'Why all this trouble?

'This isnt my face, Baros Tsen TVarr. Not my real one, but I cant show that here. None of this is what you think. Let us say that, whoever I am, Im neither slave nor lackey. Let us also say that I have many ears in the court of Vespinarr. He smiled widely and drew out a black rod, the sort that any Taiytakei of significance carried to enter the towers of gla.s.s and gold and make the device-gifts of the enchanters come to life and do their bidding. Things like sleds and gla.s.ships. 'Yours, he said. 'It opens many doors. I took it when you were staring at me from your bath all bewildered at what was going on. Thats whats in it for me. He leaned in and whispered in Tsens ear, 'TVarr, I went to your eyrie to steal a dragons egg.

Tsen laughed. 'And my alchemist and my rider and some of those Scales slaves with their vile disease too? Why not simply steal the lot?

'Just an egg. One would have done, although I would have preferred several to be safe. Unfortunately, events caused a change of plan and so I stole you instead. You will help me. In return I will steal your Kalaiya for you.

He wouldnt say any more and so Tsen sat back and enjoyed the shade and the warm air and the cold fresh water of the river. He moved to the bow of the boat and stared up the river. The Jokun came down from the mountains less than a hundred miles away. The water there was like ice, and it flowed down into the desert quickly, keeping its freshness. The odd thing was that there were creatures living in the waters of the lakes and lagoons that would die of cold if they tried to swim in the river, and other creatures in the river that would slowly cook in the warmer pools of the Lair of Samim. Two different worlds joined together but unable ever to meet. Like the Taiytakei and the Righteous Ones of the Konsidar.

Oh, look at you, with your clever metaphors for life. How useful. Got any metaphors to get us out of here? Tsen had a bit of a think about that and found that no, he didnt. Instead, he quietly decided that Sivan must be a lunatic because only a madman would know what a dragon was and then try to steal an egg without an alchemist to control the hatchling that would eventually come out of it.

In the night his Bronzehand finger tingled. He slipped the ring off and let Bronzehand see where he was, for all the good that might do him. He didnt have a bowl of water handy to return the favour but he walked out into the cool dark air and the breeze off the mountains and trailed his hand in the water of the river, letting Bronzehand see the Lair of Samim around him. He kept the ring off. Didnt seem to matter much now. Maybe Bronzehand had a way to tell some of the others, but if he did, none of them tried to see through him to find out where he was. Besides, unless Sivan was a liar, Bronzehand was probably very happy with matters just as they were.

After two days on the river, the swamps of the Lair fell behind them, the banks turned rocky and barren and Tsen saw the first distant summits of the Konsidar ahead, the southern rim that cradled the Vespinarr basin before the greater peaks of the Righteous Ones further to the north. Another day and another night and the river changed again, became narrow, fast and angry. They left the boat and the silent frightened sailors behind and returned to the sh.o.r.e. Sivan had other men waiting hired sword-slaves with little interest in anything but money, Tsen thought, but when he made the same offer as hed made the sailors, they were every bit as afraid. Mortally, dreadfully afraid. When Tsen tried speaking to them, they looked away. They wouldnt even meet his eye. He wasnt sure, but he thought perhaps they pitied him.

'Who is he? he whispered to one, but if he knew he didnt say.

33.

The Lords of Vespinarr When they were done asking questions of the corpse that looked like Baros Tsen TVarr but wasnt, Red Lin Feyn and her soldiers took his body back to the bathhouse. Liang watched them go, left alone with Bellepheros. They looked at each other in silence for a long time and Liang tried to see the man shed thought shed known. He looked exactly as he always had scruffy, tired and slightly irritable, the same Belli shed worked with all these months but now hed brought a dead man back to life. Two, in fact. She was glad of the gloom. It meant he didnt see how she stared at him. She took a deep breath and forced the lump out of her throat.

Belli sat down. 'What now?

'What youve done is sorcery. The Arbiter . . . Liang shook her head. 'She has to tell them, Belli. She has to. The killers. And once they know . . . Words kept trying to jump out of her mouth. Hed done this for her and now . . . 'Sorcerers shattered the world, Belli. They made the storm-dark. The killers wont allow it to happen again. Its what theyre for. What now? I dont know.

'Im not a sorcerer, Li.

Liang didnt know what else to say. 'Is it true? The dead cant lie?

The alchemist stuck out his bottom lip. 'Ive never known otherwise. He started towards her and then stopped. 'Li, abyssal powders are not used often or lightly.

'Belli! Its not what you choose to do. Its what you can do. Oh Xibaiya! She had to turn away again.

After another long silence Bellepheros grunted, hauled himself back to his feet and paced across the room. 'Your killers could send me home, you know, if they dont like what I do.

'They could. But they wouldnt. More likely, when they knew what he could do, theyd launch an expedition to the dragon-realm and put every alchemist they could find to the knife. 'How long dead . . . She knew exactly what theyd think. Could someone with this sort of power dig up the corpse of Feyn Charin and pull out all his secrets? What about the monstrous sorceress Abraxi or the nightmare terror of the Crimson Sunburst? Never mind what the alchemist says, best to be sure.

Bellepheros was watching her. He looked sad.

'They could send us all home, Li, he said. 'Me and the dragons and the eggs and the hatchlings and her Holiness. Wouldnt that be better? Just let us go back where we belong.

Liang rounded on him. Her words came out hot and full of anger. 'Why do you always call her that, Belli? Holiness? Look at her! Do you think her some sort of G.o.ddess?

He laughed at her for that. 'Its tradition. Where I come from, failing to address ones speaker properly can mean being fed to their dragons before the sun sets. Li, how is it possible for that man not to be Baros Tsen? He is Baros Tsen.

'I dont know.

'But if he isnt then someone changed his face! How? And you tell me about sorcerers!

'I dont know, Belli, I dont know. It frightens me. You frighten me.

'Me? Ha! He sounded so full of hurt and disbelief that a part of her wanted to hug him and tell him she was sorry and that shed find a way to understand and it would all be fine and not to worry and . . . And yet she didnt move, didnt speak.

The iron door eased open behind her. Red Lin Feyn slipped back in. 'Im sorry to intrude, she said, 'but Im afraid Ive been listening and I do know. The Arbiter closed the door and for a few seconds stood very still, eyes closed. 'We are alone. That is good. Chay-Liang of Hingwal Taktse, you will listen to me now and do as I say. Do not ask questions and do not speak of this to anyone. I will explain more later when we are alone on a gla.s.ship to Vespinarr.

'Vespinarr? Liang blinked in surprise. Red Lin Feyn frowned at her.

'I told you to listen, not to speak. You will go back to your rooms, both of you. This did not happen. The guards will remain outside your doors. When my killers return, I will inform them I have decided on a further course of investigation. I will not tell them why, not yet. At first light you, Chay-Liang, and I will travel to Vespinarr. I will send a killer ahead to the Dralamut to demand additional guardians. We should not consider ourselves safe, either of us, so you may bring whatever you see fit to defend yourself. They will send a killer with us to watch over me. You will say nothing of what youve done or heard in this room tonight unless you are absolutely certain we are alone. Do you understand? Absolutely, unquestionably alone.

Chay-Liang nodded, bewildered. 'And Belli? she asked as the Arbiter turned and reached for the iron door.

'Your alchemist slave will remain and go about his usual duties. I will leave orders for the killers to mind the eyrie and allow no one to leave. It will carry on exactly as it is until our return. They will be told this is my will. Whether they adhere to it will depend on truths yet to be unravelled. She fixed Belli with a hard look. 'I will not tell them what power you have, alchemist, not yet. For now, I suggest you both consider any means by which a killer may be incapacitated or detained.

Liangs mouth fell open. 'Lady . . . ?

Red Lin Feyn opened the door and barked at her soldiers, 'The enchantress is to return to her quarters. No one is to enter she paused ' even if they appear to be me. Come, Chay-Liang. Back to your prison now.

She walked away. Liang took a step after her and then stopped and turned back. She went to Belli and took his hands in hers. 'I dont know what you are any more, Belli, but youre a good man. Stay that way. Be safe. Do nothing to make them suspicious. She looked into his eyes for a moment, felt the calloused skin of his hands under her fingers and found she wanted to do much more than hold them; but want would have to wait.

'Ill do my best, Li. He looked bemused, which made her want to laugh and cry all at once.

As soon as she was back in her room, Liang began to pack. Vespinarr? There were a lot of things she might have taken with her, the acc.u.mulated nonsense of a dozen years as enchanter to a sea lord. Things came her way whether she wanted them or not. Pieces of gla.s.s worked with different metals in them. No one had yet found anything that made gla.s.s as malleable to an enchanters will as gold, but that didnt stop the journeymen in Hingwal Taktse from trying, and now and then they found an interesting property. Then there were things people made to show off their skills, hoping to secure her attention and patronage; pieces sent to her as gifts; things sent to Tsen that he didnt want; her own early pieces as an apprentice, kept for posterity. When her workshop had no s.p.a.ce for it all any more, her room had become a cross between a laboratory and a museum. Little of it was actually useful. The Arbiter had already taken her lightning wand and her black rod.

She packed a dozen pieces of unworked gla.s.s and a spare robe. Over in one corner, stored carefully in a chest, were a dozen globes of trapped fire from the Dominion, where blazes were caught by the sun priests and imprisoned inside enchanted gla.s.s. The sea lords used them to tip the black-powder rockets their ships carried into battle; but after the dragons had arrived, Tsens rockets had been removed from the walls and put into storage. Liang had dismantled a few. She couldnt remember what shed been meaning to do with them now but she had the fire globes and three sealed pots of black powder.

She picked up a globe and looked at it. Fire globes set everything around them alight when they broke. Horrific and terrifying things when shot on rockets against wooden ships but not much use against dragons, which laughed at fire, and not much use against Elemental Men either, not when they could simply turn into the stuff at will. She fiddled absently with some gold-gla.s.s until shed made a second sh.e.l.l around a fire globe and then filled it with black powder. It would explode with even more force now.

What am I doing? She was shaking. Her breathing was ragged. Did she want to go to Vespinarr? No. Did she have a choice? No. Ive been told by the Arbiter. I have to. I dont have a say. She shaped the gla.s.s some more, making it into a ball with needles sticking out so it would explode into a hail of sharpened slivers that would shred anyone near it. She fiddled, refined it, moulded it, changed it, changed it back and then changed it again. Yes, a fine thing for murdering a crowd of people, but what shed made had ended up about the size of her head and covered in spikes too heavy to be put on the end of a rocket, ridiculously awkward to carry and it still wouldnt trouble an Elemental Man.

She burst into tears, and the tears turned into great heaving sobs. Truth was, if she was honest, she was glad that the Arbiter was taking her, and she was glad that she had no choice. She needed just to be away. To have some time to think. To not see Bellis face every hour of every day and see him standing over a talking corpse; and yet it made her feel so utterly horrible because she was abandoning him when he needed her most and she hated herself for that, and she knew that if she was given the choice then shed stay because that was right and he deserved it, but the Arbiter hadnt given her the choice and she was so d.a.m.ned grateful because that meant it wasnt her fault when she left him here alone . . .

What did that say about her? If he knew, if he could see her inner thoughts, wouldnt he hate her? He certainly ought to.

She closed her eyes, thinking furiously about how she could keep Belli safe and what she ought to do for him and how much he deserved everything she could give, and then she must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew there were men barging through her door and the Arbiter was with them, dressed in all her flaming finery.

'Give her five fingers of the sun to be ready. She may bring whatever she wishes. Red Lin Feyn swept out and Liang was about to follow, all ready to start her arguments as to why she should stay so she could look after Belli, when another pair of soldiers came running in and gave her a wooden box with a tiny bra.s.s catch. Inside it six wax-sealed vials lay coc.o.o.ned in soft velvet nestled over packed goose down. Her breath caught in her throat shed given the box as a present to Belli not long after hed arrived. She couldnt remember where shed got it Zinzarra, perhaps but the vials were her own work. They were simple little shapings, each no more than a few minutes effort, but they were all unique and shed worked the necks into differently shaped dragons for him. As she opened it, a piece of folded paper fell out, tied in a ribbon. She picked it up and read it: 'Be safe Li.

Tied around the neck of each vial was a tiny label. Liang almost burst into tears again. She stuffed the box into her bag and hurried after the Arbiter, determined to stop her and demand to stay, but when she reached the dragon yard, she abruptly stopped. The yard was swarming with soldiers. Most were the Vespinese who had come to free MaiChoiro Kwen, lined up in arrow-straight ranks. Their polished gold-gla.s.s armour gleamed with coppery fire in the dawn sun, their ashgars rested on their shoulders and their shields were raised to their chests in perfect lines. Their emerald and silver capes billowed and flapped like flags in the constant wind and the jade in their helms and the coloured silks they wore across their chests seemed to glow.

In the centre of the dragon yard a small golden gondola sat beside the one the Arbiter had taken for herself, but the soldiers werent for her. Across the yard and close to the walls as far away from the dragons perch as they could be three gondolas of jade and bright shining silver rested with their ramps still closed. Red Lin Feyn stood waiting for them in all her splendour, in her Arbiters robe of flames and with the white headdress on, her arms spread wide and shielded from the wind by gold-gla.s.s screens while Elemental Men stood on either side. More killers watched from around the dragon yard, conspicuously outlined atop the walls. The hatchling dragons paid no heed to it all, almost hypnotised by the G.o.dspike as ever. The great dragon was nowhere to be seen.

Liangs escort stopped dead. They were Vespinese soldiers themselves, proud in their silver and emerald, and Liang saw they were looking up at the gla.s.ships overhead, whose chains had carried these new gondolas here. When Liang followed their eyes, she understood. The gla.s.ships above the silver and jade gondolas were stained a silvery green. The impurities made them slower but they also made them unique and only one sea lord flew them. Shonda was here at last.

For a fleeting moment, at the top of her ramp, the Arbiter became Red Lin Feyn again. She shot Liang an irritable glance and made a sharp gesture for her to come. Confused, Liang ran to the Arbiters side as the silver and jade gondolas cracked open. More Vespinese soldiers were running out from the barracks, forming themselves up into an honour guard as quickly as they could. The dawn sun shone across the storm-dark, lighting its swirling cloud with apocalyptic orange. The white stone of the eyrie appeared touched with pink.

'Go inside and make yourself invisible, muttered Red Lin Feyn as Liang reached the gondola. Liang hurried in and climbed the steps to the upper level. Shed never been up here. It only occupied half the width of the gondolas interior and was reached by the sweep of an arcing silver stair. There was a huge bed and several closets and racks for . . . she had no idea what they were for but they were empty. She felt like an intruder, a thief, a burglar. This was where the Arbiter slept, where she stripped away the trappings of the Dralamut and became just an ordinary person, and Liang had no place being here. She put down her bag and wished she was somewhere else, wished that Shonda had arrived ten minutes earlier so she could have stayed in her room until all this was done or perhaps gone and spent an hour with Belli. Or later so she could have made her case to stay.

Which made her think again of the pale corpse of Baros Tsen turning to her to speak. She shivered. The alchemist was her slave. She often forgot but others didnt. She had responsibility for him and it cut both ways. The killers would look at her long and hard once they knew what he could do. It was all too much to think about.

She went to the window to see what was happening. The silver gondolas of Vespinarr had their ramps down now. Two dozen more soldiers were lining themselves up, pushing the other Vespinese back to make s.p.a.ce. The wind tore at the emerald plumes on their helms and at the gold banners that flew from the long spiked staves they carried instead of ashgars and then Liang frowned as she saw what else they were carrying. They had gold-gla.s.s globes in their hands and at their belts and yes, they were armoured like soldiers but they werent, they were enchanters! How many of them? She put a hand to her mouth and almost gasped and then counted to be sure. Twenty-two. Twenty-two enchanters. Hingwal Taktse rarely held more than fifty. The Cashax school was smaller and the palace in Khalishtor was smaller still. Across every realm of every world there were no more than a couple of hundred of them.

Twenty-two Hingwal Taktse enchanters. With that number working together they could do . . . well, anything really. They could build a cage for the dragon! Even the killers would have to pause surely? She watched as each enchanter lifted their gla.s.s...o...b..and shaped it into a curved screen until they had a corridor running the length of the dragon yard from the middle of the three silver gondolas to the base of Red Lin Feyns ramp. A man stepped out of the middle gondola. Bright green robes swirled behind him, while the braids of his hair were so long they dragged on the ground. He walked along the line of enchanters as though inspecting them, now and then shaking his head and gesturing to their gla.s.s screens until he was content, and Liang had to wonder what he was doing until at last she understood. They were shielding the path to the Arbiter from the wind. Twenty-two enchanters and Shonda had brought them to keep the wind off him?

The man in emerald came steadily on until he was so close that Liang couldnt see him from the window any more, even when she stood on tiptoe and pressed her nose to the gla.s.s to peer over the curve of the gondolas silver sh.e.l.l. There was a long pause and then a second man came out in a feather robe which spread out around him and seemed to float above his feet. There were patterns woven among feathers of shimmering electrum, a pale coppery gold, but they were subtle and too far away for Liang to make them out. His braids were even longer than the first mans and trailed behind him as though floating very slightly above the ground no, they were floating, each one tipped with a tiny gold-gla.s.s sled no bigger than a finger. He wore a silver crown inlaid with jade. Shonda, sea lord of Vespinarr.

A movement on the eyrie wall caught her eye. An Elemental Man. The hatchlings all had their eyes on Shonda as though they hadnt forgotten the last time hed come. Shonda himself never looked away from the Arbiter.

Liang moved back to the top of the stairs. She took a farscope out of her bag and spent a moment with it, reshaping the gla.s.s to bend it to look round the corner. She lay down at the top of the steps just out of sight and poked the bent end around the edge, feeling even more like an intruder and a little like a naughty child spying on her elders. Clearly the Arbiter had meant her to hear whatever was to be said otherwise why beckon her inside and then tell her to hide? Although why the Arbiter should want her here, Liang couldnt begin to guess.

At the top of the ramp two killers moved to bar the sea lords way. Shonda stopped. He stood in front of Lin Feyn far longer than he should until, like the waiting man in green, he dropped to one knee. Whatever words pa.s.sed between them were lost to the wind, and then the Arbiter turned, walked into the gondola and took her place on her crystal throne at the head of MaiChoiros table. One killer sat to either side while the others vanished. Into the air around them, Liang supposed. Watching. Watching her too, no doubt.

Shonda entered alone. The ramp closed behind him and the rushing roar of the wind across the eyrie abruptly ceased. Liang saw Shondas robes clearly now: the designs, in slightly paler silvery gold or a touch darker with a hint more copper, were of three dragons and a lion, the sigil of his city. They were exquisitely done, almost as though they were living things. Each time he moved the dragons moved too, entwining around one another. He stared long and hard at Red Lin Feyn, sitting in all her splendour. 'Arbiter. You summoned us. We came.

'And with some difficulty, I must suppose, given your delay. I do hope the journey wasnt too much trouble and that my summons was no inconvenience.

'None at all, lady. Indeed, I had planned to visit your court to request the return of my kwen.

'Then I am relieved and very glad to have summoned you. It would be such a shame for you to have come all this way for only one reason and then to have to leave with disappointment as your only reward. Im afraid your kwen will not be returning to you. You will need to find another.

Shonda paused and then c.o.c.ked his head. 'Your investigation is complete, lady?

'No, Sea Lord Shonda, it is not. Did MaiChoiro Kwen engineer the destruction of Dhar Thosis on your behalf?

'Of course not.

'Very well. You may go. One testimony remains to be heard. You will remain at my court until that time.

Shondas lip curled. He laughed, a low throaty sound. 'Shrin Chrias Kwen? He continues to elude the Elemental Men, lady?

'No. Baros Tsen TVarr, Lord Shonda. I must hear Baros Tsen TVarr speak before I am done. Surely you must see the necessity?

'I had heard he was dead, lady, said Shonda, and Liang caught the moment of surprise on his face.

'Someone did indeed try very hard to leave that impression. Lin Feyn c.o.c.ked her head. 'Was it you?

Shonda hesitated again. He frowned and looked to Liang as though truly confused. 'I am at a loss, lady, as to what you can mean.

'No matter. Tsen himself, I imagine, seeking to escape his punishment. You may go. Amuse yourself. I hope you brought something to do. We are rather remote, there is little entertainment and Im afraid you may be here for some time.

'Lady Arbiter, if you have no further questions for me then I will return to Vespinarr. I will of course be available to be called again.

'No, Sea Lord. I have decided you will remain here until I give my verdict.

Shonda laughed. 'Lady, I have a city to run, a fleet, an empire. You have taken my kwen and my brother my tvarr is- 'Of no consequence. Lin Feyn didnt even raise her voice, yet she cut him dead where he stood. It was a beautiful thing, and Liang made a quiet mental note to ask how she did it. 'You may go. My killers will see to your safety. Liang imagined the Arbiter smiling, though doubtless her face remained perfectly still. As she watched Shonda compose himself, the most powerful man in all the worlds dismissed like an errant child, Liang found herself starting to like this Red Lin Feyn. Eventually Shonda dropped to one knee. 'Lady. May I ask, lady, how long I will be remaining here?

'As long as is required, Sea Lord Shonda of Vespinarr.

Shonda rose. Liang thought he left with surprising grace, all things considered. She crept sheepishly back to the window and watched him and the man in green return to their gondola. The ramp closed behind them, sealing them in. The twenty-two enchanters with their gold-gla.s.s screens remained exactly as they were. Liang could almost feel them wondering what they were supposed to do. Nothing, apparently, so they simply stood and waited, and she tried to imagine Baros Tsen TVarr doing something like this and then keeping her standing like a lemon. She might have slapped him for that. But then Baros Tsen didnt have twenty-two enchanters to pick and choose between. He had her and that was that.

She shaped the farscope back to its original form, picked up her bag and started down the stairs, and then froze as an Elemental Man appeared in the gondola close to the Arbiter and almost collapsed. He clung to the table and hauled himself upright, clutching his side. He was covered in blood. He saw Liang, vanished, appeared again at the Arbiters ear, whispered for a moment and then was gone. Liang didnt move until Lin Feyn glided across the gondola and raised a hand, beckoning her to follow out across the dragon yard. Red Lin Feyn had to stoop to walk against the wind, the headdress whipping around her. No enchanters to keep the wind from pulling at the robes of the Arbiter, Liang thought. Yet shes one of us. She could have emptied Hingwal Taktse if shed wanted.

The last gondola in the dragon yard was a small golden thing decorated with ships and sea serpents, the sigils of the city of Tayuna. As soon as Red Lin Feyn was inside it, she lifted the head-dress off and almost threw it on the floor.

'I swear whoever designed this couldnt possibly ever have worn it themselves. She put it gently on a table and glowered at it, then smiled, though her eyes carried a flash of warning. 'I have some excellent news, Chay-Liang. The rider-slave slew the missing hatchling at sunrise this morning. She returns with its corpse. It is of no consequence to my purpose one way or another . . . again a flash of warning and this time a flick of the eye to yet another Elemental Man who stood patiently inside '. . . but its one thorn fewer to p.r.i.c.k at my killers. She picked up an ornate fan made of silk and silver and ran her fingers over it. 'You will come with me because I may have need of an enchanter. I will not say where and you will not ask. You will be told what you need to know when the moment arises. We shall begin in Kabulingnor and we shall visit other sites in Vespinarr. You will not speak to any we meet unless I permit it. She looked away. 'You will find the gondola has been part.i.tioned so we may travel together without inconveniencing one another. You will find the s.p.a.ce allotted to you above. I suggest you acquaint yourself with it. You may come when I call for you. Which was as clear a way as could be of telling her that she was dismissed.

'Lady!

The Arbiter looked up sharply. 'Enchantress?

'I cannot come with you.

For a moment the Arbiter was Red Lin Feyn again. She frowned fiercely, walked past Liang and closed the gondola ramp, then stood in the way so Liang would have to push past her to open it again. 'I do not believe I gave you a choice, she said crisply, flicking another glance to the Elemental Man. 'Your reluctance stems from concern for your slave? She sounded dismissive. 'We will discuss him if so.

'Lady, I . . . She didnt get any further. The Arbiter put a finger to her lips and suddenly Liang couldnt talk any more. Words formed in her mind and in her throat. Her lips and tongue moved but not a single sound came from either.

'In good time, Chay-Liang.

Short of actually attacking the Arbiter of the Dralamut, which would get her killed on the spot by an Elemental Man in however little time it took him to cross the gondola and stab her, Liang couldnt think what she could possibly do except turn her back, climb the steps and go where shed been told. Waiting for her she found a tiny windowless compartment that was so low she had to stoop. She dropped her bag on the minuscule bed. Even a slave might have objected to the s.p.a.ce the Arbiter had given her, but so many thoughts were already crowding her brain they were almost bursting out of her head and she had no s.p.a.ce for trivia. She felt the gondola move immediately. They were off! Already! She snapped and snarled and punched her fist into her hand. So this was getting what she wanted, was it? Leaving Belli behind? A bit of time and s.p.a.ce of her own to think? Only that had been what she wanted last night, not now. Now she wanted to be with him, to keep him safe, and it was far more than a sense of duty from a good mistress towards her slave. She sat heavily beside her bag and balled her fists. She thought she might throw herself down and beat them against the mattress but that wouldnt do any good. No one would come and the Arbiter wouldnt change her plans.

She sat for what seemed a long time, wondering what she could do, realising that the answer was nothing and then wondering it again anyway. The thought that something could happen while she was gone, that it really might this time, that she wouldnt be there to stop it, was paralysing. Not the dragon or even the rider-slave this time, but the killers. And when she tried to tell herself that she was being foolish, that the killers didnt know what hed done, that Belli was clever enough to look after himself, it just wasnt enough.

Liang felt her ears pop. Theyd crossed the edge of the storm-dark and were coming down to a more comfortable height over the desert. Shed grown used to the alt.i.tude of the eyrie, where every step climbed left her gasping. The richness of the air close to the ground was intoxicating. She could almost taste it. Her ears popped again. There was a rushing sound from below that came and went. The low muttering of talk between the Arbiter and her killers was done. Liang lay very still and listened but she couldnt hear a thing. A moment of silence pa.s.sed and then: 'Chay-Liang?

Downstairs, Red Lin Feyn wasnt in her formal dress as Arbiter of the Dralamut any more but wore a simple white enchanters robe. Two gla.s.ses of wine stood on the table in front of her. She patted the chair beside her and offered a gla.s.s to Liang.

'The killers have gone, she said. 'Off to the Dralamut to bring our sentinel golems. Sadly we wont be taking them into the Kabulingnor with us, but I should hope that having both their kwen and their sea lord hostage in my court will deter the Vespinese from anything foolish. She smiled faintly and sipped from her gla.s.s. 'You will find, Chay-Liang, that I will talk to you very differently when they return.

'We are still going to Vespinarr, lady? Liang frowned. Shed a.s.sumed Red Lin Feyn had meant to question Sea Lord Shonda there, but clearly not.

'Ironic, isnt it? Still, he shouldnt have delayed so long in answering my summons. He can stew for a while. Her eyes brightened and she smiled. 'Did you see his enchanters, Chay-Liang?

'Yes, lady.

'One cant help feeling a little satisfaction at humbling a man who flaunts his power quite so openly. Very helpful of him too.

'Lady?

Lin Feyn shrugged. 'Between the dragon and its rider and Shondas entourage, I think my killers will be kept very busy. All the better. The less attention they pay to us on this little journey, the more I am pleased. She frowned. 'He seemed genuinely surprised when I asked him about Tsen, though. The one thing that caught him off guard. She frowned again and then shrugged. 'Well, it cant be helped. Doubtless our arrival at the Kabulingnor will cause a great deal of confusion and there cant be many left there who have the authority to act in Shondas stead. I suppose you realise that one reason I brought you with me was to keep you safe? One reason, although not so much the reason.

'Me, lady?