The painted mouth pressed into a hard line; Nikki, usu- ally quick to leap to Lidye's defense, hadn't said anything.

He was, instead, intently watching both Lidye and herself.

"I am," Lidye said tightly, "Lidye romNikaenor, Ring- master of Rhomatum."

"And is Lidye romNikaenor also Lidye dunTarim?"

"No."

"GorPasingarim? gorRhyys? Garetti? or any other damned egomaniac?"

"I take such a pledge to no one, man or woman, Kiyr- stine romGaretti."

Kiyrstin folded her arms and glowered. It was a situation without a clearcut solution, but damned if she'd simply trust this woman. Not with the possibility of Garetti sitting on the sidelines waiting to leap in.

Nikki cast Lidye an apologetic look and crossed the room to kneel at Kiyrstin's side.

"Please, Kiyrstin, I think she's got a good plan, but it can't work if we're angry with each other. Won't you just listen to her plan? Just try it . . . once?"

He wheedled like a twelve-year-old, but he was scared, of that there was no doubt, looking into those blue eyes.

She wondered what had passed between him and Lidye last night, after he talked with Deymorin and Mikhyel, won- dered just how deep the water he was trying to swim in, and wished, somehow, that he could find it in him to be more open with her. But their pattern had been set as well, and trust of that nature would not come easily.

She forced a grin and flipped a wayward curl off his forehead. "All right, fry. Just for you." She waved a hand in the air. "Go ahead, spinner."

Lidye's brow tightened, but otherwise appeared impervi- ous. Which restraint only made Kiyrstin distrust her that much more. She didn't trust anyone who, like a. chameleon, so easily shifted behavior and coloration to fit her needs.

Lidye began pacing slowly about them as she spoke.

"When dealing with the ley, one learns to look for patterns.

Not to recognize a pattern is foolish. We have Nikki, male.

From Rhomatum. And four females from the four greatest points of the web. The creature below Rhomatum is, Mi- khyel says, male. Mother is female, and refers to her 'sis- ters,' also according to Mikhyel."

"I thought you were Rhomatum's Ringmaster," Kiyrstin said. "Why won't you control Rhomatum?"

"I have discovered an . . . affinity between this body of mine and Shatum, as there is one between Giephaetum and Nethaalye, Mirym and Khoratum, and . . . well, suffice to say, you and the others provide a focus for me to reach through to the nodes. My body is the bridge to Shatum.

Nikki's" Lidye set her hands possessively on Nikki's shoulders. "Nikki is my potent link into Rhomatum." She leaned toward him and murmured, "Think of Rhomatum, my darling. Think of him strong and virile. Keep that Cardinal ring beating as if it were your own heart."

Nikki's eyes widened. And as Lidye spoke, that shim- mering outer ring began to speed up.

"No, my love. Gently. Quietly. You are the source, the strength, the character of the web . . ."

The ring faltered, Lidye's eyes widened in alarm.

"Let it go, Nikki. Let it go now!"

Nikki's eyes closed. He swayed. Kiyrstin jumped to her feet and steadied him.

"What happened?" she asked, when his eyes fluttered open.

"I don't know!" Lidye answered, her voice harsh, unforgiving.

"I'm not good enough, Liddi," he whispered, and he was shaking. "I t-told you last night it wouldn't work." Mor- tally embarrassed.

Ashamed.

Kiyrstin squeezed his hand.

"Youyou said. I'm the strength, the character of the web." His blue eyes flitted toward Lidye, then focused on Kiyrstin. "Don't you see, Kiyrstin? If the web has to de- pend on me, on my character . . . I'm not. I'm trying, but I'm not:'

"Oh, for the"

Lidye broke off, and Nikki flinched away from the swirl of her skirts. Then he just stared at the patterned tiles.

Kiyrstin didn't pretend to understand what signals passed between Nikki and Lidye these days. More often than not, Nikki seemed enormously happy. At others, like now, he seemed . . . lost.

"Don't you see, Kiyrstin. I can't pretend I'm something I'm not. Not when the fates of so many people are at stake.

Mikhyel's the one who should be here. The creature down there likes him. But he can't." He scratched his head and then shivered, a study in uncertainty. "Maybe I should con- tact Deymorin. He's the strong one. And Khyel said he set the rings once when they were boys."

"Maybe you should," Kiyrstin said abruptly, and Nikki winced. "And then again, maybe not."

Nikki shook his head and stared at her, obviously con- fused. His eyes wandered the room, going from one woman to the other, and finally to Lidye, whose back was to him.

He dropped his head again. His hands clenched.

Kiyrstin took those hands and gripped hard enough to hurt. "Pay attention to me, damnit. It's no disgrace, what you've said. It's no disgrace to have doubts. That's what helps us to build character. You can't improve something until you admit it has faults, now can you?"

He biinked up at her.

"If a reputable engineer looked at the plans for your dam and said it would fail, eventually, at this point, or that one, and you refused to listen to him and didn't rethink those plans and get other opinions, and the dam failed where he predicted, your character would be at fault, wouldn't it?"

"Yes. But I wouldn't"

"Nikki, your brothers have tried to show you the poten- tial weaknesses in your own structure. Not to destroy you, but to help you fix them. Are you trying to fix them?"

"Yes!"

"You admit they are structural weaknesses, and not just appearance."

"Yes!"

She smiled and squeezed his hands, but not to hurt this time. She no longer needed to force his attention. "Mikhyel told me a long time ago . . . or perhaps it was Deymorin who told me first, that they feared they'd destroyed your character. They carry a great deal of guilt on that score."

Nikki shook his head. "No! Whatever's wrong with me isn't their fault. It's"

"If there is, Nikki, they'd be right. They raised you and they were very young. They may have made mistakes. Per- haps many mistakes. Perhaps irreparable mistakes. Did they, Nikki? Are they right?"

He opened his mouth to deny it, but closed it without saying anything. He chewed his lip, then said: "May I ask you something before I answer?"

"Of course."

"Mikhyel says in some ways you see us better than we see ourselves, because you don't have that inner sight, and have had to watch people all your life, and have good com- mon sense."

"I accept that as a compliment."

"I think that's how he meant it. So . . . can I ask you what do you think? Are they right?"

She grinned. "I'll answer with a question."

"Like Mikhyel does."

She nodded. "I noticed. Why did the ring falter just now?"

"Because I did."

"And why did you falter?"

"Because if everything was to depend on my character, on my strength, and that was faulty, then everyone could be hurt, or killed or"

"I submit, brother of Rhomatum's leading barrister, that if your character was in question, you'd never have had that doubt."

"So you don't think I'm a bad person?"

"Does what I think matter?"

He frowned. "May I ask a different question? Will you forget that one?"

"You're trying my patience, Nik. What?"

"Can we be friends?"

"Absolutely."

He looked up at Lidye, who was watching, arms folded.

Impatient.

"I'm ready to try again, Liddi," he said.

8 8 d This time, Nikki didn't falter. The ring held steady, beat- ing in time with his heart. He was aware, vaguely, of Li- dye's anger and impatience with him, but he was even more aware of Nethaalye and Mirym's confidence and admiration.

He thought perhaps that caring about their opinions was a character flaw, and the thrum of the Cardinal faltered.

He called up Kiyrstin, then, and what she'd said about Deymorin and Mikhyel, and the ring steadied.

Confidence. Absolute conviction. Those were the hall- marks of ringmasters. Nikaenor dunMheric was no master, but he had Talent of some sort, Talent to be used by a master. And yet, he must still have conviction of his own.

He knew what they did was right. Hold that thought and keep it steady, that's all he had to do.

And at first Nethaalye, then Mirym, in response to Li- dye's instructions, concentrated on the Giephaetum and Khoratum Rings, he could feel them, not as clearly as he did his brothers, but he knew them. And he felt a bridge strengthening the connections to those nodes. Giephaetum, ' always strong and stable, throbbed with life; Khoratum, that large, but wobbling ring, began to beat steadily.

And as those two corners, east and north grew stable, Nikki could almost see Lidye reach out to the Persitum Ring. It wobbled from the floor.

"Think of Persitum!" Lidye hissed at Kiyrstin, and Kiyrs- tin hissed back: "I've never been there! How can I"

"Then think of Mauritum!"

And for a moment, the Persitum Ring rose, held steady an inch off the floor.

Then it dropped.

"Never mind. It's too unstable. I can't endanger the oth- ers. We'll do without."

Lidye divided her attention then between him and the Shatum ring.

"Peel one another," she purred. "Feel your source. Draw strength from it . . . and from each other. Strength, Nikki my love. Hold steady." And it was as if her hands ca- ressed him.

He swayed with the rhythm of the Cardinal, the steady stroking of her voice. He thought of the creature below and those roots of leythium that plunged into the heart of the world itself, and imagined energy flowing up into him.

"Steady, my love . . ." It was a whisper in his head.

"That's it, hold steady. Hold strong . . ."

Suddenly "Dammit!"

His attention faltered.

Pain. Fierce and blinding.

Someone screamed; Nikki thought it might have been himself.

"Nikki! Nikki, wake up!"

"You incompetent fool"

Hands were holding him upright. He was on the floor, and it was Kiyrstin's hands supporting him, and Mirym's holding his, and Nethaalye was there as well, kneeling be- side him, asking was he all right.

Only Lidye was not. Lidye was on the far side of the rings, ignoring him.

There were two rings on the floor.

"Shatum," Nethaalye whispered. And as they watched, the ring rose, weaving carefully past the Cardinal and Khor- atum, and steadied on its appropriate axis.

Nikki, light-headed, swayed against Kiyrstin, who pressed his head comfortably against her shoulder and told him to relax.