Hundreds of others shared her plight. A storm of mixed protest and appeal arose. Some anonymous philanthropist blessed with generosity and powerful lungs mounted the stairs, where he stood waving his arms vigorously. The clamor abated as his compatriots recognized his intention. The crowd fell back and fell silent. Standing alone at the head of the stairs, the philanthropist began to read in a strong voice audible to every listener.

VONAHRISH VICTORY.

Eyewitness Account from Carnoche Munic.i.p.ality Shortly after sunrise this morning, a force consisting of two divisions of Haerestean infantry heavily supported by troops and artillery of the Unified Army of the Imperium, crossed the border into Vonahr to advance upon Carnoche Munic.i.p.ality, capital of Eulence Province. Around 7:30 A.M. A.M. the Second Corps of the Vonahrish Army under the command of General vo Lieux-v'Olliard engaged the enemy in the fields to the east of the town. It is widely rumored that vo Lieux-v'Olliard dispatched a message to the Undergeneral Retzlof, commander of the Grewzian units, revealing the existence of a new weapon of inconceivable destructive power and offering the enemy a final opportunity to surrender, but this report remains unverified. the Second Corps of the Vonahrish Army under the command of General vo Lieux-v'Olliard engaged the enemy in the fields to the east of the town. It is widely rumored that vo Lieux-v'Olliard dispatched a message to the Undergeneral Retzlof, commander of the Grewzian units, revealing the existence of a new weapon of inconceivable destructive power and offering the enemy a final opportunity to surrender, but this report remains unverified.In the midmorning the Grewzian artillery opened fire, which Vonahrish gunners returned. Immediately following the commencement of the exchange, the sudden outbreak in their midst of intense wildfire threw the Haerestean and Grewzian troops into great disarray. The fire, distinguished at a distance by its unusual green color, first manifested itself among the enemy gunners, but in the s.p.a.ce of mere seconds expanded to extraordinary breadth and height, spreading across the field to overwhelm the invading troops with terrible rapidity. It was noted and commented upon by many observers that the blaze seemed almost possessed of some predatory awareness, for there were many sightings of fleeing victims pursued, overtaken, and arrested by long, tentacular arms of flame.Within minutes the entire enemy army was engulfed in a sea of furious green fire-a piteous and dreadful spectacle, never to be forgotten by any witness. The sight of their foes writhing in torment, accompanied by the ghastly chorus of shrieks and pleas, awakened the compunction of many Vonahrish soldiers, several of whom are reported to have begged their commander to extinguish the allegedly arcane conflagration.The green fire never abated, however, before its work of devastation was complete, at which time the flames dwindled out of sight as speedily and inexplicably as they had arisen. It is believed that every enemy soldier perished, although a contingent of civilian spectators was permitted to depart unscathed. Casualties are believed to number somewhere between forty and forty-five thousand men. There was no Vonahrish loss of life.The terrifying potential of this new destructive force loosed upon the world is obvious and undeniable. Yet its use in this instance appears justified in view of the immediate results. Upon conclusion of the engagement General vo Lieux-v'Olliard quickly moved the Second Corps across the border into the vicinity of Velque, first of some four munic.i.p.alities of note standing between the Vonahrish force and the Haerestean capital of Tibille. On the outskirts of Velque, vo Lieux-v'Olliard's advance was intercepted by a Haerestean delegation offering terms of surrender.The terms have been accepted by General vo Lieux-v'Olliard on behalf of the Vonahrish Republic. The Second Corps is withdrawing from Haereste, having eliminated the threat of foreign invasion in the near or foreseeable future.

The reader fell silent. His listeners were similarly silent for a stunned moment. Then the crowd exploded into prolonged cheers that rolled forth to fill Cliquot Street and the avenues beyond with exultant thunder.

THE BREEZE THAT SWEPT along the River Vir was warm but fresh. Today the air of Sherreen felt cleaner and somehow lighter than it had been for weeks past. Luzelle inhaled deeply. along the River Vir was warm but fresh. Today the air of Sherreen felt cleaner and somehow lighter than it had been for weeks past. Luzelle inhaled deeply.

"Beautiful. Tastes of early autumn," she said.

"About time," Girays opined. They were pa.s.sing a small pier colorfully decked with pennants. "Care to hire a row-boat?"

"No, it's so pleasant here under the trees. Let's just walk."

They sauntered on along the shady footpath edging the river. Many pedestrians were out upon the path, enjoying the weather. People were chattering, quarreling, playing, laughing. Toddlers were squalling, their nannies shushing them. Vendors were hawking their tidbits and trinkets, while a strolling musician fiddled for coppers. The scene breathed agreeable normality. Hard to believe that the city had confronted the imminence of disaster mere weeks earlier.

On they walked arm in arm until they came to the teeming Waterfront Market, with its ceaseless racket and activity that could grate on ragged nerves, but seemed purely stimulating today. The ancient Bridge Vinculum rose before them, and on the far side of the river loomed the castellated towers of the grim old Sepulchre; fortress-prison and house of horrors in the days of the revolution, but now nothing more than a historical curiosity, one of the interesting sights of Sherreen.

As they walked on through the market, they encountered an urchin selling copies of The Sherreen Messenger The Sherreen Messenger, and they did not pause, but the big headline caught Luzelle's eye in pa.s.sing: WESTERN ALLIANCE RATIFIED. WESTERN ALLIANCE RATIFIED.

Desperate nations, it seemed, were sometimes capable of blindingly swift action.

The news was already old; she had read it hours earlier in The Republican. The Republican. So had Girays. She knew that he would pick up on her thought without need of explanation when she remarked, "Fine for the Princ.i.p.alities, they're safe under Vonahrish protection now. Kyrendt, Travorn, Ferille, and the Republican-Enclaves as well, but what about Rhazaulle?" So had Girays. She knew that he would pick up on her thought without need of explanation when she remarked, "Fine for the Princ.i.p.alities, they're safe under Vonahrish protection now. Kyrendt, Travorn, Ferille, and the Republican-Enclaves as well, but what about Rhazaulle?"

"A little distant for membership in a western alliance," Girays returned, "but not beyond the reach of aid. I don't think it will be long before our Grewzian friends see green fire kindling on the Rhazaullean front. And elsewhere in the world as well. Lanthi Ume, perhaps. Xoxo. Jumo Towne."

"It's horrible. The slaughter-the thousands of men burned alive." Luzelle swallowed. "And we're partly responsible for bringing it all about."

"It is horrible," he agreed. "But the alternative to Masterfire is Endless Fire. Well, the Grewzians have tasted Masterfire. They've no weapon of remotely comparable power, and they know it. It's quite possible that the Sentient Fire will never actually be loosed upon an army of men again. The mere threat will suffice to deter the Imperium."

"Until the Grewzians buy or steal the secret, or learn how to kindle green fires of their own."

"That's always possible. The best Vonahrish course, in my opinion, is for us to use this respite effectively. Strengthen ourselves, avoid repeating past errors, never again allow the Imperium or anything of that ilk to launch itself upon an unprepared world."

"How long a respite do you think we've got?"

"Something between days and decades."

"And then?"

"Indeed. And then."

The Waterfront Market was behind them. The footpath along the river resumed, and they were back in the pleasant shade of the trees. They walked along in silence for a while, until Girays observed conversationally, "You've had weeks to mull over all those offers you received-the speaking engagements, articles, books, and so on. Reached any decisions?"

"Well, I haven't entirely made up my mind yet," she confessed. "So many seem so tempting, but I can't manage them all. The only one I'm quite certain of at the moment is the Bulaude Fellowship. That one I'll definitely accept."

"I see. So you'll be tied to Sherreen all through next year."

"For the most part, yes."

"No doubt you'll be busy."

"Very. I'm looking forward to it."

"Do you think your schedule might accommodate a wedding?"

"Whose?"

"Ours."

"Ours?" She stopped and turned to look at him. He was smiling, the smile that had always warmed her, and she wanted to fling her arms around him. That smile and face were part of the essential terrain of her mind, and always would be. Her heart was pounding, and she let herself recognize at last how deeply and powerfully she had ached for a second chance. a.s.sent almost flew out of her mouth, but she tightened her jaw and held it in. There was more to consider than spontaneous emotion, and she was, as His Honor had pointed out, no longer a green girl.

"I wouldn't marry anyone else," she told him. "But we tried betrothal once already. Remember what happened. Disaster."

"Years ago. We've both changed since then."

"Yes. Some things haven't changed, though. You still want a wife willing to divide her time between Belfaireau and Sherreen. I still want liberty to travel and pursue my work. Even with all the love in the world between us, how long before we'd find ourselves at one another's throats?"

"Even with all the love in the world between us, we remain reasonable, intelligent adults, do we not? We are capable of negotiating a compromise."

"Negotiating?" She tasted the word. A slow smile crept across her face. "Shouldn't we have lawyers or something?"

"We'll represent ourselves."

"You know what they say about that."

"We'll prove them wrong. Come then, Miss Devaire. State your conditions."

"I must continue my career, that's certain. I must be free to travel."

"How free? Be specific."

"Well-" She considered. "An excursion as often as every eighteen months, not to exceed eight months in duration."

"As often as every thirty-six months, not to exceed three months in duration."

"That's ridiculously inadequate!"

"Let's hear your counteroffer."

"Oh. Well. Every eighteen months, six months' duration."

"Every two years, six months' maximum duration."

"Ummm. That's-not so very bad. All right, I can accept that if you can."

"Good, we are agreed. What more?"

"I'll continue to lecture, and endure no complaints and reproaches over the impropriety of setting foot upon a public stage."

"Agreed. Have you ever known me to complain of impropriety?"

"Now that you mention it, no. I'll continue to write and publish under my own name. I will not submit my ma.n.u.scripts to your inspection unless I happen to feel like it, and you will exercise no authority over the content."

"I have never aspired to editorship. But there is one qualification. Your work will reveal nothing of our lives at home, nothing personal of our family or friends."

"Oh, agreed. I'm no scandalmonger, that doesn't interest me. I'll accept payment for my work, and the money I earn will be mine to use as I please."

"Fine, as long as you don't use it to finance the anarchists."

"All right, no anarchists. I'll be free to read what I like, eat and drink what I like, wear what I like, go where I please without anyone's permission, and choose my own friends, whether you approve of them or not."

"Agreed, so long as you break no law and take no action endangering anyone other than yourself."

"Some laws are unjust and should be broken."

"Should be changed."

"Too slow! But I promise I'll make every reasonable effort to keep myself out of jail."

"I suppose that will have to do. And now a few conditions of my own. First, you may choose your own friends, but you will not inflict upon me the society of anyone I detest as a longtime houseguest at Belfaireau or in Sherreen."

"Reasonable."

"Nor will you cultivate an independent friendship with any man leading you to meet with him alone, either in private or in public."

"Agreed, so long as you yourself cultivate no such friendship with any woman."

"The disposition of the inherited v'Alisante monies and properties will remain solely in my hands. You will be very welcome to express your opinion or to offer advice, but all final decisions in such matters will be mine. Once such decisions have been made, you'll abandon argument and accept them without complaint."

"Very well."

"And finally, when you find yourself with child-"

"Oh."

"Yes, oh-when you find yourself with child, you will throughout the term of the pregnancy subordinate your own impulses to the welfare of the infant-"

"You don't need to tell me that, Girays!"

"And following delivery, for a period not to exceed four years, you will not absent yourself from the child's vicinity for a period exceeding twenty-one days-"

"Aha, I see what you're about, but it won't work. Following delivery I agree not to absent myself from the child's vicinity for a period exceeding seven days, provided the child is permitted to accompany me on my periodic excursions-"

"What?"

"Well, why not?"

"You can't very well drag a v'Alisante heir off to the Bhomiri Islands or the Forests of Oorex, where he's likely to end in a pot. Don't forget the welfare-of-the-infant proviso. When you stop to think about it, the true welfare of the infant demands the presence of both parents, so you can't drag him away from his father for months at a time. I'm afraid you'll have to consider-"

"You're right, it wouldn't be fair. So you'll have to sacrifice, Girays-you'll have to come along, from time to time. For the sake of the child."

"There is no child."

"You're the one who raised the issue. Come, would it be so bad?"

"Not so bad at all; I've developed a taste for travel. But I couldn't do it every two years. Five, perhaps."

"Four."

"Agreed. Anything more?"

"No, I'm content," she declared. "These conditions accepted, I may by degrees dwindle into a wife."

"Then let's seal the bargain."

He kissed her then in the middle of the path, indifferent to the scores of amused or disapproving spectators. The city seemed to spin around them. When he released her, she was flushed, breathless, and happier than she had ever been in her life.

"You know, it's all out there waiting for us," she said, when she could speak again.

"What is, Luzelle?"

"The world, and everything in it."

About the Author

PAULA VOLSKY is the author of is the author of Illusion, The Wolf of Winter, The White Tribunal Illusion, The Wolf of Winter, The White Tribunal, and The Gates of Twilight. The Gates of Twilight.

Also by Paula Volsky

ILLUSION

THE WOLF OF WINTER.