Vendora's companion in whispered schoolgirl romances. She is now the queen and I her counselor. Such petty concerns are from long ago.'
'Shall you then spend the rest of your days in Vendora's shadow, passing into spinsterhood as the reward for your dedication?'
'I said, Alodar, that I have not been disappointed in my dealings with the men of the court, nor have I been a recluse. As for the course of my life, it will depend upon the man the fair lady settles upon as her consort. If he is strong enough to rule Procolon through her, then perhaps I will no longer be needed and can then seek my own destiny.'
'For my own part, I thank the random factors that no such decision has yet been made,' Alodar said. 'Though obviously Vendora does not lack ardent and able suitors.'
'Ardent yes, but able, only perhaps, Alodar. The man who fills the needs of the queen and the kingdom has yet to prove himself. And be forewarned in your own quest that more than chance affects the queen's moods. She is strong willed and can be influenced only by subtle pressures.
'Feston struts about the court in jingling mail, but then must show his empty pockets. Basil gives great strength to Vendora's coffers, but must apologize when one of his band refuses to draw sword. And Duncan will find that he is called upon to do far more than merely throw his sphere about the queen
'And if you prove as incomplete as the rest, Alodar, repeated opportunities to lose face will present themselves to you as well. My task is to give Vendora the man who is the best for Procolon, and I work diversely at my craft.'
'Then you have been my unknown ally all the while,' Alodar exclaimed. 'While I toiled in the alchemist shop and the magician's Guild, I despaired of returning in time. But through your machinations, I dare say none of them can show himself supreme.'
'Take care at what I say, Alodar,' Aeriel replied. 'Vendora makes the final decision still. Feston and the rest have already established their claim to be suitors. I strive to delay Vendora's choice, not for you, but for the best, whoever that may be.'
'And if the hero for Procolon does come forth and you are then free of your charge,' Alodar asked, 'what sort of man then would you seek for yourself?'
Aeriel laughed. 'In truth, I have no answer.' She paused and then after a moment continued softly. 'Suffice it to say that the man in my dream knows full well how to judge the relative worth of two women.'
Aeriel slowly swept her hands back to rest on the chest behind her and looked deeply into Alodar's eyes. Her face was framed with twin cascades of amber, falling upon shoulders that beckoned in the lamplight. Her eyes sparkled with the deepness of jet, and her lips, though turned in a small smile, were taut with resolution and challenge.
Alodar took a step towards her, then another. She said nothing; her eyes held his and there was no change in her expression. He stopped and with slow deliberateness surveyed her body. He locked his eyes back on hers and advanced another step forward. Aeriel, still silent, flicked a curl from the cascade behind to fall over her shoulder.
Alodar stopped and blinked, trying to understand the intensity of the feeling suddenly rushing over him. His loins tightened and the image of Vendora, this time only days old would not come. He saw only Aeriel, proud Aeriel, warm Aeriel, challenging him in his resolve.
He struggled to hold on to his quest, but in a flood of emotion, it was swept away. 'At the ball, I saw the object of my deepest desires,' he said simply, 'and it was you.'
He swept her into his arms, half expecting a haughty laugh at his weakness, but he did not care. He thrust his lips on hers and pulled her body to him, pressing the breath from her lungs.
Aeriel did not resist, but clasped her bands behind him and grasped as savagely as did he. After a long moment be pulled his head back slightly, but Aeriel pursued and reattached her mouth to his. Some time later, how long Alodar could not tell, their crushing grips relaxed, and he led her to sit on the bunk behind them.
'When I saw you again in the palace,' Aeriel said as she recovered her breath, 'I remarked on the coincidence. That was because the vision that I saw in Kelric's illusion was you.'
'My thoughts are a jumble,' Alodar said, shaking his head. 'For nearly a year I have pursued the queen. I turned away the favor you showed me at Iron Fist for the quest of her hand. But somehow, Aeriel, I have seen too much of the woman you are, and the strength to resist is now far harder to find.'
Aeriel smiled at Alodar and then looked down to his side. She squeezed his hand and gently touched the pouch that held the sorcerer's eye. 'You have made my heart glad, Alodar,' she said, 'although by my selfish actions I do not deserve it.'
She was silent a moment and then trembled with a deep sigh. She squeezed her hand into a fist until the knuckles showed white and looked back into his eyes. 'Why do you quest for the fair lady,' she asked, 'if not for her beauty and power, like the rest?'
'It is for my heritage,' Alodar replied. 'I desire to recover my rightful peerage of the realm and the respect that goes with it. As consort to the fair lady, none could deny them to me.' He stopped and thought of his dream of the hero's welcome in Ambrosia. 'And for the touch of glory that goes with it as well,' he said quietly.
'And I have pledged to serve the crown,' Aeriel said. 'To see that the best man stands at Vendora's side.' She paused and lowered her head. 'Continue with your quest, Alodar. The fair lady needs you far more than I.'
'I have not quested in blind steadfastness,' Alodar protested. 'Along the way I have faltered and puzzled at the path I choose. And nothing has given me such pause as you, Aeriel. Can I truly throw my heart into pursuing a goal if you are not part of that success?'
'We are both tired, Alodar.' Aeriel shook her head gently. 'You from the battle and I from the work that must go on. The fatigue weakens our judgment and makes us easier prey to our desires. I apologize for tempting you so. In the morning we will be refreshed and have reaffirmed our resolve to do what we must do.'
Alodar frowned at her words, his head reeling from the emotions that swung back and forth as if at the end of a snapping whip. He tried to remember the forces that drove him on, and in the corner of his mind he finally saw a vision of Vendora, the queen. 'Perhaps you are right,' he said, 'but I do not think a single night will unscramble my thoughts. I thunder after an abstract goal, Aeriel, but have no idea what I will do after it is achieved.'
'It is a conundrum,' Aeriel agreed. 'But for now, Procolon is in peril, and you must learn how to use the sorcerer's eye.'
Alodar nodded his head slowly and started to speak again, but suddenly two soft knocks echoed from the cabin door. 'The queen's council assembles to plot the course for the morrow, my lady,' a voice said from without. 'Your presence is requested at once.'
Aeriel's expression melted into one of annoyance and Alodar let out his breath as the tension oozed away. The mood was broken and Aeriel spoke as if nothing had happened as she waved him to the door. 'I must prepare. Good luck, Alodar, good luck in your quest.'
'My lady,' he mumbled thickly and left with eyes averted.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The Sorcerer's Revenge
ALODAR steadied himself against the roll of the deck as he walked slowly towards the small hole in the corner of Kelric's cabin. Two weeks had given him sea legs. Holding his head and eyes steady, he concentrated on the two tiny sparkles of light which stared back at him. A bare three feet away, he lowered himself to his knees and began to undulate his hands in the outline of a pie-shaped wedge. A tiny nose poked out of the hole; long whiskers jutted hesitantly into the room.
Alodar rapidly ran through the glamour, his face contorting into a grimace as he labored to stutter past the last few words. As he finished, the rat extended its head from the hole and then its entire body. Torn between instinctive fear and unbelievable good fortune, the rodent moved slowly across the intervening space towards Alodar's hands.
As the rat advanced, Alodar felt the reaction, an uncomfortable tug that pulled from his toes and fingers up through his body and then spilled out into the air above his head. Like a nail against slate or bone against jagged
