. Big Arko glowered; the girls Lisand Ramill watched avidly.Behind them he saw the dog-slave, creeping closer on its chain.Everyone looked at Jormanric.124He moved instantly. He pulled a thick ugly knife and the sword from his back, and was onKeiro before anyone could yell.Finn leaped away; Keiro's sword flashed up by instinct and the blades clanged.Jormanric's face was red with rage, the blood pulsing in the thick veins of his neck. Rightinto Keiro's face he spat, "You're dead, boy." Then he attacked.The Comitatus howled with delight; they whooped and closed around in a tight ring,clashing weapons, stamping in unison. They loved to see bloodshed and most of themhad felt the whiplash of Keiro's arrogance; now they'd see him brought down. Finn wasshoved heedlessly aside; he tried to slash a space, but Gildas hauled him away. "Stayback!""Hell be killed!""If he is, it's no loss."Keiro was fighting for his life. He was young and fit, but Jormanric was twice his weight,old in warcraft, berserk with a battle frenzy that came on him rarely. He hacked at Keiro'sface, at his arms, following up with quick slashes of the knife. Keiro staggered back,colliding with one of the Comitatus, who shoved him heartlessly again into the ring; offbalance, he nailed forward, and Jormanric struck."No!" Finn yelled.The blade sliced across Keiro's chest; he whipped his face aside with a gasp. A spatterof blood hit the crowd.Finn had his own knife ready to throw, but there was no125chance; the fighters were too far and Keiro concentrating too hard to glance away. A handcaught Finns arm; in his ear Gildas murmured, "Back off toward the shaft. No one will seeus go."Finn was too dismayed to answer. Instead he pulled away and tried to shove into thecenter of the ring, but a great arm slid around his neck. "No cheating, brother." Arko'sbreath stank of ket.Despairing, Finn watched. Keiro could never survive this. He was already cut on the legand wrist; shallow nicks but bleeding freely. Jormanric's eyes were glazed, his ket-stainedteeth set in a bared grin. His onslaught was a barrage of violence; he fought without fearor self-awareness, sparks clashing from the blades.Breathless, Keiro flicked one look of terror sideways; Finn struggled and kicked to get tohim. Jormanric roared, a howl of savagery that set all his men yelling encouragement; hetook one step forward and swung his sword in an arc of whipping steel.And staggered.For a moment, just a second, he was off balance. Then he fell, a crashing, inexplicablefall, his feet whipped behind him, tangled in a chain that slid between the feet of thecrowd, looped around a pair of filthy hands muffled in rags.Keiro leaped on him. He slammed a bone-crunching blow down on the Winglord's mailedback; Jormanric howled in fury and pain.126The shouts of the Comitatus died abruptly. Arko let go of Finn.Keiro was white with strain but he didn't stop. As Jormanric rolled, he stamped on theWinglord's left arm; it cracked, an ominous sound. The knife spilled onto the floor.Jormanric heaved himself up to his knees, head down, groaning over his shattered arm,swaying.From the corner of his eye Finn saw a commotion in the crowd; the dog-creature wasbeing hauled out. He squirmed toward it as it was kicked and cursed, but even as he gotthere one of its tormentors fell, doubled up by a blow from Gildas's staff. "I'll deal withthis," the Sapient roared. "Stop them before someone dies!"Finn swung back, in time to see Keiro kick Jormanric full in the face.The Winglord still clung to his sword, but another callous blow to the head laid him out; hecrashed spread-eagle, a pool of blood at nose and mouth.The crowd was silent.Keiro flung his head back and screamed with triumph.Finn stared. His oathbrother was transformed. His eyes were bright, his hair sweat-darkand slicked to his scalp, his hands streaked with blood. He seemed taller, glowing with asleek and concentrated energy that scorched away all weariness; he raised his head andstared around at them all, a raw, blind unrecognizable stare, seeing nothing, challengingeverything.127Then, deliberately, he turned back, put the point of his blade to the vein in Jormanric'sneck, and pushed."Keiro," Finns voice was sharp. "Don't."Keiro's eyes swung to him. For a moment it seemed as if he had to struggle to recognizewho had spoken. Then he said hoarsely, "He's finished. I'm Winglord now.""Don't kill him. Y don't want his pitiful little kingdom." Finn held his gaze steadily. "Y ou ounever did. Outside, that's what you want. Nowhere else is big enough for us."Down the shaft, as if in answer, a warm breeze drifted.For a moment Keiro stared at Finn, then at Jormanric. "Give this up?""For more. For everything.""A lot to ask, brother." Looking down, he lifted the sword blade away, slowly. The Winglordtook a deep ragged breath. And then with one vicious jerk Keiro stabbed the sword downinto Jormanric's open palm.The Winglord howled and flailed. Pinned to the ground he convulsed with agony andwrath, but Keiro knelt and began to tug the liferings from his fingers, the thick skull-facedbands."Leave them!" Gildas's yell came from behind them. "The Prison!"Finn looked up. Lights exploded on around him, flared red. A thousand Eyes winkedopen. Alarms broke out into a terrible ululating scream.128It was a Lockdown.The Comitatus split, pushed, fragmented into a panicking mob, and as the wall slots slidopen and light cannon flashed, they were fleeing, Jormanric's bleeding agony ignored.Finn hauled Keiro away. "Forget them!"Keiro shook his head, shoved three rings inside his jerkin. "Go! Go!"A croak from behind. "Did you think I killed the woman, Finn?"Finn turned.Jormanric squirmed in pain. He spat the words like venom. "Not true. Ask your brother.Y stinking, treacherous brother. Ask him why she died." ourLaserfire flickered like steel rods between them. For a second Finn couldn't move; thenKeiro was back, yanking him down. Sprawled on the filthy floor they crawled toward theshaft. The corridor was a sparking grid of energy; efficiently Incarceron restored order,slammed down grilles and doors, emitted a hiss of foul-smelling yellow gas into theenclosed tunnels."Where is he?""There." Finn saw Gildas scrambling over bodies; he was dragging the dog-slave, itschains swaying and tripping him. Snatching the sword from Keiro, Finn pulled thecreature toward him and hacked at the rusty manacles. The sharp blade severed theminstantly. He looked up and saw brown eyes, bright in the ragged bindings around theface.129"Leave it! It's diseased." Keiro shouldered past, flinched at a burst of fire that seared theroof, and jumped for the ladder. In seconds he was racing up the darkness of the shaft."He's right," Gildas said heavily. "It will slow us."Finn hesitated. In the uproar and crashing alarms and falling steel he looked back and theeyes of the leprous slave watched him. But it was the Maestra's eyes he saw, her voicethat spoke inside his mind.I will never dare show kindness to a stranger again.Instantly he stooped, hauled the creature onto his back, and climbed.Keiro was clattering above, Gildas a wheezing mutter below. As he dragged himself upthe rungs, Finn was soon breathless with the weight on his back; the creatures muffledpaws gripped him tight, its heels dug into his stomach. He slowed; after thirty rungs hehad to stop, breathless, arms like lead. He clung on, gasping.In his ear, a voice whispered, "Let me go. I can climb."Astonished, he felt the creature crawl from him, skitter onto the ladder, and scramble up inthe dark. Below, Gildas thumped his foot. "Get on! Quickly!"Dust billowed up the shaft, and the eerie hiss of gas. He hauled himself on, higher andhigher until the muscles in his calves and thighs were weak, his shoulders aching withgrabbing upward and raising his own weight.And then without warning he was in wider space, half130falling onto the transitway, Keiro yanking him out. They hoisted Gildas up, andspeechless, stared down. Stabs of light flickered far below. Red alarms rang; tendrils ofgas made Finn cough. Through watering eyes he saw a panel shoot sideways across theshaft, sealing it with a clang. And then, silence.***THEY DIDN'Tspeak. Gildas took the creature's hand and Finn stumbled behind withKeiro, because now the climb and the fight were taking their toll, and Keiro was suddenlyexhausted, his cuts dripping a telltale trail of blood on the metallic walkways. They hurriedwithout stopping through the labyrinth of tunnels, past doorways with Civicry markings,barred entrances, squeezing through a portcullis with vast, useless squares. And alwaysthey were listening, because if the Civicry found them, they would stand no chance. Finnfound himself sweating at each turn of the passage, at each distant clang or echoingwhisper, straining his ears at shadows and a scurrying Beetle, sweeping a small chamberin endless circles.After an hour, limping with weariness, Gildas led them into a passageway that became asloping gallery lit by rows of alert Eyes, and at its top, far up in the dark, he stopped andslid down against a tiny locked door.Finn helped Keiro to sit and collapsed beside him. The dog-creature was a huddle on thefloor. For a moment the narrow131space was racked with painful breathing. Then Gildas roused himself."The Key," he croaked. "Before they find us." Finn took it out. There was a single crack inthe door, hexagonal, ringed with speckles of quartz. He put the Key in the lock and turnedit.13211***As for poor Caspar, I pity those who have to put up with him. But you are ambitious andwe are bound together now Your daughter will be Queen and my son King. The price is .paid. Ifyou fail me, you know what I will do.-- Queen Sia to the Warden of Incarceron; private letter***"Why here?" Claudia trailed after him, between the hedges. "Obviously," Jaredmurmured, "because no one else can find the way through."Nor could she. The yew maze was ancient and complex, the thick hedges impenetrable.Once when she was small, she had been lost in here for a whole long summers day,wandering and sobbing with anger, and the nurse and Ralph had organized a search andbeen almost hysterical with panic before she'd been found sleeping under the astrolabein the central glade. She didn't remember getting there, but sometimes now, at the edgeof her dreams, the drowsy heat came back to her, the bees, the brass sphere against thesun."Claudia. You've missed the turn."She backtracked, and found him waiting, patiently. "Sorry. Miles away."133Jared knew the way well. The maze was one of his favorite haunts; he came here to readand study and discreetly test various forbidden devices. Today it was peaceful after thefrantic packing and panic in the house. Threading the mown paths after his shadow,Claudia breathed in the rose-scents, fingering the Key in her pocket.It was a perfect day, not too hot, a few delicate clouds. A shower of rain was scheduled forthree fifteen, but they should be finished by then. As she turned a corner and camesuddenly to the central glade, she looked around in surprise."It's smaller than I remembered."Jared raised an eyebrow. "Things always are."The astrolabe was blue-green copper and apparently decorative; beside it a wrought-ironseat sank elegantly into the turf, a bush of bloodred roses rambling over its back. Daisiesstudded the grass.Claudia sat, knees up under her silk dress. "Well?"Jared put his scanner away. "Seems safe." He turned and sat on the bench, leaningforward, his frail hands nervously folding together. "So. Tell me."She repeated Evian's conversation quickly, and he listened, frowning. When she'dfinished she said, "It may be a trap, of course.""Possible."She watched him. "What do you know about these SteelWolves? Why wasn't I told?"134He didn't look up, and that was a bad sign; she felt a thread of fear unwind down herspine.Then he said, 'I've heard of them. There have been rumors, but no one's sure who isinvolved, or how real the conspiracy is. Last year an explosive device was discovered inthe Palace, in a room where the Queen was expected. Nothing new there, but a smallemblem was found too, hanging from the window catch, a small metal wolf." He watcheda ladybug scaling a blade of grass. "What will you do?""Nothing. Y She took the Key out and held it in both hands, letting the sunlight catch its et."facets. "I'm not an assassin."He nodded, but seemed preoccupied, staring hard at the crystal."Master?""Something's happening." Absorbed, he reached out for the Key and took it from her."Look at it, Claudia."The tiny lights were back, this time moving deep, a rapid, repeated pattern. Jared placedthe artifact quickly on the bench. "It's getting warm."Not only that, but there were sounds coming from it. She brought her face nearer, heard aclatter and a ripple of musical notes.Then the Key spoke."Nothings happening'' it said.Claudia gasped and jerked away; wide-eyed she stared at Jared. "Did you ...?"135"Quiet. Listen!"Another voice, older, rasping. "Look closer, fool boy. There are lights inside it."Claudia knelt, fascinated. Jared's delicate fingers slid silently into his pocket. He took thescanner out and placed it beside the Key, recording.The Key chimed, a soft sound. The first voice came again, oddly distant and excited. "It'sopening. Get back!"And then a sound came out of the artifact, a heavy clang, ominous and hollow, so that shetook a moment to register it, to recognize what it was.A door. Unlocking.A heavy, metallic door, perhaps ancient, because it groaned on its hinges, and there wasa clatter and smash, as if rust fell, or debris shuddered from its lintel.Then silence.The lights in the Key reversed, changed to green, went out. Only the rooks in the elms bythe moat karked. A blackbird landed in the rosebush and flicked its tail. "Well," Jared saidsoftly.He adjusted the scanner and ran it over the Key again. Claudia reached out and touchedthe crystal. It was cold. "What happened? Who were they?"Jared turned the scanner to show her. "It was a fragment of conversation. Real-time. Aphonic link opened and closed very briefly. Whether you initiated it or they did I'm notsure."136"They didn't know we were listening.""Apparently not.""One of them said, 'There are lights inside it.'"The Sapient's dark eyes met hers. "You're thinking they may have a similar device?""Yes!" She scrambled up, too excited to sit, and the blackbird flew off in alarm. "Listen,Master, as you said, this isn't just a key to Incarceron. Maybe it's also a device tocommunicate!""With the Prison?""The inmates.""Claudia ...""Think about it! No one can go there. How else does he monitor the Experiment?Overhear what's happening?"He nodded, his hair in his eyes. "It's possible.""Only..." She frowned, knotting her fingers together. Then she turned on him. "Theysounded wrong.""Y must be more precise in speech, Claudia. How, wrong?" ouShe searched for the word. When it came, it surprised her. "They sounded scared."Jared considered. "Y ... they did." es"And what would they be scared of? There's nothing to fear in a perfect world, is there?"Doubtfully, he said, "We may have overheard some form of drama. A broadcast.""But if they have that ... plays, films, then they have to know about danger, and risk, andterror. Is that possible? Can137you do that if your world is perfect? Would they even be able to create such a story?"The Sapient smiled. "That is a point we could debate, Claudia. Some people would sayyour own world is perfect, and yet you know those things."She scowled. "All right. There's something else too." She tapped the wide-winged eagle."Is this just for listening? Or can we use it to speak to them?"He sighed. "Even if we can, we shouldn't. Conditions in Incarceron are strictly controlled;everything was carefully calculated. If we introduce variables, if we open even a tinykeyhole into that place, we may ruin everything. We can't admit germs into Paradise,Claudia."Claudia turned. "Y but..." es,She froze.Behind Jared, in the gap in the hedges, her father was standing. He was watching her.For a moment her heart leaped with the terrible shock; then she let the practiced smileslip gracefully over her face. Sir!Jared stiffened. The Key lay on the bench; he slid out his hand, but it was just out of reach."I've been looking everywhere for you both." The Warden's voice was soft, his dark velvetcoat an emptiness at the heart of the sunlit glade. Jared looked up at Claudia, white-faced. If he saw the Key ....138The Warden smiled calmly. "I have some news, Claudia. The Earl of Steen has arrived.Y fianc is looking for you." ourFor one cold moment she stared at him. Then she stood, slowly."Lord Evian is entertaining him but will only bore him. Are you pleased, my dear?"He came to take her hand; she wanted to step aside to hide the glittering crystal fromhim, but she couldn't move. Then Jared gave a murmur and slumped forward slightly."Master?" Alarmed, she broke from her father's grip. "Are you in pain?"Jared's voice was hoarse. "I ... No ... Just faint, for a moment. Nothing to worry about."She helped him to sit up. The Warden stood above them, his face a mask of concern. Hesaid, "I'm afraid you're overdoing things lately, Jared. Sitting out in the sun is not good foryou. And so much study, at all hours of the night."Jared stood shakily. "Y Thank you, Claudia. I'm fine now. Really." es."Perhaps you should get some rest," she said."I will. I'll go up to my tower, I think. Please excuse me, sir."He stumbled up. For one terrible second Claudia thought her father would not move. Heand Jared stood face-to-face. Then the Warden stepped back, his smile wry. "If you'd likesupper sent up, we'll have it seen to."Jared just nodded.139Claudia watched her tutor walk carefully between the yew hedges. She dared not look atthe bench, but she knew it would be empty.The Warden went and sat down, stretching out his legs and crossing them at the ankles."A remarkable man, the Sapient."She said, "Y How did you get in here?" es.He laughed. "Oh Claudia. I designed this maze before you were born. No one knows itssecrets as I do, not even your precious Jared." He turned, one arm over the back of thebench. Quietly he said, "I think you have done something to disobey me, Claudia."She swallowed. "Have I?"Her father nodded gravely. Their eyes met.He was doing what he always did, teasing her, playing games with her. Quite suddenlyshe couldn't bear it anymore, the plotting, the stupid game. She stood, furious. "All right! Itwas me who broke into your study." She faced him, her face hot with anger. "Y know outhat, you've known it since you went in there, so why are we pretending! I wanted to seeinside, arid you never let me. Y never let me in. So I broke in. I'm sorry, all right? I'm ousorry!"He stared at her. Was he shaken? She couldn't tell. But she was shaking, all the pent-upfear and rage of years bursting out, the fury that he made her life so false, and Jared'stoo.He held up a hand hastily. "Claudia, please! Of course I knew. I'm not angry. Rather, Iadmire your ingenuity. It will come in useful in your life at the Palace."140She stared. For a moment he had been startled. More than that. Dismayed.And he had not mentioned the Key.The breeze rippled the rosebush, bringing a waft of its cloying scent, a silent surprise thathe had revealed so much. When he spoke again his voice had its normal acid tone. "Ihope you and Jared enjoyed the challenge." He stood abruptly. "The Earl is waiting."She scowled. "I don't want to see him.""Y have no choice." He bowed and strode toward the gap in the hedge, and she swung ouaround and glared at his back. Then she said, "Why are there no pictures of my mother inthe house?"She had no idea she was going to say it. It came out in a harsh demand quite unlike herown voice.He stopped dead.Her heart thudded; she was appalled at herself. She didn't want him to turn, to answer,didn't want to see his face. Because if he showed weakness, she would be terrified; hiscontrolled poise was hateful and yet if it broke, she had no idea what might beunderneath.But he spoke without turning. "Don't go too far, Claudia. Don't try my patience."***WHEN HE was gone she found she was sitting on the bench in a huddle, the muscles ofher back and shoulders tight with tension, her hands clenched on the silk of her skirt. Shemade herself take a slow breath.141Then another.Her lips were salty with sweat.Why had she asked him that? Where had it come from? Her mother was someone shenever thought of, never even imagined. It was as if she had never existed. Even whenshe'd been small, looking at the other girls at Court with their fussing mamas, she hadhad no curiosity about her own.She gnawed the bitten nails on her fingers. It had been a deadly mistake. She shouldnever, never have said that."Claudia!"A loud, demanding voice. She closed her eyes."Claudia, it's no good hiding in all these hedges." Branches swished and cracked. "Talkto me! I can't find the right way!"She sighed. "So you've finally arrived. And how is my husband-to-be?""Hot and irritable. Not that you care. Look, there are five paths here at a meeting point.Which do I take?"His voice was close; she could smell the expensive cologne he used. Not splashed on,like Evian, but just enough. "The one that looks least likely," she said. "Toward the house."The peevish mutter became more distant. "Like our engagement, many would say.Claudia, get me out of here!"She scowled. He was worse than she remembered.Y thrashed and snapped. ewShe stood quickly, brushing down her dress, hoping her face was not as pale as she felt.On her left the hedge shuddered. A142sword came through and hacked an opening, and his big silent bodyguard, Fax, steppedthrough, looked quickly around, then held open the branches. Through them came a thinyouth, his mouth sour with dissatisfaction. He glared at her crossly. "Look at my clothes,Claudia. They re ruined. Quite ruined."He kissed her coldly on one cheek. "Anyone would think you were avoiding me.""So you've been expelled," she said calmly."I left." He shrugged. "Too boring. My mother sends you this."It was a note, on white thick paper, sealed with the Queen's white rose. Claudia opened itand read.My dear,You will have heard the good news that yourwedding is imminent. After waiting all theseyears, am sure yours excitement is as intense as my own! Caspar insisted on comingto escort youhere--such a romantic. What a handsome coupleyou will make. From now on, my dear you mustthink of me as your loving mother.Sia Regina.Claudia folded it. "Did you insist?""No. She sent me." He kicked the astrolabe. "What a bore getting married is going to be,Claudia. Don't you think?" She nodded, silent.14312***The decay was gradual and we were slow to recognize it. Then, one day, I had beentalking with the Prison, and as I left the room I heard it laugh. A low mocking chuckle. ,The sound turned me cold. I stood in the corridor and the thought came to me of anancient image I had once seen in a fragmented manuscript, of the enormous mouth ofHell devouring sinners.It was then I knew we had created a demon that would destroy us.--Lord Calliston's Diary***The sound of the unlocking was painful, as if the Prison sighed. As if this was a door thathad not been opened for centuries. But no alarms howled. Perhaps Incarceron knew nodoor could lead them out.Gildas stepped back at Finn's warning; chunks of debris and a red rain of rust clattered.The door shuddered inward, and stuck.For a moment they waited, because the narrow slit was dark and a cool, oddly sweet-smelling air moved beyond. Then Finn kicked the rubble aside and put his shoulder to thedoor. He144heaved, and rammed it until it stuck again. But now there was room to squeeze through.Gildas nudged him. "Take a look. Be careful."Finn glanced back at Keiro, sitting slumped and weary. He drew his sword and slippedsideways through the gap.It was colder. His breath frosted. The ground was uneven, and ran downhill. As he took afew steps a strange tinny litter rustled around his ankles; putting a hand down, he felt driftsof crisp stuff, cold and wet, sharp against his fingertips. As his eyes grew used to thedeeper gloom, he thought he was standing in a sloping hall of columns; tall black pillarsrose to a tangle overhead. Groping to the nearest one, he felt it over with his hands,puzzled. It was icy cold and hard, but not smooth. A mass of fissures and cracks seamedit, knots and swelling growths, and branches of intricate mesh."Finn?"Gildas was a shadow at the door."Wait." Finn listened. The breeze moved in the tangle, making a faint silvery tinkle thatseemed to stretch for miles. After a moment he said, "There's no one here. Comethrough."A few rustles and stirrings. Then Gildas said, "Bring the Key, Keiro. We need to shut this.""If we do, can we get back?" Keiro sounded worn."What's to get back for? Give me a hand." As soon as the dog-slave had slipped through,Finn and the old man shoved and forced the tiny door back into its frame. It clicked quietlyshut.145A rustle. A scrape of sound. Light, steadying, in a lantern."Someone might see it," Keiro snapped.But Finn said, "I told you. We're alone."As Gildas held the lantern high, they looked around at the ominous enclosing pillars.Finally Keiro said, "What are they?"Behind him, the dog-creature crouched down. Finn glanced at it, and knew it was lookingat him."Metal trees." The light caught the Sapient's plaited beard, the gleam of satisfaction in hiseye. "A forest where the species are iron, and steel, and copper, where the leaves arethin as foil, where fruits grow gold and silver." He turned. "There are stories, from the oldtimes, of such places. Apples of gold guarded by monsters. It seems they're true."The air was cold and still. It held an alien sense of distance. It was Keiro who asked thequestion Finn didn't dare to."Are we Outside?"Gildas snorted. "Do you think it's that easy? Now sit before you fall." He glanced at Finn.'I'll deal with his wounds. This is as good a place as any to wait for Lightson. We can rest.Even eat."But Finn turned and faced Keiro. He felt cold and sick, but he spoke the words stubbornly."Before we go any further I want to know what Jormanric meant. About the Maestra'sdeath."There was a second of silence. In the ghostly light Keiro gave146Finn one exasperated glare and crumpled wearily in the rustling leaves, pushing back hishair with blood-streaked hands. "For God's sake, Finn, do you really think I know? Y ousaw him. He was finished. He would have said anything! It was just lies. Forget it."Finn looked down at him. For a second he wanted to insist, ask again, to silence thenagging fear inside him, but Gildas eased him aside. "Make yourself useful. Findsomething to eat.While the Sapient poured water, Finn tipped out a few packages of dried meat and fruitfrom his pack and another lantern, which he lit from the first. Then he trampled down theicy metal leaves into a clotted mass, spread some blankets on them, and sat. In theshadowed forest beyond the pool of light, small rustles and scrapings disturbed him; hetried to ignore them. Keiro swore viciously as Gildas cleaned his cuts, stripped his jacketand shirt, and rubbed chewed-up herbs of a disgusting pungency onto the wound acrosshis chest.In the shadows the dog-slave crouched, barely visible. Finn took one of the food packets,opened it, and held some out."Take it," he whispered.A rag-bound hand, crusted with sores, snatched it from him. While the creature ate hewatched, remembering the voice that had answered him, a low, urgent voice. Now hewhispered, "Who are you?""Is that thing still here?" Sore and irritable, Keiro pulled his147jacket back on and laced it, scowling at the slashes and tears. Finn shrugged."We dump it." Keiro sat, wolfed down the meat, and looked around for more. "It's poxed.""Y owe that thing your life," Gildas remarked. ouHot, Keiro glared up. "I don't think so! I had Jormanric where I wanted him." His eyesturned to the creature; then they widened in sudden fury and he leaped up, strode towhere it crouched, and snatched away something dark. "This is mine!"It was his bag. A green tunic and a jeweled dagger spilled out. "Stinking thief." Keiroaimed a kick at the creature; it jerked away. Then, to their astonishment, it said in a girl'svoice, "Y should be grateful to me for bringing it." ouGildas turned on his heel and stared at the shadow of rags. Then he stabbed a bonyfinger at it. "Show yourself," he said.The ragged hood was pushed back, the wrapped paws unwound bandages and graystrips of binding. Slowly, out of the crippled huddle a small figure emerged, crouched upon its knees, a dark cropped head of dirty hair, a narrow face with watchful, suspiciouseyes. She was layered with clothes strapped and tied to make humps and bulges; as shetugged the clotted wrappings from her hands, Finn stepped back in disgust at the opensores, the running ulcers. Until Gildas snorted. "Fake."He strode forward. "No wonder you didn't want me near you."In the dimness of the metal forest the dog-slave had become a small thin girl, the soresclever messes of color. She stood148upright slowly, as if she had almost forgotten how. Then she stretched and groaned. Theends of the chain around her neck clattered and swung.Keiro laughed harshly. "Well, well. Jormanric was slyer than I thought.""He didn't know." The girl looked at him boldly. "None of them knew. When they caught meI was with a group--one old woman died that night. I stole these rags from her body andmade the sores out of rust, rubbed muck all over myself, hacked off my hair. I knew I hadto be clever, very clever, to stay alive."She looked scared, and defiant. It was hard to tell her age; the brutal haircut made herseem like a scrawny child, but Finn guessed she was not so much younger than himself.He said, "It didn't turn out to be such a good idea."She shrugged. "I didn't know I'd end up as his slave.""And tasting his food?"She laughed then, a bitter amusement. "He ate well. It kept me alive."Finn glanced at Keiro. His oathbrother watched the girl, then turned away and curled up inthe blankets. "We dump her in the morning.""It's not up to you." Her voice was quiet but firm. "I'm the servant of the Starseer now."Keiro rolled and stared. Finn said, "Me?""Y brought me out of that place. No one else would have ou149done that. Leave me, and I'll follow you. Like a dog ." She stepped forward, "I want toEscape. I want to find the Outside, if there is one. And they said in the slavehall that yousee the stars in your dreams, that Sapphique talks to you. That the Prison will show youthe way out because you're its son."He stared at her in dismay. Gildas shook his head. He looked at Finn and Finn lookedback."Up to you," the old man muttered.He had no idea what to do, so he cleared his throat and said to the girl, "What's yourname?" "Attia.""Well, look, Attia. I don't want a servant. But ... you can come with us.""She has no food. That means we have to feed her," Keiro said."Neither do you." Finn nudged the pack of clothes. "Or me, now.""Then she shares your catch, brother. Not mine."Gildas leaned back against one of the metal trees. "Sleep," he said. "We'll discuss itwhen the lights come on. But someone has to keep watch, so first it can be you, girl."She nodded, and as Finn curled up uneasily in the blankets, he saw her slip into theshadows and vanish.Keiro yawned like a cat. "She'll probably slit our throats," he muttered.150***CLAUDIA SAID, "I said good night, Alys," and watched in her dressing table mirror asher nurse fussed over silk garments strewn on the floor."Look at this, Claudia, it's ruined with mud ...""Put it through the washing machine. I know you've got one somewhere."Alys gave her a glare. They both knew the endless archaic scrubbing and beating andstarching of clothes was so wearing that the staff had secretly abandoned Protocol longago. It was probably the same even at Court, Claudia thought.As soon as the door was closed she jumped up and went over and locked it, turning thewrought-iron key and clicking on all the secrecy systems. Then she leaned her backagainst it and considered.Jared had not been at supper. That didn't mean anything; he would have wanted to keepup the pretense, and he hated the Ear's stupidity. For a moment she wondered if he reallyhad been ill in the maze, and whether she should call him, but he had warned her to keepthe minicom for emergencies, especially with the Warden in the house.She tied the belt of her dressing gown and jumped on the bed, reaching up to grope inthe canopy of the four-poster.Not there.The house was quiet now. Caspar had talked and drunk his way through supper; fourteencourses of fish and finches,151capons and swan, eels and sweetmeats. He had talked loudly and peevishly abouttournaments, his new horse, a castle he was having built on the coast, the sums he hadlost at gambling. His new passion seemed to be boar-hunting, or at least staying wellback while his servants trussed a wounded boar for him to kill. He had described hisspear, the kills he had made, the tusked heads that adorned the corridors of the Court.And all the time he had drunk and refilled and his voice had grown more and morehectoring and slurred.She had listened with a fixed smile and had teased him with odd, barbed questions thathe had barely understood. And all the time her father had sat opposite and toyed with thestem of his wineglass, turning it on the white cloth between his thin fingers, looking at her.Now, as she jumped down and went over to the dressing table, searching through all thedrawers, she remembered that cool look, how it appraised her sitting there, beside thefool she would have to marry.It wasn't in any of the drawers.Suddenly chilled, she went to the window and unlatched it, letting the casement swingopen, curling herself up in a miserable huddle on the cushions of the window seat. If heloved her, how could he do this to her? Couldn't he see the misery it would be?The summer evening was warm and smelled sweetly of stocks and honeysuckle and thehedge of musk-roses that152curved around the moat. From far over the fields the bell of Hornsely church softly tolledtwelve chimes. She watched as a moth fluttered in and swooped recklessly around theflame of the candles; its shadow briefly huge on the ceiling.Had there been a new edge in his smile? Had that stupid blurted question about hermother sharpened the danger?Her mother had died. That's what Alys had said, but Alys hadn't been working here then,nor had any of the servants except Medlicote, her father's secretary, a man she rarelyspoke to. But maybe she should. Because that question had gone in like a knife, throughthe Warden's studied armor of grave smiles and cold Period decorum. She had stabbedhim and he had felt it.She smiled, her face hot.It had never happened before.Could there be something strange about her mother's death? Illness was rife, but for therich, illegal drugs could be found. Medicines too modern for this Era. Her father was strict,but surely if he had loved his wife he would have done anything, however illegal, to saveher. Could he have sacrificed his wife just because of Protocol? Or was it worse thanthat?The moth scuttered on the ceiling. Leaning forward, she looked out of the window at thesky.The summer stars were bright. They lit the roofs and gables of the manor house with afaint, ghostly glimmer, an153owl-light, reflecting the black and silver ripples of the moat.Her father was implicated in Giles's death. Could he have killed before?A touch on her cheek made her jump. The moth wings brushed her, whispered, "In thewindow seat" and were gone, fluttering out toward the faint light in Jared's tower.Claudia grinned.She pushed herself up, groped under the cushions, and touched the cold edge of crystal.Carefully, she pulled it out.The Key took the light of the stars and held it. It seemed to shine with a faintluminescence, and the eagle within it held a sliver of light in its beak.Jared must have brought it here while everyone was at supper.She took the precaution of blowing the candles out and closing the window. Tugging theheavy quilt from her bed, she wrapped herself in it and propped the Key on her knees.Then she touched it, rubbed it, breathed on it."Speak to me," she said.***FINN WAS so cold he barely had the energy even to shiver.The metal forest was utterly black; the lantern threw only a tiny pool of light, on Keiro'ssprawled hand, on the huddle that was Gildas. The girl was a shadow under a tree; shemade no sound and he wondered if she was even asleep.He reached out cautiously for Keiro's pack. He would pull154one of his oathbrother's fancy jackets over his own. Two, maybe, and if they split Keirocould put up with it.Tugging the pack over, he put his hand in, and touched the Key.It was warm.He lifted it out, very gently, and let his fingers close over it, so that the heat it wasgenerating comforted his cramped fingers. Quietly it said, "Speak to me."Wide-eyed, Finn glanced at the others.No one moved.Carefully, his leather belt creaking in the stillness, he stood up and turned. He managedthree steps before the rustling crunch of the metal leaves made Keiro mutter and turnover.Behind the tree, Finn froze.He brought the Key up to his ear. It was silent. He touched it, all over, shook it. Then hewhispered to it, "Sapphique. Lord Sapphique. Is that you?"CLAUDIA GASPED.The answer had come so clearly. She looked wildly around for anything to record this on,saw nothing and cursed. Then she said, "No! No. My name's Claudia. Who are you?""Quiet! They'll wake up.""Who will?"There was a pause. Then he said, "My friends." He sounded breathless, oddly terrified.155"Who are you?" she said. "Where are you? Are you a Prisoner? Are you in Incarceron?"HE JERKED his head back and stared at the Key in disbelief.There was a small blue light in the heart of it; he bent closer so that it lit his skin. "Ofcourse I am. Do you mean ... Are you ... Outside?"There was silence. It lasted so long he thought the link had been broken; he said hurriedly,"Did you hear me?" and at the same time the girl said, "Are you still there?" in awkwardcollision.Then she said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be speaking to you. Jared warned me about this.""Jared?""My tutor."He shook his head, and his breath frosted the crystal."But look," she said, "it's too late now and I can't believe a few words can damage acenturies-old experiment, do you?"He had no idea what she was talking about. "Y are Outside, aren't you? Outside exists? ouThe stars are there, aren't they?"He was terrified she wouldn't answer, but after a moment she said, "Y I'm looking at es.them."He breathed out in amazement; the crystal furred instantly with frost."Y didn't tell me your name," she said. ou"Finn. Just Finn."156Silence. A self-conscious stillness, the Key clumsy in his hands. There was so much hewanted to ask, to know, that he didn't know where to begin. And then she said, "How areyou speaking to me, Finn? Is it a crystal key, with the hologram of an eagle inside?"He swallowed. "Y A key." es.A rustle, behind him. He looked around the tree, saw Gildas snore and grunt."Then we each have a replica of the same device." She sounded quick, thoughtful, as ifshe was used to solving problems, working out solutions; a clear voice that made himremember suddenly, with the tiniest spark of pain, candles. The seven candles on thecake.At that moment, with their usual abruptness, the lights of Incarceron came on.He gasped, saw that he was standing in a landscape of copper and gilt and tawnyredness. The forest stretched for miles, sloping down, far down into a wide, undulatinglandscape. He stared at it in astonishment."What was that? What happened? Finn?""The lights went on. I ... I'm in a new place, a different Wing. A metal forest."She said oddly, "I envy you. It must be fascinating.""Finn?" Gildas was on his feet, looking around. For a moment Finn wanted to call himover, and then caution set in. This was his secret. He needed to keep it.157"I have to go," he said hurriedly. "1'll try and speak to you again ... now we know... that is, ifyou want to. But you have to," he added urgently. "Y have to help me." ouThe girl's answer surprised him. "How can I help you? What can be wrong in a perfectworld?"Finn's hand tightened as the blue light faded. Desperately he whispered, "Please. Youhave to help me Escape."158***Walls have ears.Doors have eyes.Trees have voices.Beasts tell lies.Beware the rain.Beware the snow.Beware the manYou think you know.--Songs of Sapphique***Finn's voice. As she pulled on the gauntlet and flexed the foil, his voice whispered againinside her mask.You have to help me Escape...."En garde, please, Claudia." The swordmaster was a small gray man who sweatedprofusely. His sword crossed hers; he gave signals with the tiny precise movements of askilled fencer. Automatically she responded, practicing lunges, parries--sixte, septime,octave--as she had done since she was six.There had been something familiar about the boy's voice. Inside the warm darkness ofthe mask she bit her lip,159attacked, took quarte, riposted, hitting the maestro's padded jacket with a satisfying thud.The accent, the slightly slow vowels. It was how they spoke at Court."Feint of straight thrust, disengage, please."She obeyed, hot now, the glove already softened with sweat, the foil whipping, the smallclicks of the familiar exercise comforting, the control of the sword forcing her mind tospeed.You have to help me Escape.Fear. Fear in the whispering, of being overheard, of saying what he said. And the wordEscape like a holy thing, forbidden, full of awe."Quarte counter quarte, please, Claudia. And keep your hand high."She took the parries absently, the blades of the foils sliding past her body. Behind themaestro Lord Evian came out of the main door into the courtyard and stood on the steps,taking snuff. He watched her, elegantly poised.Claudia frowned.She had so much to think about. The fencing lesson was her own escape. In the house itwas chaos; her clothes being packed, the last measurements for the wedding dress, thebooks she refused to leave behind, the pets she insisted came with her. And now this.One thing--Jared would have to carry the Key. It wouldn't be safe in her baggage.They were fighting now. She let all thoughts go,160concentrated on the hits, the clicked parries, the bending of the foil as she hit once, again,again.Until finally he stepped back. "Very good, my lady. Y point control remains excellent." ourSlowly she took off her mask and shook his hand. Close up, he looked older, and a littlesad."I'll be sorry to lose such a pupil."Her hand clenched on his. "Lose?"He stepped back. "I... it seems... after your wedding ..."Claudia restrained her anger. She released his hand and drew herself up. "After mymarriage I will still require your services. Please disregard anything my father has saidabout this. Y will travel with us to the Court." ouHe smiled, and bowed. His doubt showed; as she turned away and took the cup of waterfrom Alys, she felt the heat of humiliation scorch her face.They were trying to isolate her. She had expected this; Jared had warned her of it. AtQueen Sia's court they wanted her alone with no one to trust, no one to plot with. But shewas having none of that.Lord Evian had waddled over. "Quite wonderful, my dear." His small eyes enjoyed herfigure in the fencing breeches."Don't patronize me," she snapped, "waving Alys away, she took the cup and jug andstalked to a bench that stood at the edge of the green lawn. After a moment Evian cameafter her. She turned on him. "I need to talk to you."161"The house overlooks us," he said quietly. "Anyone can see.""Then wave your handkerchief and laugh. Or whatever it is spies do."His fingers closed the snuffbox. "Y are angry, Lady Claudia. But not, I think, with me." ouThat was true. But still she glared at him. "What do you want from me?"He smiled serenely at the ducks on the lake, the small black moorhens in the rushes. "Asyet, nothing. Obviously we will make no move until after the wedding. But then, we willneed your help. The Queen must be dealt with first--she is the most dangerous. And then,when you are safely Queen, your husband will meet with some accident..."She drank the cold water. Upside-down in the cup she saw Jared's tower reflected, theblue sky behind it, the tiny windows in perfect Protocol."How do I know this isn't a trap?"He smiled. "Does the Queen doubt you? She has no reason.Claudia shrugged. She only met the Queen at festivals. The first rime had been at herbetrothal, and that had been years ago. She remembered a slim blond woman in a whitedress, sitting on a throne that had seemed to have hundreds of steps up to it, and she hadhad to climb every one, concentrating, carrying the basket of flowers that was almost asbig as she had been.162The Queen's hands, the nails a glossy red.The cool palm on her forehead.The words. "How charming, Warden. How sweet.""Y could be recording this," she said. "Y could be testing me ... my loyalty." ou ouEvian sighed, a tiny sound. "I assure you ...""Assure all you like, it could be true." She dumped the cup and picked up the towel Alyshad left, wiping her face with its softness. Then she turned. "What do you know aboutGiles's death?"It startled him. His pale eyes widened slightly. But he was practiced at deception; heanswered without giving anything away. "Prince Giles? He fell from his horse.""Was it an accident? Or was he murdered?"If he was recording this, she knew she was finished now.His stubby fingers folded together. "Really, my dear ...""Tell me. I need to know. Of all people it concerns me most. Giles was ... we werebetrothed. I liked him.""Yes." Evian looked at her shrewdly. "I see." He seemed uncertain, then, as if he'd madeup his mind, he said, "There was something strange about the death.""I knew it! I told Jared--""The Sapient knows about this?" He looked up in alarm. "About me?""I would trust Jared with my life.""Those are the most dangerous people." Evian turned,163watching the house. One of the ducks meandered toward him; he gave a flurried waveand it padded away, quacking."We never know where the listeners are," he said quietly, staring after it. "That is what theHavaarna have done to us, Claudia. They have riddled us with fear."For a moment he seemed almost shaken; then he brushed an invisible crease from hissilk suit and said in his changed voice, "Prince Giles rode out that morning without any ofhis usual attendants. It was a fine spring morning; he was well, in good health, a laughingboy of fifteen years. Two hours later a messenger thundered in on a horse white withsweat; he leaped from it and raced into the hall of the Court, ran up the steps, and threwhimself at the Queens feet. I was there, Claudia. I saw her face when they told her of theaccident. She is a pale woman, as they all are, but then she was white. If it was an act, itwas expert. They brought the boy back on a hastily made bier of boughs, their coats laidover his face. Grown men were weeping."Impatient, Claudia said, "Go on.""They laid him in state. Wearing a great gold robe and a tunic of white silk embroideredwith the crowned eagle. Thousands filed past him. Women sobbed. Children broughtflowers. How beautiful he was, they said. How young."He watched the house."But there was something odd. A man. His name was Bartlett. A man who had lookedafter the boy from his earliest164years. He was old now, retired and feeble. They allowed him in to see the body late oneafternoon, when the people had left. They brought him through the pillars and shadows ofthe Chamber of State and he climbed the steps with difficulty and looked down at Giles.They thought he would weep and wail and howl with grief. They thought he would tear hisclothes with agony. But he didn't."Evian looked up and she saw his small eyes were shrewd. "He laughed, Claudia. The oldman laughed."***AFTER TWO hours walking through the metallic forest the snow began.Stumbling over a root of copper and out of a daydream, Finn realized it had been fallingfor some time; it was already coating the leaf-litter with a fine frost. He looked back, hisbreath smoking.Gildas was a little way behind, talking to the girl. But where was Keiro?Finn turned quickly. All morning he had been unable to stop thinking of that voice, thevoice from Outside, where the stars were. Claudia. How had she been able to speak tohim? He felt the cold lump of the Key inside his shirt; its awkwardness comforted him."Where's Keiro?" he said.Gildas stopped. He planted his staff in the ground and leaned on it. "Scouting ahead.Didn't you hear him tell you?" Suddenly he strode forward and looked hard at Finn, theblue165eyes clear as crystal in his small lined face. "Are you well? Is this a vision coming on you,Finn?"Tm fine. Sorry to disappoint you." Sickened by the eagerness in the Sapient's voice Finnlooked at the girl. "We need to get that chain off you."She had wrapped it around her like a necklace to stop it swinging. He could see the rawskin under the collar where she had padded it with cloth. She said quietly, "I can manage.But where are we?"Turning, he stared over the miles of forest. A wind was rising, the metallic leaves meshingand rustling. Far below, the wood was lost under snow clouds, and high above the roof ofthe Prison was a distant oppression, its lights misted and faint."Sapphique came this way." Gildas sounded tense with excitement. "In this forest hedefeated his first doubts, the dark despairs that told him there was no way on. Here hebegan the climb out.""But the way leads down," Attia said quietly.Finn looked at her. Beneath the dirt and hacked hair her face was lit with a strange joy."Have you been here before?" he asked."No. I was from a small Civicry group back there. We never left the Wing. This is so ...wonderful."The word made him think of the Maestra, and the chill of guilt struck through him, butGildas pushed past and strode on. "It may appear to lead downhill, but if the theory that166Incarceron is underground is true, we must climb eventually. Perhaps beyond the wood."Appalled, Finn gazed at the forested leagues. How could Incarceron be so vast? He hadnever imagined it would be like this. Then the girl said, "Is that smoke?"They followed her pointing finger. Far oft, in the distant mists, a thin column rose anddissipated. It looked like the smoke from a fire, he thought."Finn! Give me a hand!"They turned. Keiro was dragging something out from the thickets of copper and steel; asthey ran over to him Finn saw that it was a small sheep, one of its legs crudely repaired,the circuits exposed."Y re still thieves then," Gildas said acidly. ou"Y know the rule of the Comitatus." Keiro sounded cheerful. "Everything belongs to the ouPrison, and the Prison is our Enemy."He had already cut its throat. Now he looked around. "We can butcher it here. Well, shecan. She may as well make herself useful."None of them moved. Gildas said, "It was stupid. We have no idea of what inmates arehere. Or of their strength.""We have to eat!" Keiro was angry now, his face darkening. He threw the sheep down."But if you don't want it, fine!"There was an awkward silence. Then Attia said simply,"Finn?"167He realized she would do it if he asked her to. He didn't want to have that power. ButKeiro was glowering, so he said, "All right. I'll help you."Side by side, they knelt and cut the sheep up. She borrowed Gildas's knife and workedefficiently; he realized she had done it often before, and when he was clumsy, she pushedhim aside and dissected the raw flesh. They took only a little; they had no way of carryingmore or any tinder to cook it on as yet. Only half the beast was organic; the rest was apatchwork of metal, ingeniously put together. Gildas raked over the remains with his stick."The Prison breeds its beasts less well these days."He sounded grave. Keiro said, "What do you mean, old man:"What I say. I can remember when the creatures were all flesh. Then circuits began toappear, tiny things, threaded instead of vein, of cartilage. The Sapienti have alwaysstudied and dissected any tissue we could find. At one time I offered rewards forcarcasses brought to me, though the Prison was usually too quick."Finn nodded. They all knew that the remains of any dead creature vanished overnight; thatIncarceron sent its Beetles out instantly and collected the raw material for recycling.Nothing was ever buried here, nothing burned. Even those of the Comitatus who hadbeen killed were left, wrapped in their favorite possessions, decked with flowers, in aplace by the abyss. In the morning, they were always gone.168To their surprise Attia spoke. "My people knew this. For a long time now the lambs havebeen like this, and the dogs. Last year, in our group, a child was born. Its left foot wasmade of metal.""What happened to it?" Keiro asked quietly."The child?" She shrugged. "They killed it. Such things can't be allowed to live.""The Scum were kinder. We let all sorts of freaks live."Finn glanced at him. Keiro's voice was acid; he turned and led the way through the wood.But Gildas didn't move. Instead he said, "Don't you see what it means, fool boy? It meansthe Prison is running out of organic matter ..."But Keiro wasn't listening. He lifted his hand, alert.A sound was rising in the wood. A low whisper, a rustling breeze. Tiny at first, barelyraising the leaves, it stirred Finn's hair, Gildas's robe.Finn turned. "What is it?"The Sapient moved, pushing him on. "Hurry. We must find shelter. Hurry!"They ran between the trees, Attia always at Finn's heels. The wind grew rapidly. Leavesbegan to lift, swirl, fly past them. One nicked Finn's cheek; putting his hand up to thesudden sting he felt a cut, saw blood. Attia gasped, her hand protecting her eyes.And all at once they were in a blizzard of metal slivers, the leaves of copper and steel andsilver a razor-sharp whirlwind in169the sudden storm. The wood groaned and bent, twigs cracked with snaps that rang in theinvisible roof.As he ran, ducking and breathless, Finn heard the roar of the storm like a great voice. Itraged at him, picked him up and threw him; its anger crashed him against the metaltrees, it bruised him and beat at him. Stumbling, he knew the leaves were its words,arrows of spite, that Incatceron was taunting him, its son, born from its cells, and hestopped, bent over, gasping, "I hear you! I hear you! Stop!""Finn!" Keiro yanked him down. He slid, the ground giving way, crumpling into a hollowbetween the tangled roots of some vast oak.He landed on Gildas, who shoved him off. For a moment each of them caught breath,listening to the deadly leaves slicing the air outside, the whine and hum. Then Attia'smuffled voice came from behind."What is this place?"Finn turned. Behind them he saw a dull rounded hollow, seamed deep under the steeloak. Too low to stand up in, it extended back into darkness. The girl, on hands and knees,crept inside. Foil leaves crackled under her; he smelled a musty, odd tang, saw that thewalls sprouted fungi, contorted, spore-dusted masses of flabby growth."It's a hole," Keiro said sourly. He drew his knees up, brushed litter from his coat, and thenlooked at Finn. "Is the Key safe, brother?"170"Of course it is," Finn muttered.Keiro's blue eyes were hard. "Well, show me."Oddly reluctant, Finn put his hand into his shirt. He drew the Key out, and they saw thecrystal glimmer in the dimness. It was cold, and to Finn's relief, silent.Attia's eyes went wide."Sapphique's Key!"Gildas turned on her. "What did you say?"But she wasn't looking at the crystal. She was staring at the picture scratchedmeticulously onto the back wall of the tree, smeared by centuries of dirt and overgrown bygreen lichen, the image of a tall, slim, dark-haired man sitting on a throne, in his upheldhands a hexagonal slot of darkness.Gildas took the Key from Finn. He slotted it into the aperture. Instantly it began to glow;light and heat burned from it, showing them one another's dirty faces, the slanting cuts,brightening the furthest recesses of the hollow.Keiro nodded. "We seem to be going the right way," he muttered.Finn didn't answer. He was watching the Sapient; the glow of awe and joy on the oldman's face. The obsession. It chilled him to the bone.17114***We forbid growth and therefore decay. Ambition, and therefore despair. Because eachis only the warped reflection of the other. Above all, Time is forbidden. From now onnothing will change.--King Endor's Decree***"I don't think you'll be wanting all this junk." Caspar picked a book out of the pile andopened it. He gazed idly at the bright illuminated letters. "We have books at the Palace. Inever bother with them.""Y do surprise me." Claudia sat on the bed and gazed around hopelessly at the chaos. ouHow could she have so many possessions? And so little time!"And the Sapienti have thousands." He tossed it aside. "Y are so lucky, Claudia, that ouyou never had to go to the Academy. I thought I'd die of dullness. Anyway, aren't we goingout with the hawks? The servants can do all this. It's what they're for.""Yes." Claudia was biting her nail; she realized, and stopped."Are you trying to get rid of me, Claudia?"She looked up. He was watching her, his small eyes fixed172in that nerveless stare. "I know you don't want to marry me," he said."Caspar ...""It's all right, I don't mind. It's a dynastic thing, that's all. My mother's explained it. Y can ouhave any lovers you like, after we've had an heir. I certainly will."She stared at him in disbelief. She couldn't sit still; she jumped up and paced thedisrupted room. "Caspar, listen to yourself!" Have you ever thought about what sort of lifewe'll have together, in that marble mausoleum you call a palace? Living a lie, a pretense,keeping false smiles on our faces, wearing clothes from a time that never existed, posingand preening and aping manners that should only be in books? Have you thought aboutthat?"He was surprised. "It's always been like that."She sat next to him. "Have you never wanted to be free, Caspar? To be able to ride outalone one spring morning and set off to see the world? To find adventure, and someoneyou can love?"It was too much. She knew it as soon as she had said it. Too much for him. She felt himstiffen and frown, and he glared at her. "I know what all this is about." His voice was harsh."It's because you'd have rather had my brother. The saintly Giles. Well, he's dead,Claudia, so forget about him." Then his smile came back, sly and narrow. "Or is this aboutJared?""Jared?"173"Well, it's obvious, isn't it? He's older, but some girls like that."She wanted to slap him, to get up and slap his sniggering little face. He grinned at her."I've seen how you look at him, Claudia. Like I said, I don't mind."She stood, stiff with anger. "Y evil little toad." ou"You're angry. That proves it's true. Does your father know about you and Jared, Claudia?Should I tell him, do you think?"He was poison. He was a lizard with a flicking tongue. His smirk was acid. She bent andput her face into his and he moved back."If you mention this again, to me, to anyone, I will kill you. Do you understand, my lordSteen? Myself personally, with a dagger through your weak little body. I will kill you likethey killed Giles."Trembling with wrath she marched outside and slammed the door with a clap that rangdown the corridor. Fax, the bodyguard, was lounging outside. As she passed him hestood, with an insolent slowness, and as she ran beneath the portraits to the stairs, shefelt his eyes on her back, the cold smile.She hated them.All of them.How could he say that!How could he even think it! Thundering down the stairs, she crashed through the doubledoors, maids scattering before her,174her mood like thunder. Such a filthy lie! Against Jared! Jared, who would never dream,never even think of such a thing!She screamed for Alys, who came running. "What's wrong, lady?""My riding coat. Now!"While she waited she fumed, pacing, staring through the open front door at the eternalperfection of the lawns, the blue sky, the peacocks practicing their eerie cries.Her anger was warm and a comfort. When the coat came she flung it around her,snapped, "I'm riding out.""Claudia ... There's so much to do! We leave tomorrow.""Y do it." ou"The wedding dress ... the final fitting.""Y can tear it to shreds as far as I'm concerned." Then she was gone, running down the ousteps and across the courtyard, and as she ran, she looked up and saw her father,standing in the impossible window of his study that didn't exist, wasn't even there.He had his back to her, was talking to someone. Someone in the study with him? But noone ever went in there.Slowing, she watched for a moment, puzzled. Then, afraid he'd turn around, she hurried tothe stables and found Marcus already saddled, pawing the ground with impatience.Jared's horse was ready too, a lean rangy creature called Tam Lin, which was probablysome secret Sapient jest she'd never understood.175She looked around. "Where's the Wise One?" she asked Job.The boy, always tongue-tied, muttered, "Gone back to the tower, lady. He forgotsomething."She stared at him. "Job, listen to me. Y know everyone on the estate?" ou"Pretty much." He swept the floor hastily, raising clouds of dust. She wanted to tell him tostop, but that would have made him even more nervous, so she said, "An old man calledBartlett. Pensioned off, a retainer of the Court. Is he still alive?"He raised his head. "Y my lady. He has a cottage out on Hewelsfield. Just down the es,lane from the mill."Her heart thudded. "Is he ... Is his mind still clear?"Job nodded, and managed a smile. "He's razor-sharp, that one. But he doesn't say much,not about his days at Court. He just stares if you ask him."Jared's shadow darkened the doorway and he came in slightly breathlessly. "Sorry,Claudia."He swung himself up into the saddle, and as she put her foot in Job's linked hands, shesaid quietly, "What did you forget?"His dark eyes met hers. "A certain object that I didn't want to leave unguarded." His handmoved discreetly to his coat, the high-necked Sapient robe of dark green.She nodded, knowing it was the Key.As they rode off she wondered why she felt so oddly ashamed.176***THEY MADE a fire from the dried fungi and some snapping powder from Gildas's packand cooked the meat while the whirlwind raged outside. No one spoke much. Finn wasshivering with cold, and the cuts on his face stung; he sensed that Keiro was still wearytoo. It was hard to tell about the girl. She sat slightly apart, eating quickly, her eyeswatching and missing nothing.Finally Gildas wiped greasy hands on his robe. "Were there any signs of the inmates?""The sheep were roaming," Keiro said carelessly. "Not even a fence.""And the Prison?""How should I know? Eyes in the trees probably."Finn shivered. His head felt echoey and strange. He wanted them to sleep, to fall asleepso he could get the Key out again and talk to it. To her. The girl Outside. He said, "Wecan't move on, so we may as well rest. Don't you think?""Sounds good," Keiro said lazily. He arranged his pack against the back of the hollow.But Gildas was staring at the image carved in the tree trunk. He crawled closer, reachedout, and began to rub at it with his veined hands. Curls of lichen fell. The narrow faceseemed to emerge from dinginess and the green fur of moss, its hands holding the Keyso carefully drawn, they seemed real. Finn realized that the Key must be linking into somecircuitry in the tree itself and for a moment177a blur of vision caught him off guard, a sense that the whole of Incarceron was a greatcreature in whose entrails of wire and bone they crept.He blinked.No one seemed to have noticed, though the girl was staring at him. Gildas was saying,"He's leading us along the way he took. Like a thread through the labyrinth.""So he left his own picture?" Keiro drawled.Gildas frowned. "Obviously not. This is a shrine, created by the Sapienti who havefollowed him. We should find other signs on the way.""I can't wait." Keiro rolled himself over and curled up.Gildas glared at his back. Then he said to Finn, "Take the Key out. We need to take careof it. The way may be longer than we think."Thinking of the vast forest outside, Finn wondered if they would wander in it forever.Carefully he reached up and removed the Key from the hexagon; it came away with aslight click, and instantly the hollow was dim and the whistling splinters of foil blurred thedistant Prison lights.Finn was stiff and uncomfortable, but he kept still, listening. After a long while he knew bythe old mans harsh breathing that Gildas was sleeping. He wasn't sure about the others.Keiro had his face turned away. Attia always seemed silent, as if she had learned thatkeeping still and being overlooked kept her alive. Outside, the forest roared with thestorm. He heard178the cracking of its branches, the turmoil of its contempt surge from far distances, felt thestrength of the wind batter the trees, shudder the iron trunk above him.They had angered Incarceron. They had opened one of its forbidden doors and crossedsome boundary. Perhaps it would trap them here forever, before they had barely begun.At last, he couldn't wait any longer.Cautiously, taking infinite pains to keep the rustle of the leaf-litter down, he tugged the Keyfrom his pocket. It was cold, frosted with cold. His ringers left smeared imprints on it, andeven the eagle inside was hard to see until he had rubbed condensation from its surface.He held it tight. "Claudia" he breathed.The Key was cold and dead.No lights moved in it. He dared not speak louder.But just then Gildas muttered, so he took the chance and curled up, bringing k closer."Can you hear me?" he said to it. "Are you there? Please, answer."The storm raged. It whined in his teeth and nerves. He closed his eyes and felt despair,that he had imagined all of it, that the girl did not exist, that he was indeed born in someWomb here.And then, as if out of his own fear, came a voice, a soft remark. "Laughed? Are you surethat's what he said?"Finn's eyes snapped open. A man's voice. Calm and considering.179He glanced around wildly, afraid the others had heard, and then a girl said, "... Of courseI'm sure. "Why should the old man laugh, Master, if Giles was dead?""Claudia." Finn whispered the name before he could stop himself.Instantly Gildas turned; Keiro sat up. Cursing, Finn shoved the Key into his coat and rolledover to see Attia staring at him. He knew at once that she'd seen everything.Keiro had his knife out. "Did you hear that? Someone outside." His blue eyes were alert."No." Finn swallowed. "It was me.""Talking in your sleep?""He was talking to me," Attia said quietly.For a moment Keiro looked at them both. Then he leaned back, but Finn knew he was notconvinced. "Was he now?" his oathbrother said softly. "So who's Claudia?"***THEY CANTERED quickly up the lane, the deep green leaves of the oaks a tunnel overtheir heads. "And you believe Evian?""On this I do." She looked ahead at the mill rising at the foot of the hill. "The old man'sreaction was all wrong, Master. He must have loved Giles.""Grief affects people strangely, Claudia." Jared seemed worried. "Did you tell Evian youwould find this Bartlett?""No. He--""Did you tell anyone? Alys?"180She snorted. "Tell Alys and it's around the servants' hall in minutes." That reminded her.She slowed the breathless horse. "My father paid off the swordmaster. Or tried to. Has hesaid anything more to you?""No. Not yet."They were silent while he leaned down and unlatched the gate, easing the horse back todrag it wide. On the other side the lane was rutted, lined by hedgerows, dog-roses twinedamong nettles and willow-herb, the white umbels of cow-parsley.Jared sucked at a sting on his finger. Then he said, "That must be the place."It was a low cottage half obscured by a great chestnut that grew beside it. As they rodecloser Claudia scowled at its perfect Protocol, the thatch with holes in it, the damp walls,the gnarled trees of the orchard. "A hovel for the poor."Jared smiled his sad smile. "I'm afraid so. In this Era only the rich know comfort."They left the horses tied, cropping lush long grass from the verge. The gate was broken,hanging wide; Claudia saw how it had recently been forced, how the grass blades weredragged back under it, still wet with dew.Jared stopped. "The doors open," he said.She went to step past him, but he said, "A moment, Claudia." He took out the smallscanner and let it hum. "Nothing.No one here."181"Then we go in and wait for him. I've only got today." She strode up the cracked path;Jared followed quickly.Claudia pushed the door wider; it creaked and she thought something shuffled inside."Hello?" she said quietly.Silence.She put her head around the door.The room was dark and smelled of smoke. A low window lit it, the shutter off and leaningagainst the wall. The fire was out in the hearth; as she came in she saw the blackenedcooking pot on its chains, the spit, ashes drifting in the draft down the great chimney.Two small benches lined the chimney corner; near the window stood a table and chairand a dresser with some battered pewter plates and a jug on it. She picked the jug upand sniffed the milk inside."Fresh."There was a small doorway into the cow byre. Jared crossed to it and looked through,stooping under the lintel.His back was to her, but she knew, from his sudden, intent stillness, something waswrong. "What?" she said.He turned, and his face was so pale, she thought he was ill. He said, "I'm afraid we're toolate."She came over. He stayed, blocking her way. "I want to see," she muttered."Claudia...""Let me see, Master." She ducked under his arm.182The old man lay sprawled on the floor of the byre. It was quite obvious that his neck wasbroken. He lay on his back, arms flung out, one hand buried in the straw. His eyes wereopen.The byre smelled of old dung. Flies buzzed endlessly and wasps came in and out throughthe open doorway; a small goat bleated outside.Cold with awe and anger she said, "They killed him.""We don't know that." Jared seemed to come to life all at once. He knelt by the old man,touched neck and wrist, ran the scanner over him."They killed him. He knew something about Giles, about the murder. They realized wewere coming here!""Who could have realized?" He stood quickly, stepped back into the living room."Evian knew. My talk with him must have been bugged. Then there's Job. I asked him ...""Job's a child.""He's scared of my father.""Claudia, I'm scared of your father,"She looked again at the small figure in the straw, letting her anger loose, clutching herarms around herself, "Y can see the marks," she breathed. ouHand marks. Two bruises like the dark traces of thumbs, deep in the mottled flesh."Someone big. Very strong."Jared jerked open the cupboard in the dresser and pulled out plates. "Certainly he didn'tfall."183She turned.He slammed the drawer, went to the chimney, and stared up. Then to her astonishment heclimbed on one of the benches and reached into the darkness, groping blindly. Soot fell inshowers."Master?""He lived at Court, Claudia. He must have been literate."For a moment she didn't understand. Then she turned and gazed hurriedly around, foundthe bed, tipped the mattress up, tore open the lice-ridden straw.Outside, a blackbird shrieked and flapped.Claudia stared. "Are they coming back?""Maybe. Keep looking."But as she moved her foot caught on a board that creaked, and when she knelt and pulledat it, it swung up on a pivot with the ease of constant use."Jared!"It was the old man's store of treasures. A battered purse with some copper coins, abroken necklace with most of the stones pried out, two quills, a fold of parchment, and,carefully hidden right at the bottom, a blue velvet drawstring bag, small as her palm.Jared took the parchment and riffled through it. "Looks like some sort of testament. I knewhe would have written it down! If he'd been taught by Sapienti, it's only ..." He glancedover. She had opened the blue bag. Out of it she slid a small oval of184gold, its back engraved with the crowned eagle. She turned it over.A boy's face looked up at them, his smile shy and direct, his eyes brown.Claudia smiled back at him, bitter. She looked up at her tutor. "It must be worth a fortune,but he never sold it. He must have loved him very much."Gently he said, "Are you sure ...?""Oh yes, I'm sure. It's Giles."185CHAINED,HAND AND FOOT .18618715***Sapphique rode out of the Tanglewood and saw the Fortress of Bronze. People werestreaming into its walls from all around."Come inside," they urged him. "Hurry! Before it attacks!"He looked around. The world was metal and the sky was metal. The people were antson the plains of the Prison."Have you forgotten he said, "that you are already Inside?"But they hurried past and said he was deranged.--Legends of Sapphique***The storm had raged all night before dying away so abruptly that Finn had been woken atonce by the silence. It seemed eerie after the wind, but at least it meant they could movenow, before the Prison changed its mind. Keiro had scrambled outside and stretched,groaning with cramp. After a minute his voice had come back, unusually muted. "Look atthis."When Finn had pulled himself up, he had seen that the forest was bare. Every leaf, everythin metallic curl of foliage lay heaped in immense drifts.188The trees had broken out into flower. Copper blossoms, scarlet and gold, glimmered uphill and down dale as far as he could see.Behind him, Attia had laughed. "It's beautiful."He had turned, surprised, realizing he saw it only as an obstacle. "Is it?""Oh yes. But you ... you're used to color. Coming from Outside""Y believe me?" ouShe nodded slowly. "Y There's something different about you. Y don't fit. And the es. ouname you called out in your sleep, this Claudia. Y remember her?" ouIt was what he had told them. He looked up. "Listen, Attia, I need your help. It's just... Ineed sometimes to be alone. The Key ... it helps the visions. Sometimes I need to beaway from Keiro and Gildas. Do you understand?"She had nodded gravely, her bright eyes fixed on him. "I told you, I'm your servant. Just tellme when, Finn."He had felt ashamed. Looking at his face, she had said nothing more.Since then they had hurried through a landscape of jewel-bright color, betweenplantations of trees that had marched downhill, the forest floor broken and seamed withstreams in strange insulated beds, riven with cracks. Insects Finn had never imaginedcrawled in great drifts of leaves that blocked the path; finding detours around these lostthem hours. And189high, in the bare branches jackdaws hopped and karked in flocks, following the travelerswith beady curiosity till Gildas cursed them and waved a fist at them. Then, silently, they allflew away.Keiro nodded. "So the Sapienti still have some magic after all."Breathless, the old man glared at him. "I wish it worked on you."Keiro grinned at Finn,Finn allowed himself a smile. He felt lighter somehow, and as he trudged after Gildasdown the aisles of the wood, he began to sense something that must be like happiness.The Escape had begun. The Comitatus was far behind; all that life of brutal infighting, ofmurder and lies and fear was over. Things would be different now. Sapphique would showhim the way out.Stepping over a tangle of root he almost felt like laughing aloud, but instead he put hishand inside his shirt and touched the Key.He jerked his hand away at once.It was warm.He glanced at Keiro, pacing ahead. Then he turned. Attia was where she always walked.At his heels.Annoyed, he stopped. "I don't want a slave."She stopped too. "Whatever you say." Her eyes watched him with that bruised look.190He said, "There's a stream here, I can hear it. Tell the others I'm getting some water."Without waiting, he strode off the path deep into a thicket of platinum thorns, thencrouched among the undergrowth. Umbels of pliant wire rose around him, hollow reedswhere microBeetles worked busily.Hurriedly he took out the Key.It was a risk. Keiro might come. But it was hot now in his fingers, and there were thefamiliar small blue lights deep in the crystal. "Claudia?" he whispered anxiously. "Can youhear me?"Finn! At last!"Her voice was so loud it made him swallow; he glanced around. "Quiet! Be quick please.They'll come looking for me.""Who will?" She sounded fascinated."Keiro.""Who's he?""My oathbrother ...""All right. Now listen. There's a small finger panel at the base of the Key. It's invisible butthe surface is slightly raised. Can you find it?"His fingers groped, leaving dirty smudges. "No," he said, flustered."Try! Do you think he has a different artifact?" The question wasn't for Finn. The othervoice answered her, the one he remembered as Jared. "It's almost certainly191identical. Finn, use your fingertips. Search the edge, the facets near the edge."What did they think he was! He scrabbled, his hands sore."Finn!" Keiro's murmur was right behind him. He jumped up, shoving the Key back,gasped, "For God's sake! Can't I take a drink in peace?"His brother's hand shoved him back down into the leaf drift. "Get down and shut up.We've got visitors."CLAUDIA SAT back on her heels and swore with frustration. "He's gone! Why is hegone?"Jared went to the window and gazed out at the utter chaos in the courtyard. "It's just aswell. The Warden is coming up the steps.""Did you hear the way he sounded? Again, it was so ... panicky.""I know how he feels." Jared tugged a small pad from the pocket of his riding coat andthrust it at her. "This is the full draft of the old man's testament. Read it while we travel."Doors slamming. Voices outside. Her father's. Caspar's."Delete it straight afterward, Claudia. I have a copy.""We should do something. About the body.""We weren't there, remember?"He barely had the words out before the door opened. Claudia calmly slipped the paddown her dress."My dear." Her father came in and stood before her. She192stood up to meet him. He wore his usual black frockcoat, the scarf at his neck silkilyexpensive, his boots the finest leather. But today he wore a small white flower in hisbuttonhole, as if to mark the occasion, and that was so unlike him she stared at it insurprise."Are you ready?" he asked.She nodded. She was wearing a dark blue traveling dress and cloak, with a specialpocket sewn into it for the Key."A great morning for the House of Arlex, Claudia. The beginning of a new life for you, forus all." His hair with its streak of silver was tied severely back, his eyes dark withsatisfaction. He pulled on his gloves before he took her hand. She looked at him withoutsmiling, and the old dead man in the straw was in her mind, his eyes open.She smiled and dropped a curtsy. "I'm ready, sir."He nodded. "I always knew you would be. I always knew you'd never let me down."Like my mother did? she wondered acidly. But she said nothing, and her father gaveJared the briefest nod and led her out. They swept into the great hall, over the lavender-strewn floor, down between the rows of fascinated servants, the Warden of Incarceron andhis proud daughter, setting out for the marriage that would make her a queen. And on asignal from Ralph the staff cheered and applauded and threw sweet irises underfoot; theyrang tiny silver bells in honor of the wedding they would never see.193Jared walked behind, a satchel of books under one arm. He shook hands with theservants, and the maids moped over him, pushing tiny packets of sweetmeats at him,promising to keep the tower safe, not to touch any of his precious instruments, feed thefox cub and the birds.As Claudia took her seat in the coach and looked back, she felt a rueful lump in the backof her throat. They would all miss Jared, his gentle ways, his fragile good looks, hiswillingness to dose their coughing children and advise their wayward sons. None of themseemed at all sorry to see her go.But then whose fault was that? She had played the game. She was the mistress, theWarden's daughter.Cold as ice. Hard as nails.She raised her head and smiled across at Alys. "Four days' traveling. I intend to ride for atleast half of it."Her nurse frowned. "I doubt the Earl will. And he'll probably want you to sit in his coach forsome of the time.""Well, I'm not married to him yet. When I am, he'll soon find out it's what I want that counts."If they thought her hard, she would be hard. And yet, as the horses were mounted and theoutriders gathered and the coaches began the slow turn to the gatehouse, all she wantedwas to be staying here, in the house where she had lived since she was born, and sheleaned out of the window and waved and called out all their names, her eyes stinging withsudden tears. "Ralph! Job! Mary-Ellen!"194And they waved back, a storm of handkerchiefs and the white doves rising from thegables and the bees in the honey-suckle buzzing as the carriage rumbled over thewooden drawbridge. In the dark green waters of the moat she saw the house reflected,saw moorhens and swans arrow over it, and behind her in a great procession the wagonsand coaches and riders and hounds and falconers of her entourage, of the household ofthe "warden of Incarceron, on the day his plans began to come to fruition.Windblown, she threw herself back in the leather seat and blew hair from her eyes. Well,maybe.***THEY WEREmen and yet how could they be?They were at least eight feet tall. They walked with an odd angular gait, stalking likeherons, ignoring the vast drifts of sharp leaves, crunching straight through them.Finn felt Keiro's hand grip so tight on his arm it hurt. Then his brother breathed a singlesyllable in his ear."Stilts?Of course. As one of them paced by he saw them up close, knee-high metallic calipers,and the men walked on them expertly, taking long strides, and he saw too that they usedthe height to touch certain points of the trees, small knots in the trunks, and that the treesinstantly sprouted semi-organic fruits that the men harvested.195Turning his head he looked for Gildas, but wherever the Sapient and the girl were hidden,they were invisible to him.He watched the line of men work down through the trees. As they moved down the hillsidethey seemed to shrink, and Finn distinctly saw the man on the end shimmer, as if hepassed through some disturbance in the air.After a while only their heads and shoulders showed. Then they were gone.Keiro waited a long moment before getting up. He gave a soft whistle and a heap ofleaves convulsed nearby. Gildas's silvery head came up. He said, "Gone?""Far enough."Keiro watched Attia scramble hurriedly out, then he turned. Taking one look at hisoathbrother he said quietly, "Finn?"It was happening. Looking at the shimmer in the air had done it. Finn's skin crawled withitches, his mouth was dry, his tongue felt stiff. He rubbed his hand over his mouth. "No,"he mumbled."Get hold of him," Gildas snapped.From somewhere distant Keiro said, "Wait."And then Finn was walking. Walking straight to the place, the emptiness between twogreat boughs of copper where the air had moved as if dust fell through a column of lightthere, as if a slot in Time opened there. And when he came to k he stopped, stretchingboth arms before himself as if he were blind. It was a keyhole out of the world.196Through it, a draft blew.Small flashes of pain stung him. He struggled through them, feeling, touching the edges,bringing his face close, putting his eye to the sliver of light, gazing through.He saw a shimmer of color. It was so bright it made his eyes water, made him gasp.Shapes moved there, a green world, a sky as blue as in his dreams, a great buzzingcreature of black and amber hurtling toward him.He cried out and staggered back, felt Keiro grab both arms from behind. "Keep looking,brother. What do you see? What is it, Finn?"He crumpled. All the strength went from his legs and he collapsed in the leaf-litter. Attiashoved Keiro away. Quickly she poured water into a cup and held it out to Finn; blindly hetook it and gulped it down, then closed his eyes and put his head in his hands, dizzy andsick. He retched. Then vomited.Above him, voices raged. When he could hear, he realized one of them was Attia's,.. treating him like that! Don't you see he's sick!"Keiro's laugh was scornful. "He'll get over it. He's a seer. He sees things. Things we needto know.""Don't you care about him at all?"Finn dragged his head up. The girl was facing up to Keiro, her hands gripped into fists ather sides. Her eyes had lost their bruised look; now they blazed with anger.197Keiro kept his mocking grin. "He's my brother. Of course I care about him.""Y only care about yourself." She turned to Gildas. "And you too. Master. Y .. ou ouShe stopped. Gildas obviously wasn't listening. He stood leaning one arm on a metaltree, staring ahead. "Come here," he said quietly.Keiro put his hand out and Finn took it, pulling himself groggily to his feet. They crossed tothe Sapient and stood behind him; looking out, they saw what he saw.The forest ended here. Ahead a narrow road ran down to a City. It stood behind walls in afiery landscape of bare plains. Houses clustered together, constructed of patches ofmetal, towers and battlements built of strange dark wood, thatched with tin and copperleaves.All along the road to it, in long noisy streams of laughter and shouting and song, in crowdsand wagons, carrying children and driving flocks of sheep, hundreds and hundreds ofpeople were streaming.***HER KNEES up on the carriage seat, Claudia read the small pad while Alys slept. Thecarriage bounced; outside, the green woods and fields of the Wardenry rattled by in acloud of dust and flies.My name is Gregor Bartlett. This is my testament. I pray those who find it to keep itsafe, and when the time comes, to use it,198because a great injustice has been done and only I am alive to know about it.I worked in the Palace from my early years. I was a stable boy and a postillion, then ahouse servant. I became trusted, rose to be important. I was Valet of the Chamber to thelate King, and I remember his first wife, the frail pretty woman from Overseas that hemarried when they both were young. When his first son, Giles, was born I was givencharge of him. I arranged the wet nurse, appointed maids of the nursery. He was the Heir;nothing was spared for his comfort. As the boy grew I came to love him like my own. Hewas a happy child. Even when his mother died and the King remarried, he lived in his ownwing of the Palace, surrounded by his precious toys and pets, his own household. I haveno children of my own. The boy became my life. Y must believe that. ouGradually, I sensed a change. As he grew, his father came to him less and less. Therewas a second son now, the Earl Caspar, a squalling noisy baby petted over by the womenof the Court. And there was the new Queen.Sia is a strange, remote woman. They say the King looked out of his carriage once as hewas being driven along a forest road, and there she stood, at the crossroads. They saythat as he drove past her he saw her eyes--they are strange eyes, with pale irises--andafter that moment he could not stop thinking about her. He sent messengers back, but noone was there. He had the nearby villages and estates searched, issued proclamations,offered rewards to his199noblemen, but no one could find her. And then, weeks later, as he walked in the gardensof the Palace, he looked up and she was there, sitting by the fountain.No one knows her parentage, or where she comes from. I believe her to be a sorceress.What became clear soon after her son was born was her hatred for Giles. She nevershowed it to the King or his Court; to them she was careful to honor the Heir. But I saw it.He was betrothed at seven years old to the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron. Ahaughty little girl, but he seemed to like her...Claudia smiled. Glancing at Alys she leaned out of the window. Her father's carriage wasbehind; he must be sharing it with Evian. She scrolled the text down.... the happiness of his birthday party, a night when we rowed on the lake under the starsand he told me how happy he was. I will never forget his words to me.The death of his father affected him badly. He became solitary. Did not attend the dancesand games. He studied hard. I wonder now if he had begun to fear the Queen. He neversaid so. Now I will pass to the end. The day before the riding accident I received amessage that my sister, who lived at Casa, was sick. I asked Giles for leave to go to her;the dear boy was most concerned, and insisted the kitchens make me up a parcel ofdelicacies to take her. He also made sure I had a carriage. He waved me off on the stepsof the Outer Court. That was the last time I ever saw him.When I arrived, my sister was in excellent health. She had no knowledge of who had sentthe message.200My heart misgave me. I thought of the Queen. I wanted to return at once, but thecoachman, who may have been the Queens man, refused, saying the horses wereexhausted. I am no longer a rider, but I saddled a horse from the inn and I rode back,galloping hard, all through the night. I will not try to write the agonies of worry I felt. I cameover the hill and saw the thousand pinnacles of the Court, and I saw that from every one ofthem a black pennant flew.I remember little after that.They had laid his body on a bier in the Great Council Chamber, and after it was ready, Iasked leave to approach him. A message came from the Queen, with a man to escortme. He was the secretary of the Warden, a tall silent man called Medlicote ...Claudia was so surprised she whistled. Alys snored and turned.... I climbed the steps like a broken creature. My boy lay there and they had made himbeautiful. I bent to kiss his face with tears blinding my eyes. And then I paused.Oh, they had made a good job of it. Whoever the boy was he was the right age andcoloring, and the skinwand had been carefully used. But I knew, I knew.It was not Giles.I think I laughed. One gasp of joy. I pray no one noticed, that no one knows. I sobbed,retired, played the heartbroken retainer, the broken old man. And yet I know the secretthat the201Queen, and perhaps the Warden, wish no one to know.That Giles is alive.And where else can he be but in Incarceron?Alys grunted and yawned and opened her eyes. "Are we nearly at the inn yet?" she askedsleepily.Claudia stared at the small pad, eyes wide. She looked up at her nurse as if she'd neverseen her before. Then she glanced down and read the last sentence again.And again.20216***Don't defy me, John. And be on your guard.There are plots in the Court, and conspiracies against us. As for Claudia, from what yousay she has already seen what she searches for. How amusing that she did not evenrecognize it.--Queen Sia to the Warden; private letter***It was hours before she could get Jared alone. There was the fuss of finding their rooms,the innkeeper bowing and scraping, the supper, endless small talk from Evian, herfather's calm watchfulness, Caspar's complaints about his horse.But finally, well after midnight, she tapped on the door of his attic and slipped in.He was sitting at the window looking at the stars, a bird pecking bread from his hands.She said, "Don't you ever sleep?"Jared smiled. "Claudia, this is folly. If they catch you here, you know what they'd think."She said, "I'm bringing you into danger, I know. But we have to talk about what he wrote."He was silent a moment. Then he released the bird, closed the window, and turned, andshe saw the shadows under his eyes. "Yes."203They looked at each other. Finally she said, "They didn't kill Giles. They imprisoned him.""Claudia...""They wouldn't spill Havaarna blood! Or perhaps the Queen was afraid to. Or my father ..."She looked up. "It's true. My father must know."The bleakness in her voice shocked them both. She sat on a chair. "And there'ssomething else. This boy Finn. The Prisoner. His voice ... seems familiar.""Familiar?" He looked sharply at her."I've heard it before, Master.""Y imagine that. Don't make this assumption, Claudia." ouShe was still a moment. Then she shrugged. "In any case we need to try again."Jared nodded. He went over and locked the door, clipped a small device to its back andadjusted it. Then he turned.Claudia had the Key ready. She activated the speech channel, and then the small visualcircuit that they had discovered. He stood behind her, watching the hologram of the eagleflap silent wings."Did you delete the pad?""Of course. Completely."As the Key began to glow, he said quietly, "They had no problem spilling the old man'sblood, Claudia. They may already know we searched his house. They must fear what wefound."204"By they you mean my father." She looked up. "He won't hurt me. If he loses me, he losesthe throne. And I'll protect you, Master, I swear."His smile was rueful. She knew he didn't believe she could.Very quietly, the Key spoke. "Can you hear me?"Claudia said, "It's him! Touch the panel, Finn. Touch it! Have you found it?""Yes." He sounded hesitant. "What will happen if I do?""We'll be able to see each other, we think. It won't hurt you. Try k, please."There was a second of dead air, a few crackles. And then Claudia almost jumped back.Out of the key a beam projected silently. It opened to a square, and crouched in thesquare, startled and dirty, was a boy.He was tall and very thin, his face famished and anxious. His hair was lank and long, tiedback in a knot of string, and his clothes were the drabbest she had ever seen, muddygrays and greens, badly worn. A sword and a rusty knife were stuck in his belt.He stared at her in astonishment.FINN SAW a queen, a princess.Her face was clean and clear, her hair shone. She wore a dress of some lustrous silk, anda pearl necklace that would be worth a fortune if a buyer could ever be found rich enough.He saw at once that she had never been hungry, that her mind was clear205and intelligent. Behind her a grave dark-haired man watched, wearing a Sapient's coatthat put Gildas's rag to shame.Claudia was silent so long, Jared glanced at her. He saw she was stricken, probably bythe boy's condition, so he said softly, "It seems Incarceron is no paradise then."The boy glared at him. "Are you mocking me, Master?"Jared shook his head sadly. "No indeed. Tell us how you came to have this artifact."Finn glanced around. The ruin was silent and black; Attia's shadow crouched in thedoorway, watching the darkness outside. She gave him a small nod of reassurance. Helooked back at the holoscreen, afraid that its light would give them away.As he told them about the eagle on his wrist, he watched Claudia. He was good atreading faces, but hers was difficult, so controlled, so unrevealing, though the faintestwidening of her eyes told him she was fascinated. Then he slipped into lies, about findingthe Key in a deserted tunnel, obliterating the Maestra, her death, his shame, as if none ofit had ever happened. Attia glanced over, but he kept his face away. He told them aboutthe Comitatus, about the terrible fight he had fought with Jormanric, how he had defeatedthe giant in single combat, stolen three skull-rings from his hands, led his friends out ofthat hell. About how they were following a sacred trail out of the Prison.She listened intently, asking brief questions. He had no idea206if she believed any of it. The Sapient was silent , once only raising an eyebrow, when Finntalked of Gildas."So the Sapienti still survive? But what happened to the Experiment, the social structures,the food supply? How did it all break down?""Never mind that," Claudia said impatiently. "Don't you see what the eagle mark means,Master. Don't you see?" She leaned forward eagerly. "Finn. How long have you been inIncarceron?""I don't know." He scowled. "I ... only remember ...""What?""The last three years. I get... memories, but--" He stopped. He didn't want to tell her aboutthe seizures.She nodded. Her hands were clasped in her lap, he saw. A diamond ring gleamed on onefinger. "Listen, Finn. Do I look familiar to you? Do you recognize me?"His heart leaped. "No. Should I?"She was biting her lip. He felt her tension. "Finn, listen to me. I think you may be ...""FINN!"Attia's scream was stifled. A hand grabbed her and clamped down on her mouth. "Toolate," Keiro said gleefully.Out of the darkness Gildas strode in and looked into the holoscreen. For a second he andJared shared a startled stare.Then the screen went blank.The Sapient breathed a prayer. He turned and looked at207Finn and the obsession was back in his hard blue eyes. "I saw! I saw Sapphique!"Finn suddenly felt very tired. "No," he said, watching Attia struggle wildly out of Keiro'sgrip. "It wasn't.""I saw, fool boy! I saw him!" The old man knelt painfully before the Key. He reached outand touched it. "What did he say, Finn? What was his message to us?""And why didn't you tell us you could see people with it?" Keiro snapped. "Don't you trustus?"Finn shrugged. He, not Claudia, had done most of the talking, he realized. But he had tokeep them guessing, so he said, "Sapphique ... warns us.""Of what?" Nursing his bitten hand Keiro gave the girl a sour look. "Bitch," he muttered."Of danger.""What sort? The whole place is--""From above." Finn muttered it at random. "Danger from above."Together, they looked up.Instantly Attia screamed and threw herself aside; Gildas swore. The net collapsed like theweb of an uber-spider, each end weighted; it crashed down on Finn, flattening him underits impact, a crumpling of dust and screeching bats. For a moment the breath wasknocked right out of him, then he realized Gildas was struggling and tangling next to him,that the two of them were meshed in heavy ropes sticky with an oozing resin.208"Finn!" Attia knelt and pulled at the net; her hand stuck and she pulled it hastily away.Keiro had his sword out; he pushed her aside and slashed at the cables, but they werethreaded with metal and the blade clanged. At the same time a shrill alarm in the ruinbegan to whine, a high, wailing note."Don't waste your time," Gildas muttered. Then, furiously, "Get out of here!"Keiro stared at Finn. "I don't leave my brother."Finn struggled to get up but couldn't. For a moment the whole nightmare of being chainedbefore the trucks of the Civicry crashed back into his mind; then he gasped, "Do as hesays.""We can get that thing off you." Keiro looked around wildly. "If we had some sort of pivot."Attia grabbed a metal strut from the wall. It fell to rust in her hands and she flung it downwith a wail.Keiro hauled at the net. The dark oil blackened his hands and coat; he swore bur keptpulling, and Finn heaved from below, but after a second they all collapsed, defeated bythe weight.Keiro crouched at the net. "I'll find you. I'll rescue you. Give me the Key.""What?""Give it to me. Or they'll find it on you and take it."Finn's fingers closed on the warm crystal. For a moment he saw Gildas's startled gazethrough the mesh; the Sapient said, "Finn, no. We'll never see him again."209"Shut your mouth, old man." Furious, Keiro turned. "Give it to me, Finn. Now."Voices outside. The barking of dogs down the track.Finn wriggled. He squeezed the Key between the oily mesh; Keiro grabbed it and pulledit out, his fingers smearing oil on the perfect eagle. He shoved it inside his jacket, thentugged off one of Jormanric's rings and jammed it on Finn's finger. "One for you. Two forme."The alarm stopped.Keiro backed, glancing around, but Attia had already vanished. "I'll find you, I swear."Finn didn't move. But just as Keiro faded into the night of the Prison, he gripped thechains and whispered, "It will only work for me. Sapphique speaks only to me."If Keiro heard him, he didn't know. Because just then the doors crashed in, lights werebeamed in his eyes, the teeth of dogs were snapping and growling at his hands and face.***JARED LOOKED at her aghast. "Claudia, this is madness ...""It could be him. It could be Giles. Oh yes, he looks different. Thinner. More worn. Older.But it could easily be him. Right age, right build. Hair." She smiled. "Right eyes."She paced the room, consumed with restlessness. She didn't want to say how the boy'scondition had appalled her. She knew that the failure of the Incarceron Experiment was aterrible blow, that all the Sapienti would be rocked by it.210Crouching suddenly by the dying fire, she said, "Master, you need to sleep and so do I.Tomorrow I'll insist you travel with me. We can read Alegon's Histories till Alys falls asleepand then we can talk. Tonight, I'll just say this. If he isn't Giles, he could be. We could makea case out that he is. With the old man's testament and the mark on the boy's wrist, therewould be doubt. Enough doubt to stop the marriage.""His DNA...""Not Protocol. Y know that." ouHe shook his head. "Claudia, I can't believe ... This is impossible ...""Think about it." She got up and crossed to the door. "Because even if this boy is notGiles, Giles is in there somewhere. Caspar's not the Heir, Jared. And I intend to provethat. If it means taking on the Queen and my father, I'll do it."At the door she paused, not wanting to leave him in this pain, wanting to say somethingthat would ease his distress. "We have to help him. We have to help all of them in thathell."He had his back to her, but he nodded. Bleakly he said, "Go to bed, Claudia."She slipped out into the dim corridor. One candle burned far down in an alcove. As shewalked her dress swished the dry rushes on the floor, and at her door she paused andlooked back.The inn seemed silent. But outside the door that must be211Caspar's, a sudden small movement made her stare, and she bit her lip in dismay.The big man, Fax, was lying there across two chairs.He was looking straight at her. Ironically, with a leer that chilled her, he waved the tankardin his hand.21217***In ancient statutes Justice was always blind. But what if it sees, sees everything, and itsEye is cold and without Mercy? Who would be safe from such a gaze?Year by year Incarceron tightened its grip. It made a hell of what should have beenHeaven.The Gate is locked; those Outside cannot hear our cries. So, in secret, I began tofashion a key.--Lord Calliston's Diary***As he passed under the gate of the City, Finn saw it had teeth.It was designed like a mouth, gaping wide, fanged with metal incisors that looked razor-sharp. He guessed there was some mechanism that closed it in emergencies, creatingan impassible interlocking bite.He glanced at Gildas, leaning wearily on the wagon. The old man was bruised and his lipswollen from the blow they had given him. Finn said, "There must be some of your peoplehere."The Sapient scratched his face with his tied hands and said dryly, "If so, they don'tcommand much respect."Finn frowned. This was all Keiro's fault. The first thing the213Crane-men had done after dragging them out of the trap had been to search Gildas'spack. They had tipped out the powders and ointments, the carefully wrapped quills, thebook of the Songs of Sapphique he always carried. None of those mattered. But whenthey had found the packets of meat, they had looked at one another. One of them, a thinscrawny man, had turned on his stilts and snapped, "So you're the thieves.""Listen, friend," Gildas had said darkly, "we had no idea the sheep was yours. Everyonehas to eat. I'll pay you, with my learning. I am a Sapient of some skill.""Oh, you'll pay, old man." The man's stare had been level. He had looked at hiscomrades; they had seemed amused. "With your hands, I would think, when the Justicessee this."Finn had been tied up, so tightly, the cords burned his skin. Dragged outside, he hadseen a small cart harnessed to a donkey; the Crane-men leaped up onto it, slidingexpertly out of the strange metal calipers.Roped behind, Finn had stumbled beside the old man along the road that led to the City.Twice he had glanced back, hoping to see Keiro or perhaps Attia, just a glimpse, a briefwave, but the forest was far away now, a distant glimmering of impossible colors, and theroad ran straight as an arrow down the long metallic slope, the ground on each sidestudded with spikes and jagged with chasms.Amazed at such defenses, he muttered, "What are they so scared of?"214Gildas scowled. "Attack, clearly. They're anxious to be in before Lightsout."More than anxious. Almost all of the great crowds they had seen earlier were alreadyinside the wall; as they hurried to the gate, a horn rang out in the citadel, and the Crane-men had urged the donkey on fiercely, so that Gildas was breathless with the pace, andalmost fell.Now, safe inside, Finn heard the clang of a portcullis and the rattle of chains. Had Keiroand Attia gotten here too? Or were they out there in the wood? He knew the Crane-menwould have found the Key if he'd kept it, but the thought of Keiro having it, perhapsspeaking to Claudia with it, made him nervous. And there was another thought thatnagged at him, but he would not think of that. Not yet."Come on." The leader of the foraging party pulled him upright. "We have to do thistonight. Before the Festival."As he trudged through the streets, Finn thought he had never seen such a hive of people.The lanes and alleyways were festooned with small lanterns; when the Prison lights wentoff the world was transformed instantly into a network of tiny twinkling silver sparks,beautiful and brilliant. There were thousands of inmates, setting up tents, bargaining invast bazaars, searching for shelter, herding sheep and cyber-horses into corrals andmarket squares. He saw beggars without hands, blinded, missing lips and ears. He sawdisfiguring diseases that made him gasp and turn away. And yet no215half-men. Here too it seemed, that abomination was restricted to animals.The noise of clattering hooves was deafening; the stink of dung and sweat, of crushedstraw and the sudden, vivid sweetness of sandalwood, of lemons. Dogs ran everywhere,tugging over food sacks, rummaging in drains, and slyly behind them the small copper-scaled rats that bred so fast slunk into cracks and doorways, their tiny eyes red.And he saw that images of Sapphique were on every corner, mounted above doorwaysand windows, a Sapphique who held out his right hand to show the missing finger, whoheld in the left what Finn recognized, with a silent leap of his heart, as a crystal Key."Do you see that?""I see it." Gildas sat breathlessly on a step while one of their captors moved into thecrowd. "This is obviously some sort of festival. Perhaps in Sapphique's honor.""These Justices ...""Leave the talking to me." Gildas straightened, tried to adjust his robe. "Don't say a word.Once they know what I am, we'll be released and this whole mess will be sorted. ASapient will be listened to."Finn scowled. "I hope so.""What else did you see, back there in the ruin? What else did Sapphique say?""Nothing." He had run out of lies, and his arms ached from216being tied in front of him. Fear was threading into his mind like a cold trickle."Not that we'll see the Key again," Gildas said bitterly. "Or that liar Keiro.""I trust him," Finn said between gritted teeth."More fool you."The men came back. They tugged their prisoners to one side, pushed them through anarchway in a wall and up a broad dim staircase that curved to the left. At the top a greatwooden door confronted them; by the light of the two lanterns that guarded it, Finn sawthat an enormous eye had been carved deep in the black wood; the eye stared out at himand he thought for a moment that it was alive, that it watched him, that it was the Eye ofIncarceron that had studied him curiously all his life.Then the Crane-man rapped on the wood and the door opened. Finn and Gildas were ledinside, a man on each side of them.The room, if it was a room, was pitch-black.Finn stopped instantly. He breathed hard, hearing echoes, a strange rustle. His senseswarned him of a great emptiness, before him, or perhaps to the side; he was terrified oftaking another step in case he plummeted into some unknown depths. A faint memorystirred in his mind, a whisper of someplace without light, without air. He pulled himselfupright. He had to keep alert.217The men stepped away, and he felt isolated, seeing nothing, touching no one.Then, not very far in front of him, a voice spoke."We are all criminals here. Is that not so?"It was a low, quiet question, modulated. He had no idea if the speaker was male orfemale.Gildas said immediately, "Not so. I am not a criminal, nor were my forebears. I am GildasSapiens, son of Amos, son of Gildas, who entered Incarceron on the Day of Closure."Silence. Then, "I did not think any of you were left." The same voice. Or was it? It camefrom slightly to the left now; Finn stared in that direction, but saw nothing."Neither I nor the boy have stolen from you," Gildas snapped. "Another of our companionskilled the animal. It was a mistake but--""Be silent."Finn gasped. The third voice, identical to the first two, came from the right. There must bethree of them.Gildas drew in a breath of annoyance. His very silence was angry.The central voice said heavily, "We are all criminals here. We are all guilty. EvenSapphique, who Escaped, had to pay the debt to Incarceron. Y too will pay the debt in ouyour flesh and with your blood. Both of you."Perhaps the light was growing, or perhaps Finn's eyes were adjusting. Because now hecould make them out; three218shadows seated before him, dressed in robes of black that covered their whole bodies,wearing strange headdresses of black that he realized all at once were wigs. Wigs ofraven-dark, straight hair. The effect was grotesque because the speakers were ancient.He had never seen women so old.Their skin was leathery with wrinkles, their eyes milky white. Each of them had her headlowered; as his foot scraped uneasily he saw how their faces turned to follow the sound,and he realized they were blind."Please ..." he muttered."There is no appeal. That is the sentence."He glanced at Gildas. The Sapient was staring at some objects at the women's feet. Onthe steps in front of the first lay a rough wooden spindle, and from it a thread spilled, a finesilvery weave. It coiled and tangled around the feet of the second woman, as if she nevermoved from the stool where she sat, and hidden in its skein was a measuring stick. Thethread, dirty by now and frayed, ran under the chair of the third, to where a sharp pair ofshears leaned.Gildas looked stricken. "I have heard of you," he whispered."Then you will know we are the Three Without Mercy, the Implacable Ones. Our justice isblind and deals only in facts. Y have stolen from these men, the evidence is presented." ouThe middle crone tipped her head. "Y agree, my sisters?" ouOne each side, identical voices whispered, "We agree."219"Then let the punishment for thieves be carried out."The men came forward, grabbed Gildas, and forced him to his knees. In the dimnessFinn saw the outline of a wooden block; the old man's arms were pulled down and heldacross it at the wrist. "No!" he gasped. "Listen to me ...""It wasn't us!" Finn tried to struggle. "This is wrong!"The three identical faces seemed deaf as well as blind. The central one raised a thinfinger; a knife blade glimmered in the darkness."I am a Sapient of the Academy." Gildas's voice was raw and terrified. Drops of sweatstood out on his forehead. "I will not be treated like a thief. Y have no right..." ouHe was held in a rigid grip; one man at his back, another grasping his tied wrists. Theknife blade was lifted. "Shut up, old fool," one of them muttered."We can pay. We have money. I can cure illnesses. The boy ... the boy is a seer. Hespeaks to Sapphique. He has seen the stars!"It came out like a cry of desperation. At once the man with the knife paused; his gazeflashed to the crones.Together they said, "The stars?" The words were an overlapping murmur, a wonderingwhisper. Gildas, gasping for breath, saw his chance. "The stars, Wise Women. The lightsSapphique speaks of. Ask him! He's a cell-born, a son of Incarceron."They were silent now. Their blind faces turned toward Finn; the central one held out herhand, beckoning, and the220Crane-man shoved him forward so that she touched his arm and grabbed it. Finn keptvery still. The old woman's hands were bony and dried the fingernails long and broken.She groped down his arms, over his chest, reached up to his face. He wanted to breakaway, to shudder, but he kept still, enduring the cool, rough fingers on his forehead, overhis eyes.The other women faced him, as if one felt for them all. Then, both hands pressed againsthis chest, the central Justice murmured, "I feel his heart. It beats boldly, flesh of the Prison,bone of the Prison. I feel the emptiness in him, the torn skies of the mind.""We feel the sorrow.""We feel the loss.""He serves me." Gildas heaved himself up and stood hastily. "Only me. But I give him toyou, sisters, I offer him to you in reparation for our crime. A fair exchange."Finn glared at him, astonished. "No! Y can't do that!" ouGildas turned. He was a small shrunken shape in the darkness, but his eyes were hardand crafty with sudden inspiration, his breathing ragged. He looked meaningfully at thering on Finn's finger. "I have no choice."The three crones turned to one another. They did not speak, bur some knowledgeseemed to pass between them. One cackled a sudden laugh that made Finn sweat andthe man behind him mutter with terror."Shall we?"221"Should we?""Could we?""We accept." They spoke it in unison. Then the crone on the left bent and picked up thespindle. Her cracked fingers spun it; she took the thread and pulled it out between fingerand thumb. "He will be the One. He will be the Tribute."Finn swallowed. He felt weak, his back sheened with cold sweat. "What tribute?"The second sister measured the thread, a short span. The third crone took the shears.Carefully she cut the thread and it fell silently in the dust."The Tribute we owe," she whispered, "to the Beast."***KEIRO AND Attia reached the City just before Lightsout, the last league on the back of awagon whose driver never even noticed them. Outside the gate they jumped off."Now what?" she whispered."We go straight in. Everyone else is."He strode off and she glared at his back, then ran after him.There was a smaller gate, and to the left a narrow slit in the wall. She wondered what itwas for, then she saw that the guards were making everyone walk through it.She looked back. The road was empty. Far out in the silent plain the defenses waited;high above, what might have been a bird circled like a silver spark in the dim mists.222Keiro pushed her forward. "Y first." ouAs they walked up, the guard ran a practiced eye over them, then jerked his head towardthe slit. Attia walked through. It was a dim, smelly passageway, and she emerged in thecobbled street of the City.Keiro took one step after her.Instantly, an alarm rang. Keiro turned. A soft, urgent bleep in the wall. Just above,Incarceron opened an Eye and stared.The guard, who had been closing the gate, stopped. He spun around, drawing his sword."Well, you don't look like ..."With one blow to the stomach Keiro doubled him up; another sent him crashing againstthe wall. He lay crumpled. Keiro took a breath, then crossed to the panel and flicked thealarm off. When he turned Attia was staring at him. "Why you? Why not me?""Who cares?" He strode quickly past her. "It probably sensed the Key."She stared at his back, at the rich jerkin and the mane of hair he pushed so carelesslyback. Quietly, so he couldn't hear her, she said, "So why are you so scared?"***WHEN THE carriage dipped as he climbed in, Claudia sighed with relief. "I thought you'dnever come."She turned from the window and the words died in her mouth."I'm touched," her father said dryly.223He pulled off one glove and flicked dust from the seat. Then he laid his stick and a bookbeside him, and called, "Drive on.The carriage creaked as the horses were whipped up. In a moment of jangling harnessand the swaying turn in the inn-yard Claudia tried to stop herself falling into his trap. Butthe anxiety was too much. "Where's Jared? I thought...""I asked him to travel with Alys in the third coach this morning. I felt we should talk."It was an insult, of course, though Jared wouldn't care and Alys would be thrilled to havehim to herself. But to treat a Sapient like a servant... She was rigid with fury.Her father watched her a moment, then gazed out of the window, and she saw that he hadallowed a little more gray into his beard, so that his look of grave distinction was strongerthan ever.He said, "Claudia, a few days ago you asked me about your mother."If he had struck her, she couldn't have been more astonished. Then, instantly, she was onthe alert. It was just like him to take the initiative, to turn the game around, to attack. Hewas a master chess player at the Court. She was a pawn on his board, a pawn he wouldmake a queen, despite everything.Outside, a soft summer rain was drenching the fields. It smelled sweet and fresh. Shesaid, "Y I did." esHe gazed out at the countryside, his fingers playing with224the black gloves. "It is very hard for me to speak about her, but today, on this journeytoward everything I have always worked for, perhaps the time has come." Claudia bit herlip.All she felt was fear. And for a moment, just a fragment of time, something she had neverfelt before. She felt sorry for him.22518***We have paid the tribute of the dearest and best and now we await the outcome. If ittakescenturies, we will not forget. Like wolves we will stand guard. If revenge must be takenwewill take it.--The Steel Wolves***"I married in middle age." John Arlex watched the heavy foliage of summer shadow theinterior of the coach with glints of sunlight. "I was a wealthy man--our family has alwaysbeen part of the Court--and the post of Warden had been mine from youth. A greatresponsibility, Claudia. Y have no idea how great." ouHe sighed briefly.The coach jolted over stones. In the pocket of her traveling coat, she felt the crystal Keytap against her knee, remembered Finns fear, his starved face. Were they all like that, thePrisoners her father watched over?"Helena was a beautiful and elegant woman. Ours was not an arranged marriage, but achance meeting at a winter ball at the Court. She was a Lady of the Chamber to the lastQueen, Giles's mother, an orphan, the last of her line."226He paused, as if he wanted her to say something, but she didn't. She felt that if she spokeit would break the spell, that he might stop. He didn't look at her. Softly he said, "I was verymuch in love with her."Her hands were clenched together. She made them relax."After a short courtship we were married at Court. A quiet wedding, not like yours will be,but there was a discreet banquet later, and Helena sat at the head of my table andlaughed. She looked very much like you, Claudia, if a little shorter. Her hair was fair andsmooth. She always wore a black velvet ribbon around her neck, with a portrait of us bothinside it."He smoothed his knee absently."When she told me she was pregnant I was more happy than I can say. Perhaps I hadthought the time was gone, that I would never have an heir. That the care of Incarceronwould pass from the family, that the line of the Arlexi would die out with me. In any case, Itook even greater care of her. She was strong, but the constraints of Protocol had to beobserved."He looked up. "We had so little time together."Claudia took a breath. "She died.""When the child was born." He looked away, out of the window. Leaf shadows flashedover his face. "We had a midwife and one of the most renowned of the Sapienti inattendance, but nothing could be done."She had no idea what to say. Nothing had prepared her for this. He had never talked toher like this before. Her fingers227were knotted back together. She said, "I never saw her then.""Never." His dark glance turned to her. "And afterward I could not bear to see her image.There was a portrait, but I had it locked away. Now there is only this."He drew from inside his shirt a small gold locket, tugged the black ribbon over his headand held it out. For a moment she was almost afraid to take it; when she did, it was warmfrom his body heat."Open it," he said.She undid the fastening. Inside, facing each other in two oval frames were two miniatures,exquisitely painted. On the right, her father, looking grave and younger, his hair a richbrown. And opposite, in a low-cut gown of crimson silk, a woman with a sweet, delicateface, smiling, a tiny flower held to her mouth.Her mother.Her fingers trembled; glancing up to see if he noticed, she saw he was watching her. Hesaid, "I will have a copy made for you at Court. Master Alan the painter is a fineworkman."She wanted him to break down, to cry out. She wanted him to be angry, to be scorchedwith grief, something, anything she could respond to. But there was only his grave calm.She knew he had won this round of the game. Silently she gave the medallion back.He slid it into his pocket.Neither of them spoke for a while. The coach rumbled along228the high road; they passed through a village of tumbledown cottages and a pond wheregeese rose up and flapped white wings in fright. Then the road ran uphill, into the greenshade of a wood.Claudia felt hot and embarrassed. A wasp blundered through the open window; shewaved it out and wiped her hands and face with a small handkerchief noticing how thebrown dust of the road came off on the white linen.Finally she said, "Fm glad you've told me. Why now?""I am not a demonstrative man, Claudia. But only now am I ready to speak of it." His voicewas gravelly and hoarse. "This wedding will be the pinnacle of my life. Of hers too, hadshe lived. We must think of her, of how proud and happy she would have felt." He raisedhis eyes and they were gray as steel. "Nothing must be allowed to spoil things, Claudia.Nothing must get in the way of our success."She met his eyes; he smiled his slow smile. "Now. I am sure you would prefer Jared'scompany to mine." There was an edge to the words that she did not miss. He picked uphis stick and thumped on the carriage roof; outside, the coachman gave a low call,drawing the horses to a restless, stamping, snorting halt. When they were still, the Wardenleaned over and opened the door. He climbed down and stretched. "What a beautifulview. Look, my dear."She stepped out beside him.A great river ran below them, glinting in the summer229sunshine. It ran through rich farmlands, the fields golden with the ripening barley, and shesaw that butterflies were rising in clouds from the flowery meadows beside the road. Thesun was hot on her arms; she raised her face to it gratefully, closing her eyes and seeingonly a red heat, smelling the dust and some pungent crushed yarrow in the hedge.When she opened them again he was gone, walking back to the following coaches,swishing his stick, speaking a pleasant word to Lord Evian, who climbed out andmopped perspiration from his red face.And the Realm stretched before her to the distant misty heat of the horizon, and shewished for a second that she could run into its summer stillness, escape into the peace ofthe empty land. Somewhere no one else would be.Somewhere she would be free.A movement at her elbow. Lord Evian stood there, sipping from a small wine flask."Beautiful," he breathed. He pointed a plump finger. "Do you see?"She saw a glitter miles away in the distant hills. A brilliant diamond-white reflection. Andshe knew it was the sunlight on the roof of the great Glass Court.***KEIRO ATE the last scrap of meat and leaned back, replete. He drank the dregs of beerand looked around for someone to refill the tankard.Attia was still sitting by the door; he ignored her. The tavern230was full; he had to call twice to get attention. Then the alewife came over with a jug and asshe filled said, "What about your friend? Doesn't she eat?""She's no friend of mine.""She came in behind you."He shrugged. "Can't help being followed by girls. I mean, look at me."The woman laughed and shook her head. "All right, handsome. Pay up."He counted out a few coins, drank the beer, and stood, stretching. He felt better after thewash, and the flame-red jerkin had always looked good on him. Striding between thetables he ignored Attia as she scrambled up to follow and was halfway down the dimalleyway before her voice made him stop."When are we going to find them?"He didn't turn."God knows what's happening to them. Y promised ..." ouKeiro swung around. "Why don't you get lost?"The girl stared back. She was a timid little thing, he'd thought, but this was the secondtime she'd confronted him, and it was getting annoying. "I'm not going anywhere," shesaid quietly.Keiro grinned. "Y think I'm going to desert them, don't your ou"Yes."Her directness threw him. It made him angry. He turned231and walked on, but she came after him like a shadow. Like a dog."I think you want to, but I won't let you. I won't let you take the Key."He told himself he wouldn't answer her, but the words came out anyway. "Y have no ouidea what I'll do. Finn and I are oathbrothers. That means everything. And I keep myword.""Do you?" Her voice slid into a sly copy of Jormanric's. " I haven't kept my word since Iwas ten and knifed my own brother. Is that how it works, Keiro? Is that how the Comitatusis still with us, inside you?"He turned on her then, but she was ready for him. She leaped, scratching his face, kickingand pushing him so that he staggered and crashed back against the wall. The Key fellout, a clatter on the filthy cobbles; they both grabbed for it, but she was quicker.Keiro hissed with anger. He caught her hair, dragged it back savagely. "Give it to me!"She screamed and squirmed."Let go of it!"He pulled harder. With a howl of pain Attia threw the Key into the darkness; instantly Keirolet her go and scrambled after it, but as soon as he picked it up, he dropped it with a yell.It lay on the ground, small blue lights traveling inside it.Suddenly, with alarming silence, an image field sprang up around it. They saw a girldressed in a sumptuous dress, her232back against a tree, lit by a glorious brilliance of light. She stared at them both. When shespoke, her voice was sharp with suspicion."Where's Finn? Who the hell are you?"***THEY HAD given him a meal of honeycakes and some strange seeds and a hot drinkthat bubbled slightly, but he had been afraid to taste it in case it was drugged. Whateverhe was going into, he wanted a clear head.They had also given him clean clothes and water to wash in. Outside the door of the roomtwo of the Crane-men stood, leaning against the wall.He crossed to the window. There was a long drop. Below was a narrow street, crowdedwith people even now, begging and selling and setting up makeshift camps in the street,sleeping under sacks, their animals wandering everywhere. The noise was appalling.He put his hands on the sill and leaned out, looking up at the roofs. They were mostlystraw, with some metal patched here and there. There was no way he could climb out onthem; the house leaned outward as if it would fall, and he certainly would. For a momenthe wondered if it might not be better to break his neck here than have to face somenameless creature, but there was still time. Things might change.He ducked inside and sat on the stool trying to think. Where233was Keiro? What was he doing? What plan did he have? Keiro was willful and wild, buthe was a great plotter. The ambush of the Civicry had been his idea. He was bound tothink of something good. Already Finn missed his brashness, his utter self-certainty.The door opened; Gildas squeezed in."You!" Finn jumped up. "You've got a nerve ..."The Sapient held up both hands. "You're angry. Finn, I had no choice. Y saw what would ouhave happened to us." He sounded grim, went and sat heavily on the stool. "Besides, Fmcoming with you.""They said only me.""Silver coins do much." He grunted tetchily. "Most people try to bribe their way out ofbeing taken to the Cave, it seems, not in."There was only one seat in the room; Finn sat on the floor among the straw and wrappedhis arms around his knees. "I thought I was on my own," he said softly."Well, you're not. I am not Keiro, and I will not desert my seer."Finn scowled. Then he said, "Would you desert me if I saw nothing?"Gildas rubbed his dry hands together, making a papery sound. "Of course not."They were silent a moment, listening to the babble of the street. Then Finn said, "Tell meabout the Cave."234"I thought you knew the story. Sapphique came to the Citadel of the Justices, which mustbe where we are. He learned that the people here pay a Tribute every month to a beingthey only know as the Beast--the tribute is a young man or woman of the town. They gointo a cave on the mountainside; none ever return."He scratched his beard. "Sapphique came before the Justices and offered himself inplace of the girl whose life was due. They say she wept at his feet. As he went out all thepeople of the town watched him go, in silence. He entered the Cave alone, withoutweapons."Finn said, "And?"Gildas was silent a moment. When he went on, his voice was lower. "For three daysnothing happened. Then, on the fourth, news went around like wildfire that the strangerhad emerged from the Cave. The townspeople lined the walls, threw open the gates.Sapphique walked slowly up the road. When he reached the gates he lifted up his hand,and they saw that the index finger on the right was missing, and that the hand bled into thedust. He said, 'The debt has not been paid. There is not enough of me to pay the debt.What lives in the Cave is a hunger that can never be satisfied. An emptiness that cannever be filled.' Then he turned and walked away and the people let him go. But the girl,the one whose life he saved, she ran after him, and traveled with him for a while. She wasthe first of his Followers."235Finn said, "What--?" but the door slammed open before he could finish. The Crane-menbeckoned. "Out. The boy must sleep now. At Lightson we leave."Gildas went, with one swift look. The man threw Finn some blankets; he dragged themaround himself and sat huddled against the wall, listening to the voices and singing andbarking in the street.He felt cold and utterly alone. He tried to think of Keiro, of Claudia, the girl the Key hadshown him. And Attia, would she forget him? Would they all leave him to his fate?He rolled over and curled up.And then he saw the Eye.It was very tiny, up near the ceiling, half hidden in cobwebs.It watched him steadily and he stared back, then sat up and faced it. "Speak to me," hesaid, his voice soft with anger and scorn. "Are you too scared to speak to me? If I wasborn from you, then talk to me. Tell me what to do. Spring the doors open."The Eye was a red spark, unblinking."I know you're there. I know you can hear me. I've always known. The others forget, but Idon't." He was standing now; he came over and reached up, but the Eye was, as always,too high. "I told her about you, the Maestra, the woman that was killed, that I killed. Did yousee that? Did you see her fall, did you catch her? Have you got her somewhere, alive?"236His voice was shaking, his mouth was dry; he knew the signs but was too angry andscared to stop."I will Escape from you. I will, I swear it. There must be somewhere to go. Where you can'tsee me. Where you don't exist!He was sweating, sick. He had to sit down, lie down, let the dizziness sweep over him,the patchwork of images, a room, a table, a boat on a dark lake. He choked on them,fought them off, drowned in them. "No," he said. "No." The Eye was a star. A red star. It fellslowly into his open mouth. And as it burned inside him, he heard it speak in the faintestof breaths, the murmur of dust in deserted corridors, the scorch of ashes in the heart ofthe fire."I am everywhere" it whispered. "Everywhere."23719***Down the endless halls of guiltMy silver thread of tears is spilt.My fingerbone the key that brokeMy blood the oil that smoothes the lock.---Songs of Sapphique***Claudia stared at the holo-image in dismay. "What do you mean imprisoned? Y ou're all inPrison, aren't you?" The boy grinned, a soft mockery she already disliked. He sat on thecurb of what looked like some sort of dark alleyway and leaned back, gazing at her with aconsidering scrutiny. "Are we, indeed? And where are you then, Princess?"She frowned. In fact she had run into the garderobe of the hostelry where the carriageshad stopped for lunch, a stinking stone chamber too close to Protocol for comfort. But shewasn't going to waste time explaining. "Listen to me, whatever your name is--""Keiro.""Well, Keiro. It's vital I speak to Finn. How did you get this Key from him anyway? Did yousteal it?"He had very blue eyes, and his hair was blond and long. He was handsome and hecertainly knew it. He said, "Finn and238I are oathbrothers, sworn to each other. He gave it to me for safety.""So he trusts you?""Of course."Another voice said, "Well, I don't."A girl stepped up behind him; he glared at her hotly and muttered, "Will you shut up?" butshe crouched and spoke hurriedly to Claudia."I'm Attia. I think he's going to leave Finn and the Sapient and try to Escape as Sapphiquedid, and he thinks the Key will work for him. Y musn't let him! Finn will die." ouBewildered by the names, Claudia said, "Wait. Slow down! Why will he die?""They seem to have some sort of ritual in this Wing. He has to face the Beast. Is thereanything you can do? Some magic from the stars? Y have to help us!" ouThe girl had the filthiest clothes Claudia had ever seen; her hair was dark and hacked intoa rough, jagged cut. She was clearly worried sick. Trying to think, Claudia said, "How canI do anything? Y have to get him out of it!" ou"What makes you think we can?" Keiro asked calmly."You've got no choice." A shout out in the inn-yard made her glance around nervously."Because Finn is the only one I'll talk to.""Like him, do you? And who are you anyway?"She glared. "The Warden of Incarceron is my father."239Keiro snorted. "What Warden?""He ... oversees the Prison." She felt cold. His scorn chilled her. Quickly she went on."Maybe I can find charts of the Prison, a map of its secret ways, its doorways andcorridors that will show you the way out. But I won't tell you a thing until I see Finn."It was a lie that would have made Jared groan, but she had no choice. She didn't trust thisKeiro; he was too arrogant, and the girl seemed angry and scared.Keiro shrugged. "What's so special about Finn?"She hesitated. Then she said, "I think ... I think I recognize him. He's older, he looksdifferent, but there's something about him, his voice ... If I'm right his real name is Giles,and he's the son of... a fairly important person out here." She shouldn't say too much. Justenough to get him to act.Keiro stared, astonished. "Are you telling me all that guff about coming in from Outside isactually true? That mark on his wrist means something?""I've got to go. Just get him."He folded his arms. "If I can't?""Then forget the magic of the stars." She looked at the girl, their eyes meeting briefly."And this Key will just be a useless lump of crystal. But if you're his brother, you'd want torescue him."Keiro nodded. "I do." He nodded toward Attia. "Forget her. She's crazy. She knowsnothing." His voice was low and240earnest. "Finn and I are brothers and we watch each other's backs. Always."Attia gazed at Claudia, her face bruised. Doubt moved in her eyes. "Is he related to you?"she asked quietly. "Y brother? Cousin?" ourClaudia shrugged. "Just a friend. A friend, that's all." Hurriedly, she switched the field off.The Key glimmered in the fetid darkness. She shoved it into the pocket in her skirt andran out, desperate for fresh air. Alys was loitering anxiously in the passageway, servantsbustling past her with trays and dishes."Oh, there you are, Claudia! Earl Caspar is looking for you."But Claudia could already hear him, the thin annoying bray of his voice, and to her dismayshe saw that it was Jared he was talking to, and Lord Evian, the three of them sitting onbenches in the sunshine, the hostel dogs sprawled in an expectant row at their feet.She came out and crossed the cobbles.Evian stood immediately and made an ornate bow; Jared moved quietly to make a spacefor her. Caspar said crossly, "You're always avoiding me, Claudia!""Of course not. Why on earth would I do that?" She sat down and smiled. "How nice. Allmy friends together."Caspar scowled. Jared shook his head slightly. Beside them Evian hid a smile with hislace-edged handkerchief. She wondered how he could sit there so coolly with the Earl, aboy he241was plotting to have murdered. But then, he would probably protest that it wasn't personal,that this was politics, nothing more. The game, always.She turned to Jared. "I want you to travel with me now. I'm so bored! We can discussMenessier's Natural History of the Realm?"Why not me?" Caspar tossed a hunk of meat to the dogs and watched them fight over it."I'm not boring." His small eyes turned to her. "Am I?"It was a challenge. "Indeed not, Y Grace." She smiled pleasantly. "And of course I'd ourlove you to join us. Menessier has some excellent passages on the fauna in theconiferous forests."He stared at her in disgust. "Claudia, don't try that wide-eyed innocent junk with me. I toldyou, I don't care what you get up to. Anyway, I know all about it. Fax told me about lastnight."She felt herself go pale, couldn't look at Jared. The dogs growled and fought. Onebrushed her skirt and she stamped at it.Caspar stood up, smugly triumphant. He was wearing a garish collar of gold links and afrock coat of black velvet, and he kicked the dogs aside till they yelped. "But I'm warningyou, Claudia, you'd better be more discreet. My mothers not as open-minded as I am. Ifshe found out, she'd be furious." He grinned at Jared. "Y clever tutor might find that his ourillness gets suddenly worse."242She was so angry, she almost leaped to her feet, but Jared's light touch kept her sitting.They watched Caspar stride away across the inn-yard, avoiding the puddles and dungheaps in his expensive boots.Finally Lord Evian took out his snuffbox. "Dear me," he said quietly. "Now that was athreat if ever I heard one."Claudia met Jared's eyes. They were dark and troubled. "Fax?" he said.She shrugged, exasperated with herself. "He saw me coming out of your room last night."His dismay showed. "Claudia ...""I know. I know. It's all my fault."Evian sniffed the snuff delicately. "If I may be allowed to comment, that was a veryunfortunate thing to happen.""It's not what you think." I'm sure."No. Really. And you can drop the act. I've told Jared about... the Steel Wolves."He glanced around quickly. "Claudia, not aloud, please." His voice lost its affectations. "Iappreciate you trust your tutor, but--""Of course she should have told me." Jared tapped the table-top with his long fingers."Because the whole plot is foolish, utterly criminal, and almost certain to be betrayed.How could you even think about bringing her into it!""Because we can't do it without her." The fat man was243calm, but a film of sweat glistened on his forehead. "Y above all, Master Sapient, ouunderstand what the iron decrees of the Havaarna have done to us. We are rich, some ofus, and live well, but we are not free. We are chained hand and foot by Protocol, enslavedto a static, empty world where men and women can't read, where the scientific advancesof the ages are the preserve of the rich, where artists and poets are doomed to endlessrepetitions and sterile reworkings of past masterpieces. Nothing is new. New does notexist. Nothing changes, nothing grows, evolves, develops. Time has stopped. Progress isforbidden."He leaned forward. Claudia had never seen him so grave, so stripped of his effetedisguise, and it chilled her, as if he were someone else entirely, an older, exhausted,desperate man."We are dying, Claudia. We must break open this cell we have bricked ourselves into,escape from this endless wheel we tread like rats. I have dedicated myself to freeing us. Ifit means my death, I don't care, because even death will be a sort of freedom."In the stillness the rooks cawed around the trees overhead. Horses in the stable yardwere being harnessed, their feet stamping the cobbles.Claudia licked dry lips. "Don't do anything yet," she whispered. "I may have ... someinformation for you. But not yet." She stood quickly, not wanting to say any more, notwanting to feel the raw anguish he had opened in her like a stab wound."The horses are ready. Let's go."244***THE STREETS were full of people, all silent. Their silence terrified Finn; it was sointense, and the hungry way they looked at him made him stumble, the women and thescruffy children, the maimed, the old, the soldiers; cold, curious stares that he dared notmeet, so that he looked down, at his feet, at the dirt on the road, anywhere but at them.The only sound that rang in the steep streets was the steady tramp of the six guardsaround him, the crack of their iron-soled boots on the cobbles, and far above, circling likean omen, a single large bird screeching mournful cries among the clouds and echoingwinds of Incarceron's vault.Then someone sang back, a single note of lament, and as if it was a signal, all the crowdpicked it up and crooned it softly, their sorrow and their fear in one strange soft song. Hetried to make out the words, but only fragments came to him ... the silver thread that broke... all down the endless halls of guilt and dreams ... and like a chorus the haunting,repeated phrase: his fingerbone the key, his blood the oil that smoothes the lock.Turning a corner, Finn glanced back.Gildas walked behind, alone. The guards ignored him, but he walked firmly, his head high,and the peoples eyes moved wonderingly over the green of his Sapient coat.The old man looked grim and purposeful; he gave Finn a brief nod of encouragement.245There was no sign of Keiro or Attia. Desperately Finn stared into the crowds. Had theyfound out what was happening to him? Would they wait outside the Cave?Had they spoken to Claudia? Anxiety tormented him, and he would not let himself thinkthe thing that he dreaded, that lurked in the dark of his mind like a spider, like Incarceron'smocking whisper.That Keiro might have taken the Key and gone.He shook his head. In the three years of the Comitatus, Keiro had never betrayed him.Taunted him, yes, laughed at him, stolen from him, fought with him, argued with him. Buthe'd always been there. And yet now Finn realized with a sudden coldness how little heknew about his oathbrother, about where he had come from. Keiro just said his parentswere dead. Finn had never asked any questions. He'd always been too absorbed in hisown agonizing loss, in the memory flashes and the fits.He should have asked.He should have cared.A rain of tiny black petals began to fall on him. Looking up he saw that the people werethrowing them, tossing out handfuls that fell on the cobbles and made a fragrant darkcarpet on the road. And he saw that the petals had a peculiar quality, that as they touchedeach other they melted, and that the gutters and streets ran with a sticky, clotted mass thatexuded the sweetest of scents.246It made him feel strange. And as if it broke into a dream, it made him remember the voicehe had heard in the night.I am everywhere. As if the Prison had answered him. He looked up now, as they marchedunder the gaping maw of the gate, and saw a single red Eye in the portcullis, itsunblinking gaze fixed on him,"Can you see me?" he breathed. "Did you speak to me?"But the gate was behind him and they were out of the City.The road led straight and it was deserted. The sticky oil trickled along it; behind he heardthe gates and doors slam, the wooden bolts drawn across, the iron grilles crash down.Out here under the vault the world seemed empty, the plain swept by icy winds.The soldiers hastily unshouldered the heavy axes they carried; the one in front also hadsome sort of device with a canister attached, a Same-throwing machine, Finn guessed.He said, "Let the Sapient catch up."They slowed, as if now he was not their prisoner but their leader, and Gildas strodebreathlessly up and said, "Y brother hasn't shown himself" our"He'll turn up." Saying it helped.They walked swiftly, closed into a tight group. On either side the ground was seamed withpits and traps; Finn saw the steel teeth gleam in their depths. Glancing back, he wassurprised at how the City was already far behind, its walls lined with people, watching,shouting, holding their children up to see.247The guard captain said, "We turn off the road here. Be careful; step only where we stepand don't think of running off. The ground is sewn with fireglobes."Finn had no idea what fireglobes were, but Gildas frowned. "This Beast must befearsome indeed."The man glanced at him. "I have never seen it, Master, and don't intend to."Once off the smooth road the going was rough. The coppery earth seemed to have beenscored and clawed into vast furrows; in several places it was burned, carbonized to acharcoal crispness that rose in clouds of dust as they trod on it, or vitrified almost toglass. Enormous heat would have been needed to do that, Finn thought. It stank too, anacrid cindery smell. He followed the men closely, watching their steps with nervousattention; when they paused and he raised his head, he saw that they were far out on theplain, the Prison lights so high above they were brilliant suns, casting his and Gildas'sshadows behind them.Far in the mile-high vault the bird still circled. Once it screeched, and the guards lookedup at it. The nearest muttered, "Looking for carrion."Finn began to wonder how far they would walk. There were no hills out here, no ridges, sowhere would they find a cave? He had pictured it as some dark aperture in a metallic cliff.Now he was filled with a new apprehension, because even his imagination was betrayinghim.248"Stop." The guard captain held up a hand. "This is it."There was nothing there. That was Finn's first idea. Relief flooded him. It was all apretense. They'd let him go now, run back to the City, spin some gruesome tale about amonster to keep the people quiet.Then, as he pushed past the men, he saw the pit in the ground.And the Cave.***JARED SAID, "Y promised them maps that don't exist! It was a crazy idea, Claudia. ouThings are getting so dangerous for us!"She knew he was deeply worried. She crossed to his side of the carriage and said,"Master, I know. But the stakes are so high."He looked up and she saw the pain was back behind his eyes. "Claudia, tell me you'renot thinking seriously about this folly of Evian's. We are not murderers!""I'm not. If my plan works, there'll be no need of it." But she didn't say what she wasthinking: that if the Queen really did find out, that if he, Jared, was in any danger at all, shewould have them all killed without hesitation, even her father, to save him.Maybe he knew it. As the carriage jolted he glanced out of the window and his expressiondarkened, his black hair brushing the collar of the Sapient coat. "Here's our prison," hesaid bleakly.249And following his gaze she saw the pinnacles and glass towers of the Palace, the turretsand towers festooned with flags and bunting, heard that all the bells were ringing towelcome her, all the doves flapping, all the cannon were being fired in deep boomingsalute from every mile-high terrace that rose in splendor into the pure blue sky.25020***We have put everything that is left into this.It is bigger than all of us now.--Project report; Martor Sapiens***"Take this, and this."The guard captain thrust a small leather bag and a sword into Finn's hands. The bagseemed so light, it must be empty. "What's in it?" he asked nervously."You'll see." The man stepped back and glanced at Gildas. Then he said, "Why not flee,Master? Why waste your life?""My life is Sapphique's," Gildas snapped. "His fate is mine." The captain shook his head."Suit yourself. But no one else has ever come back." He jerked his head at the Caveentrance."There it is."There was a moment of tense silence. The guards gripped their axes tightly; Finn knewthat this was the moment they expected him to make some sort of break for freedom, nowthat he had a sword in his hand and his back to unknown terrors. How many of thosebrought as Tribute had screamed and fought in panic here?Not him. He was Finn.Reckless, he turned and looked down at the crack.251It was very thin, and utterly black. Its edges were burned and scorched, as if the metal ofthe Prison's structure had been superheated and melted countless times into grotesquetwistings and taperings. As if whatever crawled out of these metal lips could melt steellike toffee.He glanced at Gildas. "I'll go first." Before the Sapient could object, he turned andlowered himself into the slash of darkness, taking one last rapid look into the distance.But the scarred plain was empty, the City a remote fortress.He slithered his boots over the edge, found a foothold, squeezed his body in.Once he was below ground level, the darkness closed over him. By feeling with handsand feet he realized that the crack was a horizontal space between tilted strata, and itsloped down into the ground. He had to spread-eagle himself to fir in it, inching forwardover a dark slab-like surface littered with debris that seemed to be stones and smoothballs of melted steel that rolled painfully under him. His fingers groped in dust and a lumpof rubble that crumbled away like bone. He dropped it hastily.The roof was low; twice it grazed his back and he began to fear being stuck. As soon asthe thought touched him with cold terror he stopped.Sweating, he gulped a deep breath. "Where are you?""Right behind." Gildas sounded strained. His voice echoed; a small shower of dust fellfrom above into Finn's hair and eyes. A hand grabbed his boot. "Move on."252"Why?" He tried to roll his head to look back. "Why not wait here till Lightsout, then crawlback. Don't tell me those men will wait out there until dark. They've probably gone already.What's to stop us ...?""Fireglobes are to stop us, fool boy. Acres of them. One wrong step and your foot's blownoff. And you didn't see what I saw last night, how they patrol the City walls, how vastsearchlights sweep the plain all night. We'd be easily seen." He laughed, a grim bark inthe darkness. "I meant what I said to the blind women. Y are a Starseer. If Sapphique oucame here, so must we. Though I fear my theory that the way out leads upward seemsdoomed to be proved wrong."Finn shook his head in disbelief. Even in this mess the old man cared more about histheories than anything else. He scrabbled on, digging the toes of his boots in and heavinghimself forward.For the next few minutes he was sure that the roof was dipping so low that it would meetthe floor and trap him; then, to his relief, the gap began to widen and at the same time tipleftward and slope more steeply. Finally he could rise to his knees without banging hishead on the roof. "It opens ahead." His voice was hollow."Wait there."Gildas fumbled. There was a loud crack and light hissed; one of the crude, smoking flaresthe Comitatus had used to signal distress. It showed Finn the Sapient lying flat on hisstomach253dragging a candle from the pack. He lit it from the flare; as the spitting red light died, thesmall flames flickered, guttering in a draft from somewhere ahead."I didn't know you'd brought those.""Some of us," Gildas said, "thought to bring more than garish clothes and useless rings."He cupped his hand around the flame. "Go quietly. Though whatever it is it will havealready smelled and heard us coming."As if in answer, something rumbled ahead. A low grinding sound, sensed like a vibrationunder their splayed hands. Finn tugged the sword out and gripped it tight. He could seenothing in the blackness.He moved on, and the tunnel opened, became a space around him. In the flicker of thetiny candle flame he saw the ridged sides of the metal strata, outcrops of crystal quartzes,strange furrings of oxides that gleamed in turquoises and orange as the light edged pastthem. He pulled himself to hands and knees.Ahead, something moved. He sensed it rather than heard it, felt a draft of foul air thatcaught in the back of his throat. Very still, he listened, every sense straining.Behind him, Gildas grunted."Keep still!"The Sapient cursed. "Is it here?""I think so."He was becoming aware of the space. As he grew accustomed to the darkness, edgesand facades of sloping rock began254to separate from shadows; he saw a pinnacle of scorched stone and realized withsudden shock that it was immense, and a long way off, and that the draft was a wind now,blowing in his face, a warm stench like the breathing of a great creature, a terrible acridstink.And then in an instant of clarity he knew it was curled all around him, that the black,faceted rock face was its scabbed skin, the vast spurs of stone its fossilized claws, thathe was in a cave formed by the ancient, scaly hide of some smoldering beast.He turned to yell a warning.But slowly, with a terrible creaking weight, an eye opened. A red eye, heavily lidded,bigger than he was.***ALL THE way through the streets the noise was deafening. Flowers were flung constantly;after a while Claudia found herself flinching at the repeated thud and slither of the impacton the carriage roof and the scent of the crushed stems grew sweet and cloying. Theclimb was steep and she was tossed uncomfortably in the seat; beside her Jared lookedpale. She took his arm. "Are you all right?"He smiled wanly. "I wish we could get out. Throwing up on the Palace steps won't makemuch of an impression."She tried to smile. Together they sat in silence as the carriage rumbled and clatteredthrough the gateways of the Outer Citadel, under its vast defenses, through its courtyardsand cobbled porticoes, and with each twist and turn, she knew255she was becoming ensnared deeper and deeper in the life that waited for her here, themazes of power, the labyrinth of treachery. Slowly the raucous shouts faded; the wheelsran smoothly, and peeping around the curtain she saw that the road was lined with redcarpet, expensive swathes of it, and all across the streets garlands of flowers hung anddoves flapped between roofs and gables.There were more people up here; these were the apartments of the courtiers, the PrivyCouncil and the Office of the Protocol, and the cheers were more refined, punctuated bybursts of music from viols and serpents and fife and drum. Somewhere ahead she couldhear roars and clapping--Caspar was obviously leaning from the window of his coach toacknowledge his welcome home."They'll want to see the bride," Jared murmured."She's not here yet."A silence. Then she said, "Master, I'm afraid." She felt his surprise. "I am, truly. This placescares me. At home, I know who I am, what to do. I'm the Warden's daughter, I knowwhere I stand. But this is a dangerous place, full of pitfalls. All my life I've known it waswaiting for me, but now I'm not sure I can face it. They'll want to absorb me, make me oneof them, and I won't change, I won't! I want to stay me."He sighed, and she saw his dark gaze was fixed on the veiled window. "Claudia, you'rethe bravest person I know.""I'm not..."256"Y are. And no one will change you. Y will rule here, though k won't be easy. The ou ouQueen is powerful, and she will envy you, because you're young and you'll take her place.Y power is as great as hers." our"But if they send you away ..."He turned. "I won't go. I am not a brave man, I understand that. Confrontation disturbs me;one look from your father and I'm chilled to the bone, Sapient or not. But they can't makeme leave you, Claudia." He sat upright, away from her. "I have looked death in the face foryears now, and that gives some sort of recklessness, at least.""Don't talk about that."He shrugged gently. "It will come. But we mustn't think so much of ourselves. We shouldconsider whether we can help Finn. Give me the Key and let me work on it a little more. Ithas complexities I've barely guessed at yet."As the coach joked over a threshold she took it from her hidden pocket and gave it tohim, and as she did so the wings of the eagle deep in the crystal flickered, as if it flappedthem and took off. Jared pulled back the curtain quickly, and the sun caught the gleamingfacets.The bird was flying.It was flying over a dark landscape, a charred plain. Far below, a chasm gaped in theearth, and the bird swooped and plummeted inside, twisting sideways into the narrowcrack, making Claudia hiss with fear.257The Key went black. One single red light pulsed in it.But even as they stared at it the coach rumbled to a halt, the horses stamping andblowing, and the door was flung open. The Warden's shadow darkened the threshold."Come, my dear," he said quietly. "They're all waiting."Without looking at Jared, without even letting herself think, she stepped out of the coachand drew herself upright, her arm in her father's.Together, they faced the double row of applauding courtiers, the splendor of silk banners,the great stairway leading upward to the throne.Sitting on it, resplendent in a silver gown with vast ruff, sat the Queen. Even from thisdistance the redness of her hair and lips were evident, the radiance of the diamonds ather neck. Behind her shoulder, a scowling presence, stood Caspar.The Warden said calmly, "The smile, I think."She put it on. The bright, confident smile, as false as everything in her life, a cloak overthe coldness.Then they walked steadily up the stairs.***IT WASthe ironic stare of his nightmares and he recognized it, his voice hoarse. " You? "Behind, he heard Gildas's gasp. "Strike at it. Strike, Finn!"The Eye was aswirl. Its pupil was a spiral of movement, a scarlet galaxy. All around it,heaving itself up, the darkness convulsed, and he saw the vast hide of the Beast wasstudded with objects,258bits of jewelry, bones, fragments of rags, shafts of weapons. They were centuries old; skinand hide had grown over them. With a tearing and cracking an outcrop of dark facetedrock became its head and reared up over him; spurs of metal slid out like claws, graspingthe shuddering tilting floor of the cavern.Finn couldn't move. Dust and fumes clouded over him."Strike!" Gildas grabbed his arm."Its useless. Can't you see ...?"Gildas gave a roar of anger, snatched the sword from him, and thrust it into the clottedhide of the Beast, leaping back as if he expected blood to cascade out in a great gout.Then he stared, seeing what Finn had seen.There was no wound. The hide opened and dissolved, absorbed the blade, reassembledaround it. The Beast was a composite creature, a grinding, swift formation of millions ofbeings, of bats and bones and beetles, dark clouds of bees, an ever-changingkaleidoscope pattern of rock fragments and metal shards. As it turned and rose into theroof of the chamber, they saw that over the centuries it had absorbed all the terror and thefear of the City, that all the Tribute sent out to placate it had been absorbed, eaten, hadonly made it grow huger. Somewhere inside it were the billions of atoms of the dead, ofthe victims and the children dragged out here by decree of the Justices. It was amagnetized mass of flesh and metal, its crumbling tail studded with fingernails and teethand talons.It stretched out its head above them and leaned down,259bringing the great red Eyes close to Finn's face, making his skin scarlet, his shakinghands look as if they were red with blood."Finn,'' it said, in a voice of deep pleasure, a throaty treacle of huskiness. "At last."He stepped back, into Gildas. The Sapient's hand gripped his elbow. "Y know my ouname.""I gave you your name." Its tongue flickered in the dark cavern of its mouth. "Gave it longago, when you were born in my cells. When you became my son."He was shuddering. He wanted to deny it, shout Out, but no words would come.The creature tipped its head, studying him. The long muzzle, dripping bees and scales,fragmented into a cloud of dragonflies and re-formed again. "I knew you'd come," it said."I've been watching you, Finn, because you are so special. In all the entrails and veinsof my body, in all the millions of beings I enclose, there is no one quite like you."The head zoomed closer. Something like a smile formed and broke. "Do you really thinkyou can escape from me? Do you forget that I could kill you, shut down light and air,incinerate you in seconds?""I don't forget," he managed to say."Most men do. Most men are content to live in their prison and think it is the world, butnot you, Finn. You remember about me. You look around and see my Eyes watchingyou, in those nights of darkness you called out to me and I heard you ..."260"Y didn't answer," he whispered. ou"But you knew I was there. You are a Starseer, Finn. How interesting that is."Gildas pushed forward. He was white, his sparse hair wet with sweat. "Who are you?" hegrowled."I am Incarceron, old man. You should know It was the Sapienti who created me. Your .great, towering, overreaching endless failure. Your nemesis." I zigzagged closer, itsmouth wide so that they could see the rags of cloth that hung there, smell the oily, oddlysweet stench of k. "Ah, the pride of the Wise. And now you dare to seek a way free ofyour own folly."It slid back, the red Eyes narrowing to slits. "Pay me, Finn. Pay me as Sapphique paid.Give me your flesh, your blood. Give me the old man and his terrible desire for death.Then perhaps your Key may open doors you do not dream of"Finn's mouth was dry as ash. "This isn't a game.""No?" The Beast's laugh was soft and slithering. "Are you not pieces on a board?""People." His anger was rising. "People that suffer. People you torment."For a moment the creature dissolved to clouds of insects. Then they clotted in abruptgargoyles, a new face, serpentine and sinuous. "I'm afraid not. They torment each other.There is no system that can stop that, no place that can wall out evil, because menbring it in with them, even in the children. Such men are beyond correction, and it is mytask only to261contain them. I bold them inside myself. I swallow them whole."A tentacle lashed out and around his wrist. "Pay me, Finn."Finn jerked back, glanced at Gildas. The Sapient looked shrunken, his face drawn as if allhis dread had fallen on him at once, but he said slowly, "Let it take me, boy. There'snothing for me now.""No." Finn stared up at the Beast, its reptilian smile inches from him. "I've already givenyou one life.""Ah. The woman." The smile lengthened. "How her death tears at you. Conscience andshame are so rare. They interest me."Something in its smirk made him catch his breath. A jolt of hope hurt him; he gasped,"She's not dead! Y caught her, you stopped her fall! Didn't you? Y saved her." ou ouThe red spiral winked at him. "Nothing is wasted here," it murmured.Finn stared, but Gildas's voice was a growl in his ear. "It's lying, boy.""Maybe not. Maybe ...""It's playing with you." Sour with disgust, the old man stared at the swirling confusion ofthe Eye. "If it is true we made such a thing as you, then I'm ready to pay for our folly.""No." Finn grabbed him tight. He slid a dull circle of silver from his thumb and held it up, aglittering spark. "Take this for your Tribute instead, Father?'It was the skull-ring. And he was beyond caring.26221***I have worked for years in secret to make a device that is a copy of the one Outside.Now it protects me. Timon died last week and Pela is missing in the riots, and eventhoughI am hidden here in this lost hall, the Prison searches for me. "My lord" it whispers, "Ifeelyou. I feel you crawl on my skin."--Lord Calliston's Diary***The Queen rose graciously.In the porcelain whiteness of her face her strange eyes were clear and cold. "My dear,dear, Claudia."Claudia dropped a curtsy, felt the whisper of a kiss on each cheek, and in the tight grip ofthe embrace sensed the thin bones of the woman, the small frame inside the bonedcorset and huge hooped skirts.No one knew Queen Sia's age. After all, she was a sorceress. Older than the Wardenperhaps, though beside her he was grave and dark, his silvered beard meticulous.Brittle or not, her youth was convincing; she looked barely older than her son.Turning, she led Claudia in, sweeping past Caspar's sullen263stare. "Y look so pretty, my sweet. That dress is wonderful. And your hair! Now tell me, ouis that natural or do you have it colored?"Claudia breathed out, already irritated, but there was no need to answer. The Queen wasalready talking about something else. "... and I hope you won't consider that too forward ofme.""No," Claudia said blankly into a second of silence.The Queen smiled. "Excellent. This way."It was a double wooden door and was flung open by two footmen, but when Claudia wasinside, the doors closed and the whole tiny chamber moved soundlessly upward."Y I know," the Queen murmured, holding her close. "Such a breach of Protocol. But it's esonly for me, so who's to know?"The small white hands were so tight on her arm, she could feel the nails digging in. Shewas breathless, as if she had been kidnapped. Even her father and Caspar were leftbehind.When the doors opened, the corridor that stretched before her was a vision of gilt andmirrors; it had to be three times the size of the house at home. The Queen led her along itby the hand, between vast painted maps that showed every country in the Realm,adorned in their corners with fantasies of curling waves and mermaids and sea monsters."That's the library. I know you love books. Caspar, unfortunately, is not so studious. Really,I don't know if he can read at all. We won't go in."264Escorted firmly past, she looked back. Between each map stood a blue and white chinaurn that could have hidden a man, and the mirrors reflected each other in such sunlitconfusion that she suddenly had no idea where the corridor ended or if it ever did. Andthe small white figure of the Queen seemed repeated before her and behind and to theside, so that the dread Claudia had felt in the coach seemed to be concentrated in thatswift, unnaturally young stride, that sharp, confiding voice."And this is your suite. Y father is next door." ourImmense.A carpet her feet sank into, a bed so canopied with saffron silk, she felt it would drownher.Suddenly she pulled her hand from the Queen's and stood back, knowing the trap.Knowing she was caught in it.Sia was silent. The empty chatter was gone. They faced each other.Then the Queen smiled. "Y will not need to be warned, I'm sure, Claudia. John Arlex's oudaughter will be well trained, but I suppose it won't hurt to tell you that many of the mirrorsare double sided and the listening devices all over the Palace are most efficient." Shestepped closer. "Y see, I have heard you were recently a little curious about dear lost ouGiles."Claudia kept her face perfectly composed, but her hands were icy. She glanced down."I've thought about him. If things had been different...""Y And we were all devastated by his death. But even if es.265the Havaarna Dynasty is over, the Realm must be governed. And I have no doubt,Claudia, that you will do it very well.""Me?""Of course." The Queen turned and sat elegantly on a gilt chair. "Surely you know Casparis incapable even of ruling himself? Come and sit here, my sweet. Let me advise you."Surprise was freezing her. She sat.The Queen leaned forward, her red lips making a coy smile. "Now, your life here can be avery pleasant one. Caspar is a child--let him have his toys, horses, palaces, girls, and hewill make no trouble. I have made quite sure he knows nothing about politics. He getsbored so easily! Y and I can have such a pleasant time, Claudia. Y have no idea how ou outiresome It gets with just these men."Claudia stared at her hands. Was this real, any of it? How much of it was the game?"I thought...""That I hated you?" The Queen's giggle was girlish. "I need you, Claudia! We can ruletogether, and you'll be so good at it! And your father will smile his grave smile. So." Hersmall hands tapped Claudia's. "No more sad thoughts about Giles. He's in a better place,my dear."Slowly, she nodded and stood, and the Queen stood too, with a rustle of silk."There's just one thing."One hand on the door, Sia turned. "Yes?"266"Jared Sapiens. My tutor. I ...""Y won't need a tutor. I can teach you everything now." ou"I want him to stay." She said it firmly.The Queen stared straight back. "He's young for a Sapient. I don't know what your fatherwas thinking of...""He will stay." She made sure it was a statement, not a question.The Queen's red lips twitched. Her smile was pleasant. "Whatever you say, my sweet.Whatever you want."***JARED PLACED the scanner on the door frame, opened the tiny casement, and sat onthe bed. The room was sparse, as perhaps the Court thought a Sapient's cell should be,with wooden floorboards and dark paneling topped with trefoils and crude roses.It smelled of rushes and damp, and seemed bare enough, but he had already removedtwo small listening devices and there might be others. Still, he had to take the chance.He took out the Key and held it, activating the speechlink.Nothing but darkness.He touched it again, concerned: The darkness grew to a wide circle but remained dark.Then, very faintly, he saw the edge of a crouching figure in it. "We can't talk," it whispered."Not now.""Then listen." Jared kept his voice low. "This may help. A combination of two, four, three,one on the touch panel produces a dampening field. Any surveillance system will lose267track of you, completely. Y disappear from its scanners. Do you understand, that?" ou'll"I'm not stupid." Keiro's scornful whisper barely came through."Have you found Finn?"Nothing. They'd switched off.Jared linked his fingers and swore softly in the Sapient tongue. Outside the window, thevoices of people rose up, some fiddlers in the distant gardens scraping a jig.There would be dancing tonight to welcome the bride of the Heir.And yet if the old man Bartlett had been right, the real Heir was still alive, and Claudiawas convinced it was this boy Finn. Jared shook his head, unfastening the collar of hiscoat with long fingers. She wanted it so much. His doubts would have to stay silent,because without this hope, she would have nothing. And after all, it was possible, justpossible, that her instinct was right."wearily, he leaned back against the stiff bolster, took the medication pouch from hispocket, and prepared the dose. It was three grains stronger now, and had been for thelast week, but the pain that lived deep in his body seemed still to grow slowly, like a livingthing; he sometimes thought that it devoured the drug, that he was feeding its appetite.He applied the syringe, frowning. These were morbid and foolish ideas.268But when he lay back and slept, he dreamed for a moment that an eye, scarlet asgalaxies, had opened in the wall and looked at him.***FINN WAS desperate; he held the ring high. "Take it and let usThe Eye zoomed in, examined it closely. "Do you believe this object is of some value? ""It contains a life. Trapped inside.""How apposite. As all your lives are trapped inside me."He was shivering. Surely if Keiro was listening, he would act now. If he was here.Gildas understood. He must have, because he snapped loudly,"Take it! let us go.""As I took Tribute from Sapphique? As I took this?" In the clotted hide of the Beast aglimmer of light opened; they saw a tiny frail bone, embedded deep.Gildas murmured a prayer of awe."How small it is!" The Beast considered it. "And yet how much pain it cost Let me seethis trapped life."It slid the tendril closer. Finn gripped the ring in his fist, his sweat making it slippery. Thenhe opened his hand.At once, the Eye blinked. It widened, contracted, stared around. From the Beast's throat awhisper slid like oil, a puzzled, fascinated demand."How did you do that? Where are you?"269A hand clamped over Finn's mouth; as he convulsed around he saw Attia, one finger onher lips in warning. Behind her Keiro stood, the Key held tight in one hand, a flamethrowerin the other."You are invisible!" The Beast sounded appalled. "This isn't possible!"A mass of tentacles streamed out from it, groping formations of tiny spiders sticky withthread. Finn stumbled back.Keiro shouldered the flamethrower. "If you want us," he said calmly, "here we are."A burst of flame roared across Finn; the Beast howled with rage. In an instant the cavernwas an explosion of panicking, screeching birds and bees and bats released from shapeand order; they arced and flapped and spiraled high into the cavern roof, beatingthemselves senselessly against rock.Keiro whooped with delight. He fired again, a burst of yellow flame, and the Beast was aclattering cascade of fragments, of scorched skin and tumbling rock, its red Eye nothingbut a tiny explosion of gnats that split in frenzied fear.The flames sizzled, hit walls, and rebounded in sudden heat. "Leave it!" Finn yelled. "Let'sget out!"But the roof and floor were tilting, the crack closing around them."I may not be able to see you, "the Prison remarked acidly through the uproar, "but youre in here, and I will hold you tight, my son."270Back to back it forced them together, spiraling in, the cave walls falling, slabs of the roofcrashing down. Finn grabbed for Attia's hand in the chaos. "Stay together!""Finn." Gildas's voice was choked. "In the wall. Up there."For a moment Finn had no idea what he meant; then he saw it. A fissure sloping up.Instantly Attia pulled herself free. She ran and leaped; catching at the jutting facets, shedragged herself above the whipping tentacles, climbing the very scales of the Beast itself.He shoved Gildas after her; the old man clambered awkwardly but with desperate vigor,lumps of stone and gems rolling and sliding under his hands.Finn turned.Keiro had the weapon ready. "Go on! It's searching for us!"Incarceron was blinded. He saw how parts of the Beast reformed, a claw, a tail, how itgroped and lashed in the darkness. It felt them on its skin, sensed the vibrations of theirmovement. He wanted to ask Keiro how he had done this, but there was no time, so heturned and scrambled after Gildas,Minute by minute the wall was changing, re-forming and rippling, tilting itself straighter asif the Beast reared up, twisting itself around to tear them from its back. High into thecavernous spaces it took them, hanging on, and as Finn stared up he saw cracks of lightup there, pinpricks of brilliance, and for a giddy moment he was among the stars, andthen one swiveled over him and it was a searchlight,271silvering his hands and face as he gasped, helplessly exposed.Attia turned, her face a blur. "Slow down! We have to stay near the Key!"Keiro was climbing far below, the flamethrower cast aside. As the ridged hide rippled heslipped, one foot scraping into space, and maybe the Beast felt that, because it hissed,and the air steamed with sudden fumes."Keiro!" Finn turned. "I'll have to go back for him."Attia squirmed down. "No. He can manage."Keiro clung right. He pulled himself back; the Beast quivered. Then it laughed, thatsinister chuckle Finn remembered so well. "So you have some device to maskyourselves with. I congratulate you. But I certainly intend to discover what it is."Dust fell; a shaft of light. "Wait!" Finn yelled at Gildas; breathlessly the old man shook hishead."I can't hang on anymore.""Y can!" ouHe gave Attia a desperate look; she hauled Gildas's arm over her shoulders and said', "I'llstay with him."He almost fell down to where Keiro hung, grabbed him with one hand and clung to him."It's useless! There's no way out.""There has to be," Keiro gasped. "Don't we have a Key?"He wriggled it out and Finn's hand caught it; for a moment they were both holding it. ThenFinn snatched it and held it away. He pressed every button, jabbed at the eagle, itssphere, its crown. Nothing. As the Beast lashed under them he shook272the Key, swore at it, and felt the warmth of it grow suddenly in his hands, overheating withan ominous whine. With a yelp he juggled it; it burned him."Use it!" Keiro yelled. "Melt the rock!"Finn clamped the Key to the cave side. Instantly it hummed and clicked.Incarceron screamed. A howl of anguish. Rocks clattered down, Atria shouted fromabove. As Finn stared, a great white slit unzipped in the wall like a rip in the fabric of theworld.***THE WARDEN stood with Claudia at the window and looked down on the torchlit revelry."Y did well," he said gravely. "The Queen is pleased." ou"Good." Claudia was so tired, she could barely think."Tomorrow, perhaps we ... He stopped.A shrill, urgent bleep. Insistent and loud. Startled, Claudia stared around. "What's that?"Her father stood very still. Then he reached into his waistcoat pocket and took out hiswatch, and with a click of his thumb, sprang the gold case open. She saw the handsomedial, the time. Quarter to eleven.But this was no chime. It was an alarm.The Warden stared. When he looked up, his eyes were cold and gray. "I have to go. Goodnight, Claudia. Sleep well."Astonished, she watched him stride to the door. "Is it ... is it the Prison?" she said.273He turned, his gaze sharp. "What makes you say that?""The alarm .. , I've never heard it before ..."He was watching her. She cursed herself. Then he said, "Y There seems to be an es.incident. Don't worry. I'll see to it personally."The doors closed after him.For a moment she stayed there, frozen. She stared at the wooden panels; then, as if thestillness galvanized her into action, she grabbed a dark shawl, wrapped it around herself,and flung herself at the door, opening it quickly.He was well down the gilt corridor, walking fast. As soon as he rounded the corner, sheran after him, breathless, silent on the soft carpets. Her image flickered in dim mirrors.At the side of a great china vase a curtain swirled; slipping behind it she found herself atthe top of a dim flight of spiral stairs. She waited, her heart hammering, watching his darkfigure descend below, and she saw he was running, a quick, agitated step. Hurriedly sheedged down after him, around and around, one hand on the damp rail, until the gilt wallsbecame brick and then stone, the steps hollowed with use, slimed with green lichen.It was cold down here, and very dark. Her breath clouded. She shivered and wrapped theshawl tight.He was going to the Prison.He was going to Incarceron!Faint, very far ahead, the alarm was bleeping, loud and urgent, a relentless panic.274These were the wine cellars. They were huge chambers, vaulted, piled with barrels andcasks, wiring snaking down their walls, hung with white salts that had oozed from thebrickwork. If it was Protocol, it was very convincing.Peering around a stack of casks, she made herself keep still.He had come to a gate.It was green bronze, set deep in the wall, glistening with snail trails, corroded with age.Great rivets studded it. Rusted chains hung across it. With a silent leap of her heart shesaw the Havaarna eagle, its outspread wings almost lost under layers of verdigris.Her father glanced around and she ducked back, breathless. Then he tapped a swiftcombination into the globe the eagle held; she heard a click.Chains slid and swung, crashing down.In a shower of spiderwebs and snails and dust y the gate juddered open.She leaned out, desperate to see what lay behind, to see Inside, but there was onlydarkness and a smell, a sour, metallic stink, and she had to dive back hastily as heturned.When she looked again he was gone, and the gate was closed.Claudia leaned back on the wet bricks and breathed out a soundless whistle of dampbreath.At last. Finally.She had found it.275***THE ALARM screamed in their teeth, in their nerves, in their bones. Finn thought it wouldbring on a fit; terrified, he scrambled for the slit, against the icy wind that howled throughit.The Beast was gone. Even as Keiro climbed over Finn and grabbed Gildas, k dissolved;suddenly they were all tumbling in a cascade of fragments, and then they slammedagainst the wall, a chain of bodies held only by Finn's grip.He yelled with the agony. "I can't hold you!""Y bloody will!" Keiro gasped. ouTerror stretched him. Keiro's hand slid, an agonizing jerk. He couldn't do it. His handscorched.A shadow fell on him. He thought it was the Beast's head, or a great eagle, but as hetwisted in despair and stared up, he saw k swoop in through the slit, humming withcontained power, a silver ship, an ancient sailing ship, its sails a patchwork of cobweb, itsropes tangled and dangling over the side.It loomed above them, and very slowly, a hatch opened in its base. A basket was lowered,swaying on four immense cables, and above it a face looked over the side of the ship, ahideous, gargoyle face, deformed by goggles and a bizarre breathing apparatus,"Get in," it rasped. "Before I change my mind."How they did it he had no idea, but in seconds Keiro had tumbled into the wildly rockingbasket; Gildas hauled after him. Attia leaped, pausing only for a moment, and then Finn276let himself drop, his mind so black with relief that he fell without fear, and didn't feelhimself land, until a welcome silence exploded into Keiro's yell in his ear. "Get off me,Finn!"He struggled up. Attia was bending over him, concerned. "Are you all right?""... Yes."He wasn't, he knew, but he leaned past her to the edge and he looked over, giddy with theswaying, the icy wind.They were out of the Cave, above the plain, miles above the City. It lay like a toy on theplain, and from this height they could see the scorch marks and the fumaroles around it,as if the land itself was the skin of the Beast that rumbled beneath, fuming with wrath.Clouds wisped across, vapors of metallic yellow, a rainbow.Finn felt Gildas grab him, the old man's voice delirious with joy, snatched away by thewind. "Look up, boy! Sec! There are Sapienti still, with power!"He twisted his head. And saw, as the silver ship spiraled upward, a tower so narrow andimpossibly high that it seemed like a needle balanced upright on a cloud, its topglimmering with light. He felt his breath frost and condense on the rail, crack and splinter,each ice shard polarized by the tower, each crystal aligned as if by a magnet. Gasping inthe thin air, he gripped the old man's arm, shaking with cold and fear, not daring to lookdown again, seeing only the minure landing place at the needle's tip grow bigger, theslowly revolving globe at its apex.277And yet, high as they were, above them for miles and miles, the night of Incarceronextended into the freezing sky.***THE HAMMERING woke Jared in a cold sweat of fear.For a moment he had no idea what it was, and then he heard her whisper, "Jared!Quickly, it's me!"He sat up and stumbled over, tugging the scanner off the frame, fumbling for the latch. Assoon as he lifted it, the door flew open, almost hitting him in the face; then Claudia wasinside, breathless and dust-smeared, a filthy shawl around her silk dress."What is it?" he gasped. "Claudia, has he found out? Does he know we have the Key?""No. No." She had no breath; she plumped down on the bed and bent double, clutchingher side."Then what?"She raised her hand, making him wait; after a moment, when she could speak andlooked up, he saw her face was lit with triumph.He stepped back, suddenly wary. "What have you done, Claudia?"Her smile was bitter. "What I've longed to do for years. I've found the door to his secret.The entrance to Incarceron."278279A WORLD THAT HANGS IN SPACE.28028122***"Where are the leaders?" Sapphique asked."In their fortresses," the swan replied."And the poets?""Lost in dreams of other worlds.""And the craftsmen?""Forging machines to challenge the darkness.""And the Wise, who made the world?"The swan lowered its black neck sadly."Dwindled to crones and sorcerers in towers."--Sapphique in the Kingdom of Birds***Finn carefully touched one of the spheres. It showed him his own face, swollengrotesquely in delicate lilac glass. Behind him he saw Attia come through the archwayand stare around.""What is this?" She stood amazed among the bubbles that hung from the ceiling, and hesaw how clean she was this morning, her hair scrubbed, the new clothes making herseem younger than ever."His laboratory. Look in here."Some of the spheres contained whole landscapes. In one, a colony of small golden-furredcreatures slumbered peacefully282or dug in sandy hillocks. Atria spread her hands on it, flat on the glass. "It feels warm."He nodded. "Did you sleep?""A bit. I kept waking up because it was so quiet. You?"He nodded, not wanting to say that his exhaustion had made him fall onto the small whitebed and sleep at once, without even undressing. Though when he had woken thismorning, he had found that someone had wrapped the blankets around him, and laidclean clothes on the chair in the bare white room. Had it been Keiro?"Did you see the man on the ship? Gildas thinks he's a Sapient."She shook her head. "Not without the facemask. And all he said last night was 'Takethose rooms and we'll talk in the morning.'" She glanced over. "It was brave, going backfor Keiro."They were silent for a while. He came around and stood next to her, and as they watchedthe animals scratch and roll, they became aware that beyond this globe was a wholechamber of glass worlds, aqua-green and gold and pale blue, each hanging from a finechain, some tinier than a fist, others vast as halls, where birds flew, or fish swam, orbillions of insects clouded and swarmed."It's as if he's made cages for them all," she said quietly. "I hope he hasn't got one for us."Then, catching the sudden jerk of his reflection, "What is it? Finn?"283"Nothing." His hands left hot smears on the sphere as he leaned on it."Y saw something." Attia's eyes were wide. "Was it the stars, Finn? Are there really oumillions of them? Do they gather and sing in the darkness?"Stupidly, he didn't want to disappoint her. He said, "I saw ... I saw a lake in front of a greatbuilding. It was night. Lanterns were floating on the water, little paper lanterns each with acandle inside so they looked blue and green and scarlet. There were boats on the lakeand I was in one of them." He rubbed his face. "I was there, Attia. I was leaning over theside and tried to touch my reflection in the water, and yes, there were stars. And they wereangry because my sleeve got wet.""The stars?" She came closer."No. The people.""What people? Who were they, Finn?" He tried. There was a scent. A shadow."A woman," he said. "She was angry."It hurt. Remembering hurt. It triggered flashes of light; he closed his eyes against them,sweating, his mouth dry."Don't." Anxious, she reached out to him, the welts red on her wrists where the chains hadchafed the skin. "Don't upset yourself."He rubbed his face with his sleeve and the room was still with a quiet he had not knownsince the cell where he had been born. Awkwardly he muttered, "Is Keiro still asleep?"284"Oh him!" She scowled. "Who cares?" He watched her wander between the spheres."Y can't dislike him that much. Y stuck with him in the City." ou ouShe was silent, so he said, "How did you manage to follow us?""It wasn't easy" She tightened her lips. "We heard rumors about the Tribute, so he saidwe should steal a flamethrower. I was the one who had to cause a diversion so he couldget it. Not that I got any thanks."Finn laughed. "That's Keiro. He never thanks anyone." Splaying his hands on the sphere,he leaned his forehead on it and the reptiles inside stared back impassively. "I knew he'dcome. Gildas said no, but Keiro would never betray me."She made no answer but he became aware that her silence was charged with an oddtension; when he looked up, she was watching him with something like anger. It burst outof her abruptly. "Y ou're so wrong, Finn! Can't you see what he's like? He would have leftyou easily, just taken the Key and gone and not even cared!""No," he said, surprised."Yes!" She faced up to him, the bruises livid in the white skin of her face. "Because it wasonly the girl's threat that made him stay."He felt cold. "What girl?""Claudia.""He spoke to her!"285"She threatened him. 'Find Finn,' she said, 'or the Key will be useless to you.' She wasreally angry with him." Attia shrugged lightly. "It's her you should thank."He wouldn't believe it.There was no way he would."Keiro would have come." His voice was low and stubborn. "I know how he seems, thathe doesn't care about anyone, but I know him. We've fought together. We took the oath."She shook her head. "Y ou're too trusting, Finn. Y must have been born Outside, oubecause you don't fit here."Then, hearing footsteps, she said quickly, "Ask him for the Key. Ask him. Y see." ou'llKeiro wandered into the room and whistled. He was wearing a doublet of dark blue, hishair wet, and he was still eating an apple from the plate in their room, the last two skull-rings gleaming on his fingers. "So this is where you are!" He turned a complete circle."And this is a Sapient's tower. Beats the old man's cage.""I'm glad you think so." To Finn's dismay one of the largest spheres clicked open and astranger stepped out, followed by Gildas. He wondered how much they had overheard,and how there could be steps inside the sphere leading down, but before he was sureabout that, it clicked shut and was just a glimmer among the hundreds of others.Gildas wore a Sapient's robe of iridescent greens. His sharp face was washed, his whitebeard trimmed. He looked different,286Finn thought. Some of the hunger had gone; when he spoke his voice was not querulousbut had a new gravity."This is Blaize," he said. And then, softly, "Blaize Sapiens."The tall man bowed his head slightly. "Welcome to my Chamber of Worlds."They stared at him. Without the breathing mask, his face was remarkable, mottled withsores and spots and acid bums, his thin straggle of hair tied back in a greasy ribbon.Under the Sapient's coat he wore ancient knee breeches stained with chemicals, and aruffled shirt that perhaps had once been white.For a moment no one spoke. Then, to Finn's surprise it was Attia who said, "We have tothank you, Master, for saving us. We would have died.""Ah ... well. Yes." He looked at her, his smile lopsided and awkward. "That is indeed true. Ithought I had better come down.""Why?" Keiro's voice was cool. The Sapient turned. "I don't quite understand ...?""Why bother? To save us? Do we have something you need?"Gildas frowned. "This is Keiro, Master. The one with no manners."Keiro snorted. "Don't tell me he doesn't know about the Key." He bit the apple, a loudcrunch in the silence.Blaize turned to Finn. "And you must be the Starseer." His287eyes looked at Finn with unnerving scrutiny. "My colleague tells me Sapphique sent thisKey to you, and that it will lead you Outside. That you believe you came from Outside.""I did.""Y remember?" ou"No. I just... believe."For a moment the man gazed at him, one thin hand absently scratching a sore on hischeek. Then he said, "Regretfully, I have to tell you that you are mistaken."Gildas turned in astonishment; Attia stared.Annoyed, Finn said, "What do you mean?""I mean you didn't come from Outside. No one has ever come from Outside. Because,you see, there is no Outside."For a moment the silence in the room was appalled, full of disbelief. Then Keiro laughedsoftly and threw the apple core on the stone slabs of the floor. He came over, took out theKey, and slapped it down next to the glass sphere. "Ail right, Wise One. If there's noOutside, what's this for?"Blaize reached out and picked it up. He turned it carelessly and calmly. "Ah yes. I haveheard of such devices. Perhaps the original Sapienti invented them. There is a legendthat Lord Calliston made one in secret and died before he could try it. It renders the userinvisible to the Eyes, and no doubt has other abilities. But it cannot let you out."Gently he placed the crystal on the table. Gildas glared at him. "Brother, this is folly! We allknow Sapphique himself--"288"We know nothing about Sapphique but a muddle of tales and legends. Those fools downthere in the City, whose doings I watch to relieve my boredom, they invent new tales ofSapphique every year." He folded his arms, his gray eyes relentless. "Men love to makestories, brother. They love to dream. They dream that the world is deep underground, andif we could journey up we would find the way out, a trapdoor into a land where the sky isblue and the land breeds corn and honey and there is no pain. Or that there are ninecircles of the Prison surrounding its center, and if we go deep into them we find the heartof Incarceron, its living being, and we will emerge through it into another world." He shookhis head. "Legends. Nothing more."Finn was shocked. He glanced at Gildas; the old man seemed stricken, then anger burstout of him. "How can you say this?" he snapped. "Y a Sapient? I thought when I saw ou,what you were, that our struggles would be easier, that you'd understand ...""I do, believe me.""Then how can you say there is no Outside?""Because I have seen."His voice was so somber and heavy with despair that even Keiro stopped pacing up anddown and stared at him. Beside Finn, Attia shivered. "How?" she whispered.The Sapient pointed to a sphere, a black, empty shell. "There. The experiment took medecades, but I was determined. My289sensors penetrated metal and skin, bone and wire. I felt my way through miles ofIncarceron, its halls and corridors, its seas, its rivers. Like you, I believed." He laughedharshly, biting the worn nails of his hand. "And yes, I found Outside, in a way." He turnedand touched the controls, and the sphere lit. "I found this."They saw an image in the darkness. A sphere within the sphere, a globe of blue metal. Ithung in the everlasting blackness of space, alone, silent."This is Incarceron." Blaize jabbed a ringer at it. "And we live inside k. A world.Constructed, or grown, who knows. But alone, in a vastness, a vacuum. In nothing. Thereis Nothing outside." He shrugged. "I am sorry. I do not wish to destroy the dreams of yourlifetime. But there is nowhere else to go."Finn couldn't breathe. It was as if the bleak words drew the life out of him. He stared at theglobe and felt Keiro come close behind him, sensed his oathbrother's warmth andenergy, and it comforted him. But it was Gildas who surprised them all.He laughed. A gruff, throaty roar of scorn. Drawing himself upright, he turned on Blaizeand glared at him. "And you call yourself Wise! Fooled by the Prison's malice, more like.It shows you lies and you believe them, and live up here above men and despise them.Worse than a fool!" He strode up to the taller man; Finn took a quick step after him. Heknew the old man's temper.But Gildas stabbed the air with his knotty finger, and his290voice was hard and low. "How dare you stand there and deny me my hope and these theirchance of life. How dare you tell me Sapphique is a dream, that the Prison is all there is!""Because it's true," Blaize said.Gildas wrenched out of Finn's grip. "Liar! You're no Sapient. And you forget. We've seenOutsiders.""Yes!" Attia said. "And spoken to them."Blaize paused. He said, "Spoken to them?"For a moment it almost seemed his certainty was shaken. He linked his fingers togetherand his voice was tight. "Spoken to whom? Who are they?"Everyone looked at Finn, so he said, "A girl called Claudia. And a man. She calls himJared."There was a second of silence. Keiro said, "So explain that."Blaize turned his back. But almost at once he swung around and his face was grave. "Ihave no wish to upset you. But you've seen a girl and a man. How do you know wherethey are?"Finn said, "They're not here.""No?" Blaize glanced at him quickly, his pocked face tipped sideways. "How do youknow? Have you not thought that they also may be in Incarceron? In some other Wing,some distant level where life seems different, where they don't even know they areimprisoned? Think, boy! This quest for Escape will become a folly that will eat up your life.Y will spend years in hopeless traveling, searching, and all for nothing! Find a place to oulive, learn peace instead. Forget the stars."291His voice murmured among the glass spheres, high into the timbered rafters of the roof.Dismayed, barely hearing Gildas's angry outburst, Finn faced the window and stoodthere, staring out through the sealed glass at the drifting clouds of Incarceron'sstratosphere, too high for birds, the icy landscape miles below, the distant hills and darkslopes that might be walls beyond his sight.His own fear terrified him.If this was true, there was no Escape, from here or from himself...He was Finn and always would be, with no past and no future and there was nowhere togo back to. No one else that he had once been.Gildas and Attia were angry; they were arguing, but Keiro's cool comment sliced throughthe noise and silenced everyone. "Why don't we ask them?" he said. He picked the Keyup and touched the controls; turning quickly, Finn saw how adept at it he was."There's no point," Blaize said rapidly. "For us there is.""Then I will leave you to speak to your friends." Blaize turned. "I have no wish to do so.Feel free to treat the tower as your home. Eat, rest. Think about what I've said."He walked between the spheres and out of the door, the robe flapping about his stainedclothes, a faint scent of acid and something else, something sweet, drifting behind him.292As soon as he was gone Gildas swore, long and bitterly.Keiro grinned. "Y learned something useful from the Comitatus then." ou"To think that after all these years I should find a Sapient and he should be so weak!" Theold man sounded sick with disgust. Then he thrust out his hand. "Give me that Key.""No need." Keiro placed it hastily on the table and stepped back. "It's working."The familiar hum rose; the holo-image sprang out and cleared to a circle of light. Today itseemed even brighter than before, as if they were nearer its source, or its power hadgrown. Into it, as close as if she were among them, Claudia stepped. Her eyes werebright, her face alert. Finn almost felt he could reach out and touch her."They found you," she said."Yes," he whispered."I'm so pleased."Jared was with her, one arm leaning against what seemed like a tree. And suddenly Finnrealized they were sitting in a field , or a garden, and the light in that place was a gloriousgold.Gildas shouldered past him. "Master," he said curtly. "Y are a Sapient?" ou"I am." Jared stood and bowed formally. "As are you, I see.""For these fifty years, son. Before you were born. Now answer me three questions andanswer them true. Are you Outside Incarceron?"293Claudia stared. Jared nodded slowly. "Yes.""How do you know?""Because this is a palace, not a prison. Because the sun is above us, and the stars atnight. Because Claudia has discovered the gate that leads to the Prison ...""Have you?" Finn gasped.But before she could answer, Gildas snapped, "One thing more. If you are Outside, whereis Sapphique? What did he do when he got out there? When will he return to release us?"There were flowers in the garden, brilliant red poppies.Jared looked at Claudia, and in the silence between them a bee buzzed on the petals, asmall murmur that made Finn shiver with lost memory.Then Jared stood and came forward, so close, he and Gildas were face-to-face."Master," he said courteously. "Forgive me for my ignorance. For my curiosity. Forgiveme if this seems a stupid question. But who is Sapphique?"29423***Nothing has changed, or will change.So we must change it.--The Steel Wolves***Finn thought the bee would come out of the nimbus of gold and land on him. As it buzzednear his hand, he jerked back and it darted away.He looked at Gildas. The old man had almost staggered; Attia was helping him sit, andJared was reaching his own hand out as if to help, dismay on his face. He glanced atClaudia; Finn heard his murmur. "I shouldn't have asked. The Experiment ...""Sapphique Escaped." Keiro pulled a bench over and sat in the hologlow, its light rich onhis red coat. "He got out. He's the only one that ever did. That's the legend.""No legend," Gildas snapped hoarsely. He looked up. "Y really don't know? I thought ... outhat out there he would be a great man ... a king."Claudia said, "No. At least... Well, we could do some research. He may have gone intohiding. Things here aren't perfect either." She stood quickly. "Perhaps you don't know, butpeople here believe Incarceron to be a wonderful place. A paradise."295They stared at her.She saw the startled disbelief in their faces, Keiro's changing almost instantly to anamused, acid grin. "Fabulous," he murmured.So she told them. She told them about the Experiment, her father, the sealed enigma ofthe Prison. And then she told them about Giles. Jared said, "Claudia ..." but she waved ahand at him and went on quickly, pacing on the astonishingly green grass. "They didn't killhim, we know that. They hid him. And I think they hid him in there. I think he's you."She turned and faced them, and Keiro said, "Are you saying ..." and then stopped andstared up at his oathbrother. "Finn? A prince?" He laughed, wondering. "Are you crazy?"Finn hugged himself. He was shaking, he knew, and that rarely lost bewilderment wasback in the corner of his mind, glimmers of things gone as fast as shadows in dimmirrors."Y look like him," Claudia said firmly. "There are no photographs allowed now, it's not ouProtocol, but the old man had a painting." She held it up, slipping off the blue bag. "Look."Attia breathed in.Finn shivered.The child's hair was shining and his face lit with innocent happiness. Impossible healthradiated from him. His tunic was cloth of gold, his skin chubby and pink. A tiny eagleseared his wrist.Finn stepped closer. He reached out and she lifted the296miniature to him, and his fingers closed around the gilt frame; for a moment he felt he hadhold of it, that he touched it. And then his fingertips met on nothing and he knew that it wasfar away, farther than he could imagine. And long ago."There was an old man," Claudia said. "Bartlett. He looked after you."He stared at her. His emptiness scared them both."Queen Sia then? Y stepmother, she must have hated you. Caspar, your half brother? ourY father, the King, who died. Y must remember!" our ouHe wanted to. He wanted to drag them out of the blackness of his mind, but there wasnothing there. Keiro was standing and Gildas had his arm, but all he could see wasClaudia, her eager, fierce gaze on him, willing him to remember. "We were betrothed.When you were seven there was a big feast. A great celebration.""Leave him alone," Attia snapped. "Leave him."Claudia stepped closer. She stretched her hand out and tried to touch his wrist. "Look atit, Finn. They couldn't take it away. It proves who you are.""It proves nothing!" Attia turned so suddenly, Claudia jerked back. The girl's fists wereclenched, her bruised face white. "Stop tormenting him! If you loved him you'd stop! Can'tyou see it hurts him and he can't remember? Y don't really care if it's him, if he's Giles. ouAll you want is not to marry this Caspar!"In the shocked silence Finn breathed hard. Keiro pushed297him onto the bench; his knees gave way and he sat quickly.Claudia was pale. She took a step back, but her eyes never left Attia. Then she said,"Actually that's not true. I want the real King. The true Heir, even if he is of the Havaarna.And I want to get you out of that place. All of you."Jared came close and crouched. "Are you all right?"Finn nodded. His mind was fogged; he rubbed his face with his hands."He gets like this," Keiro said. "And worse.""It may be the treatment they gave him." The Sapient's dark eyes met Gildas's. "Theymust have given him drugs to make him forget. Have you tried any antidotes. Master, anytherapies?"Our medicines are limited," Gildas growled. "I use powdered tumentine and a decoctionof poppy. And once harestooth, but it made him sick."Jared looked politely appalled. Claudia knew by his face that such things were soprimitive the Sapienti here had all but forgotten them. All at once she felt furious withfrustration; she wanted to reach in and drag Finn out, to break down the invisible barrier.But that was no use, so she made herself say calmly, "I've decided what to do. I'm comingin. Through the gate.""How does that help us?" Keiro asked, watching Finn.It was Jared who answered. "I've made a careful study of the Key. From what I can see,our ability to contact each other is changing. The image is becoming clearer and morefocused.298This may be because Claudia and I have come to Court; we're nearer to you, and the Keymay register this. It may help you navigate toward the gate.""I thought there were maps." Keiro eyed Claudia. "The Princess here said so."Claudia sighed, impatient. "I lied."She looked straight at him; his blue eyes were sharp as ice."But," Jared went on hastily, "there are problems. There is a strange ... discontinuity thatpuzzles me. The Key takes too long to show us each other; each time it seems to beadjusting some physical or temporal parameter ... as if our worlds are somehowmisaligned ..."Keiro looked scornful; Finn knew he thought all this was a waste of time. From the benchhe lifted his head and said quietly, "But you don't think, Master, do you, that Incarceron isanother world? That it floats free in space, far from Earth."Jared stared. Then he said gently, "No, I don't. A fascinating theory.""Who told you that?" Claudia snapped."It doesn't matter." Unsteadily, Finn stood. He looked at Claudia. "In this Court of yours,there's a lake, isn't there? Where we floated lanterns with candles inside?"The poppies around her were red tissue in the sun. "Yes," she said."And on my birthday cake, tiny silver balls." Claudia was so still, she could hardly breathe.299And then as he stared at her in unbearable tension her eyes went wide; she turned,yelled, "Jared! Turn it off! Turn it off!"And in the dark room of spheres instantly there was only darkness, and a strange tiltedgiddiness, and a scent of roses.Keiro reached his right hand carefully into the empty space where the holo-image hadbeen. Sparks spat; he jerked back, swearing."Something scared them," Attia breathed. Gildas frowned. "Not something. Someone."SHE HAD smelled him. A sweet, unmistakable perfume that she realized now had beenthere for a long time, that she had known but ignored, caught up in the tension of themoment. Now, as she faced the blazing border of lavender and delphiniums and roses,she felt Jared behind her rise slowly to his feet, heard his small breath of dismay as heregistered it too. "Come out," she said icily.He was behind the rose arch. He stepped from it reluctantly, the peach silk of his suit softas petals.For a moment none of them spoke.Then Evian smiled an embarrassed smile."How much did you hear?" Claudia demanded, hands on hips.He took out a handkerchief and wiped sweat from his face. "Quite too much, I'm afraid,my dear.""Stop the act." She was furious.300He glanced at Jared and then, curiously at the Key. "That is an amazing device. If we hadhad any idea it existed, we would have moved heaven and earth to find it."She hissed out a breath of anger and turned away. To her back he said shrewdly, "Youknow what it means, if that boy is really Giles."She didn't answer."It means that we have a figurehead for our coup. More than that, a righteous cause. Asyou so thrillingly said, the true Heir. I gather this was the information you promised me?""Y es." She turned and saw his fascinated gaze, and it chilled her as it had before. "Butlisten, Evian. We're doing this my way. First of all I'm going through that gate.""Not alone.""No," Jared said swiftly. "With me."She shot him a startled look. "Master ...""Together, Claudia. Or not at all."A trumpet rang out in the Palace. She glanced toward the building in annoyance. "Allright. But there's no need for assassinations, don't you see? If the people understand thatGiles is alive, if we show him to them, surely the Queen will never be able to deny it..."Her voice trailed off as she looked at them. Jared was playing unhappily with a smallwhite flower from the grass; rubbing its perfume between his fingers. He wouldn't look ather. Evian did, but his small eyes were almost pitying. "Claudia,"301he said, "are you such an innocent still?" He came over to her, no taller than she was,sweating in the warm sun. "The people will never see Giles. She would not let thathappen. Y and he would be killed mercilessly, like the old man I spoke of. Jared too, ouand anyone else they thought knew about the plot."She folded her arms, feeling her face go hot. She felt humiliated, like a small child beingtold off kindly, to make it worse. Because, of course, he was right."They are the ones who must be killed." Evian's voice was low and hard. "They must beremoved. We are decided on that. And we are ready to act."She stared up at him. "No.""Y Very soon now." es.Jared dropped the flower and turned his head. He looked very pale. "Y must at least ouwait until after the wedding.""The wedding is in two days. As soon as it's over we will move. It's best if neither of youknow any details ..." He raised a hand to forestall her. "Please, Claudia, don't even askme. If it should go wrong, if you are questioned, this way you can give nothing away. Y ouwon't know the time, or the place, or the method. Y have no idea who the Steel Wolves ouare. Y cannot be blamed." ouBy no one but herself, she thought bitterly. Caspar was a greedy little tyrant and wouldgrow worse. The Queen a silky murderess. They would always enforce Protocol.302They would never change. And yet she didn't want their blood on her hands.The trumpet rang out again, urgent. "I have to go," she said. "The Queen is hunting and Ihave to be there."Evian nodded and turned away, but before he had taken two steps she forced the wordsout. "Wait. One thing."The peach silk shimmered. A butterfly fluttered at his shoulder, curious."My father. What about my father?"In the beautiful blue sky a flutter of pigeons rose from one of the Palace's thousandtowers. Evian did not turn and his voice was so quiet she barely heard it. "He isdangerous. He is implicated.""Don't hurt him.""Claudia ...""Don't." She clenched her fists. "He is not to be killed. Promise me now. Swear. Or I go tothe Queen this minute and tell her everything."That made him turn, startled. "Y wouldn't..." ou"Y don't know me." ouIron-cold she faced him. Only her stubbornness would keep a knife out of her father'sheart. She knew he was her enemy, her subtle foe, her cold opponent over thechessboard. But he was still her father.Evian flashed a glance at Jared, then breathed out, a long uneasy breath. "Very well."303"Swear." She put her hand out and grabbed his and held it tight; it was hot and clammy."With Jared as witness."Reluctant, he let her raise their clasped fingers. Jared put his delicate hand on top."I swear. As I am a lord of the Realm and a devotee of the Nine-Fingered One." LordEvian's small gray eyes were pale in the sunlight. "The Warden of Incarceron will not bekilled."She nodded. "Thank you."They watched him detach his hand and walk away, wiping his fingers fastidiously with asilk handkerchief, disappearing down the greenness of the lime walk.As soon as he was gone, Claudia sat on the grass and clutched her knees under the bluedress. "Oh, Master. What a mess."Jared seemed barely to be listening. He shifted restlessly about, as if he was stiff. Thenhe stopped so abruptly, she thought a bee had stung him. "Who's the Nine-FingeredOne?""What?""That was what Evian said." He turned, and there was a tension in his dark eyes sheknew well, like the burning obsessions that sometimes kept him at his experiments fordays and nights. "Have you ever heard of such a cult before?"Brutally, she shrugged. "No. And I don't have time to care. Listen. Tonight, after thebanquet, the Queen holds a meeting of her Council, a great Synod, to prepare the deedsof the wedding and the succession. They'll be there, Caspar and the304Warden and his secretary and anyone of importance. And they won't be able to leave.""Not you?"She shrugged. "Who am I, Master? A pawn on the board." She laughed, the laugh sheknew he hated, hard and bitter. "So that's when we go into Incarceron. And this time wetake no chances."Jared nodded mildly. His face had fallen, but the edge of excitement still lingered."I'm glad you said we, Claudia," he murmured.She looked up. "I'm afraid for you," she said simply. "Whatever happens."He nodded. "That makes two of us." They were silent a moment. "The Queen will bewaiting."But she made no move to go, and when he looked at her, her face was taut and distant."That girl Attia. She was jealous. She was jealous of me.""Y They may be close, Finn and his friends." es.Claudia shrugged. She stood and brushed pollen from her dress. "Well. We'll soon findout."30524***Do you seek the key to Incarceron?Look inside yourself. It has always been hidden there.-- The Mirror of Dreams to Sapphique***The Sapient's tower was odd, Finn thought. He and Keiro and Attia had taken the man athis word, and spent the day exploring all over it, and there were things about it thatpuzzled them."The food, for instance." Keiro picked a small green fruit from the bowl and sniffed itcautiously. "This is grown, but where? We re miles in the sky and there's no way down.Don't tell me he takes his silver ship to market."They knew there was no way down because the basement rooms where the beds werehad been built on the bare rock. Small stalagmites rose up between the furniture, iciclesof calcium hung from the ceiling, sediments laid down over the century and a half of thePrison's life, though Finn had thought it took longer, millennia even, for such things to form.As he wandered behind Attia from kitchen to storeroom to observatory he let himself slipfor a moment into a daydream of fascinating horror; that Incarceron was indeed a world,ancient306and alive, that he was a microscopic creature inside it, tiny as a bacterium, and thatClaudia too was here, that even Sapphique was a dream dreamed by Prisoners whocould not face the dread of there being no Escape."And then the books!" Keiro thrust the door to the library open and gazed at them all indisgust. "Who needs so many books? Who could ever be bothered to read them?"Finn moved past him. Keiro could hardly read his own name, and was proud of it. He hadonce gotten into a fight about some supposed insult about him scribbled on a wall by oneof Jormanric's bullies; Keiro had come out of the fight alive but badly beaten. Finnremembered being unable to tell him that the graffiti was harmless, even grudginglyadmiring.Finn could read. He had no idea who taught him, but he could read even better thanGildas, who muttered the words half aloud and had only seen about a dozen books in hislife. The Sapient was here now, sitting at the desk in the library's heart, his knobbly handsturning the pages of a great codex bound in leather, his eyes close to the handwritten text.Around him, on shelves that reached to the shadowy ceiling, Blaize's library wasimmense, towers of heavy volumes all numbered in gold and bound in green and maroon.Gildas raised his head. They had expected him to be in awe, but his voice was acid."Books? There are no books here, boy."Keiro snorted. "Y eyes are worse than you think." ourImpatiently, the old man shook his head. "These are useless.307Look at them. Names, numbers. They tell us nothing."Attia took a book from the nearest shelf and opened it, and Finn looked over hershoulder. It was thick with dust, and the edges of the pages were eaten away, so dry theyfell into flakes. On the page was a list of names:MARCIONMASCUSMASCUS ATTORMATTHEUS PRIMEMATTHEUS UMRAeach followed by a number. A long, eight-digit number. "Prisoners?" Finn said."Apparently. Lists of names. Volumes of them. For every Wing, every Level, going backcenturies."Beside each name was a small square image of a face. Attia touched one and almostdropped the book. Finn gave a gasp, which brought Keiro over to the table, kneeling upbehind them."Well, well," he said.For each name a series of images blinked rapidly over the page, appearing anddisappearing in quick succession, until Attia touched one with her small fingertip and itfroze, opening into a full-length picture of a hunchbacked man in a yellow coat that filledthe page. When she let go, the pictures rippled again, hundreds of images of the sameman, in a street, traveling, talking by a fire, asleep, his whole life catalogued there, his308body growing gradually older before their eyes, bending, on a stick now, begging, leprouswith some terrible sickness. And then nothing.Finn said quietly, "The Eyes. They must record as well as watch.""So how has this Blaize got all this?" Keiro raised his head in sudden shock. "Do youthink I'm in here?" Without waiting for an answer he crossed to the shelf marked found along ladder, and set it against the books, climbing easily up. He began to take the booksout and shove them back, impatient.Attia had crossed to the A section and Gildas was busy reading, so Finn found the letterF and looked for himself.FIMENONFIMMAFIMMIAFIMOS NEPOSFINARAHis fingers shook as he turned the page, tracing down until he found it. FINNHe stared at it. There were sixteen Finns, but his was the last. The number was there, inall its black familiarity, the number that had been on his overalls in the cell, that he hadlearned by heart. Next to it was a small image, two triangles superimposed, one of theminverted. A star. Feeling almost sick with anxiety, he touched it.309Images rippled. Himself crawling in the white tunnel. He stopped it instantly.There he was, looking younger, cleaner, his face a mask of fear and tearful determination.It hurt him to look at it. He tried to turn back, but this was the first image; there was nothingbefore.Nothing.His heart thudded. He scrolled on slowly.He and Keiro. Images of the Comitatus. Himself fighting, eating, sleeping. Once,laughing. Growing, changing. Losing something. He almost thought he could see it going,the ever-changing images showing himself becoming someone harder, watchful,scowling, always there in the background of Keiro's quarrels and schemes. One imageshowed him in a fit, and he gazed in horrified disgust at his curled, convulsed body, hiscontorted face. Quickly he let the pictures run on, almost too fast to see, until he jabbeddown and held them still.The ambush.He saw himself frozen, half out of the chains, grabbing the Maestra's arm. She must havejust realized what a trap she was in; her face was caught in a strange, hurt, almost bruisedlook, her smile already stiffening.If there was more he didn't want to see it.He slapped the book shut, the sound loud in the silent room, making Gildas grunt andAttia look over."Find anything?" she said.310He shrugged. "Nothing I didn't know. What about you?" He noticed she had left the Asection and was up among the C's. "Why there?""What Blaize said about no Outside. I thought I'd look up Claudia."He went cold. "And?"She was holding the book, a big green volume. She closed it quickly and turned, shovingit back into the shelf. "Nothing. He's wrong. She's not in Incarceron."There was something subdued about her voice, but before he could think about it Keiro'shiss of wrath jerked him around."He's got everything about me in here! Everything!"Finn knew that Keiro had been orphaned as a baby and had grown up in the gang of filthyurchins that always seemed to be hanging around the Comitatus; warriors' by-blows,children of women they'd killed, kids who nobody knew. It would have been a tooth-and-nail struggle to eat and survive and keep a face as unmarked as Keiro's in that ferociousrabble. Maybe that was why his oathbrother looked so alarmed. He too closed the bookwith a clap."Forget your petty histories." Gildas looked up, his sharp face lit. "Come and read a realbook. This is the journal of one Lord Calliston, the one they called the Steel Wolf. He issaid to have been the first Prisoner." He turned a page. "It's all here, the Coming of theSapienti, the first convicts, the establishment of the New Order. They seem to have beenrelatively311few, and they spoke to the Prison in those days as they spoke to each other."Now he did sound awed.They crowded around and saw that the book was smaller than the others and the text trulyhandwritten, with some scratchy pen. Gildas tapped the page. "The girl was right. Theyset the Prison up as a place to dump all their problems, but there was a definite hope ofcreating a perfect society. According to this we should have all been serene philosopherslong ago. Look here."He read aloud, in his rasping voice."Everything was prepared for, every eventuality covered. We have nutritious food, freeeducation, medical care better than Outside, now that the Protocol rules there. Wehave the discipline of the Prison, that invisible being that watches and punishes andrules."And yet."Things decay. Dissident groups are forming; territory is disputed. Marriages and feudsdevelop. Already two Sapienti have led their followers away to live in isolation, claimingthey fear the murderers and thieves will never change, that a man has been killed, achild attacked. Last week two men came to blows over a woman. The Prisonintervened. Since then neither of them has been seen."I believe they are dead and that Incarceron has integrated them into its systems.There was no provision for the death penalty, but the Prison is in charge now It is .thinking for itself"312In the silence Keiro said, "Did they really think it would work?"After a moment Gildas turned the page. The whisper was loud in the stillness. "It seemsso. He is not clear about what went wrong. Perhaps some unplanned element enteredand tipped the balance, by just a remark, a small act, so that the flaw in their perfectecosystem gradually grew and destroyed it. Perhaps Incarceron itself malfunctioned,became a tyrant-- that certainly happened, but was it cause or effect? And then there'sthis."He pointed out the words as he read them, and Finn, leaning forward, saw that they wereunderlined, the page grubby, as if someone else had fingered them over and over."... or is it that man contains within himself the seeds of evil? That even if he is placedin a paradise perfectly formed for him he will poison it, slowly, with his own jealousiesand desires? I fear it may be that we blame the Prison for our own corruption. And I donot except myself, for I too am one who has killed and looked only to my own gain."In the vast silent room only motes of dust fell through the slant of light from the roof.Gildas closed the book. He looked up at Finn and his face was gray. "We shouldn't stayhere," he said heavily. "This is a place where dust gathers and doubt enters the heart. Weshould go, Finn. This is not a refuge. It's a trap."A footstep in dust made them look up. Blaize stood on313the gallery that circled the skylight, gazing down at them, his hands tight on the rail."Y need rest," he said calmly. "Besides, there is no way down from here. Until I decide outo take you."***CLAUDIA HAD been meticulous; scanners pre-placed in all the cellars, holo-images ofherself and Jared sleeping peacefully in their beds, a hefty bribe to the under-steward tolearn the duration of the debate, the number of clauses in the marriage treaty, the time itwould all take.Finally she had seen Evian and told him to argue about anything. As long as her fatherremained in the Great Chamber until well past midnight.Slipping between the casks and barrels in her dark clothes, she felt like a shadowreleased from the endless banquet upstairs, the polite banter, the Queen's red-lippedcloying intimacies, the way she clutched at Claudia's hand and held it so tightly, thrillingherself with how they would be so happy, the palaces they would build, the hunts, thedances, the dresses. Caspar had glowered at her, drinking too much wine and escapingas soon as he could to meet some serving girl. And her father, grave and poised in hisblack frockcoat and gleaming boots, had caught her eye once down the long table, a swiftglance between the candles and flowers.Did he guess she had some plan?There was no time to fret now. As she ducked under a snag314of cobweb she straightened up into a tall figure and nearly screamed with shock.He grabbed her. "Sorry, Claudia."Jared wore dark clothes too. She glared at him. "God, you gave me a fright! Have you goteverything?""Yes." He was pale, his eyes dark-shadowed."Y medication?" our"Everything." He forced a wan smile. "Anyone would think I was the pupil here."She smiled back, wanting to cheer him. "It will be all right. We have to look, Master. Wehave to see Inside."He nodded. "Hurry then."She led him through the vaulted halls. Tonight the bricks seemed damper than before, theexhalations of the salted walls a fetid air that clouded their breathing.The gate seemed higher, and as she came near to it, Claudia saw that the chains wereback across, each metal link thicker than her arm. But it was the snails that made hershiver: fat, large creatures, their silvery trails crisscrossing the condensation on the metalas if they had bred down here for centuries."Yuck." She pulled one off; it came away with a soft plop and she threw it down. "This is it.He put a combination into the lock."The Havaarna eagle spread wide wings. In the globe it held were seven small circularhollows; she was about to touch them when Jared caught her fingers.315"No! If the wrong combination goes in, alarms will go off. Or worse, we may be trapped.This must be done carefully, Claudia"He pulled out the small scanner and began, very gently, to take readings and adjust them,crouching among the rusted chains.Impatient, she went back, checked the cellars, returned."Hurry, Master."'T can't hurry this." He was absorbed, his fingers moving gently.After long minutes she was almost sick with impatience. She took the Key out, looked atit behind his back. "Do you think ...?""Wait, Claudia, lm almost certain of the first number."It could take hours. There was a disc on the door; it gleamed greenish bronze, slightlybrighter than the surrounding metal. Over his head, she reached out and slid it aside.A keyhole.Shaped like the crystal, hexagonal.She reached out and fitted the Key into it.Instantly it leaped out of her fingers.With a great crack that made her screech and made Jared jump back in terror, the Keyturned by itself. Chains crashed. Rust fell. The gate shuddered ajar.Scrambling up, Jared was frantically checking all the alarms; he gasped, "Claudia, thatwas so stupid!" but she didn't care,316she was laughing because it was open, the gate, the Prison. She had unlockedIncarceron.The last chain slid.The cellars rang with echoes.Jared waited until every last whisper of noise was stilled."Well?" she said."No one coming. Everything up there is normal." He wiped sweat from his forehead withone hand. "We must be too far down for them to hear. More than we deserve, Claudia."She shrugged. "I deserve to find Finn. And he deserves to be free."They stared at the dark slit, waiting. She half expected a crowd of Prisoners to burstthrough.But nothing happened, so she stepped forward and opened the gate.And looked Inside.31725***I remember a story of a girl in Paradise who ate an apple once Some wise Sapientgave it to her. Because of it she saw things differently. What had seemed gold coinswere dead leaves. Rich clothes were rags of cobweb. And she saw there was a wallaround the world, with a locked gate.I am growing weak. The others are all dead. I have finished the key but no longerdare to use it.--Lord Calliston's Diary***It was impossible. She stood frozen, felt hope shatter inside her. She had expected darkcorridors, a maze of cells, stone passageways running with rats and damp. Not this.Behind its oddly tilted entrance the white room was a perfect copy of her father's study. Itsmachines hummed efficiently, its single desk and chair stood uncluttered in the strip oflight from the ceiling.She let out a breath of despair. "It's exactly the same!"Jared was scanning carefully. "The Warden is a man of318meticulous tastes." He lowered the device and she saw from his face he was as stunnedas she was. "Claudia, now the gate is open, I can tell you that there is no Prison below us,no underground labyrinth. This room is all there is."Appalled, she shook her head. Then she stepped in.Immediately she felt the same effect as before; that peculiar blurring and clicking, the floorseeming to even out under her feet, the walls to grow straighten Even the air seemeddifferent in the room, cooler and drier, not the damp exhalations of the cellars.Turning back she watched Jared."Now that was very strange," he said. "That was a spatial shift. As I said before, as if theroom and the cellar are not quite ... adjacent."He stepped in after her, and she saw how his dark eyes widened. But she was almost toosick with disappointment to care."Why make a copy of his study here?" She stalked over and kicked the desk angrily. "Itlooks no more used than the other one!Jared stared around, fascinated. "Is it exactly the same?""In every single detail." She leaned on the desk and said the password Incarceron andthe drawer rolled open. Inside, as she'd expected, was a crystal Key the image of theirown. "He keeps a Key at home and one here. But the Prison is somewhere else."319The bitterness in her voice made Jared give her a worried glance and then come to herside. Quietly he said, "Don't torment yourself...""I told Finn I'd found the way in!" Disgusted, she turned and hugged her arms aroundherself. "And what do we do now? Tomorrow I'll be married to Caspar or executed fortreason.""Or you'll be Queen," he said.She stared at him. "Or Queen. After a bloodbath that will haunt me forever."She walked away and glared at the humming silver machines. Behind her, she heardJared say, "Well, at least..."He stopped.When he didn't finish the sentence she turned, saw him bent over the open drawer withthe Key inside. Slowly he straightened and glanced at her sideways. When he spoke hisvoice was hoarse with excitement."It isn't a copy. It's the same room."She stared."Look, Claudia. Come and look."The Key. It lay in the black velvet and he reached out and touched it, and to her utter shockshe saw how his fingers passed through the image onto the soft nap below. It was a holo-image.The holo-image she had put there.She stepped back, looked around. Then quickly she dived and scrabbled around the legsof the chair. "If it's the same,320there was a ..." She gasped, then jumped up with a mutter of bafflement. She held a verytiny scrap of metal. "This was lying just there before! But how? How can it be the sameroom? That was at home. Miles away." She stared at the open door, the dim cellars of thePalace beyond.Jared seemed to have forgotten his fear. His narrow face was lit; he took the metal scrapand looked at it closely, then slipped a small bag from his pocket and sealed the objectinside. He aimed the scanner at the chair. "There's something strange just here. Thespatial rift seems stronger." He frowned in frustration. "Ah, if only we had betterinstruments, Claudia! If only the Sapienti had not been so hampered by Protocol all theseyears!"Have you noticed," she said, "how the chair is fixed to the floor?"She hadn't seen it before, but there were metal clasps to keep it in position. She walkedaround it. "And why here? It's too far from the desk. There's just that light above."They stared up at it. A narrow, faintly blue light, falling on the chair and nothing else. Barelybright enough to read by.A cold thought chilled her. "Master ... this is not a place of torture, is it?"He didn't answer at first, then she was grateful for his measured tone. "I doubt it. Thereare no restraints, no signs of violence. Do you think your father would need to use suchdevices?"321She didn't want to answer that. Instead she said, "We've seen all we can. Let's get out." Itwas past midnight. Her whole body was listening for footsteps.He nodded, reluctant. "And yet this room holds secrets, Claudia, that I would give worldsto discover. Maybe it is a gateway. Maybe we are not seeing what is here.""Jared. That's enough."She crossed to the gate and stepped through. The cellars were still and gloomy. All thealarms were safely in place. And yet she was suddenly shaken by terrors; that darkfigures were watching, that Fax was there, that her father stood in the shadows where shehad stood, that the bronze gate would slam suddenly and trap Jared inside. She draggedhim out so quickly, he almost fell.Taking the Key, she tugged it out of the keyhole, watched how instantly the gate foldedback with barely a clang, the chains linking themselves into place, the snails continuingtheir relentless slimy progress over the worn wings of the eagle.She was silent as she followed the Sapient's dark figure through the stacked barrels,silenced by disappointment and bitter failure. What would Finn think of her now?How Keiro would laugh in scorn and that girl would smirk. And for herself, a day offreedom left.At the top of the stairs she stopped Jared with a tug of his sleeve. "We should go backseparately, Master. We shouldn't be seen together."322He nodded, and in the dark she thought he flushed a little. "Y go first. Take care." ouShe didn't move, her voice bleak. "It's all over, isn't it? Everything's finished. Finn will rot inthat place forever."Jared leaned back on the pillar and took a deep breath. "Don't despair, Claudia.Incarceron is near. I'm sure of that." He took something out of his pocket, and to hersurprise she saw it was the tiny flake of metal from the floor in its plastic wrapping."What is that?""I have no idea. I'll use the Sapients' tower here and try a few investigations tomorrow.""Lucky you." She turned sourly. "AH I have to try is my wedding dress."She was gone before he could answer, slipping up the stairs into the candlelit corridors,the midnight silences and whispers of the Palace.Jared turned the tiny scrap between his fingertips.He pushed back his damp hair and breathed out slowly.For a moment the strangeness of the room had made him forget the pain. Now it cameback, worse, as if to punish him.***FOR HOURS they saw nothing of Blaize. He seemed to vanish, but Finn had no ideawhere."There's a part of this tower we haven't found yet," Keiro muttered, "and that's the wayout." He sprawled on the bed323looking up at the white ceiling. "And that guff about the books---I don't believe a word ofit."Blaize had laughed off their questions about the Prison records. "This tower was emptyand possibly made only for these books to be stored here," he had said, passing breadacross the table that evening. "I found the place and liked it, so I moved in. I assure you Ihave no idea how the images come to be stored here, and neither the time nor inclinationto look at them.""But you feel safe here," Gildas muttered."I am safe. No one can reach me. I removed all the Eyes, and the Beetles can't get in. Ofcourse, Incarceron has many-ways of watching and I'm certainly under observation, as myimages appear in the book like everyone else's. But not at the moment, though, becauseof the strange power of your Key. At the moment we are all invisible." He had smiled then,rubbing the scabs on his chin. "Now, if I had a device like that, I could learn much from it. Isuppose you wouldn't consider parting with it?""He wants it." Keiro sat up now, quickly. "Y saw how he looked, when Gildas laughed at ouhim? There was a coldness in his face then, a flicker of something. He wants the Key."Finn sat on the floor, knees up. "He'll never get it.""Where is it?""Safe, brother." He tapped his coat."Good." Keiro lounged back. "And keep your sword with you. This scabby Sapient makesme uneasy. I don't like him."324"Attia says we're his prisoners.""That little bitch." But Keiro's remark was preoccupied; as Finn watched, he rolled off thebed and stood, snatching a quick look at himself in the faceted window glass. "But don'tfret, brother. Keiro has a plan."He tugged his coat on and went out, peering cautiously around the door.Alone, Finn pulled the Key out and looked at it. Attia was asleep and Gildas wasrestlessly searching the books, as he seemed to have been doing since they came here.Quietly Finn closed the door and put his back against it. Then he activated the Key.It lit quickly.He saw a chamber strewn with clothes, and there was light there that made his eyes sting; sunlight through a window. Beyond the circle of the Key was a large, heavy wooden bed,hangings, a wall of carved panels. Then, breathless, Claudia."Y have to give me more warning! They could have seen you! ou"Who?" he asked."The maids, the seamstress. For God's sake, Finn!"She was red-faced, her hair tousled. He realized she was wearing a white dress, thebodice elaborate with pearls and lace. A wedding dress.For a moment he had no idea what to say. Then she sat next to him, crouched on therush-strewn floor. "We failed.325We opened the gate, but it didn't lead to Incarceron, Finn. It was all a stupid mistake. All Ifound was my father's study." She sounded disgusted with herself."But your father is the Warden," he said slowly."Whatever that means." She scowled.He shook his head. "I wish I could remember you, Claudia. Y Outside, all of it." He ou,looked up. "What if I'm not really Giles? That picture ... I don't look like that. I'm not thatboy.""Y were once." Her voice was stubborn; she squirmed to face him, the silk rustling. ou"Look, all I want is not to marry Caspar. Once you're rescued, once you're free, then ourengagement ... well, it doesn't have to happen, that's all. Attia was wrong; it's not justabout me being selfish." She smiled wryly. "Where is she?""Asleep. I think.""She's fond of you."He shrugged. "We rescued her. She's grateful.""Is that what you call it?" She stared ahead at nothing. "Do people love each other inIncarceron, Finn?""If they do, I haven't seen anything of it." But then he thought of the Maestra, and feltashamed. There was an awkward silence. Claudia could hear the maids chattering in thenext chamber; could see beyond Finn a small room with a frosty window, through whichglimmered a dim, artificial twilight.326And there was a smell. As she realized, she breathed in sharply, so that he looked at her.A musty, unpleasant smell, metallic and sour, air that was trapped and recycled endlessly.She scrambled to her knees. "I can smell the Prison!"He stared. "There is no smell. Besides, how--""I don't know, but I can!"She jumped up, ran out of his sight, came back with a tiny glass bottle that she uncorkedand sprayed lightly into the sunlight.Minute drops shimmered in dust.And Finn cried out, because the smell of it was rich and strong and it sliced into hismemory like a knife; he clasped his hands over his mouth and breathed it again andagain, closing his eyes, forcing himself to think.Roses. A garden of yellow roses.A knife in the cake and he was pushing down, cutting, and it was easy and he waslaughing. Crumbs on his fingers. The sweet taste."Finn? Finn!" Claudia's voice swayed him back from endless distance. The dryness wasin his mouth, the warning prickle crawling in his skin. He shuddered, forced himself to becalm, breathe slower, let the sweat cool his forehead.She was close to him. "If you can smell it, the drops must be traveling to you, mustn't they?Perhaps you can touch me now. Try, Finn."Her hand was close. He put his own around it, closed his fingers.327They passed through hers and there was nothing, not a warmth, not a sensation. He satback, and they were silent.Finally he said, "I have to get out of here, Claudia.""And you will." She knelt up, her face fierce. "I swear to you, I won't give up. If I have to goto my father and beg him on my knees, I'll do it." She turned. "Alys is calling. Wait for me.The circle went dark.He sat huddled there till he was stiff and the room was unbearably lonely; then he got up,shoved the Key into his coat, and went out, running down the steps into the library, whereGildas was pacing irritably forward and back, Blaize watching him across a table spreadwith food. When he saw Finn, the thin Sapient stood."Our last meal together," he said, spreading a hand.Suspicious, Finn eyed him. "Then what?""Then I take you all to a safe place and let you resume your journey.""Where's Keiro?" Gildas snapped."I don't know. So, you're just letting us go?"Blaize looked at him, his gray eyes calm. "Of course. My aim was only ever to help you.Gildas has persuaded me that you need to travel on.""And the Key?""I must do without it."Attia was sitting at the table, her hands clasped together.328Catching Finn's eye, she shrugged slightly. Blaize rose. "I will leave you to make yourplans. Enjoy your meal."In the silence after he was gone Finn said, "We misjudged him.""I still think he's dangerous. If he's a Sapient, why doesn't he cure that pox he has?""What do you know of the Sapienti, ignorant girl?" Gildas growled.Attia chewed her fingernail, then as Finn reached out for an apple, snatched it first, andbit it. "I taste your food," she said indistinctly. "Remember?"He was angry. "I'm not the Winglord. You're not my slave.""No, Finn." She leaned across the table. "I'm your friend. That means a lot more."Gildas sat down. "Any news from Claudia?""They failed. The gate led nowhere.""As I thought." The old man nodded heavily. "The girl is clever, but we must expect no helpfrom them. We must follow Sapphique alone. Now, there is a story that tells how ..."His hand reached to the fruit, but Finn grabbed it. His eyes were fixed on Attia; she halfrose, pale, and suddenly choking, the apple stalk dropping from her fingers. As he jerkedforward and caught her she crumpled, her fingers tearing at her throat."The apple," she gasped. "It's burning me!"32926***You chose rashly. I've warned you before.She is far too clever and you underestimate the Sapient.--Queen Sia to the Warden; private letter***"It's poisoned!" Finn clambered over the table and grabbed her; she choked, clutching hisarms. "Do something!" Gildas shoved him aside. "Get my bag of medicines. Hurry!"It took him precious seconds to find it, and by the time he got back Gildas had Attia lyingon her side, writhing in pain. The Sapient grabbed the bag and tore through it, then pulledthe cap off a small vial and held it to her lips. Attia struggled."She's choking," Finn muttered, but Gildas only swore, forcing it on her so that she drankit and coughed and convulsed.Then, with a horrible racking sound she was sick."Good," Gildas said quietly. "That's it." He held her tight, his quick fingers feeling herpulse, the clammy skin of her forehead. She was sick again, and then slumped back, herface white and mottled."Is it out? Is she all right?"But Gildas was still frowning. "Too cold," he muttered. "Get330a blanket." Then, "Close the door and guard it. If Blaize comes, keep him out.""Why would he...?""The Key, fool boy. He wants the Key. Who else would have done this?"Attia moaned. She was shivering now, a strange blueness on her lips and under her eyes.He obeyed, slamming the heavy door."Is it out of her?""I don't know. I don't think so. It might have entered the bloodstream almost immediately."Finn stared at him in dismay. Gildas knew about poisons; the women of the Comitatushad been experts, and Gildas had not been above learning from them."What else can we do?""Nothing."The door shuddered; it hit Finn on the shoulder and he turned, drawing the sword with onefierce slash. Keiro stood still"What's ...?" His quick eyes took in the scene. He said,"Poison?""Some corrosive." Gildas watched the girl retching and squirming. He stood slowly,resigned. "There is nothing I can do.""There has to be!" Finn shoved him aside. "I could have eaten that! It could have beenme!" He knelt down next to her, trying to lift her, make her easier, but her mutters of pain331made him stop. He felt angry and helpless. "We have to do something!"Gildas crouched by him. His harsh words cut through the moans. "It's acidic, Finn. Herinternal system may be already burned, her lips, her throat. It will be over very soon."Finn looked at Keiro."We go," his brother said. "Right now. I've found where he keeps the ship.""Not without her.""She's dying." Gildas forced him to look. "Nothing can be done. It would take a miracleand I don't have one.""So we save ourselves?""That's what she'd want."They had hold of him, but he shrugged them off and knelt by her. She was still andseemed to be barely breathing, the faded bruises clear in her skin. He had seen death,he was used to death, but his whole soul revolted against this, and the shame he had feltat the Maestra's betrayal came back and swept over him like heat, as if it wouldoverwhelm him. He choked back words, knew tears were filling his eyes.If it would take a miracle, Attia would get one.He leaped up and turned to Keiro, grabbing at his hands. "A ring. Give me another of therings.""Now wait a minute." Keiro jerked back."Give it to me!" His voice was a rasp; he raised the sword. "Don't make me use this,Keiro. Y still have one left." ou'll332Keiro was calm. His blue eyes gave one glance at Attia as she curled in agony. Then hestared back. "Y think it will work?" ou"I don't know! But we can try.""She's a girl. She's no one.""One each, you said. I'm giving her mine.""You've had yours already."For a moment they faced each other, Gildas watching. Then Keiro tugged one of the ringsover his knuckles and looked down at it. Wordless, he threw it at Finn.Finn caught it, dropped the sword, and grabbed Attia's fingers, pushing the ring on; it wasfar too big for her, so he held it there, praying under his breath, to Sapphique, to the manwhose life was in the ring, to anyone. Gildas crouched beside him, deeply cynical."Nothing's happening. What should happen?"The Sapient scowled. "This is superstition. Y yourself scorned it." ou"Her breathing. It's slowing."Gildas felt her pulse, touched the dirty scars where the chains had been. "Finn. Accept it.There's no ..." He stopped. His fingers tightened, felt again."What? What--""I thought... The pulse seems stronger ..."Keiro said, "Then pick her up! Bring her. But let's go!"Finn threw him the sword, crouched, and picked Attia up.333She was so light, he could carry her easily, though her head lolled against him. Keiroalready had the door open and was looking out. "This way. Keep quiet."He led them out.They ran up a dusty winding stair to a trapdoor; Keiro flung it back and hauled himself intodarkness, dragging Gildas quickly after him. "The girl."Finn passed her up. Then he looked back.In the stairwell a strange hum seemed to ripple the air. It rose ominously toward him andhe climbed hastily, scrambling up and slamming the trapdoor down. Keiro was wrestlingwith a grid on the wall, Gildas grasping it with his knotted hands.Attia's eyes flickered, then opened.Finn stared. "Y should be dead." ouShe shook her head, speechless.The grid came off the wall with a rattling crash; behind it he saw a great dark hall, and inthe center, tethered to the floor by an iron cable, the silver ship, floating free. They ran,Finn with Attia's arm over his shoulder, tiny figures over the smooth gray floor, vulnerableand exposed, like mice under the wide stare of an owl, because in the roof above them agreat screen lit, and as Finn stared up it showed him an eye. Not the tiny red Eyes heknew, but a human eye, gray-irised, magnified enormously, as if it stared into a powerfulmicroscope.Then the ripple in the air came through the floor and threw334them all off their feet, a Prisonquake that made the thin needle of the Sapient's towervibrate to its top.Keiro rolled and leaped up. "Over here."A shimmering rope ladder hung down. Gildas grasped it and began to climb, swayingawkwardly, though Keiro held the end firmly.Finn said, "Can you get up there?""I think so." Attia pushed hair from her face. She was still deathly pale, but the bluenesswas ebbing. She seemed to be able to breathe.He looked down at her finger.The ring was shrunken. A thin brittle hoop, it fractured as she grasped the rope; tinyfragments fell unnoticed. Finn touched one with his foot. It looked like bone. Ancient, driedbone.Behind them, the trapdoor clanged open. Finn whirled; he felt Keiro hand him back thesword and draw his own.Together, they faced the dark square of blackness.***"AND SO everything is ready for tomorrow." The Queen placed the last of the papers onthe red leather desk and sat back, putting her fingertips together. "The Warden has beenso generous. Such a dowry, Claudia. Whole estates, a coffer of jewels, twelve blackhorses. He must love you very much."Her nails were painted with gold. It was probably real,335Claudia thought. She picked up one of the deeds and glanced over it, but all she wasaware of was Caspar, striding up and down on the creaking wooden floor.Queen Sia looked around. "Caspar. Be quiet.""I'm bored rigid.""Then go riding, dear. Or badger-baiting, or whatever it is you do."He turned. "Right. Good idea. See you, Claudia."The Queen raised a perfect eyebrow. "Hardly the way the Heir speaks to his fiance, mylord."Halfway to the door he stopped and came back. "Protocol is for the serfs, Mother. Notus.""Protocol keeps us in power, Caspar. Don't forget that."He grinned and made a low and elaborate bow to Claudia, then kissed her hand. "Seeyou at the altar, Claudia." She stood and curtsied coldly."Right. Now I'm off."He slammed the door and they could hear the thud of his boots down the corridor.The Queen leaned across the table. "Fm so glad we have this little time alone, Claudia,because I have something to say. I know you won't mind it, my dear."Claudia tried not to frown, but her lips tightened. She wanted to get away, find Jared. Theyhad so little time!"I have changed my mind. I have asked Master Jared to leave the Court."336"No!"It was said before she could stop herself."Y dear. After the wedding, he will return to the Academy." es,"Y have no right..." Claudia was on her feet. ou"I have every right." The Queen's smile was sweet and deadly. She leaned forward. "Letus understand each other, Claudia. There is only one Queen here. I will teach you, but I willnot tolerate any rival. And you and I need to understand this, because we are alike,Claudia. Men are weak; even your father can be ruled, but you have been brought up tobe my successor. Wait your time. Y can learn a lot from me." She leaned back, her oufingers tapping the papers. "Sit down, my dear."There was steely threat in the words. Claudia sat slowly. "Jared is my friend.""From now on, I will be your friend. I have many spies, Claudia. They tell me much. It reallywill be for the best."She stretched out and pulled the bell; a servant came in instantly, in powdered wig andlivery. "Tell the Warden I await him."When he had gone she opened a box of sweetmeats and took a moment to select one,then offered them to Claudia with a smile.Numb, Claudia shook her head. She felt as if she had picked up a pretty flower and foundit rotting away inside, crawling with maggots. She realized she had never seriouslythought of Sia as the danger. Her father had always been the one to fear. Now shewondered how wrong she was.337Sia watched her, her red lips in a small smile. She wiped them with a lace-edgedkerchief. And as the doors were flung open, she leaned back in the chair and dangled herarm over the side. "My dear Warden. What kept you?"He was flushed.Claudia noticed it at once, through the whirl of her dismay. He never hurried, yet now hishair was just a little askew, his dark coat unbuttoned at the top.He bowed gravely, but his voice had an edge of breathlessness. "I'm sorry, ma'am.Something that required my attention."***NOTHING CAME through the trapdoor.Finn said, "Get up the ladder."As Keiro turned, the floor rippled again. Finn stared at it. The quake lifted the flagstonesas if a wave of water roared under them. Before he had rime to move, the whole worldshifted. He fell crashing against the floor, then was rolling downhill, down a slope thatshould not be there. Slamming against a pillar he gasped, pain shooting down his side.The hall was tilting.With sickening certainty he thought that the Sapient's tower was falling, that it had beenfractured at its spindly base. Then the rope ladder brushed him and he grabbed it. Keirowas already on board, leaning over the silver timbers of the deck. Finn scrambled up; assoon as he could reach, they linked hands.338"I've got him. GO!"The ship rose. With a howl of fear Finn slid onto the deck; the whole contraption swungand rocked and then it drifted, ropes snapping one by one below it.There was an opening in the tower wall ahead, the wide shelf where Blaize had landedthe craft. But as Gildas hauled with all his wiry strength to spin the spoked wheel, the shipjerked and they all fell, rubble cascading from above onto the deck and sails."Something's holding us down!" he roared.Keiro hung over the side. "God! There's an anchor!"He clambered back. "There must be a winch. Come on!"They opened a hatch and scrambled down into the darkness under the deck. Thuds offalling brickwork crashed overhead.They found a maze of walkways and galleys . Running down and flinging the doors open,Finn saw each cabin was empty; there were no stores, no cargo, no crew. Before he hadtime to think about it, Keiro yelled from the darkness below.In the lowest deck it was dark. A circular capstan filled the space; Keiro was jamming thebar into place. "Help me."Together, they pushed. Nothing moved; the mechanism was stiff, the anchor chain heavy.Again they heaved, Finn feeling his back muscles crack, and slowly, with a long reluctantgroan, the capstan creaked into motion.339Finn gritted his teeth and heaved again, sweat breaking out on his face; beside him heheard Keiro gasp and grunt.Then another body was there. Attia, still pale, laboring on the bar next to him."What... good ... are you?" Keiro growled."Good enough," she snapped back, and Finn saw to his surprise that she was grinning,her eyes bright under the tangled hair, color back in her face.The anchor juddered. The ship swayed, then abruptly, lifted."We've got it!" Keiro dug his heels in and pushed, and quite suddenly the capstan wasturning quickly under their weight, the great chain of the anchor rasping up through thefloor and looping obediently as they forced it around.When they had it all in and the mechanism ground to a stop Finn raced up the steps of thecompanionway, but as he burst out onto the deck he stopped with a yell of fright.They were sailing in a cloud. It wisped around him, opening to give glimpses of Gildasswearing at the wheel, the great billowing sails, a bird below them in a patch of light."Where are we?" Attia muttered behind him.Then the ship dropped out of the mist, and they saw they were in an ocean of blue air, thetilted tower of the Sapient already far behind.Breathless, Keiro leaned on the rail and whooped with delight.340Finn stood next to him, looking back. "Why didn't he try to stop us?" Reaching into hisjacket, he touched the crystal sharpness of the Key."Who bloody cares!" his oathbrother said.And then he turned and punched Finn hard in the stomach.Attia screamed. Finn collapsed, all breath gone, the pain an amazement inside him, anairless blackness that loomed over his sight.From the wheel Gildas yelled something, his words snatched away.Slowly, the agony ebbed. When Finn could gasp in air he looked up and saw Keiro withboth arms spread on the rail, looking down at him with a grin."What...?"Keiro held out a hand and pulled him up, staggering, face-to-face. "That'll teach you not todraw a sword on me again," he said.34127***Sapphique strapped the wings to his arms and flew over oceans and plains, over glass ,cities and mountains of gold. Animals fled; people pointed up. He flew so far, he sawthe sky above him and the sky said, "Turn back, my son, for you have climbed toohigh"Sapphique laughed, as he rarely did. "Not this time. This time I beat on you until youopen."But Incarceron was angered, and struck him down.---Legends of Sapphique***"She's said that Jared has to leave." She turned and glared at her father, wanting to ask ifit was his doing. "I told you. It was bound to happen." The Warden walked past her andsat on the chaise near the window of his room, gazing out at the pleasure gardens, whereparties of courtiers walked in the evening cool. "I think you will have to comply, my dear.It's a small price to pay to gain a kingdom."She was ready to burst out in temper, but he turned and looked at her, that coldmeasuring look she so dreaded."Besides, we have something more important to discuss. Come and sit down."342She didn't want to. But she crossed to the chair by the gilt table and sat.He glanced at his watch, then clicked the lid shut and kept it in his hand.He said quietly, "Y have something that belongs to me." ouShe felt her skin prickle with danger. For a moment she thought she couldn't speak at all,but then her voice came, surprisingly calm."Do I? What could that be?"He smiled. "Y are truly remarkable, Claudia. Even though I've created you, you always ousurprise me. But I've warned you before about pushing me too far." He put the watch in hispocket and leaned forward. "Y have my Key." ouShe drew in a breath of dismay. He leaned back, crossing one leg over another, theleather of his boots gleaming. "Y Y don't deny it, and that's wise. It was ingenious to es. ouplace an image of the Key in the drawer, quite ingenious. I suppose I have Jared to thankfor that. When I checked my study that day the alarms went off, I rolled the drawer openand glanced inside; I didn't think to pick up the Key. And the ladybugs-- what a creativetouch What a fool you must both have thought me.She shook her head, but he stood abruptly and paced to the windows. "Did you talk aboutme with Jared, Claudia? Did you laugh together because you had stolen it from me? I'msure you must have enjoyed that."343"I cook it because I had to." She clutched her hands together. "Y kept it from me. Y ou ounever told me."He stopped and looked at her. He had smoothed his hair back now, and his gaze was ascalm and considering as ever. "About what?"She stood up slowly, and faced him. "About Giles," she said.She had expected astonishment, a moment's startled silence. But he was not at allsurprised. She knew, with sudden certainty, that he had been waiting for that name, thatby saying it she had fallen into some trap.He said, "Giles is dead.""No he isn't." The jewels around her neck tickled; with a sudden fury, she tugged them offand flung them on the floor, then folded her arms and all the pent-up words burst out of her."His death was faked. Y and the Queen faked it. Giles is in Incarceron, locked away. ouY took his memory so he doesn't even know who he is. How could you do that?" She oukicked a footstool aside; it fell and rolled. "I can understand why she did it, why shewanted her useless son to be King, but you! I was already engaged to Giles. Y ourprecious plan would have worked out anyway. Why did you do that to us?"He raised an eyebrow. "Us?""Don't I count? Didn't the fact that I would end up with Caspar mean anything to you? Didyou ever think about me?" She was trembling. All the anger of her life was coming out,344frustration for all the times he had driven away and left her for months, had smiled down ather and not touched her.He rubbed his stubbly beard with thumb and forefinger. "I did think of you." His voice wasquiet. "It was obvious you liked Giles. But he was a stubborn boy, too kind, too honorable.Caspar is a fool and will make a poor King. Y will be able to rule him far more oueffectively.""That's not the reason you did it."He looked away. She saw his fingers tapping on the fireplace. He picked up a daintychina figurine and examined it, then put it down. "You're right."He was silent ; she wanted him to speak so much, she could have screamed. It seemedan age before he went back to the chair and sat and said calmly, "I'm afraid the realreason is a secret you will never learn from me."Seeing her astonishment, he raised his hand. "I know you despise me, Claudia. I'm sureyou and your Sapient think me a monster. But you are my daughter and I have alwaysacted in your interests. Besides, Giles's imprisonment was the Queen's plan, not mine.She forced me to agree."She snorted in scorn. "Forced! She has power over you!"He whipped his head up and hissed, "Y And so do you." es.For a second the venom in his voice stung her. "Me?"His hands were fists on the wooden armrests. He said, "Let it go, Claudia. Let it be. Don'task, because the answer may destroy you. That's all I'm going to say." He stood, tall and345dark, and his voice was bleak. "Now, about the Key. Nothing you have done with it hasescaped me. I know about your search for Bartlett, about your communication withIncarceron. I know about this Prisoner you believe is Giles."She stared in amazement and he laughed his dry laugh. "There are a thousand millionPrisoners in Incarceron, Claudia, and you believe you've found the right one? Time andspace are different there. This boy could be anyone.""He has a birthmark.""Does he now! Let me tell you something about the Prison." His voice cruel now, he cameup to her and stared down at her. "It's a closed system. Nothing enters. Nothing leaves.When Prisoners die their atoms are reused, their skin, their organs. They are made fromeach other. Repaired, recycled, and when the organic tissues are not available, they arepatched with metal and plastic. Finn's eagle means nothing. It may not even be his. Thememories he thinks he sees may not be his."Horrified, she wanted to stop him, but no words would come. "The boy is a thief and aliar." He went on, remorseless. "One of a gang of cutthroats that preyed on others. Isuppose he's told you that?""Yes," she snapped."How very honest. Has he told you that in order to get his copy of the Key an innocentwoman was thrown to her death down a precipice? After he had promised her she wassafe?"She was silent.346"No," he said. "I thought not." He stood back. "I want all this nonsense to cease. I want theKey. Now." She shook her head."Now, Claudia.""I haven't got it," she whispered."Then Jared--""Leave Jared out of this!"He caught hold of her. His hand was cold and he gripped her wrist like iron. "I want theKey or you will regret defying me."She tried to shake him off, but he held tight. She glared at him through her tumbling hair."Y can't hurt me. I'm all you've got to make your plan work and you know it!" ouFor a moment they stared at each other. Then he nodded, and let her go. A white circle ofbloodless skin looped her wrist like the mark of a manacle."I can't hurt you," he said hoarsely.Her eyes widened."But there is this Finn. And there is Jared."She stepped back. She was shaking, her back cold with sweat. For a moment theylooked at each other. Then, not trusting herself to speak, she turned and ran to the door,but his words caught her there and she had to hear them."There is no way out of the Prison. Bring me the Key, Claudia."She slammed the door behind her. A passing servant stared in surprise. In the mirroropposite Claudia saw why;347her reflection showed a tousled, red-faced creature, scowling with unhappiness. Shewanted to howl with rage. Instead she walked to her room and closed the door, and threwherself on the bed.She thumped the pillow and buried her head in it, curling up small, arms hugging herbody. Her mind was a maze of confusion, but as she moved, paper crinkled on the pillowand she raised her head and saw the note pinned there. It was from Jared. I need to seeyou. I've discovered something incredible.As soon as she'd read it, it dissolved to ash.She couldn't even smile.***PERCHED IN the rigging of the ship, Finn held on tight, seeing far below lakes ofsulfurous yellow liquid, viscous and evil-smelling. On the landscape slopes, animalsgrazed, odd gawky creatures from here, the herd splitting and fleeing in terror as theshadow of the ship fell on them. Beyond were more lakes, small scrubby bushes the onlythings that grew near them, and away to the right a desert stretched as far as he couldsee into the shadows.They had been sailing for hours. Gildas had steered first, at random, high and steady untilhe had yelled irritably for someone to relieve him and Finn had taken a turn, feeling thestrangeness of the craft below, its buffeting by drafts and breezes. Above him the sailshad flapped; the winds catching and sloughing the white canvas. Twice he had sailed theship348through cloud. The second time the temperature had dropped alarmingly and by the timethey had emerged from the tingling grayness, the wheel and deck around him had beenfrosted with needles of ice that fell and clattered on the boards.Attia had brought him water. "Plenty of this," she'd said, "but no food.""What, nothing?""No.""What did he live on?""There's only some scraps Gildas has." As he'd drunk, she'd taken the wheel, her smallhands on the thick spokes. She'd said, "He told me about the ring."Finn wiped his mouth."It was too much to do for me. I owe you even more now."He'd felt proud and grumpy both at once; he'd taken the wheel back and said, "We sticktogether. Besides, I didn't think it would work.""I'm amazed Keiro gave it."Finn shrugged. She was watching closely. But then she had looked into the sky. "Look atthis! This is so wonderful. All my life I lived in a little dark tunnel lined with shanties andnow all this space ..."He said, "Do you have any family?""Brothers and sisters. All older.""Parents?""No." She shook her head. "Y know ..." ou349He knew. Life in the Prison was short and unpredictable."Do you miss them?"She was still, gripping the wheel tight. "Y But ... She smiled. "It's odd how things work es.out. When I was captured, I thought it was the end of my life. Bur instead it led to this."He'd nodded, then said, "Do you think the ring saved you? Or was it Gildas's emetic?""The ring," she said firmly. "And you."He hadn't been so sure.Now, looking down at Keiro lazing on the deck, he grinned. Called to take his turn, hisoathbrother had taken one look at the great wheel and gone below for some rope; thenhe'd lashed it and seated himself next to it, feet up. "What can we possibly hit?" he'd saidto Gildas."Y fool," the Sapient had snarled. "Just keep your eyes open, that's all." ouThey had passed over hills of copper and mountains of glass, whole forests of metaltrees. Finn had seen settlements cut off in impenetrable valleys where the inhabitantslived in isolation; great towns; once a castle with flags flying from its turrets. That hadscared him, thinking of Claudia. Rainbows of spray arched over them; they had flownthrough strange atmospheric effects, a reflected island, patches of heat, flickering blurs ofpurple and gold fire. An hour ago a flock of long-tailed birds had suddenly squawked andcircled and dive-bombed the deck, making Keiro duck. Then just as350suddenly they had vanished, a mere drift of dimness on the horizon. Once, the ship haddrifted very low; Finn had leaned out over mile on mile of stinking hovels, the peoplerunning from haphazard dwellings of tin and wood, lame and diseased, their childrenlistless. He had been glad when the wind had lifted the ship away. Incarceron was a hell.And yet he possessed its Key.He took it out and touched the controls. He'd tried it before, but nothing had happened.Nothing happened now either, and he wondered if it would ever work again. But it waswarm. Did that mean they were traveling in the right direction, toward Claudia? But ifIncarceron was so vast, how many lifetimes might it take to travel to the exit?"Finn!"Keiro's yell was sharp. He looked up.Ahead, something flickered. He thought at first it was the lights; then he saw that thedimness was not the usual gloom of the Prison but a dark bank of storm clouds, rightacross their path. He scrambled down, rasping his palms to heat on the cables.Keiro was hastily untying the wheel."What is that?""Weather."It was black. Lightning flickered inside it. And as they sailed closer, thunder, a low rumble,an amused, dark chuckle. "The Prison," he whispered. "It's found us.""Get Gildas," Keiro muttered.351He found the Sapient below, poring over charts and maps under the creaking lamp. "Lookat these." The old man glanced up, his lined face shadowed in the lamplight."How can it be this vast? How can we hope to follow Sapphique through all this?"Appalled, Finn stared at the heap of charts slithering off the table, covering the floor. Ifthese showed the extent of Incarceron, they could journey through it forever. "We needyou. There's a storm ahead."Attia ran in. "Keiro says hurry."As if in response the ship heeled over. Finn grabbed the table as the charts slid androlled. Then he climbed back up on deck.Black clouds reared up over the masts, the silver pennants flapping and snapping. Theship was almost lying on her side; he had to hang on to the rail and scramble across tothe wheel by grabbing anything within reach.Keiro was sweating and swearing. "This is the Sapient's sorcery!" he yelled."I don't think so. It's Incarceron."The thunder rumbled again. With a scream the gale hit them; they both held the wheel andhung on, crouching behind its meager shelter. Objects flapped against them, shards ofmetal, leaves, fragments of debris rebounding like hail. And then a snow of tiny white grit,ground glass, bolts, stones that tore through the sails.352Finn turned.He saw Gildas lying flat behind the main mast, clinging on, one arm around Attia. "Staythere!" he yelled."The Key!" Gildas's yell was snatched away by the wind. "Let me take it below. If you'relost..."He knew. And yet he hated the thought of parting with it."Do it," Keiro growled without turning.Finn let go of the wheel.Instantly he was flung back, buffeted, tumbling, over the deck. And the Prison swooped.He felt it zoom in on him, and rolling over, he screamed in terror.From the heart of the storm, an eagle plummeted from the sky, black as thunder, its talonscrackling with lightning. It stretched out for the Key, ready to snatch him and it.Finn threw himself to one side. A tangle of ropes slammed into him; he grabbed thenearest and whipped it up, whirling it around, the heavy tarred end so close to the bird'sbreast that it swerved and swept past, flying high to turn and swoop again.He dived past Gildas into the shelter of the deck. "It's coming back!" Attia screamed."It wants the Key." Gildas ducked. Rain lashed them; thunder rumbled again, and this timeit was a great voice, a murmur of anger far away and high above.The eagle dived. Keiro, exposed by the wheel, curled up small. They saw how it circledand screeched angrily, its beak353wide. Then, quite suddenly, it turned to the east and flew away.Finn tugged out the Key. He touched it and instantly Claudia was there, wet-eyed, her hairrumpled, "Finn," she said, "Listen to me. Eve--""Y listen," He grabbed tight as the ship rolled and swayed. "We need help, Claudia. Y ou ouhave to speak to your father. Y have to get him to stop the storm or we'll all die!" ou"Storm?" She shook her head. "He's not ... He won't help. He wants you dead. He's foundout everything, Finn. He knows!""Then--"Keiro yelled. Finn looked up and what he saw made his fingers clutch on the Key, so thatseconds before the image flicked off, Claudia saw it too.A great solid metal wall. The Wall at the End of the World.Rising from unknown depths it soared into the hidden reaches of the sky.And they were heading straight for it.35428***Entry is through the Portal, Only the Warden willhave a key, and this will be the only way to leave.Though every prison has its chinks and crannies.--Project report; Manor Sapiens***It was late; the bell in the Ebony Tower was chiming ten. In the summer dusk, moths flittedin the gardens and a distant peacock cried as Claudia hurried down the cloister. Servantspassed her and struggled to bow, loaded down with chairs and tapestries and greathaunches of venison. The whole bustle of the feast preparations had been under way forhours. She frowned, annoyed, not daring to ask one of them where Jared's room was.But he was waiting.As she turned a dank corner by a fountain of four stone swans, his hand came out andclutched her. Tugged through an archway she stood breathless as he closed the oakendoor almost shut and put his eye to the slit.A figure strode past. She thought she recognized her father's secretary."Medlicote. Is he following me?"Jared put a finger to his lips. He looked paler and more drawn355than usual, and there was a nervous energy about him that worried her. He led her downsome stone steps, across a neglected courtyard, into a pathway overarched with yellowhanging laburnum. Halfway down he paused and whispered, "There's a folly down hereI've been using. My room is bugged."A great moon hung over the Palace. The scars of the Y ears of Rage pockmarked its face;its silvery sheen lit the orchard and glasshouses, reflected on diamond-paned casementsthat hung open in the heat. A small burst of music drifted from a room, with voices andlaughter and the chink of plates. Jared's dark figure slipped between two pillars wherestone bears danced, through bushes that smelled of lavender and lemon balm, to a smallstructure built into a wall, in the most neglected corner of the walled garden. Claudiaglimpsed a turret, a ruined parapet overgrown with ivy.He unlocked the door and ushered her in.It was black, and stank of damp soil. Light flickered over her; Jared had a small torch; hepointed it at an inner door."Quickly."The door was mildewed with age, the wood so soft it crumbled. Inside the dim room, thewindows had been blocked with ivy; as Jared lit lamps, Claudia stared around. "Just likehome." He had set up his electron microscope on a rickety table, unpacked a few boxesof instruments and books.He turned; in the flame light his face was haggard. "Claudia, you must look at this. Itchanges everything. Everything."356His anguish scared her. "Calm down," she said quietly. "Are you well?""Well enough." He leaned over the microscope, his long fingers adjusting it deftly. Then hestepped back. "Y remember that scrap of metal I took from the study? Take a look at it." ouPuzzled, she put her eye to the lens. The image was blurred; she refocused very slightly.And then she went very still, so rigid that Jared knew she had seen, and in that instant,had understood.He went and sat wearily on the floor, among the ivy and nettles, the Sapient robe wrappedaround him, its hem trailing in the dirt. And he watched her as she stared.***IT WAS the Wall at the End of the World.If Sapphique had truly fallen down it from top to bottom, h must have taken years. As Finngazed up he felt the wind rebound from its immensity, making a slipstream that roaredbefore them. Debris from the heart of Incarceron was blasted upward and thenplummeted in an endless maelstrom; once trapped in that wind nothing would escape."We need to turn!" Gildas was staggering to the wheel; Finn scrambled after him.Together they squeezed beside Keiro, hauling, trying to make the ship veer before shestruck the updraft.With the thunder, Lightsout came.In the blackness Finn heard Keiro swear, felt Gildas357struggle around him, holding on tight. "Finn. Pull the lever! In the deck."His hand groped, found it, and he tugged.Lights blinked on, two beams of light horizontal from the bow of the ship. He saw howclose the Wall was. The discs of light played on huge rivets, bigger than houses, thebolted panels immense, battered by the impact of fragments, immeasurably cracked andscarred and corroded."Can we back out?" Keiro yelled.Gildas threw him a glance of scorn. And in that instant they fell. Plunging down, spillingbeams and spars and ropes, the ship dropped down the side of the Wall like a greatsilvery angel, the sails its flailing wings, shredding in seconds, until just as they thoughtshe would break, the slipstream caught them. Mast snapping, the silver craft shot upwardagain, spinning uncontrollably, the headlights wheeling on the Wall, darkness, a rivet,darkness. Tangled in the ropes Finn clung on, grabbing an arm that might have beenKeiro's. The raging wind hurtled them high, the up-current welling from a roaringdarkness, and as they rose the air thinned, the clouds and storm left far below, the Wall asheer nightmare that sucked them close. They were so near, Finn could see its pittedsurface was webbed with cracks and tiny doors, openings where bats gusted out andnavigated the gale with ease. Scoured by the collision of a billion atoms the metalgleamed in the headlights.The ship rolled. For a long second Finn was sure it would358roll right over; he held on to Keiro and closed his eyes, but when he opened them it hadrighted, and Keiro was crashing against him, flailing in the ropes.The stern swung around. There was a great slither, a tremendous jerk.Gildas roared. "Attia! She's let the anchor go!"Attia must have gone below and pulled the pins from the capstan. The ascent slowed, thesails shredding. Gildas hauled himself up and pulled Finn close. "We have to get right intothe Wall, and jump."Finn stared, blank. The Sapient snapped, "It's the only way out! The ship will fall and riseand tumble forever! We have to drive her in there!"He pointed. Finn saw a dark cube. It jutted out from the beaten metal, a hollow opening ofdarkness. It looked tiny; their chance of entering it remote."Sapphique landed on a cube." Gildas had to hold on to him. "That has to be it!"Finn glanced at Keiro. Doubt dickered between them. As Attia came up the hatchway andslid toward them, Finn knew his oathbrother thought the old man was crazy, consumedwith his quest. And yet what choice did they have?Keiro shrugged. Reckless, he spun the wheel and headed the ship straight at the Wall. Inthe headlights the cube waited, a black enigma.359***CLAUDIA COULD not speak. Her astonishment, her dismay were too great. She sawanimals.Lions.She counted them numbly; six, seven ... three cubs. A pride. That was the word, wasn'tit...? "They can't possibly be real," she murmured.Behind her, Jared sighed. "But they are."Lions. Alive, prowling, one roaring, the rest snoozing in an enclosure of grass, a few trees,a lake where water birds waded.She drew back, stared at the microscope, looked again.One of the cubs scratched another; they rolled and fought. A lioness yawned and laydown, paws flat.Claudia turned. She looked at Jared through the mothy lamplight and he looked back,and for a moment there was nothing to be said, only thoughts she didn't dare to think,implications she was too horrified to follow through.Finally she said, "How small?""Incredibly small." He bit the ends of his long dark hair. "Miniaturized to about a millionthof a nanometer ... Infinitesimal.""They don't... How do they stay ...?""It's a gravity box. Self-adjusting. I thought the technique was lost. It seems to be an entirezoo. There are elephants, zebra ..." His voice trailed off; he shook his head. "Perhaps it360was the prototype ... trying it first on animals. Who knows?""So this means ..." She struggled to say it. "That Incarceron ...""We've been looking for a huge building, an underground labyrinth. A world." He staredahead into the darkness. "How blind we've been, Claudia! In the library of the Academythere are records that propose that such things--trans-dimensional changes--were oncepossible. All that knowledge was lost in the War. Or so we thought."She got up; she couldn't sit still. The thought of the lions tinier than an atom of her skin, thegrass they lay on even smaller, the minute ants they crushed with their paws, the fleas ontheir fur ... it was too difficult to take in. But for them the world was normal. And for Finn ...?She walked in nettles, not noticing. Made herself say,"Incarceron is tiny.""I rear so.""The Portal...""A process of entering. Every atom of the body collapsed." He glanced up and she sawhow ill he looked. "Do you see? They made a Prison to hold everything they feared anddiminished it so that its Warden could hold it in the palm of his hand. What an answer tothe problems of an overcrowded system, Claudia. What a way to dismiss a world'stroubles. And it explains much. The spatial anomaly. And there might be a time differencetoo, a very tiny one."361She went back to the microscope and watched the lions roll and play. "So this is why noone can come out." She looked up. "Is it reversible, Master?""How do I know? Without examining every--" He stopped dead. "Y realize we have ouseen the Portal, the gateway? In your father's study there was a chair."She leaned back against the table. "The light fixture. The ceiling slots."It was terrifying. She had to walk again, pace up and down, think about it hard. Then shesaid, "I have something to tell you too. He knows. He knows we have the Key."Without looking at him, not wanting to see the fear in his eyes, she told him about herfather's anger, his demands. By the time she had finished, she found herself crouchedbeside him in the lamplight, her voice down to a whisper. "I won't give the Key back. Ihave to get Finn out."He was silent, the coat collar high around his neck. "It's not possible," he said bleakly."There must be some way ...""Oh, Claudia." Her tutor's voice was soft and bitter. "How can there be?"Voices. Someone laughing, loud.Instantly she leaped up, blew the lamps out. Jared seemed too dispirited to care. In thedark they waited, listening to the revelers' drunken shouts, a badly sung ballad fadingaway through the orchard. Claudia felt her heart thudding so loudly362in the hush, it almost hurt. Faint bells chimed eleven in the clock towers and stables of thePalace. In one hour her wedding day would dawn. She would not give up. Not yet."Now that we know about the Portal and what it does ... could you operate it?""Possibly. But there's no way back.""I could try." She said it quickly. "Go in and look for him. What have I got here? A lifetimewith Caspar ...""No." He sat up and faced her. "Can you even begin to imagine life in there? A hell ofviolence and brutality? And here-- if the wedding doesn't happen, the Steel Wolves willstrike at once. There will be a terrible bloodshed." He reached over and took her hands. "Ihope I've taught you always to face facts.""Master--""Y have to go through with the wedding. That's all that's left. There is no way back for ouGiles."She wanted to pull away, but he wouldn't let her. She hadn't known he was so strong."Giles is lost to us. Even if he's alive."She slid her hands down and held his, tight with misery. "I don't know if I can," shewhispered."I know. But you're brave.""I'll be so alone. They're sending you away."His fingers were cool. "I told you. Y have far too much to learn." In the darkness he ousmiled his rare smile. "I'm going nowhere, Claudia."363***THEY COULDN'Tdo it. The ship wouldn't hold steady, even with all of them hauling at thewheel. Her sails were rags, her rope trailed everywhere, her rails were smashed, and stillshe yawed and zigzagged, the anchor swinging and the bow oscillating toward the cube,away from it, above, below. "It's impossible," Keiro growled."No." Gildas seemed lit with joy. "We can do it. Keep strong." He gripped the wheel andstared ahead.Suddenly the ship dropped. The headlights picked out the cube's opening; as they closedon it, Finn saw it was filmed across with a strange viscosity like the surface of a bubble.Rainbows of iridescence glimmered on it."Giant snails," Keiro muttered. Even now he was able to joke, Finn thought.Nearer, nearer. Now the ship was so close, they could see the reflection of her lights,swollen and distorted. So close that the bowsprit touched the film, indented it, pierced itso that it popped with soft abruptness, vanishing into a faint puff of sweet air.Gradually, fighting the upstream, the ship slewed into the dark cube. The buffeting slowed.Vast shadows overwhelmed the headlights.Finn stared up at the square of blackness. As it opened as if to swallow him, he felt thathe was very tiny, was an ant crawling into a fold of cloth, a picnic cloth laid on the grass faraway364and long ago, where a birthday cake with seven candles lay half eaten, and a little girl withbrown curly hair was handing him a golden plate, so politely.He smiled at her and took it.The ship cracked. The mast splintered, toppled, wood showering around them. Attia fellagainst him, scrabbling after a crystal glitter that slid from his shirt. "Get the Key," sheyelled.But the ship hit the back of the cube and darkness crashed down on him. Like a fingercrushing the ant. Like a main mast falling.THE LOST PRINCE36729***Despair is deep. An abyss that swallows dreams.A wall at the worlds end. Behind it I await death. Because all our work has come to this.--Lord Calliston's Diary***The morning of the wedding dawned hot and fine. Even the weather had been planned;the trees were in full blossom and the birds sang, the sky was a cloudless blue, thetemperature perfect, the breeze gentle and sweetly scented.From her window Claudia watched the sweating servants unloading the carriage-loads ofgifts, saw even from up here the glint of diamonds, the dazzle of gold.She put her chin on the stone sill, felt its gritty warmth. There was a nest just above, aswallow that dipped in and out regularly with beakfuls of flies. Invisible chicks cheepedurgently as the parents came and went.She felt heavy-eyed and bone-weary. All night she had lain awake and looked up into thecrimson hangings of the bed, listening to the silence of the room, her future hanging overher like a weighty curtain ready to fall. Her old life was finished--the freedom, the studyingwith Jared, the long rides368and tree-climbing, the carelessness of doing as she liked. Today she would be Countessof Steen, would enter the war of scheming and treachery that was the life of the Palace. Inan hour they would come to bathe her, do her hair, paint her nails, dress her like a doll.She looked down.There was a roof far below, the slope of some turret. For a dreamy moment she thoughtthat if she tied all the sheets of the bedclothes together, she might let herself down, slowly,hand over hand till her bare feet touched the hot tiles. She might scramble down and steala horse from the stables and ride away, escape just as she was, in her white nightdress,into the green forests on the far hills.It was a warming thought. The girl who disappeared. The lost Princess. It made her smile.But then a call from below jerked her back; she glanced down and saw Lord Evian,resplendent in blue and ermine, gazing up at her.He called something; she was too high to hear what, but she smiled and nodded, and hebowed and walked away, his small heeled shoes clacking.Watching him, she knew that all the Court was like him, that behind its perfumed andelaborate facade lurked a web of hatreds and secret murders, and her own part in thatwould begin very soon, and to survive it she must be as hard as they were. Finn couldnever be rescued. She had to accept that.369She got up, sending the swallow off in panic, and walked to the dressing table.It was laden with flowers, tussy-mussies, nosegays, and bouquets. They had been arrivingall morning, so that the room smelled exquisite and sickly. Behind her, on the bed, thewhite gown lay spread in its finery. She looked at herself.All right. She would marry Caspar and become Queen. If there was a plot, she would bepart of it. If there were killings, she would survive them. She would rule. No one would tellher what to do ever again.She opened the dressing table drawer, took out the Key, and placed it on the tabletop. Itglimmered, its crystal facets catching the sunlight, its eagle splendid.But first she would have to tell Finn. Break it to him that there was no escape.Tell him their engagement was over.She reached out to it, but just as she touched it, there was a low knock on the door andinstantly she slid it smoothly into the drawer and picked up a brush. "Come in, Alys."The door opened. "Not Alys," her father said.He stood, dark and elegant, framed by the gilt lintel. "May I come in?""Yes," she said.His coat was new, a deep black velvet, a white rose in the lapel, his knee breeches satin.He wore shoes with discreet buckles and his hair was caught in a black ribbon. He sat370gracefully, flipping the tails of the coat. "All this finery is rather a bother. But one has to beperfect on such a day." Glancing at her plain dress, he took his watch out and opened it,so that the sun caught the silver cube that hung on the chain. "Y have only two hours, ouClaudia. Y should dress now." ouShe leaned her elbow on the table. "Is that what you came to tell me?""I came to tell you how proud I am." His gray eyes held hers, and the light in them waskeen and sharp. "Today is the day I have planned and schemed for decades. Long beforeyou were born. Today the Arlexi come to the heart of power. Nothing must go wrong." Hestood up and strode to the window, as if tension would not let him keep still. He smiled. "Iconfess I have not slept, thinking of it.""You're not the only one."He looked at her closely. "Y must have no fear, Claudia. Everything is arranged. ouEverything ready."Something in his tone made her glance up. For a moment she looked at him and sawunder the mask, saw a man driven so fiercely by his dream of power that he wouldsacrifice anything to achieve it. And with a cold shiver she saw that he would not share it.Not with the Queen, or Caspar. "What do you mean ... everything?""Just that things will turn out in our favor. Caspar is nothing but a stepping-stone."371She stood. "Y know, don't you? About the assassination plan ... the Steel Wolves. Are ouyou one of them?"He crossed the room in one step and grabbed her arm so tightly, she gasped. "Keepquiet," he snapped. "Do you think there aren't listening devices even here?"He led her to the window and flung it open. Strains of lute and drum floated upward, theshouts of a guard commander drilling his men. Under cover of the noise his voice was lowand husky. "Just do your part, Claudia. That's all.""And then you kill them." She tugged away."What happens after doesn't concern you. Evian had no right to approach you.""Doesn't it? How long before I'm in your way too? How long before I fall off my horse?"She had shocked him. "That will never happen.""No?" Her scorn was acid; she wanted it to burn him. "Because I'm your daughter?"He said, "Because I have come to love you, Claudia."There was something there that stuck her. Something odd. But he turned away. "Now. TheKey."She frowned, then went to the dressing table and opened the drawer. The Key gleamed;she took it out and laid it on the top, among the clustered flowers.The Warden came and looked down at it. "Not even your precious Jared could havediscovered all the mysteries of this device.""I want to say good-bye," she said, stubborn. "To Finn, and372the others. To explain to them. Then I'll give you the Key. At the wedding."His eyes were cold and clear. "Y always have to try my patience, Claudia." ouFor a moment she thought he would just take it. But he walked to the door."Don't keep Caspar waiting too long. He gets so ... sulky."She locked the door after him and sat down, holding the Key in both hands. I have cometo love you. Perhaps he even thought that was true.She switched the field on.Then she jumped back, so fast that the Key fell with a clatter onto the floor.Attia was in her room."Y have to help us," the girl said at once. "The ship has crashed. Gildas is hurt." ouThe field widened; she saw a dark place, heard a distant howling as of wind. Petals blewoff the flowers on her table, as if a gale from that place moved here.Attia was shoved aside; Finn said, "Claudia, please. Can Jared help ...?""Jared's not here." Helpless, she saw the wreckage of a strange craft littering the floor.Keiro was tearing a piece of sail into strips and binding Gildas's arm and shoulder; shesaw blood already seeping through. "Where are you?""The Wall." Finn looked weary. "I think we've come as far373as we can. This is the End of the World. There's a passageway beyond, but I don't know ifhe can travel ...""Of course I bloody can," Gildas snapped.Finn pulled a face. "Not for long. We must be close, Claudia, to the gate.""There is no gate." She knew her voice was flat.He looked at her. "But you said--""I was wrong. I'm sorry. It's all over, Finn. There is no gate and there is no way out. Notever. Not from Incarceron."***JARED WALKED into the Great Hall. It was thronged with courtiers and princes,ambassadors, Sapienti, dukes, and duchesses. It was a bewilderment of colored satinsand the smell of sweat and powerful fragrances, and it made him feel a little weak. Therewere seats along the wall; he made for one and sat, leaning his head back against thecool stone. All around him, the guests at Claudia's wedding chattered and laughed. Hesaw the bridegroom, with a gang of his wild young friends, already drinking, laughinguproariously at some joke. The Queen was not present yet, nor the Warden.A crinkle of silk beside him made him turn. Lord Evian bowed. "Y look a little tired, ouMaster."Jared stared back. "A sleepless night, sir.""Ah yes. But soon now, all our worries will be over." The fat man smiled, and fannedhimself with a small black fan. "Please give Claudia all my best wishes."374He bowed again and turned. Jared said suddenly, "One moment, my lord. The other day... when you made a certain promise ..."Yes?" Evian's smug manner was gone; he looked guarded."Y mentioned the Nine-Fingered One." ouEvian glared. He grabbed Jared's arm and hauled him into the crowd, moving so fast,people stared as they were pushed aside. Out in the corridor he hissed, "Never say thatname aloud. It is a sacred and a holy name for those who believe."Jared tugged his arm free. "I have heard of many cults and beliefs. Certainly all the onesthe Queen allows. But this--""This is not the day to discuss religion.""Y k is." Jared's eyes were sharp and clear. "And we have very little time. Does he have esanother name, this hero of yours?"Evian breathed out angrily. "I really can't say.""Y will say, my lord," Jared said pleasantly, "or I'll make such an outcry right now about ouyour assassination plan that every guard in the Palace will hear it."Evian's brow prickled with sweat. "I think not."Jared glanced down; the fat man had a dagger in his hand, the blade hard againstJared's stomach. With an effort, he met the man's eyes. "Either way, my lord, you wouldbe discovered. Ail I ask is a name."For a moment they were face-to-face. Then Lord Evian said,375"Y are a brave man, Sapient, but don't cross me again. As for the name, yes, indeed outhere is one, hidden in time, lost in legend. The name of the One who claimed to haveescaped from Incarceron. In the most mysterious of our rites he is known as Sapphique.Does that satisfy your curiosity?"Jared stared at him for a split second. Then he shoved him aside. And ran.***KEIRO WAS wild with anger; he and Gildas were yelling at her. "How can you abandonus?" the Sapient scorched. "Sapphique Escaped! Of course there is a way out!"She was silent. She was looking at Finn. He sat huddled up against a smashed angle ofdecking, stiff with misery. His jacket was torn and there were cuts on his face, but nowmore than ever she was sure he was Giles. Now that it was too late."And you're marrying him," he said quietly.Gildas swore. Keiro gave his oathbrother a scathing look. "What does it matter who shemarries! Perhaps she decided she likes him better than you." He turned, hands on hips,and faced her arrogantly. "Is that it, Princess? Was this all a little diversion for you, a prettygame?" He jerked his head. "Such lovely flowers! Such a sweet dress!"He came up so close to her that she almost felt he would reach out and grab her, but thenFinn said, "Shut up, Keiro." He got up and faced her. "Just tell me why. Why is it soimpossible?"376She couldn't. How could she tell them that? "Jared found some things out. Y have to oubelieve me.""What things?""About Incarceron. It's finished, Finn. Please. Make a life for yourself there. Forget theOutside ...""And what about me?" Gildas snapped. "I've spent sixty years planning my Escape! Iscoured the Prison for a lifetime before I found a Starseer, and I'll never find another! Wehave traveled to the End of the World, girl! I will not give up my dreams of a lifetime!"She stood up and stalked toward him, furious. "Y use him like my father uses me. All he ouis to you is a way out; you don't care about him! Any of you!""That's not true!" Attia hissed.Claudia ignored her. Looking hard at Finn she said, "I'm sorry. I wish things could havebeen different. I'm sorry."There was some sort of commotion outside her door; she turned and yelled, "I won't seeanyone! Send them away!"Finn said, "Do you know what I'm escaping from? From not knowing myself. Having thisdarkness inside me, this emptiness. I can't live with that. Don't leave me here, Claudia!"She couldn't bear it anymore. Not Keiro's anger, not the fierce old man, not him. He washurting her, and none of this was her fault, none of it. She reached out for the Key. "This isgood-bye, Finn. I have to give up the Key. My father knows about everything. It's over."377Her fingers closed on the link. Voices argued outside the door.And then Attia said, "He's not your father, Claudia." They all turned to her.She was sitting on the floor, arms around her knees. She didn't get up or say anythingmore but just sat there in the shocked silence she had created, her narrow face grimy andcalm, her dark hair greasy.Claudia came right up to her, "What?" Her own voice sounded small and unfamiliar."I'm afraid it's true." Attia was cool and distant. "I wouldn't have told you, but now you'reforcing me to, and it's time you knew. The Warden of Incarceron is not your father.""Y lying little bitch!" ou"No, it's true."Keiro grinned.Claudia felt as if the world had shaken. Suddenly the hubbub outside was too much;turning her back on them, she hauled open the door. Jared was there, and two guardsholding him back."What is this?" Her voice was steel. "Let him through.""Y father's orders, lady--" our"My father," she screamed, "can go to hell!" Jared pushed her back into the room andslammed the door. "Claudia, listen--""Please, Master! Not now!"378He saw the lightfield. Claudia stalked back to it. "All right. Tell me," she said.For a moment Attia said nothing. Then she stood up, brushing dirt from her bare arms. "Inever liked you. Haughty, selfish, spoiled. Y think you're so tough--you wouldn't last ten ouminutes in here. And Finn is worth ten of you.""Attia" Finn growled, but Claudia said sharply, "Let her speak.""Back there in the Sapient's tower we found lists of all the Prisoners who have ever beenin this place. They all looked for their own names, but I didn't." Attia came close toClaudia. "I looked for yours."Finn turned, chilled. "Y said it wasn't there." ou"I said she wasn't in Incarceron. But she has been."He felt so cold. Looking at Claudia, he saw her face was white; it was Jared who saidquietly, "When?""She was born here, and she lived here for one week. Then, nothing. She vanishes fromthe records. Someone took a week-old baby girl out of the Prison, and there she is, look,the daughter of the Warden. He must have been very desperate for a daughter. And theremust have been one who died, or he would have chosen a son."Keiro said, "Y recognize her from a photo of a baby? That's--" ou"Not just a baby." Attia kept her eyes on Claudia. "Someone put paintings of her into thebook. Images, just like us. Of379her growing up. Of her having everything she wanted, clothes, toys, horses. Of her ...""Getting betrothed?" Keiro said slyly.Finn turned with a gasp. "Was I there? Was I in that image too? Attia!"Her lips set. "No.""Are you sure?""I'd tell you if you were." She turned earnestly. "I would tell you, Finn. It was just her."He looked at Claudia. She seemed stunned with shock. He glanced at Jared, whomuttered, 'T have also found the name of Sapphique here. It seems he truly did Escape."Gildas spun around and the two Sapienti exchanged glances. "Y see what this means." ouThe old man was triumphant. He was bleeding and limping, but his whole body wascharged with energy. "They took her out. Sapphique got out. There is a way. Perhaps ifwe brought both the Keys together, we could unlock it."Jared frowned. "Claudia?" he said.She couldn't move for a moment. Then her head jerked up and she looked Finn hard inthe eyes and he saw her gaze was fierce and bitter. "Keep the Key switched on, all thetime," she said. "When I get Inside, I'll need to find you."38030***All my years to this momentAll my roads to this wall.All my words to this silenceAll my pride to this fall--Songs of Sapphique***She paced the study floor anxiously, dressed in dark trousers and jacket. "Well?""Five minutes." Jared worked on the controls without looking up. He had already placed ahandkerchief on the chair and operated the device; the handkerchief had disappeared,but he couldn't get it back.Claudia stared at the door.She had torn up her wedding dress in a fury that had amazed even herself, shredding thelace and ripping the flouncy skirt wide open. All that was over. Protocol was over. She wasat war now. Racing down here through the dark cellars, she had run through anger andbewilderment and the emptiness of a wasted past."All right." Jared looked up. "I think I understand what's what, but where this machine willtake you, Claudia ...?""I know where it takes me. Away from him." The knowledge381that he was not her father still rang in her head like a great blare of sound, endlesslyechoing, so that she felt she would never hear anything else but that girl's quiet,devastating words. Jared said, "Sit in the chair."She grabbed her sword and walked over and stopped. "What about you? When he findsout.."Don't worry about me." He took her arm gently and made her sit. "It's about time I stoodup to your father. I'm sure it will be good for me."Her face clouded. "Master ... if he hurts you ...""All you need to worry about is finding Giles and bringing him back. Justice must be done.Good luck, Claudia." He raised her hand and kissed it formally. For a moment she wasstricken with the thought that she would never see him again; all she wanted to do wasjump up and hug him, but he moved away to the panel of instruments and looked up."Ready?"She couldn't speak. She nodded. And then, just before his fingers touched the panel, shesaid hurriedly, "Good-bye, Master."He pressed the blue square, and it happened. From the ceiling slots a cage of white lightfell, so blindingly brilliant and so quick that it was gone as soon as it had come, and all hecould see was the black aftermath imprinted on his retina.He brought his hands away from his face.The room was empty. He could smell a faint sweetness."Claudia?" he whispered.Nothing. For a long moment he waited in the silence. He382wanted to stay, but he had to get out of the study; the Warden must not know what hadhappened for as long as possible, and if they found him here ... Hurriedly he slammed thecontrols back, slid out through the great bronze door, and locked it behind him.All the way up through the cellars Jared sweated with fear. There must be some alarm hehad overlooked, some screaming trigger his scanner had failed to detect. At every stephe expected to hurtle into the Warden or a posse of Palace guards, and by the time hecame up to the formal corridors, he was pale and shivering and had to lean in an alcoveand take deep, careful breaths, a passing maid staring at him curiously.In the Great Hall, the crowd's noise was louder. As he threaded among them he sensedthe growing tension, the expectation heightened almost to hysteria. The staircase thatClaudia should descend was in full view, lined by footmen in powdered wigs. As heslipped into a seat by the fireplace he saw the Queen, glorious in cloth of gold and a tiaraof diamonds, flicker an irritated glance at it.But brides were always late.Jared leaned back and stretched out his legs. He was lightheaded with fear and fatigueand yet he felt something else that surprised him: a strange peace. He wondered howlong it would last.Then he saw the Warden.Tall and grave, the man who was not Claudia's father. Jared383watched as the Warden smiled, nodded, exchanged graceful small talk with the waitingcourtiers. Once he took out his watch and glanced at it, held it to his ear as if in all thehubbub he needed to check it was going. Then he put it away and frowned.Impatience grew, slowly.The crowd murmured. Caspar came over and said something to his mother, she spoke tohim sharply, and he went back to his supporters. Jared watched the Queen.Her hair was swept up elaborately, her lips red in the whitened pallor of her face, but hereyes were cool and shrewd and he recognized the growing suspicion in them.She crooked a finger and the Warden moved to her side. They spoke briefly. A servantwas called, a smooth silver-haired steward, and he bowed and vanished discreetly.Jared rubbed his face.It must be panic up there in her rooms, the maids searching for her, fingering the dress,terrified for their own skins. Probably they had all fled. He hoped Alys wouldn't be there--the old nurse would be blamed.He leaned back against the wall and tried to summon up all his courage.He didn't have long to wait.There was a disturbance on the stairs. Heads turned. Women craned to see, a rustle ofdresses and faint applause that petered out into bewilderment, because the silver-hairedservant was384racing down, breathless, and in his hands he had the dress, or rather what was left of it.Jared wiped sweat from his lip. He had never seen Claudia so furious as when she hadtorn it to shreds.Confusion erupted.A scream of anger, orders, the clash of weapons. Slowly, Jared stood.The Queen was white-faced; she turned on the Warden. "What is this? Where is she?"His voice was icy. "I have no idea, madam. But I suggest ..."He stopped. His gray eyes met Jared's through the agitated crowd.They looked at each other and in the sudden growing hush the crowd noticed and fellback between them, as if people feared to stand in that corridor of anger.The Warden said, "Master Jared. Do you know where my daughter is?"Jared managed a small smile. "I regret I cannot say, sir. But I can say this. She hasdecided against the wedding." The crowd was utterly silent.Her eyes glittering with wrath, the Queen said, "She's jilted my son?"He bowed. "She has changed her mind. It was sudden, and she felt she could not faceeither of you. She has left the Palace. She begs your indulgence."385Claudia would hate that last, he thought, but he had to be so careful. He steeled himselffor the reaction. The Queen gave a laugh of pure venom; she turned on the "warden." Mydear John, what a blow for you! After all your plans and schemes! I have to say I neverthought it a very good idea. She was so ... unsuitable. Y chose your replacement so oubadly."The "wardens eyes never left Jared's, and the Sapient felt that basilisk stare slowly petrifyhis courage." Where has she gone?Jared swallowed. "Home.""Alone?""Yes.""In a carriage?""On horseback."The Warden turned. "A patrol after her. At once!" Did he believe it? Jared wasn't sure."Of course I pity your domestic troubles," the Queen said cruelly, "but you realize that I willnever suffer an insult like this again. There will be no wedding, Warden, even if she comesback crawling on her hands and knees."Caspar muttered, "Scheming ungrateful bitch," but his mother silenced him with a look."Clear the chamber," she said sharply. "I want everyone out."As if it was a signal, an uproar of voices burst out, excited questions, shocked whispers.Through it all Jared stood still, and the Warden stood386watching him, and there was a look in those eyes the Sapient could not beat now. Heturned away."Y stay." John Arlex's order was hoarse and unrecognizable. ou"Warden." Lord Evian pushed up close to them. "I have just heard ... such news ... is ittrue?"His affectations were gone; he was pale with intensity. "True. She's gone." The Wardenspared him one grim glance. It's over."Then ... the Queen?""Remains the Queen.""But... our plan ..."The Warden silenced him with a flash of anger. "Enough, man! Don't you hear what I say?Go back to your puffs and perfumes. It's all we have now."As if he could not understand what had happened, Evian clawed restlessly at his tightruffled suit, tugging a button loose. "We can't let it end like this.""We have no choice.""All our dreams. The end of Protocol." He reached his hand inside the coat. "I can t. Iwon't."He moved in before Jared realized what was happening, the knife flashing out, slashingdown at the Queen. As she turned, it caught her high on the shoulder; she screamed inshock. Instantly the cloth of gold was running with blood, small spatterings and trickles thatwelled up as she gasped387and clawed at Caspar, stumbling into the arms of courtiers. "Guards!" the Warden cried.He whipped out his sword. Jared turned.Evian was staggering back, the pink suit smeared with blood. He must have seen he hadfailed; the Queen was hysterical but not dead, and there was no chance to strike again. Atleast not at her. Soldiers ran in, their sharp pikes forcing him back in a ring of steel. Hestared at Jared without seeing him, at the Warden, at Caspar's pale terror."I do this for freedom," he said calmly. "In a world that offers none."With a swift accuracy he turned the knife and with both hands thrust it into his heart. Hecrumpled over it, crashed down, juddered a moment and was still. As Jared pushed pastthe guards and bent over him, he saw death had been almost instant; blood was stillslowly welling through the silk cloth.He gazed down, horrified, at the plump face, the staring eyes."Stupid," the Warden said behind him. "And weak." He reached down and hauled Jaredup, turning him roughly."Are you weak, Master Sapient? I have always thought so. We'll see now if I was tight."He looked at the guard. "Take the Master to his room and lock him in. Bring me anydevices that are there. Post two men outside. He is not to leave, and will receive novisitors.""Sire." The man bowed.388The Queen had been hustled out and the crowd scattered; all at once the great Chamberseemed empty. The garlands of flowers and orange blossom drifted slightly in the breezefrom the open windows. As Jared was led to the door he stepped on spilled petals andsticky sweetmeats; the detritus of a wedding that would never happen.Just before they pushed him out, he looked back and saw the Warden standing with bothhands on the high fireplace, leaning over the empty hearth. His hands were clenched fistson the white marble.***NOTHING HAPPENED but a white light. When Claudia opened her eyes, they stung; hersight was watery, and small dark spots floated there for a minute, dimming the walls of thecell.It was certainly a cell. It stank. The smell was so strong, she retched and then tried nor tobreathe again, the reek of damp and urine and rotting bodies and straw.The straw was all around her; she was sitting in it, and a flea jumped out of it onto herhand. With a hiss of disgust she jumped up and shook it off, shivering and scratching.So this was Incarceron.It was just as she'd expected.The cell was stone-walled and the stones were carved with ancient names and dates,filmed with milky lichens and a fur of algae. Above, the groined vault was lost in darkness.There389was one window, high in the wall, but it seemed to be covered. Nothing else. But the celldoor was open.Claudia took another breath, trying not to cough. The cell was silent, a heavy, oppressivesilence that was cold and clammy. A listening silence. And in the corner of the cell, shesaw an Eye. A small red Eye that watched her impassively.She felt normal. No tingling or sickness. She looked at herself, her hands clutching theKey. Was she really so minute? Or was any notion of size relative--was this normality andthe Realm outside a place of giants?She crossed to the door. It had not been locked for a long time. Chains hung from it, butthey were corroded into a mass with rust, and the hinges were eaten away so that thedoor hung at an angle. She ducked under it, into the passageway.It was stone-flagged and filthy, and k stretched into darkness.She looked at the Key, operated the imager. "Finn?" she whispered. Nothing happened.Only, far off down the corridor, something hummed. A low-pitched whine, like a machinebeing activated. She flicked the Key off hastily, her heart thudding. "Is that you?"Nothing.She took two steps, then stopped. The sound came again, just ahead, a soft, oddlyquesting sound. She saw a red Eye open, turn slowly through a half circle, then stop andswivel back toward her. She kept very still.390"I see you," a voice said softly. "I recognize you." Not Finns. Not anyone she knew."I never forget any of my children. But you haven't been here for a while. I'm not sure Iunderstand that."Claudia wiped her cheek with a grimy hand. "Who are you? I can't see you.""Yes you can. You're standing on me, breathing me."She stepped back, staring down, but there was only the stone floor, the darkness.The red Eye watched her. She breathed a sickening breath. "You're the Prison.""I am." It sounded fascinated. "And you are the Wardens daughter."She couldn't speak. Jared had said it was an intelligence, but she hadn't realized it wouldbe like this."Shall we help each other, Claudia Arlexa?" The voice was calm and had a slight echo."You are looking for Finn and his friends. Isn't that right?""Yes." Should she have said that?"I will lead you to them.""The Key will do that.""Don't use the Key. It interferes with my systems."Was she mistaken, or had that been hurried, almost annoyed? She began to walk onslowly, into the dark corridor. "I see. And what do you want in return?"A sound. It could have been a sigh, or a soft laugh. "Not a391question I have been asked before. I want you to tell me what is Outside. Sapphiquepromised faithfully that he would come back and tell me, but he never has. Your fatherdoes not speak of it. I begin to wonder, in my heart of hearts, if there even is anOutside, or whether Sapphique passed only into death and you live in a place here Iam unable to detect. I have a billion Eyes and senses, and yet I cannot see out. It is notonly the inmates who dream of Escape, Claudia. But then, how can I escape frommyself?"She came to a corner. The passageway forked in two, both dark and dripping, andidentical. She frowned and held the Key tightly. "I don't know. It's pretty much what I'mtrying to do. All right. Take me to Finn. And as we go I'll tell you what's Outside."Lights flickered on ahead. "This way." She paused. "Y do really know where they are? ouThis isn't a trick?"Silence. Then, "Oh Claudia. How angry your father will be with you. When he finds out."39231***He fell all day and all night. He fell into a pit of darkness. He fell like a stone falls, like abird with broken wings, like an angel cast down. His landing bruised the world.--Legends of Sapphique***"It's changed." Keiro looked intently at the Key. "The colors." Finn lifted the crystal into aglimmer of light. The red lights were humming, flickering into a muted rainbow. The Keyseemed warmer in his hand."Maybe she's Inside.""Then why doesn't she talk to us?"Ahead, Gildas turned, a limping shadow in the darkness. "Is this the way? Finn?"He had no idea. The wreckage of the ship was far behind; the cube had become a funnel,narrowing as they hurried into it, the sides and roof closing in, becoming black facetedstone, the familiar obsidian glint of walls."Keep close to me," he muttered. "We don't know how far the protective field goes."Gildas barely heard. Since he had spoken to Jared the feverish possession of his questhad come over him again; anxiously393he limped ahead, examining faint scratches on the walls, muttering to himself. Heseemed to ignore his injuries, but Finn guessed they were more serious than he let on."The old fool's losing it," Keiro muttered in disgust. He turned. "And then there's her."Attia hung back. She seemed to be walking deliberately slowly; in the shadows sheseemed deep in thought."That was some stunt she pulled." Keiro walked on. He gave a sharp glance at Finn. "Areal blow under the belt."Finn nodded. Claudia had gone so still. Like someone stabbed with a deep wound keepsstill, so as not to feel the pain."But," Keiro said, "it means there's a way out. So we can get out too.""You're heartless. Y only ever think about yourself." ou"And you, brother." His oathbrother glanced around, alert. "If there is an Outside andyou're some sort of king out there, then I'm guarding you like gold. Prince Keiro soundsgood to me.""I'm not sure I can do that... be that.""Y can. It's all pretense. Y ou ou're a master of lies, Finn." Keiro looked at him sidelong."Y be a natural." ou'llFor a moment they shared a look. Then Finn said, "Can you hear something?"A murmur. It drifted down the corridor, a gust of soft voices. Keiro drew his sword. Attiaclosed up. "What is it?""Something ahead." Keiro listened intently, but the sound394did not come again. Standing still, one hand against the wall, Gildas whispered, "Maybeit's Claudia. She's found us.""Then she was very quick about it." Keiro walked on softly. "Stay together. Finn, go at theback, and keep the Key safe."Gildas snorted but took his place between them.It was a voice. It was speaking somewhere ahead, and as they crept toward it, thepassageway became cluttered; great chains lay across it, manacles and shackles,scattered heaps of tools, a broken Beetle on its back. They passed small cells, some withthe doors locked, and through the grille in one Finn saw a tiny dark room with ratsclambering over an empty plate, a filthy pile of rags in one corner that might have been abody. Everything was still. He felt that this was a place forgotten even by its makers, acorner of itself even Incarceron had overlooked for centuries. Had it been somewhere likethis that the Maestra's people had found the Key, with the desiccated bones of the manwho had made it, or stolen it?Stepping around a great pillar he realized he was beginning to forget her. Already itseemed so long ago, and yet the clatter of the bridge, her single look, were still insidehim, waiting for him to sleep, to think he was safe. And her pity.Attia grabbed him; he realized he had been walking past them."Stay awake, brother." Keiro's hiss was fierce. Heart thudding, he tried to clear his head.The prickling in his face subsided. He took deep breaths.395"All right?" Gildas whispered.He nodded. The fit had nearly crept up on him. It made him feel sick.Peering around the corner, he stared.The voice was speaking in a language he had never heard, of clicks and squeaks andstilted syllables. It was addressing Beetles and Sweepers and Flies, and the metallic ratsthat came out of the walls to carry off corpses. Millions of them crouched motionless onthe floor of a great hall, lined ropes and aerial walkways, all of them facing one brilliantstar that shone like a spark in the darkness. Incarceron instructed its creatures and thewords it spoke were a patchwork of sounds, a poetry of cracks and rumbles."Can they hear?" Keiro whispered."It's not just words." It was a vibration too, deep in the heart of the darkness, a sound likea vast heart beating, a great clock chiming.The voice stopped. At once the machines turned and filed away, moving in silent rows intothe darkness till the last one was gone, barely making a sound.Finn moved, but Keiro grabbed him tight.The Eye still watched. Its light lit the empty hall. Then the voice said softly, "Have you gotthe Key with you, Finn? Shall I take it now?"He gasped. He wanted to run, but Keiro's grip said no. Biting his lip, he heard thePrison's low amused chuckle. ''Claudia396is Inside. Did you know that? Of course I intend to keep you both apart. I am so vast, itwill be only too easy. Won't you speak to me, Finn?""It's not sure we're here," Keiro muttered."It sounds sure to me."He had an irrational urge to step out from the Key's protection, to open his arms and goout. But Keiro wouldn't let go, and wriggled around to Attia. "Back. Quickly.""Of course I am only a machine," Incarceron said acidly."Unlike you. Or are you? Are you all so pure? Perhaps I should try a little experimentof my own."Keiro shoved him, panicking. "Run!"It was too late. There was a hiss and a crack. The sword flew out of Keiro's hand andclanged against the wall, held there upside down.And Finn was hauled back, slammed against the stones, the Key in his belt pinning himthere, the dagger he held whipping his arm flat with enormous power."Ah. Now I feel you, Finn. Now I feel your fear."He couldn't move. For a moment of terror he thought he was being sucked into the veryfabric of the wall; then Gildas was there tugging at him, and he let go of the knife and hishand came free, and he realized the wall had become a magnet. Scraps of iron, flakes ofbronze were flying in a fierce horizontal blizzard; the wall became clotted instantly withtools, chainwork, vast links. Finn ducked, cursing, as one397clanged right next to his ear. "Get me off!" he screamed.His body was crushed between the Key and the magnet.Gildas already had hold of the crystal; the old man dug his heels and gasped, "Help me,"and Attia's small hands grabbed tight. Slowly, as if they were tugging it away frominvisible fingers they pulled the weight of the Key from him and he fell forward, stumbling."Go. Go!"Incarceron laughed its deep laugh. "But you can't go. Not without your brother."Poised to flee, he stopped.Keiro was standing by the wall. He had one hand oddly propped against it, the back of hishand to the black surface. For a moment Finn thought he was trying to pry away the swordand yelled "Leave that!" but then Keiro turned and gave him a look of cold fury."It's not the sword."Finn caught his oathbrother's arm and pulled. It was held tight."Let go.""I'm not holding anything," Keiro said. He turned his face away. Finn looked closer."But..."His brother twisted to look at him and Finn was shocked by the anger in his eyes. "It's me,Finn. Don't you realize? Are you that stupid? Me!"398The fingernail of his right forefinger. It was tight to the wall, and when Finn grabbed hishand and pulled on it, it stayed there, a small shield held to the magnet with an attractionnothing could break."Shall I let him go?" The Prison said slyly.Finn looked at Keiro and Keiro looked back. "Yes," he whispered."With a violence that made them all wince, every piece of metal fell from the walls in oneresounding crash.CLAUDIA STOPPED. "What was that?""What?""That noise!""There are always noises in the Prison. Please do go on about the Queen. She soundsso--""It came from down there." Claudia stared down the dim archway she was passing. Shesaw a low passageway, barely head-high, roped with spiderwebs.Incarceron laughed, but there was a note of anxiety in its humor. "To find Finn you mustgo straight on."She was silent. Suddenly she sensed its tense presence all around her, as if it did notbreathe, was waiting. She felt small and vulnerable. She said, "I think you're lying to me."For a moment, nothing. A rat ran up the passage, saw her, and slunk around. Then thevoice said thoughtfully, "Your idea of Finn is a foolishly romantic one; the lost Prince,the imprisoned399hero. You remember a little boy and want it to be him. But even if Finn is really Giles,that was a lifetime away and a world ago and he is not the same now I have changed .him,"She stared up into the darkness. "No.""Oh yes. Your father was right. To survive here men descend to the depths of theirbeings. They become beasts, not caring, not even seeing the pain of others. Finn hasstolen, perhaps killed. How can such a man return to a throne, and govern others? Howcan he ever be trusted again? The Sapienti were wise, but they made a system withoutrelease, Claudia. Without forgiveness."Its voice was chilling her. She didn't want to listen, to be drawn into its persuasive doubts.She activated the Key, turned into the low passage, and began to run.Her shoes slithered on the rubble that littered the floor, bones and straw, a dead creatureso desiccated, it collapsed as she jumped over it."Claudia. Where are you?"It was all around her, before her, under her."Stop. Please. Or I will have to stop you."She didn't answer. Ducking under an arch, she found three tunnels that met, but the Keywas so hot now, it almost scorched her hand, and she plunged into the left-hand tunnel,racing past cell doors that hung open.The Prison rumbled. The floor rippled, rose up under her like a carpet. She gasped as itflung her up; she landed with400a cry, one leg bloodied, but picking herself up, she raced on, because it couldn't be surewhere she was, not with the Key.The world rocked. It tipped from side to side. Darkness closed in, noxious smells seepedfrom the walls, bats swirled in clouds. She wouldn't scream. Clawing the stones, shepulled herself on, even when the passageway lifted itself up and became a hill, a steep,slippery slope, and all the rubble that lay on it slid down on her.And then, just as she wanted to let go and slither back, she heard voices.KEIRO FLEXED his fingers. His face was flushed and his eyes would not meet Finn's. Itwas Gildas who broke the silence. "So I've been traveling with a halfman."Keiro ignored him. He looked at Finn, who said, "How long have you known?""All my life." His oathbrother's voice was subdued."But you. Y were the one who hated them most. Despised them ..." ouKeiro shook his head in irritation. "Y Of course. I hate them. I have more cause to hate es.them than you. Don't you see that they scare me stiff?" He flung a glance at Attia, thenyelled out at the Prison, "And you! I swear if I could ever find your heart, I'd slice it open!"Finn didn't know how he felt. Keiro was so perfect, all he401had ever wanted to be. Handsome, bold, without flaw, alive with that zestful confidence hehad always envied.He was never scared stiff."All my sons think that" Incarceron said slyly.Keiro slumped against the wall. A Are seemed to have gone out of him. He said, "Itscares me because I don't know how far it goes." Lifting up his hand, he flexed his finger."It looks real, doesn't it? No one can tell. And how do I know how much more of me is likethat? Inside me, the organs, the heart. How do I know?" There was a sort of agony in thequestion, as if it had been asked silently a million times before, as if behind the bravadoand arrogance was a fear he had never revealed.Finn looked around. "The Prison could tell you.""No. I don't want to know.""It doesn't matter to me." Finn ignored Gildas's snort and glanced at Attia.Quietly she said, "So we're all flawed. Even you. I'm sorry.""Thanks." Keiro was scornful. "The pity of a dog-girl and a Starseer. That really makes mefeel better.""We're only--""Save k. I don't need it." He brushed away Finn's outstretched hand and pulled himselfupright. "And don't think it changes me. I'm still me."Gildas limped past. "Well, you get no pity from me. Let's get on."Keiro stared at his back with a rigidity of hatred that made402Finn move in; his oathbrother snatched up the sword from the floor, but as he took onestep after the Sapient, the Prison shivered and shuddered.Finn grabbed the wall.When the world stopped moving, the air was thick with dust; it hung like a fog, and therewas a ringing in his ears. Gildas was hissing in pain. Attia scrambled over; she pointedthrough the miasma. "Finn. What's that?"For a moment he had no idea. Then he saw it was a face. A face that was oddly clean,with bright clever eyes and a tangle of hastily tied hair. A face that was staring at him outof the mists of the past over the tiny flames of candles on a cake that he leaned over andblew out with one exhausting breath."Is that you?" she whispered.He nodded, silent, knowing this was Claudia.40332***You will thank us for this. Energy will not be wasted on frivolous machines. We willlearn to live simply, untroubled by jealousies and desires. Our souls will be as placidas the tideless seas.--King Endor's Decree***The soldiers came after two hours. Jared had been waiting for them; he had lain on thehard bed in the silent room and listened to the sounds of the Palace through the opencasement; the galloping horses far below, the coaches, the scurry, the shouts. It was as ifClaudia had taken a stick to a nest of ants and now they were in a swarming panic, theirQueen injured and their peace gone.The Queen. As he sat up stiffly and gazed at the men, he hoped he wouldn't have to faceher fury."Master." The liveried servant seemed embarrassed. "Would you come with us, sir."Always the Protocol. It saved them from facing the truth. As they led him down the stairs,the guardsmen fell in discreetly behind, their halberds held like staffs of office.He had already gone through all the emotions. Terror, bluster, despair. Now all that wasleft was a sort of dull resignation.404Whatever the Warden would do to him had to be borne. Claudia had to have time.To his surprise they took him past the state rooms, where anxious envoys argued andmessengers ran in and out, down to a small room in the east wing. When they usheredhim in he saw it was one of the Queen's private drawing-rooms, cluttered with fragile giltfurniture, an elaborate clock on the mantelpiece heaped with cherubs and simperingshepherdesses.Only the Warden was here.He was not sitting at a desk, but standing, facing the door. Two armchairs were arrangedat easy angles by the hearth, where a great bowl of potpourri sat in the empty fireplace.It still felt like a trap."Master Jared." The Warden indicated one chair with a long finger. "Please sit."He was glad to. He felt breathless and light-headed."A little water." The Warden poured it and brought the goblet over. As he drank from itJared felt Claudia's father ... no, not her father ... watching him acutely."Thank you.""Y haven't eaten?" ou"No ... I suppose ... in all the fuss ...""Y should take more care of yourself." The voice was hard. "Too many hours working at outhese forbidden devices."He waved a hand. Jared saw that the table near the405window was covered with pieces of his experiments, the scanners, the imagers, thedevices to block alarms. He said nothing. "Of course you understand that all these areillegal." The Warden's eyes were ice-cold. "We have always allowed the Sapienti acertain leeway, but you seem to have been taking great advantage." Then he said,"Where is Claudia, Master?""I told you--""Don't lie to me. She is not at home. There are no horses unaccounted for.""Perhaps ... she may be on foot.""I do believe she is." The Warden sat opposite him, his black satin breeches creasingelegantly. "And perhaps you thought you were not lying when you said home?"Jared put the cup down. They faced each other."How did she find out?" John Arlex said.Jared decided, quite suddenly, to tell the truth. "The girl in the Prison told her, Attia, Finn'sfriend. From some records she had discovered."The Warden nodded in slow appreciation. "Ah yes. How did she take it?""She was ... very shocked.""Furious?""Yes.""I would expect nothing else.""And upset."The Warden shot him a keen glare, but Jared returned it406calmly. "She had always been so secure as your daughter, sir. Known who she was. She... cares for you.""Don't lie to me." The sudden snarl shocked him with its anger. The Warden got up andpaced down the room. "There has only ever been one person Claudia has cared for inher life, Master Sapient. And that is you."Jared sat still . His heart hammered. "Sir ...""Did you think I was blind?" The Warden turned. "No indeed. Oh, she had her nurses andher waiting women, but Claudia is far above their level and she knew it early. Every time Icame home I saw how she and you laughed and talked, how she fussed with your coat if itwas cold, sent for possets and sweetmeats, how you had your private jokes, your sharedstudies." He folded his arms and stared out of the window. "With me she was distant,reserved. She didn't know me. I was a stranger, the Warden, a great man at Court,someone who came and went. Someone to be wary of. But you, Master Jared, you wereher tutor and her brother and more her father than I have ever been."Jared was cold now. Behind the Warden's iron control was a blazing hatred; he had neversensed the depth of it before. He tried to breathe calmly."How do you think that felt, Master?" The Warden swung around. "Did you think I didn'tfeel it? Do you think I didn't suffer, not knowing what to do, how to change it? Aware thatwith every word I spoke I was deceiving her;407every day, just by being there, by letting her think she was mine.""She ... that is what she will not forgive.""Don't tell me how she thinks!" John Arlex came and stood over him. "I have always beenjealous of you. Is that not foolish? A dreamer, a man without family, so fragile a few blowswould kill him. And the Warden of Incarceron is sick with envy."Jared managed to say, "I... am very fond of Claudia ...""Y know, of course, there are rumors about you." The Warden swung away abruptly and ousat down again. "I don't believe them; Claudia is willful but not stupid. However, the Queendoes, and let me tell you Jared, at the moment the Queen is screaming for revenge. Onanyone. Evian is dead, but the plot obviously included others. Y for one." ou,He shivered. "Sir, you know well that is not so.""Y knew about it. Didn't you?" ou"Y but..." es,"And you did nothing. Told no one." He leaned forward. "That is treason, Master Sapient,and could easily have you hanged."In the silence someone called outside. A fly buzzed in and droned around the room, hittingthe glass and fumbling against it.Jared tried to think, but there was no time. The Warden snapped, "Where's the Key?"408He wanted to lie. To make something up. Instead he kept silent."She's taken it with her, hasn't she?"He didn't answer. The Warden swore. "The whole world thinks Giles is dead. She couldhave had everything, the Realm, the throne. Did she think I would let Caspar get in herway?""Y were in the plot?" Jared said slowly. ou"Plot! Evian and his naive dreams of a world without Protocol! There has never been aworld without Protocol. I would have let the Steel Wolves deal with the Queen and Caspar,and then had them executed, simple. But now she has turned against me."He was staring blankly across the room. Jared said gently, "The story you told her ...about her mother.""That was true. But when Helena died the baby was sickly and I knew it would die too.And what then of my plans? I needed a daughter, Master. And I knew where to get one."He sat in the armchair opposite. "Incarceron is a failure. A hell. The Wardens have longknown that, but there is no remedy, so we keep it secret. I thought I would rescue one soulfrom that, at least. In the depths of the Prison I found a woman who was so desperate shewas willing to part with her newborn girl. I paid well. Her other children survived becauseof it."Jared nodded. The Warden's voice had sunk; he seemed to be talking to himself, as if hehad justified this endlessly to himself over the years.409"No one realized, except the Queen. That sorceress took one look at the child and knew."A sudden understanding came to Jared. Fascinated, he said, "Claudia always wonderedwhy you agreed to the plot against Giles. "Was it because the Queen ..." He stopped, notknowing the words, but the Warden nodded without looking up."Blackmail, Master Sapient. Her son was to be the one to marry Claudia. If I had notagreed, she taunted me that she would tell Claudia publicly who she was, disgrace herbefore the whole Realm. I could not have borne that."For a moment there was a wistful distance in him, a stillness. Then he raised his headand saw Jared's look and his face went cold. "Do not feel sorry for me, Master. That'ssomething I do not need." He stood. "I know she's gone into Incarceron. For this Finn.There's nothing for you to betray. And she has taken the Key." He laughed bitterly. "It's aswell she took it. There's no way out without it."Suddenly he stalked to the door. "Follow me."Startled Jared stood, fighting down a shard of fear, but the Warden stepped out into thecorridor and waved the guards away impatiently. The men looked at each other.One said uneasily, "Sir, the Queen has issued orders that we stay with you. For yourprotection."The Warden nodded slowly. "My protection. I see. Then please remain here and guardthis door after I enter. Allow no one to follow us down."410Before they could argue he had opened a hidden door in the wainscoting and led the waydown some dank steps into the cellars. Halfway down, Jared looked back. The men werewatching curiously through the slit."It appears the Queen suspects me too," the Warden said calmly. He took a lantern fromthe wall and lit the candle inside it. "We will have to work quickly. The study, as you've nodoubt realized, is the same room here as at home. A space halfway between this worldand the Prison, a Portal, as the inventor Martor called it.""Manor's writings are lost," Jared said, hurrying after him."I have them. They are classified." His dark figure paced down quickly, holding the lanternhigh, its shadows flickering down the wall. He glanced back at Jared's astonishment andallowed himself a smile. "Y will never see them, Master." Between the casks the oudarkness lay deep; far above, the guards' voices seemed to whisper in confusion.At the bronze gate he jabbed the combination in swiftly; the gate shuddered open and asthey passed through, Jared felt that odd shiver of displacement he had felt before.The white room adjusted itself. Everything was exactly as he had left it. He had a suddenpang of anxiety. What was happening to Claudia? Was she safe?"Y sent her through with no idea of the danger." The Warden flicked the control panel ouout and touched sensors. "Entering the Prison is hazardous, physically andpsychologically."411Shelves slid back. The screen lit.On it, Jared saw a thousand images. They flickered, a checkerboard of tiny squares, ofempty rooms, bleak oceans, far towers, dusty corners. He saw a street packed withpeople, a hideous den of stunted children, a man beating a strange beast, a womantenderly breastfeeding a baby. Bewildered, he stepped up below the images, watchingthem flicker, the pain, the hunger, the unlikely friendships, the savage bargainings.'This is the Prison." The "warden leaned against the desk. "All the images seen by theEyes. Its the only way to find Claudia."Jared felt a terrible misery soak him. In the Academy the Experiment was considered oneof the glories of the ancient Sapienti, the noble sacrifice of the world's last reserves ofenergy to save the unredeemable, the poor, the despised. And it had ended in this.The Warden watched him, a silhouette against the rippling images. "Y see, Master, ouwhat only the Warden has ever seen.""Why didn't... Why weren't we told ...?""There is not enough power. They can never be brought back, all those thousands ofpeople. They are lost to us." He took out his watch and gave it to Jared, who took itnumbly and then looked down at it. The Warden indicated the silver cube on the chain."Y are like a god, Jared. Y hold Incarceron in your hands." ou ouHe felt the pain inside him throb. His hands shook. He412wanted to put it down, to step back, step away. The cube was tiny, he had seen it athousand times on the watch chain and barely noticed it, but now it filled him with awe.Was it possible it contained the mountains he saw, the forests of silver trees, the cities ofragged people preying on each other's poverty? Sweating, he held it tightly and theWarden said softly, "Afraid, Jared? It takes strength to see a whole world. Many of mypredecessors never dared look. They hid their eyes." A soft bell.They both looked up. The screen had stopped flashing; as they stared, the picturesstarted to flick off, and one in the bottom right-hand corner grew, pixel by pixel, until it filledthe whole screen.It was Claudia.Jared put the watch chain shakily down on the table.She was talking to the prisoners. He recognized the boy Finn, and the other one, Keiro,who was leaning back against a stone wall, listening. Gildas crouched nearby; Jared sawat once that the old man was hurt, Attia standing next to him."Can you speak to them?""I can," the Warden said. "But first we listen."He flicked a switch.41333***What use is one key among a billion prisoners?--Lord Calliston's Diary***"It tried to stop me finding you," Claudia said. She walked toward him down the gloomycorridor. "Y should never have come Inside." Finn felt awed. She was so out of place, oubringing a scent of roses and strange fresh air that tantalized him. He felt he wanted toscratch at some itch in his mind; instead he rubbed a hand wearily over his eyes."Come back with me now." She held out her hand. "Come quickly!""Y just wait a minute." Keiro stood. "He goes nowhere without me." ou"Or me," Attia muttered."All of you can come then. It must be possible." Then her face fell.Finn said, "What is it?"Claudia bit her lip. She suddenly realized she had no idea how to do this. There had beenno portal on this side, no chair or control panel; she had simply found herself in that emptycell. And she didn't know the way back there, even if the place was important.414"She can't do it," Keiro said. He came and stared closely at her, and though it annoyedher, she stared calmly back."At least I have this." She took the Key from a pocket and held it out. They saw it wasidentical to the one they knew, though its workmanship seemed better, the eagle perfectin its stillness.Finn put his hand to his pocket. It was empty. Alarmed, he turned."It's here, fool boy." Gildas grabbed at the wall and pulled himself upright. He was gray,his face clammy. He held the Key so tightly in his knotted hands that the skin around hisknuckles was white as the bone beneath."Are you really from the Outside?" he breathed."I am, Master." She walked toward him and reached out her hand for him to feel. "AndSapphique did Escape. Jared discovered that he has followers out there. They call himthe Nine-Fingered One."He nodded, and they saw there were tears in his eyes. "I know that. I have always knownthat he was real. This boy has seen him in visions. Soon I will see him."His voice was gruff but there was a quaver in it Finn had never heard before. Oddlyscared he said, "We need the Key, Master."For a moment he thought the Sapient would not let go; there was a brief interval whenboth his and Gildas's fingers grasped the crystal. The old man looked down. "I havealways trusted you, Finn. I never believed you were from Outside, and I was415wrong in that, but your visions of the stars have led us to Escape, as I knew they would,ever since the first day I saw you lying curled up on that cart. This is the moment I havelived for."His fingers opened; Finn felt the weight of the Key.He looked at Claudia. "Now what?"She took a deep breath, but it was not her voice that answered. Attia was in the shadowsbehind Keiro; she did not come forward, but her words were sharp. "What happened tothe pretty dress?"Claudia scowled. "I shredded it.""And the wedding?""Off."Attia's arms were wrapped around her thin body. "So now you want Finn.""Giles. His name is Giles. Y I want him. The Realm needs its King. Someone who's es,seen outside the Palace and the Protocol. Someone who has been right down into thedepths." She let her annoyance out in her words, channeled it into anger. "Isn't that whatyou want too? Someone who can end the misery of Incarceron because he knows whatit's like?"Attia shrugged. "It's Finn you should ask. Y might just be taking him out of one prison ouinto another."Claudia stared at her and Attia stared back. It was Keiro's cool laugh that broke thesilence. "I suggest we sort all this out in the brave new world Outside. Before the Prisonquakes again."416Finn said, "He's right. How do we do this?"She swallowed. "Well ... I suppose we ... use the Keys.""But where's the gate?""There is no gate." This was hard; they were all staring at her. "Not... as you think.""So how did you get here?" Keiro asked."It's ... difficult to explain." As she spoke her fingers moved on the hidden controls of theKey; it hummed, lights moved inside it.Keiro jumped forward. "Oh no, Princess!" He snatched it from her; she jerked after it, buthe had his sword drawn and pointed at her throat. "No tricks. We all go together or not atall."Furious, she said, "That's the plan.""Put the weapon down," Gildas snapped."She's trying to take him. And leave us here."I'm not--""Stop talking about me as if I was some object!" Finn's snarl silenced them all. He rubbeda hand through his hair; his scalp was wet and his eyes prickled. His breath seemedshort. A fit now would be impossible, but his hands were shaking and he felt it creepingover him.And then he knew he was falling into it, he must be, because behind Gildas the wallshivered away, and looking out of it, huge and shadowy, was Blaize.The Sapient's gray eyes surveyed them; his image was enormous in a white room ofclean walls. "I'm afraid," he said, "that417Escape is not as easy as my daughter seems to think."They were still. Keiro lowered the sword. "So that's it," he said. "And look how pleasedshe is to see you."Finn watched Claudia turn to the image. He saw now that though the Warden's face wasfamiliar, the scabs had left it; it was thinner, and there was a refined tension about theeyes.Claudia looked up at it. "Don't call me your daughter." Her voice was hard and cold. "Anddon't try to stop me. I'm bringing them all out and you--""Y can't bring them all out." The Warden held her eyes. "The Key will bring only one ouperson out. Their copy, if it works, will do the same. Touch the black eye of the eagle. Youwill disappear, and reappear here." He smiled calmly. "That is the gate, Finn."Appalled, she stared at him. "You're lying. Y brought me out. ou"Y were a baby. Tiny. I took a chance." There was a voice in the room; he turned, and ouClaudia saw Jared behind him, standing pale and tired. "Master! Is it true?""I have no way of knowing, Claudia." He looked unhappy, his dark hair tangled. "There'sonly one way to find out, and that's to try."She looked at Finn."Not you." It was Keiro who moved. "Finn and I are going first, and if it works I'll comeback for the Sapient." He whipped418up his sword as Claudia drew hers. "Drop that, Princess, or I'll cut your throat."She gripped the leather hilt tight, but Finn said, "Do it, Claudia. Please."He was looking at Keiro; as she lowered the blade she saw him step closer and say, "Doyou really think I'd go and leave them? Give her back the Key."No way.""Keiro ...""You're stupid, Finn. Can't you see this is a setup! Y and she would vanish and that ouwould be it. No one would bother coming back for the rest of us.""I would.""They wouldn't let you." Keiro stepped up to him. "Once they had their lost Prince, whybother about the criminal Scum? The dog-girl and the halfman? Once you're back in yourpalace, why think of us?""I swear I'd come back.""Sure. Isn't that what Sapphique said?"In the stillness Gildas sat down abruptly, as if his strength had gone. "Don't leave me here,Finn," he muttered.Finn shook his head, utterly weary. "We can't keep Claudia here, whatever the rest of usdecide. She came to rescue us.""Tough." Keiro's blue eyes were relentless. "She was a Prisoner once--she can be again.I go first. To find out what's waiting out there. And if it works, like I said, I'll come back."419"Liar," Attia snapped."Y can't stop me." ouThe Warden laughed softly. "Is this the hero you think is Giles, Claudia? The man togovern the Realm? He can't even control this rabble."Instantly Finn moved. He tossed the Key to Claudia; catching Keiro off guard, he grabbedfor the sword. Anger roared in him; anger at all of them, at the Warden's smirk, at the fearand weakness in himself. Keiro staggered back; recovering fast, he whipped the bladeup and they both had it; then Finn had torn it from his grip.Keiro didn't flinch as the blade flickered in his face. "Y won't use that on me." ouFinn's heart pounded. His chest heaved. Behind him Attia hissed, "Why not, Finn? Hekilled the Maestra. Y know that, you've always known it! He had the bridge cut. Not ouJormanric.""Is it true?" He barely recognized his own whisper.Keiro smiled. "Make up your own mind.""Tell me.""No." His oathbrother held the Key in one fist. "It's your choice. I don't justify myself toanyone."His heartbeat was so loud, it hurt. It filled the Prison, thudded down all the corridors, in allthe cells.He flung the sword down. Keiro dived for it, Finn kicked it away. Suddenly they werefighting, all Finn's breath gone in a vicious punch to his stomach, Keiro's ruthless skill420flooring him. Claudia was shouting, Gildas roaring in anger, but he didn't care now;scrambling up, he flung himself on Keiro, grabbing for the Key. Hindered by the fragilecrystal Keiro ducked and then punched again; Finn had him around the waist and down,but as he closed in, Keiro gave a kick that sent him reeling back.Keiro roiled, picked himself up. Blood welled on his lip. "Now we'll see, brother," hehissed. He touched the black eye of the bird.A light.It was so brilliant, it burned their eyes.It widened around Keiro, it swallowed him, and there was a noise in it, a whine that waspainful, a sharp discordant note that cut off instantly.The light spat out.And Keiro was still there.In the shattered silence the Warden's laugh was cool and regretful. "Ah," he said. "I'mafraid that means it won't work for you. Probably the metal components in your bodyrender the process invalid. Incarceron is a closed system; its own elements can neverleave."Keiro stood stock-still."Never?" he breathed."Not unless the components are removed."Keiro nodded. His face was grim and flushed. "If that's what it takes." He stepped towardFinn and said, "Get your knife."421"What?""Y heard" ou"I can't do that!"Keiro laughed sourly- "Why not? Keiro the Nine-Fingered. I always wondered whatSapphique's sacrifice was all about."Gildas groaned. "Boy, are you suggesting--""Maybe more of us are born of the Prison than we thought. Maybe you are, old man. But Iwon't let one finger keep me here. Get the knife."Finn didn't move, but Attia did. She brought a small blade she always wore and held it outto him. He took it slowly. Keiro laid his hand on the floor, the fingers spread out. Themetallic nail looked just the same as the others. "Do it now," he said.I can t..."Y can. For my sake." ouThey looked at each other. Finn knelt. His hand was shaking. He put the edge of the bladeto Keiro's skin."Wait," Attia snapped. She crouched. "Think! It may not be enough. As you said, none ofus know what we are made of inside. There must be another way."Keiro's eyes were blue and blank with desperation. He hesitated.For a long moment he stood there unmoving, and then he closed his hand and noddedslowly. He looked down at the Key and held it out to Finn.422"Then I'll have to find it. Enjoy your kingdom, brother. Rule well. Watch your back."Finn was too shaken to answer. A distant hammering made them all look up."What's that?" Claudia asked.Jared said quickly, "It's here. Evian made his attempt and is dead. The Queen's guardsare at the door."She stared at her father. He said, "Y must come back, Claudia. Bring the boy. I need ouhim now.""Is he really Giles?" she asked harshly.The Warden's smile was wintry. "He is now."As his words ended the screen went blank. A ripple of movement ran down the corridor;Finn looked around anxiously. Bricks clattered from the vault.Then he looked up and saw the tiny red Eye whirr and click on him."Oh yes," the voice said softly. "You have all forgotten about me. And why should I letany of my children go?"42334***He woke and found them all around him. The old, lame, the diseased, the half-mademen. He hid his head and was filled with shame and anger. "I have failed you," he said."I have journeyed so far and I have failed.""Not so," they answered. "There is a door we know a tiny, secret door. None of us dare ,crawl through, in case we die there. If you promise to come back for us, we will showyou."Sapphique was lithe and slender. He looked at them with his dark eyes. "Take methere," he whispered.--Legends of Sapphique***"What happened?" Jared gasped. "The Prison has interfered," the Warden hissed withfury. His fingers moved swiftly over the controls."Well, stop it! Order it to--""I cannot make Incarceron obey me." The Warden glared at him. "No one has done thatfor centuries. The Prison rules, Master. I have no power over it." Then in a voice so lowJared barely heard, "It laughs at me."424Appalled, Jared stared at the blank screen. Outside, a fist pounded again on the bronzedoors. A voice thundered, "Warden! Open this! The Queen demands your presence.""Evian made a poor job of his assassination," the Warden said. He glanced up. "Don'tfear, they won't get in. Even with axes.""She thinks you were involved.""Maybe. It is a good excuse to be rid of me. There will be no marriage now."Jared shook his head. "Then were all finished.""In that case, Master, I could do with your help." The gray eyes were fixed on him. "ForClaudia's sake we need to work together."Jared nodded slowly. Trying to ignore the furious banging, he came around to the controlsand examined them carefully. "This is so old. Many of the symbols are in the Sapienttongue." He looked up. "Let's try talking to Incarceron in the language of its makers."***THE PRISONQUAKE was swift and sudden. The floor buckled; walls crashed down. Finngrabbed Keiro; together they fell back against a door that gave under their weight, flingingthem inside.Claudia scrambled after them, but Attia said, "Help me with him!" She had Gildasdoubled up, gasping. Hurriedly Claudia climbed back, wriggled his arm over hershoulders, and they struggled with him to the cell, where Finn hauled them in and425slammed the door tight, he and Keiro wedging it with a split timber.Outside, rubble cascaded down and they listened to it in dismay. The corridor was surelyblocked."But you do not think you can lock me out, I hope?" Incarceron laughed its rumblinglaugh. "No one can do that. I am inescapable. ""Sapphique Escaped." Gildas's voice was a rasp of pain, but he spat the words out. Hishands clutched his chest; they shook uncontrollably. "How did he do that then, without aKey? Is there another way out, that only he discovered? A way so secret, so amazing, youcan't block it? A way needing no gate and no machinery? Is that it, Incarceron? Is thatwhat you fear, always watching, always listening?""I fear nothing."Not what you told me," Claudia snapped. She was breathing hard; she glanced at Finn."I must go back. Jared's in trouble. Will you come?""I can't leave them. Take the old man with you."Gildas laughed: his body convulsed into wheezing gasps. Attia gripped his hands; thenshe turned her head. "He's dying," she whispered.-"Finn," the Sapient croaked.Finn crouched down, sick with the prickling behind his eyes. Whatever injuries Gildas hadwere internal, but the shiver of his hands, the sweat and pallor of his face were only tooclear.426The Sapient brought his mouth close to Finns ear. "Show me the stars," he whispered.Finn looked at the others. "I can't...""Then allow me," the Prison said. The glimmer of light in the cell went out. One red Eyewas a spark in the corner of the wall. "Look at this star, old man. This is the only star youwill ever see.""Stop tormenting him!" Finn's howl of rage startled them all. And then to Claudia'samazement he turned back to Gildas and clasped his hand. "Come with me," he said. "I'llshow you."The dizziness of his mind swept over him and he let it. He walked deliberately into itsdarkness and dragged the old man with him, and all around them the lake glimmeredunder its floating lanterns, blue and purple and gold, and the boat rocked beneath him ashe lay in it and stated up at the stars.They blazed in the summer night. Like silver dust they lay across the cosmos as if a greathand had scattered them, and their mystery enchanted the velvety blackness.Beside him, Finn felt the old mans awe."These are the stars, Master. Whole worlds, far away, seeming tiny, but really huger thananything we know."Lake water lapped.Gildas said, "So far. So many!"A heron rose from the water with a graceful flap. On the shore the music sounded sweet;voices laughed softly.The old man said hoarsely, "I have to go to them now, Finn.427I have to go and find Sapphique. He won't have been content, you know, just to beOutside. Not once he had seen this."Finn nodded. He felt the boat unmoor beneath him, the Hit and slip of the swell. He felt theold man's fingers loosen in his. And as he stared at them, the stars grew and burned,became flames, tiny flames on the tips of tiny candles, and he was blowing them out,blowing at them with his whole breath, all his energy.They vanished, and he laughed, a great laugh of triumph, and all the people aroundlaughed with him, the King in his red coat, and Bartlett, and his pale new stepmother, andall the courtiers and nurses and musicians, and the little girl in the pretty white dress, thegirl who had come that day, that they said would be his special friend.She was looking at him now. She said, "Finn. Can you hear me?Claudia.***" IT'S READY ." Jared looked up. "Y speak, and the translation will be instant." ouThe "warden had been pacing, listening to the voices outside; now he came and stood bythe desk, his arms folded."Incarceron," he said.Silence. Then, on the screen, a small red point of light. It was tiny, like a star. It gazed outat them. It said, "Who is this speaking the old tongue?"428The voice was uncertain. It seemed to have lost some of its echoing rumble.The Warden glanced at Jared. Then he said quietly, "Y know who this is, my father. This ouis Sapphique."Jared's eyes widened, but he stayed silent.There was another silence. This time the Warden broke it. "I speak to you in the languageof the Sapienti. I order you not to harm the boy Finn.""He has the Key. No prisoner is allowed to Escape.""But your anger may injure him. And Claudia." Had the Warden's voice changed as hespoke her name? Jared wasn't sure.A moment of stillness. Then, "Very well. For you, my son."The Warden made a sign to Jared to cut communications, but as his finger reached out tothe panel, the Prison said softly, "But if you are indeed Sapphique, we have spokenoften before. You will remember.""That was long ago," the Warden said cautiously."Yes. You gave me the Tribute I required. I hunted you and you thwarted me. You hid inholes and stole my children's hearts. Tell me, Sapphique, how did you Escape fromme? After I struck you down, after the terrible fall through darkness, what doorway didyou find that I had overlooked? Through what crevice did you crawl? And where are younow out there in the places I cannot even imagine?" ,The voice was wistful; the Warden looked up at the steady429Eye on the screen. He was hushed as he answered. "That is a mystery I cannot reveal.""A pity. You see, they did not give me any way to see outside myself. Can you imagine,Sapphique, you the wanderer, the great traveler, can you even dream of how it is to liveforever trapped in your own mind, watching only the creatures that inhabit it? Theymade me powerful and they made me flawed. And only you, when you return, can helpme."The Warden was still. Dry-mouthed, Jared flicked the switch. His hands were shaky anddamp with sweat. As he watched it, the Eye faded.***FINNS SIGHT was blurred and his whole body had emptied. He lay crooked; only Keiro'sarm kept his head off the floor. But for a moment, before the Prison stench crept back,before the world surged in, he knew he was a prince and the son of a prince, that hiswould was golden with sunlight, that he had ridden into a dark forest one morning in afairy tale and never ridden out again."Drink some of this." Attia gave him water; he managed a swallow and coughed and triedto sit up."He gets worse," Keiro was saying to Claudia. "This is what your father has done to him."She ignored it and bent over Finn. "The Prisonquake has stopped. It just went quiet.""Gildas?" Finn muttered.430"The old man's gone. He doesn't have to worry about Sapphique anymore." Keiro's voicewas gruff. Turning, Finn saw the Sapient lying in the rubble, his eyes closed, his bodycurled, as if he slept. On his finger, loose and dull, as if Keiro had pushed it there in somevain effort to save him, shone the last skull-ring."What did you do?" Claudia asked. "He said ... odd things.""I showed him the way out." Finn felt raw, scraped clean. He didn't want to talk about itnow, not to tell them what he thought he had remembered, so he sat up slowly and said,"Y tried the ring on him?" ou"It didn't work. He was right about that too. Maybe none of them ever worked." Keiropushed the Key into his hands. "Go. Get out now. Get the Sapient to design a key tospring me. And send someone back for the girl."Finn looked at Attia. "I'll come back myself. I swear."Attia smiled, wan, but Keiro said, "See you do. I don't want to be stuck with her.""And for you too. I'll get all the Sapienti in my kingdom on it. We made a vow, brother. Doyou think I've forgotten?"Keiro laughed. His handsome face was grimy and bruised, his hair dull with dirt, his finecoat ruined. But he was the one, Finn thought, who looked like a prince. "Maybe. Ormaybe this is your chance to be rid of me. Maybe you're afraid I'd kill you and take yourplace. If you don't come back, believe me, I'll do it."Finn smiled. For a moment they looked at each other across431the tilted cell, across the spilled manacles and shackles. Then Finn turned to Claudia."Y first." She said, ou"Y will come?" ou"Yes."She looked at him, then the others. Quickly she touched the eye of the eagle and wasgone, in a brilliance that made them all gasp.Finn looked down at the Key he held. "I can't," he said. Attia smiled brightly. "I trust you. I'llbe waiting." But his finger didn't move, paused above the eagle's dark eye, so shereached over and pressed it for him.CLAUDIA FOUND herself sitting in the chair amidst an uproar of voices and hammering.Outside the gate Caspar was shouting, "... under arrest for high treason. Warden! Canyou hear me?" The bronze resounded to frenzied blows.Her father took her hand and raised her to her feet. "My dear. So where is our youngPrince?"Jared was watching the bronze gate buckle inward. He flashed a quick, glad glance atClaudia.Her hair was tangled, her face dirty. A strange smell hung around her. She said, "Rightbehind me."FINN WAS sitting in a chair too, but this room was dark, a small cell, like the one heremembered from long ago, ancient, the walls greasy with carved names.432Opposite him sat a slim dark-haired man. For a moment he thought this was Jared, andthen he knew who it was.He looked around, confused. "Where am I? Is this Outside?"Sapphique was sitting against the wall, knees drawn up. He said quietly, "None of ushave much idea where we are. Perhaps all our lives we are too concerned with where,and not enough with who."Finn's fingers were tight on the crystal Key. "Let me go," he breathed."It's not me who's stopping you." Sapphique watched Finn and his eyes were dark andthe stars were points of light deep inside them. "Don't forget us, Finn. Don't forget theones back there in the dark, the hungry and the broken, the murderers and thugs. Thereare prisons within prisons, and they inhabit the deepest."He stretched out his hand and took a length of chain from the wall; it clanked, rust flakingoff. He slipped his hands inside the links. "Like you, I went out into the Realm. It wasn'twhat I'd expected. And I made a promise too." He dropped the metal on the floor, anenormous crash, and Finn saw the maimed finger. "Maybe that's what's imprisoning you."He turned sideways and beckoned. A shadow rose from behind him and walked forward,and Finn stifled a cry, because it was the Maestra. She had the same tall, lanky walk, thered hair, the scornful eyes. She stood looking down at Finn and he felt that a chain boundhim, fine and invisible and she433held the end of it, because he could not move hand or foot."How can you be here?" he whispered. "Y fell." ou"Oh yes, I fell! Through realms and centuries. Like a bird with a broken wing. Like anangel cast down." He could barely tell if it was her whisper or Sapphique's. But the angerwas hers. "And that was all your fault.""I ..." He wanted to blame Keiro, or Jormanric. Anyone. But he said, "I know.""Remember it, Prince. Learn from it.""Are you alive?" He was struck with the old shame; it made it hard to speak."Incarceron doesn't waste anything. I'm alive in its depths, in its cells, the cells of its body."I'm sorry.She wrapped her coat about her with the old dignity. "If you are, that's all I ask.""Will you keep him here?" Sapphique murmured."As he kept me?" She laughed calmly. "I don't need a ransom for my forgiveness. Good-bye, scared boy. Guard my crystal Key."The cell blurred and opened. He felt as if he were dragged through a blinding concussionof stone and flesh; that huge wheels of iron rumbled over him, that he was opened andclosed, riven and mended.He stood up from the chair and the dark figure held out a hand to steady him.And this time it was Jared.43435***I have walked a stair of swords,I have worn a coat of scars.I have vowed with hollow words,I have lied my way to the stars.--Songs of Sapphique***The gate shuddered."Don't worry. It will never break." Calm, the Warden surveyed Finn. "So this is the one youthink is Giles." She glared at him. "Y should know." Finn stared around. The room was ouso white it hurt, the glare of the lights making his eyes ache. The man he recognized asBlaize laughed lightly, folding his arms. "Actually, it doesn't matter whether he is or not.Now you have him, you will have to make him Giles. Because only he stands between youand disaster." Curious, he stepped closer to Finn. "And what do you think, Prisoner? Whodo you think you are?"Finn felt shaky and filthy; suddenly he knew that his skin was grimed with dirt, that hestank in this sterile room. "I ... think I remember. The betrothal.."Are you sure? Or might it not be that these are memories435someone else had, that are now buried in you, filaments of thought trapped in borrowedtissue, that the Prison built into you?" He smiled his cold smile."Once we could have found out," Claudia snapped. "Before Protocol.""Yes." The Warden turned to her. "And that problem I will leave to you."Finn saw how pale she was, how angry. She said, "All my life you let me believe I wasyour daughter. And it was all a lie.""No.""Y Y selected me, you educated me, you formed me ... you even told me all that! es! ouCreated a creature that would be just what you wanted, that would be pliant and marrywhom you said and be what you wanted. What would have happened to me afterward?Would poor Queen Claudia have met with an accident too, leaving only the Warden to beRegent? Was that the plan?"He met her eyes, and his were clear and gray. "If it was, I changed it because I grew tolove you." "Liar!"Jared said unhappily, "Claudia, I ..." but the Warden held up his hand."No Master, let me explain. I chose you, yes, and I freely admit at first you were a meansto an end. A squalling infant that I saw as rarely as possible. But as you grew, I came ... tolook forward to seeing you. To the way you curtsied to me,436showed me your work, were shy with me. And you have become dear to me."She stared at him, not wanting to hear this, or believe it. She wanted to keep her angerbright, newly minted like a coin.He shrugged. "I was not a good father. For that I am sorry."In the stillness between them the hammering broke out again, even louder. Jared saidurgently, "It hardly matters, sir, what you did or who this boy is. We are all condemnednow. There is no escape from death unless we all enter the Prison."Finn muttered, "I have to go back for Attia." He held out his hand to Claudia for the otherKey; she shook her head. "Not you. I'll go back." Reaching out, she took the crystal copyfrom him and compared the two. "Who made this?""Lord Calliston. The Steel Wolf himself." The Warden stared at the crystal. "I had oftenwondered if the rumors were true, whether a copy existed, somewhere in the depths ofthe Prison."She moved her finger toward the panel, but he stopped her. "Wait. First we must ensureour own safety, or the girl will be better where she is."Claudia looked at him. "How can I ever trust you again?""Y must." He put a finger to his lips and nodded. Then, striding across the white cell, he outouched the door control and stood back.Two soldiers fell headlong into the room. Behind them, the ram on chains swung at emptyair. Swords were drawn, sharp whispers of steel.437"Do please enter," the Warden said graciously.The Queen herself was there, Claudia saw with shock, wearing a dark cloak. Behind hismother Caspar glared at her. 'I'll never forgive you," he snarled."Be quiet." His mother stalked past him into the room, paused at the strange shiver ofenergy at the threshold, then gazed around. "Fascinating. So this is the Portal.""Indeed." The Warden bowed. "I am happy to see you so well.""I very much doubt that." Sia stopped before Finn. She looked him up and down and herface paled. She pressed her red lips tight."Yes," the Warden said softly. "Unfortunately a Prisoner has escaped."Furious, she turned on him. "Why have you done this? What treachery are you planning?""None. We can all come out of this safely. All of us. With no secrets spilled, noassassinations. Watch me."He strode to the control desk, touched a combination of controls, and stood back.Claudia stared, because the wall blanked and showed an image that she took a momentto recognize. In a vast room courtiers crowded in a buzz of scandal. Half-eaten food layignored on huge tables. Servants gossiped in anxious huddles.It was her wedding feast."What are you doing?" the Queen snapped, but it was too late. The Warden said,"Friends." Every head in the room438turned. Talk dried into a stillness of astonishment.After a hundred years of Protocol the vast screen behind the throne had probably beenforgotten; now Finn stared out at the Court through a fringe of cobwebs, a film of grime."Please forgive all the unfortunate confusions of the day," the "warden said gravely. "And Ibeg all of you, ambassadors from Overseas, and courtiers, dukes and Sapienti, ladiesand dowagers all, to overlook this breach of Protocol. But a great day has dawned, and agreat wrong has been righted."The Queen seemed too astounded to speak; Claudia almost felt the same. But shemoved; she grabbed Finns arm and hauled him close to her. They stood together facingthe bewildered, fascinated faces of the Court as her father said, "Behold. The Prince wethought was lost, the heir of his father, the hope of the Court, Giles, has returned to us."A thousand eyes stared at Finn. He looked back, seeing in each one the pinpoint of light,feeling their intense curiosity, their doubt, descend right into his soul. Was this how itwould be, to be King?"In her great wisdom the Queen found it necessary to conceal him in safe exile against aconspiracy against his life," the Warden said smoothly. "But at last, after many years, thisdanger is ended. The plotters have failed, and are arrested. Everything is calm again."He glanced once at the Queen; fury was in every inch of her upright back, but when shespoke, her voice was pleasant439with happiness. "My friends, I am so delighted! The "warden and I have worked so hard tocounter this threat. I want you to prepare the banquet now, for the Prince's coming. Insteadof a wedding, a great homecoming, but still a wonderful day, just as we planned."The Court was silent. Then, from the back, a ragged cheer began.She jerked her head; the Warden touched the panel. The screen dimmed.She took a deep breath. "I will never, never forgive you for this," she said evenly."I know." John Arlex flicked another switch idly. He sat, and crossed one leg over another,his dark brocaded coat shimmering, and then he reached out and took both Keys fromwhere Claudia had placed them and held them glinting in his hands."Such small bright crystals," he murmured. "And such power contained in them! Isuppose, Claudia, my dear, that if one cannot be the master of one world, one should findanother world to conquer." He glanced at Jared. "I leave her to you, Master. Rememberour talk."Jared's eyes widened; he cried, "Claudia!" but she already knew what was happening.Her father was sitting in the chair of the Portal--she knew she should run forward, dartforward and snatch the Keys from him, but she couldn't move, as if the power of histerrible will kept her frozen.Her father smiled. "Do excuse me, Majesty. I think I would440be a specter at this feast." His ringers touched the panel.A brilliance exploded in the room, making them all flinch; then the chair was empty,spinning slightly in the white room, and as they stared at it a spark spat in the controls,then another. Acrid smoke rose; the Queen clenched her fists and screamed at theemptiness, "Y can't do this!" ouClaudia was staring at the chair; as it imploded into flame, Jared tugged her hastily back.She said bleakly, "He can. He has."Jared watched her. Her eyes were overbright, her face flushed, but her head was high.The Queen raged with anger, stabbing every button and causing only explosions. As sheswept out with Caspar running at her heels, Jared said, "He'll come back, Claudia. I'msure ...""It's nothing to me what he does." She turned to Finn, who was staring aghast at her."Attia," he whispered. "What about Attia? I promised to go back for her!""It's not possible ..."He shook his head. "Y don't understand. I have to! I can't leave them there. Especially ounot Keiro." He was appalled. "Keiro will never forgive me. I promised.""We'll find a way. Jared will find one. Even if it takes years. That's my promise to you."She grabbed his hand and pushed the frayed sleeve up to show the eagle mark. "But youmust think about this now. Y ou're here. You're Outside and you're free. Of them, of all ofthat. And we have to441make this work, because Sia will always be there, plotting behind our backs."Bewildered, he stared at her and realized she had no idea of what he had lost. "Keiro ismy brother.""I'll do all I can," Jared said quietly. "There must be another way. Y father came and ourwent as Blaize. And Sapphique found it."Finn raised his head and gave him a strange look. "Y He did." es.Claudia took his arm. "We have to go out there now," she said quietly. "Y have to lift ouyour head up and be a prince. It won't be like you expect. But everything is acting here. Agame, my father calls it. Are you ready?"He felt the old fear wash over him. He felt he was walking into a great ambush that hadbeen set for him. But he nodded.Arm in arm, they walked out of the white room, and Claudia led him up through the cellarsand the stairs. He passed through chambers of crowding, staring people. She opened adoor and he cried out in delight, because the world was a garden and above it, brilliantand blazing, hung the stars, millions of them, higher and higher, above the pinnacles of thePalace, and the trees, and the sweet beds of flowers."I knew," he whispered. "I always knew."LEFT ALONE, Jared gazed around at the ruins of the Portal. The Wardens sabotagelooked only too thorough. He had441442spoken kindly to the boy, but in his heart he felt a deep dread, because to find a way backthrough this destruction would take time, and how much time did he have?"Y were too much for us, Warden," he murmured aloud. ouHe climbed up after them, weary now, his chest aching. Servants ran past him; talkechoed in every chamber and hall. He hurried, stepping out into the gardens, glad of theevening cool, the sweet scents.Claudia and Finn stood on the steps of the building. The boy looked as if he was blindwith the glory of the night, as if its purity was an agony to him.Beside them, Jared slipped his hand into his pocket and brought out the watch. Claudiastared. "Isn't that...?""Y Y father's." es. our"He gave it to you?""Y might say that." And he held it in his delicate fingers, and she noticed, as if for the oufirst time, that there was a tiny silver cube hanging on its chain, a charm that twisted andglittered in the starlight."But where are they?" Finn asked, tormented. "Keiro and Attia and the Prison?"Jared gazed at the cube thoughtfully. "Closer than you think, Finn," he said.***442