"This is Jacinta D'Orlon, your highness," Palinov hastily answered for her. "The Queen of Dhevyn's envoy."

"Alenor's cousin?" he asked curiously. He'd heard about her.

"That's correct, your highness," she confirmed with a regal curtsy. "My father is the Duke of Bryton."

"Aren't you the one who caused Birkoff so much grief?"

She smiled faintly. "I refused his offer of marriage, sire. I'm not sure he grieved over the insult so much as the loss of my dowry."

Misha took an instant liking to the young woman. He was curious about why Dirk was apologizing to her, though. He had a feeling it wasn't over a matter of state.

"Might I impose upon you to aid Lady Tia in getting settled into the palace, my lady?"

"It would be my honor, your highness."

"Palinov, please see that Lady Tia is given a suite on the fourth floor. And then report back to me in an hour. I want to know exactly what's going on, and I expect you to have all the answers when I see you next."

Palinov was too stunned to object. He bowed and backed out of the room, followed by Tia and Jacinta. Tia spared a faint smile for Misha and a suspicious glare for Dirk before she followed them out into the hall.

"Lady Tia?" Dirk asked with a slightly raised brow.

"She's as much right to the t.i.tle as anyone. Her mother was highborn."

Dirk nodded and said nothing further on the subject. Misha wondered if he was going to have a long talk to Dirk about Tia at some point. One of those "hands off, she's mine" type discussions. But now was not the time.

"Lock the door," Misha ordered Dirk. "I want a few moments of peace before the news gets out the Crippled Prince is back."Dirk did as he asked and then came back to the desk, taking the seat opposite him. He shook his head in wonder. "You don't look much like the Crippled Prince I remember, Misha. I haven't seen you looking so well since the first time we met on Elcast. What happened to you?"

"I discovered life without poppy-dust."

"Poppy-dust?"

"Apparently it was the main ingredient in Ella Geon's tonic. You were planning to be a physician once, Dirk. Look it up sometime. I had all the symptoms. But n.o.body expects the Lion of Senet's son to be an addict, do they? So who would know?"

Dirk was flabbergasted. "She was drugging you? Why?"

"She was killing me. As to the reason, Tia speculates it was all part of some grand plan of Belagren's to place Kirsh on the throne when my father died. Where is Ella, by the way?"

"She's back at the Hall of Shadows. I sent all the Shadowdancers back there under house arrest until I can formally disband them."

"Then I am making an official request of you as Lord of the Suns to have her handed over to me for trial. I want that pitiful excuse for a physician, Yuri Daranski, and Madalan Tirov, too. They had to be in on it."

"Consider it done."

It wasn't until that moment it dawned on Misha how much he could achieve with Dirk as Lord of the Suns. Paige Halyn had been afraid of his own shadow. Dirk was Lord of the Shadows and, more important, Lord of the Suns. He had proved himself afraid of nothing. Misha was glad his instincts about Dirk were correct, even if Tia still nursed a core of distrust she would probably never be able to totally let go.

"Where's Kirsh?"

"In Talenburg. We're expecting him back tomorrow. He's going to be very glad to see you alive and well."

"He left you in charge?" Misha smiled. "That must be driving Palinov to distraction. And my father?"

"He's in Omaxin. With the High Priestess." Dirk hesitated for a moment and then added, "And an army."

"What does he need an army for?"

"That's the question we've all been asking ourselves, Misha."

"Tia says he was... rather disturbed... after your dramatic denunciation of the High Priestess."

"That's putting it mildly."

Misha was silent, waiting for Dirk to elaborate.

"He appears to have completely lost his mind," Dirk admitted uncomfortably.

"You've been a busy lad while I was away, haven't you?" Misha remarked with a frown. "And don't think I don't appreciate the fact that you've brought down the people who were trying to kill me.

But I don't suppose you could have found a way to put an end to the Shadowdancers without destroying my father in the process?"

"The two are inextricably linked, Misha. The Shadowdancers drew their strength from Antonov. If the Lion of Senet had not embraced their cult, Belagren would never have been more than a Sundancer with good family connections. I couldn't destroy one without affecting the other."Dirk spoke the truth, although it was an unpleasant fact to acknowledge. "Did you kill Belagren?"

He shook his head. "Marqel did."

"Someday, when we have the time, I'd really like you to explain to me what possessed you to involve that devious little b.i.t.c.h in all this. Do you know she even tried it on with me, once?"

"Really? What did you do?"

"Fortunately, I was too sick to do anything. But she really does like to keep her options open, doesn't she?"

"Trust me," Dirk replied heavily. "If I regret anything I've done, it was giving Marqel a taste of power."

"And she's with my father now, you say?"

"Kirsh sent her to Omaxin with him," he confirmed. "I think he was afraid I was going to do something to her. With the Shadowdancers currently the target of a great deal of rage, he figured it was the safest place for her."

Misha rolled his eyes. "He's not still infatuated with her, is he?"

"As much as he ever was."

"But if she was High Priestess," he said thoughtfully, "doesn't that mean she and my father..."

Dirk shrugged. "Kirsh is apparently willing to forgive Marqel anything. Including that."

"I will never understand my brother," he sighed, shaking his head. "From the moment he first laid eyes on that thief on Elcast, he's been a complete fool about her."

"That foolishness may end up causing you a civil war, Misha. If Marqel is in Antonov's ear-and it's pretty much a given that she is-then I've a good idea why he's gathering an army in Omaxin."

"He'll want to set things to rights," Misha concluded. "He'd probably feel the need to do that even if he wasn't insane."

"Kirsh says Antonov told him the eclipse never happened as some sort of test of his faith."

"That's understandable," Misha conceded. "My father believes he is a pious man. He thinks killing my baby brother, Gunta, brought back the Age of Light. To admit he was wrong would make him a murderer and a fool. Which brings me to another question. I can guess how you managed most of this, but how the h.e.l.l did you stop those pyres from burning?"

"Didn't Tia tell you?"

"She said something about some cleaning fluid."

"Sinkbore," Dirk confirmed. "It's a natural flame r.e.t.a.r.dant. Just between you and me, I wasn't really sure it would work."

"You risked Tia's life on a guess?"

"It worked."

"Lucky for Tia it did," he warned with a scowl.

"I'm not sure your father, or Baston of Damita, thinks much of what happened that day was lucky, though. Did Tia tell you about Baston being killed?"

"I was there when Oscon got the news he'd been reinstated."

Dirk was genuinely surprised. "You were in Garwenfield with Oscon? No wonder they couldn't find you.""Fortunate for me they didn't. I owe my life to Tia. And to Master Helgin and Mellie, too."

"How is Mellie?"

"You can ask her yourself later."

Dirk's eyes clouded with concern. "You brought Mellie to Avacas? Was that wise?"

"Probably not, but given the urgency of our departure from Garwenfield, there wasn't time for a detour to drop her off somewhere safer."

"G.o.ddess, that means Alexin is with you, too, doesn't it? You'd better keep him out of Kirsh's sight."

"Don't worry," Misha a.s.sured him. "I intend to put them both on a ship for Kalarada on the next tide. They'll be gone before Kirsh gets back."

"And then what are you going to do?"

"I'd rather know what you're planning to do, Dirk," he replied. "You've orchestrated this rather grandiose symphony of disasters up until now. Is there anything else on your program I should know about? Another eclipse? A volcano? A devastating earthquake, perhaps? The next Age of Shadows isn't going to appear tomorrow, is it?"

Dirk smiled. "No. I can pretty much guarantee you don't have to worry about that."

Misha glanced around his father's study for a moment and then frowned. "You know, I used to lie awake at night in Oscon's house, imagining what it would be like to come home. I've been here less than an hour, and already nothing is as I envisaged it."

"Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm glad you're back, Misha. And relieved beyond words you're well. And I know Kirsh has been counting the minutes until you returned." Dirk sounded sincere, but this was the man who had convinced the world there was an eclipse coming. It was impossible to tell if he was genuine or if he was lying through his teeth, "Then that makes three of us who are pleased to see the Crippled Prince," he said, deciding to accept for the moment Dirk meant what he said. "When the count gets into double figures, let me know.

Then I might start to feel like I'm welcome."

Chapter 74.

Marqel took it upon herself to care for the Lion of Senet with a level of dedication that astonished everyone. She would let n.o.body near him. She would let n.o.body speak to him. By the time they reached Omaxin, she had everyone in his entourage so accustomed to going through her to communicate with him that she could have ordered them to all stand on their heads and they would have believed the order came from Antonov.

In private, Antonov drove her to distraction. He was obsessed with the notion that the nonexistent eclipse and the refusal of her sacrifice were all staged by the G.o.ddess to test his faith. He refused to allow the idea he might have been mistaken to take root in his mind. He questioned her about it constantly, seeking the G.o.ddess's rea.s.surance, more determined than ever to believe Marqel was her spokeswoman. He wanted to be certain he'd read the G.o.ddess's intentions correctly.

For Marqel, Antonov's insanity was fertile ground, into which she was able to plant the seeds of her own ambitions. She was the Voice of the G.o.ddess, and Antonov's only alternative to believing everyword she uttered was to contemplate the possibility he had lived his entire life believing in a lie. He had sacrificed his son to the G.o.ddess and believed he had done the right thing. To even suspect his sacrifice had been needless was something he would not allow.

The ruined city came into view some three weeks after they left Bollow. The trip had been torturously slow, mostly because Antonov insisted they stop each sunrise to offer thanks to the G.o.ddess. Marqel didn't mind. The longer they took to get there, the longer she had to poison his mind, to feed his fears and doubts. Marqel had learned a great deal from watching Dirk Provin at work. If he could bring the Shadowdancers to their knees, then she could go one better.

If she was clever about it, she could remove the irritation of Dirk Provin. Permanently.

When they arrived at the ruins, she was surprised by the number of people already there. Marqel had forgotten about the troops Antonov had sent to Omaxin to deal with the Sidorian raiders. Between them and the large escort Kirsh had sent with them, she had the beginnings of a small army, which gave Marqel an even grander idea than simply convincing Antonov she was invincible.

Antonov couldn't wait to get into the cavern. It was almost as if he expected to hear the voice of the G.o.ddess for himself. The ma.s.sive chamber was lit with countless torches when they arrived, glittering off the creamy ignimbrite walls. The Shadowdancers who were studiously copying down the inscriptions and diagrams on the walls all jumped to their feet when the Lion of Senet entered the chamber.

Antonov stopped just inside the entrance, awestruck by the size and magnificence of the hall. She had forgotten Antonov had never seen it before. The look on his face was almost comical, he was so enthralled. Marqel couldn't see the point in getting worked up over a big empty hall. It was just another building, really, even if it was rather impressive.

"Your highness!" Rudi Kalenkov gasped when he realized who his visitor was. Then he glanced at Marqel and frowned. "My lady."

"His highness would like to be alone with the G.o.ddess," Marqel announced. She didn't want Rudi explaining anything to Antonov. Didn't want anyone speaking to him if she could avoid it. Particularly not another Shadowdancer and certainly not one who could claim to be an expert on the Omaxin ruins.

"Of course," Rudi said, snapping his fingers at his people to hasten their departure. "I'd be more than happy to stay and show-"

"That won't be necessary," Marqel cut in.

Rudi scowled at her and then bowed in acquiescence. He knew she was now the High Priestess, but Marqel didn't know how much he had learned about what had happened in Bollow. She wouldn't have trusted him in any case. Rudi was one of Belagren's old cronies, a scholar, not a priest. He probably knew as well as Dirk Provin that what he and his workers were so a.s.siduously copying down was not the words of the G.o.ddess but the writings of some ancient civilization long ago destroyed by Mount Probeus.

"As you wish, my lady."

Once they were alone, Marqel took Antonov by the hand and led him to the center of the hall. The thick golden Eye glittered malignantly in the torchlight, as if the G.o.ddess herself was staring at them.

"I can feel her," Antonov whispered in awe.

Marqel couldn't feel the G.o.ddess. Mostly, Marqel felt cold, and even a little oppressed by the idea there was half a mountain hanging over their heads.

"So can I," she agreed piously.Antonov walked closer to one of the walls to study the strange inscriptions. He stared at them in silence.

"I hope Dirk gets here soon," he said after a time.

Marqel scowled at his back. "Why?"

"Because only he can read the G.o.ddess's writings."

The h.e.l.l he can! she sneered silently. He was just pretending he could to shut Kirsh up when he...

She didn't even finish the thought before stepping forward and tracing her finger over a line of incomprehensible squiggles. "Listen to me. Gather all those who believe in me and celebrate my... gifts."