Alodar cranked on. He had escaped and at the same time saved the queen.
The small crew remained silent, oppressed by the pitch blackness that gave them no hint as to their path or destination. Alodar felt odd, facing backwards to the direction of motion, but determinedly kept at his task. After many minutes, Periac sagged to the platform floor, gasping for breath, his energy spent, and Alodar felt the crank-arm's resistance stiffen. His arms ached and began to tremble from the effort, but he gritted his teeth and continued. His thoughts soared with what he had done. Beyond his wildest expectations, he had accomplished everything. He was alive and well, free of the tragedy of Iron Fist, free to think again of the future, to mold his own destiny. And that destiny now was far more exciting than what a thaumaturge might dream of attaining even two months ago. He was not merely Alodar the journeyman, but Alodar, savior of the queen.
After much more cranking, the resistance began to increase, and Alodar felt a gradual tilting of the platform on which they rode. They were slowly rising, he thought, but no more could he tell in the blackness. He pushed harder still against the handles, but the slope increased faster and the speed slackened.
Slower and slower moved the cart in the darkness. The wind no longer whistled about them, and each revolution of the arms was a fresh agony. Suddenly the front of the platform clanged and latched against a metal abutment, sending Alodar sprawling and filling the tunnel with noise. Simultaneously he felt fresh air blow by his face and looked forward to see a stone slab hinging up before them and starlight beyond.
The party clambered forward through the opening and into the cool night air. They walked on coarse grass and looked down a gentle slope into rolling farmland. In the distance, a scattering of candlelight hinted at man- made structures, and the air carried the odor of animals corralled close by. A gibbous moon, high in the sky, cast faint shadows, but none could look at it without squinting, so black had been the passageway.
'Why, we have covered a good fifteen miles,' Festil exclaimed. 'These are the farms on the last ridge that bounds the wastelands to the west. We are indeed well away from Bandor and his threat.'
'Yes, and by what strange means were we conveyed here?' Feston wondered. 'I have not seen the likes of it in any battlecraft before. The builders of Iron Fist, whoever they were, provided her extremely well.'
'As well as you have provided the queen, Feston,' Vendora said, raising and stretching her hands high overhead, deeply drinking the fresh air. 'If only we had what we set out for, our adventure would be complete. But for the moment, I would settle for a comb for my hair. Aeriel, have you one about you?'
'No, my fair lady,' Aeriel responded. 'I do not. But mark you, did not Kelric say that we would not find what we sought until Iron Fist lost its grip? That it did in most emphatic fashion. Perhaps our search is indeed not yet over.'
Alodar pondered Aeriel's words, then returned to the opening in the slope and squinted into the darkness at the car. He withdrew and relit the candle from his cape and began a close inspection.
He did not have to look far. This time there was no subterfuge or deception. There, in the flat platform between the two cranking pillars, was a small square of metal, hinged at one side and with a finger grip on the other. Alodar bent down and swung the door open, his light illuminating a tightly bound parchment, hard and cracked with age.
'Look here,' he shouted, running quickly back to the others. 'You spoke of alchemy formulas. Do they not record them in grimoires of about this size?'
All faces turned as he advanced, and Feston reached out and grabbed the bundle from him. With a quick flourish, he ripped the cord and outer covering from the package and began to thumb through the bound parchment within.
'Hold the candle closer,' he commanded before Alodar could protest. 'Sweetbalm, is that what you seek, my fair lady? The ink is faint, but I can see the beginnings still. Powders, ointments, philtres, elixirs, amulets, and fetishes. Formulas of high yield, none less than eighty-five parts in a hundred.'
'Eighty-five!' exclaimed Vendora. 'Why Feston, you have done it all. A sweeping rescue and a treasure besides. With a yield of eighty-five, we undercut the costs of them all. The royal products will sweep the competition from the field, and my coffers will be fed by a much-needed new source.'
'You speak most glowingly, my fair lady,' Feston said. 'Can I interpret your praise to mean that you at last see fit to choose the hero of the realm?'
Vendora's smile stiffened and she drew herself erect. 'Do not presume too much, lord Feston. You have done me great service here these past few days, but not so much that my senses depart me.'
Feston's heavy brows furrowed, and Vendora laughed at his discomfort. 'Do not fret, my warrior. Know that I look upon you with much favor. I wish you to journey with me to court, be known as a royal suitor, and stand by me as you have done here. If in time I grow used to the roughness of your features, then perhaps I will indeed honor you with my hand.'
'Wait a moment, my fair lady,' Aeriel said. ' Alodar, the journeyman thaumaturge, did apply his mind and skills with marvelous imagination to our cause. It is to him that we owe our good fortune.'
Vendora frowned, paused, and then pulled her face into a smile as she turned to Alodar. 'Indeed I thank you all for my deliverance,' she said. 'Your steadfastness in propelling the car was most dedicated.'
'That was but a minor part of it,' Aeriel persisted. 'He fathomed the castle's secret. He discovered the passageway out. Why he even found you the grimoire.'
'May I remind the fair lady,' Festil cut in, 'that many of the more restless vassals of your crown will interpret the fall of Iron Fist as a sign of weakness. Without the house of the red surcoat standing at your side, you may be hard pressed to deal with them, Bandor, and the border kingdoms to the south, all at the same time.'
Vendora looked at Alodar and then back to Feston. Her eyes narrows in thought. She stared at the sword at the warrior's side and then studied Alodar's cape-draped form.
'Oh well enough, Aeriel,' she said at last. 'I am sure that the thaumaturge did exercise his art most exceedingly fine. He and his master may henceforth speak of royal favor when they lure customers to their craft. But I cannot see how his acts compare with the feats of lord Feston or the comforts he gave me. What indeed can you profit by pressing his suit upon me so?'
Aeriel opened her mouth to speak again, looking first at Vendora and then to Alodar. She hesitated a moment, but finally snapped it shut. Vendora nodded approval at her apparent acquiescence and returned her attention to the grimoire that Feston now held before her.
Alodar flung his candle aside and stepped forward, his eyes starting to smoulder, but Aeriel placed her hand on his arm. He shot her a sidelong glance, then halted when her fingers squeezed more tightly.
'My fair lady, there is no more business to conduct here,' Festil said quickly as he saw Alodar pause. 'We must start immediately for Ambrosia. Each hour we save will limit the time Bandor has to consolidate his victory. Let us descend this slope and appropriate a quicker means of transport from the first farm we encounter.'
Vendora looked up from the grimoire and into Alodar's eyes. 'It is settled then,' she said. 'A royal endorsement for the thaumaturges and status as suitor for lord Feston. Ample largess for deeds well done.'
Alodar sucked in a deep breath and opened his mouth; but before he could speak, Aeriel covered his lips. Vendora smiled and looked around the group, from Periac standing silently near the car to Festil already ten yards down the slope. She nodded her agreement to the old man's suggestion, placed her hand on Feston's offered arm, and started to descend the incline. She paced ten slow steps and then looked back over her shoulder at Aeriel.
'In a moment, my fail lady,' Aeriel said as she cautiously lowered her hand from Alodar's mouth while still maintaining her grip on his arm.
The two stood silently, not moving, watching the queen draw away from them. Several minutes passed, and she and the two lords gradually shrank to dim outlines, fading into their surroundings.
'By the laws!' Alodar exploded. 'What feat must one accomplish to be held worthy in this kingdom? Can she not grasp what I have done?'
Aeriel again raised her finger to his lips. 'It will avail you no good, Alodar,' she said. 'The queen is clever enough to know how her actions influence the safety of the crown. And the circumstances here prevent her from giving her reward in a just manner. So long as Festil and his son feel they have some claim, she can bestow it on no other.'
She turned and looked down the hillside. 'But at least I know who is the true hero of the day,' she continued softly as she released his arm and then suddenly clasped her hands behind his neck. Alodar's eyes widened in surprise and he felt her lips pressing his as she drew against him.
After a moment she dropped her arms and started to step back, but Alodar put his hand behind her. She
