'No.' She shook her head. 'You know ...'
He knew. Life in the Prison was short and unpredictable.
'Do you miss them?'
She was still, gripping the wheel tight. 'Yes. But ... She smiled. 'It's odd how things work 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, his oathbrother had taken one look at the great wheel and gone below for some rope; then he'd lashed it and seated himself next to it, feet up. 'What can we possibly hit?' he'd said to Gildas.
'You fool,' the Sapient had snarled. 'Just keep your eyes open, that's all.'
They had passed over hills of copper and mountains of glass, whole forests of metal trees. Finn had seen settlements cut off in impenetrable valleys where the inhabitants lived in isolation; great towns; once a castle with flags flying from its turrets. That had scared him, thinking of Claudia. Rainbows of spray arched over them; they had flown through strange atmospheric effects, a reflected island, patches of heat, flickering blurs of purple and gold fire. An hour ago a flock of long-tailed birds had suddenly squawked and circled and dive-bombed the deck, making Keiro duck. Then just as suddenly they had vanished, a mere drift of dimness on the horizon. Once, the ship had drifted very low; Finn had leaned out over mile on mile of stinking hovels, the people running from haphazard dwellings of tin and wood, lame and diseased, their children listless. 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 was warm. Did that mean they were traveling in the right direction, toward Claudia? But if
Incarceron 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 the dimness was not the usual gloom of the Prison but a dark bank of storm clouds, right across 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.
He found the Sapient below, poring over charts and maps under the creaking lamp. 'Look at 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. If these showed the extent of Incarceron, they could journey through it forever. 'We need you. 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 and rolled. Then he climbed back up on deck.
Black clouds reared up over the masts, the silver pennants flapping and snapping. The ship was almost lying on her side; he had to hang on to the rail and scramble across to the 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 and hung on, crouching behind its meager shelter. Objects flapped against them, shards of metal, leaves, fragments of debris rebounding like hail. And then a snow of tiny white grit, ground glass, bolts, stones that tore through the sails.
Finn turned.
He saw Gildas lying flat behind the main mast, clinging on, one arm around Attia. 'Stay there!' he yelled.
'The Key!' Gildas's yell was snatched away by the wind. 'Let me take it below. If you're lost...'
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 talons crackling 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 the nearest and whipped it up, whirling it around, the heavy tarred end so close to the bird's breast 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 time it 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 circled and screeched angrily, its beak wide. 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 hair rumpled, 'Finn,' she said, 'Listen to me. Eve—'
'You listen,' He grabbed tight as the ship rolled and swayed. 'We need help, Claudia. You have to speak to your father. You have to get him to stop the storm or we'll all die!'
'Storm?' She shook her head. 'He's not ... He won't help. He wants you dead. He's found out everything, Finn. He knows!'
'Then—'
Keiro yelled. Finn looked up and what he saw made his fingers clutch on the Key, so that seconds 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.
28
Entry is through the Portal, Only the Warden will have a key, and this will be the only way to leave.
Though every prison has its chinks and crannies.
It was late; the bell in the Ebony Tower was chiming ten. In the summer dusk, moths flitted in the gardens and a distant peacock cried as Claudia hurried down the cloister. Servants passed her and struggled to bow, loaded down with chairs and tapestries and great haunches of venison. The whole bustle of the feast preparations had been under way for hours. She frowned, annoyed, not daring to ask one of them where Jared's room was.
But he was waiting.
