Realms of infamy

his fists burned with the urge to strike, but he locked his arms at his sides and kept them there. Many other giants held Nicias in high esteem, and to strike the dynast would be to cast Ostoria into a carnage that would destroy it as surely as the Great Glacier.

Vilmos laid his hand on Lanaxis's shoulder. 'I am sorry, my brother,' rumbled the storm giant. 'Perhaps Nicias is right. To move against Dunmore is to destroy Ostoria's spirit-and I'm sure none of us wants any part of that.'

With that, Vilmos turned to leave the veranda, as did Nicias. The other giants moved to follow, for they all knew that, without the help of the cloud giant and storm giant, even Lanaxis was not powerful enough to reach Ulutiu's body. Nor did anyone suggest open defiance of Othea. So great was the Mother Queen's power that only a fool would dare such a thing.

Still, Lanaxis could not bear to watch them go, for with them went the future of his beloved empire. 'Wait!'

The giants stopped and looked toward the titan. 'Accept our fate,' advised Nicias. 'Let Ostoria die in peace.'

'I'm not asking you to move against Dunmore,' said Lanaxis. 'Only to give me time. Stay until morning. Perhaps I can think of a way to convince Othea to let us save Ostoria'

Nicias and Vilmos exchanged glances, then Nicias asked, 'You will raise no hand against ouj brother Dunmore?'

'I will leave the thane alone,' the titan promised. 'All I want is time. If Ostoria has hope, I will find it tonight.'

The cloud giant nodded. 'Then we will all try to think of something.' He looked to the other giants. 'We meet beside the Well of Health tomorrow at dawn.'

With that, Nicias and the other guests entered Bleak Palace. Once they were gone, Lanaxis turned to glare at the mountainous glacier that loomed over his empire.

“Traitors!' Though Lanaxis had only whispered the word, it echoed across the plain as though he had screamed it from the highest mountain. 'What do they care for Ostoria?'

'Them cowards!' offered Arno. 'They 'fraid to-'

'Quiet¹' hissed Julien. 'Can't you see Lanaxis is thinking?'

'No-Arno's right,' said Lanaxis. 'They are cowards-as am I, quivering in Othea's shadow!'

The titan smashed his fist down, so consumed by his growing rage he did not notice when the blow broke an entire section from the veranda railing.

Julien raised a brow. 'It's merely prudent to be cautious. After all, Othea is a goddess.'

'A demigoddess,' Lanaxis corrected. 'And I am done venerating her. She is my enemy. I will treat her as such!'

'What?' gasped Arno. 'Attack Othea? She butcher us!'

Lanaxis heard the objection only as a distant echo, for the heinous task ahead had already caught his thoughts in its dark web. The titan stood staring at the distant glacier for many minutes, then suddenly spun around and stepped toward one of the archways leading into Bleak Palace.

'Fetch me an empty vial and bring it to my chambers- and be quick. We have much to do before dawn,' he said. 'Say nothing to my brothers. Let tomorrow's events surprise them'

At dawn, the morning sun hovered just above the snowy horizon, a crimson disk that filled the open end of the colonnade. The orb's rosy rays coursed down the length of the arcade, running almost parallel to the floor, so they just skimmed the Well of Health's bubbling waters and set the pool aglow with scarlet light. Despite the fiery colors, to Lanaxis the colonnade felt as cold as the Great Glacier.

The titan's brothers had already gathered, and none of them raised their eyes to meet his as he stepped out of Bleak Palace. Without asking, the titan knew the giants had thought of no way to save Ostoria. They had left that task to him, and now they would have no excuse for shirking the price.

Lanaxis stepped over to the Well. The ettin followed close behind, bearing a tray of silver chalices, each sized for a particular giant.

'My brothers, I bid you drink.'

Nicias and the others finally met the eyes of their host. 'Then you have reached the same conclusion we have,' said the cloud giant. 'Ostoria cannot be saved.'

Lanaxis did not answer. Instead, he took the two largest chalices from the tray and offered them to Nicias and Vil-mos. 'Have your fill from the Well of Health.' The titan smiled, taking care that his guests saw that it was bravely forced. 'By now, Dunmore has found our mother. She will come quickly.'

Nicias did not accept his chalice. 'We were all willing to deceive our mother. We should bear the consequences.'

Lanaxis's smile remained frozen on his face. He had not expected to endure such pretensions of nobility. Exhausted as he was from his long night of labors, it took him a moment to think of a suitable response.

At last he said, 'It would be foolish for all of us to suffer.' Inside his mind, an angry voice was screaming for his cowardly brothers to drink and leave. He had to prepare the Well before Othea arrived. 'Besides, the blame lies with me.'

Lanaxis was about to continue when the floor trembled beneath his feet. A series of distant rumbles sounded from the other side of Bleak Palace, each one growing progressively louder. Othea was coming.

'My brothers, I'm sorry,' said the weary titan. 'But it appears there is no time for you to drink from the Well of Health today. Julien and Arno will show you out.'

The ettin set the tray of chalices on a bench, then started down the arcade. Masud and most of the other giants followed at once, but Nicias and Vilmos lingered behind.

'We will not let you bear Othea's wrath alone.' The cloud giant's voice was as soft as breath. 'We shall stay.'

'I have asked you to leave Bleak Palace,' Lanaxis said, struggling to remain patient. 'Will you not honor my wishes?'

'If you ask that way, we have no choice,' Nicias said. 'But we are not happy-'

'I don't care!' Lanaxis pointed down the arcade. 'Go!'

Nicias's mouth dropped open, and he was too astonished to move. Lanaxis grabbed Vilmos's hand and guided it to the cloud giant's arm. The titan shoved them both after the other giants, who had already reached the end of the arcade.

“Take him away!' Lanaxis yelled. The Mother Queen was so close that he could feel the floor buck with each of her steps.

Vilmos nodded, his admiring eyes fixed on Lanaxis's face. 'As you wish.' The storm giant turned away, dragging the astounded cloud giant along. 'But we will not forget what you have done today, my brother.'

'I know you won't.' The titan slipped his hand into his robe pocket. He grasped the vial he had spent all night preparing, then whispered, 'No one will.'

Lanaxis waited only until Nicias and Vilmos had turned away before taking the tiny bottle from his pocket. The colonnade's columns now shook constantly from the power of Othea's footfalls. If not for the massive bulk of Bleak Palace interposed between them, the titan suspected she would already be looking down on him.

Lanaxis pulled the cork from the vial and dumped a stream of tiny blue crystals into the bubbling waters. A few wisps of turquoise vapor rose from the pool, then the steam returned to its normal color and the titan knew his poison had dissolved.

The colonnade began to shake so hard that the water sloshed from the well. Lanaxis saw a great bulk step from behind the corner of Bleak Palace and move swiftly toward the end of the arcade.

'Stop, cowards!' boomed Othea's voice. 'Come back and stand with your brother!'

Nicias and Vilmos, who had just reached the last column of the arcade, stopped and knelt near the ettin. Farther out on the frozen plain, Lanaxis saw his other brothers turn and reluctantly begin retracing their steps.

A purple, dusklike shadow crept down the arcade as Othea's mountainous shape trundled into full view, eclipsing the red disk of the sun. Though the Mother Queen remained as large as ever, her long abstinence from food had rendered her features jagged and sheer, and even the draughts she drank from the Well of Health had not