now or wait till later when the outcome will be more in your disfavor.'
Kestrel shook his head. He could barely believe what he was hearing. Imps and sprites or minor devils summoned with anvilwood were one thing, but warring demon princes and archimages were quite another. And evidently Astron's story was correct, just as he had stated from the first. What had he got himself into?
'These events are all very sudden,' Alodar said. 'I find it hard to believe that one as crafty as you, Elezar, would be reduced to such straits. I will need time to verify if what you say is true.'
'Time is the luxury that you do not have, master,' the flame whispered with Elezar's voice. 'Gaspar hunts not only me but all who serve as well. In the last few ticks of the eon, many imps have crossed the barrier between our realms. Some have been instructed, I know, to track down my cataloguer-track him down so that mightier djinns can pluck off his limbs one by one, just as surely as Gaspar wishes the same fate for me. Each moment you hesitate brings closer the time when you must confront not one demon passing through the flame but more than a score. Discover what must be done before it is too late.'
The flame sputtered. Elezar's voice faded into the glow of the hot coals. Kestrel strained to hear more but the whispers of the demon dissolved into indistinctness. Alodar frowned and then turned to look at Astron. 'What then is the message of your prince?' he asked. 'What would he have me do that would restore him to power and protect the realm of men as well?'
'The prince needs a transporter,' Astron said. 'One to carry matter between the realms. One whom he trusted you to choose.'
'We have little traffic with the realm of the skyskirr,' Aiodar said. 'Ever since the metamagician Jemidon restored our laws to their natural state, the path between the two universes has been opened but rarely. It is merely by chance that you have arrived while some manipulants are also here.'
'I do not think it is to the skyskirr that we must go,' Astron said. 'Their realm has little more diverse matter than my own. It would be somewhere else instead.'
Alodar's eyes narrowed. 'There are others, are there not?' he said slowly. 'It was of course obvious after I learned of the existence of the 'hedron, but I dared not seek the definite proof. Contact with one other realm was disruptive enough. It would have been folly to explore too far.'
'Yet, just as the number of laws number more than seven,' Astron said, 'so does the counting of the diverse universes that populate the void, each with its own essence and rituals, distinct from the rest.'
Kestrel stirred uncomfortably. The conversation was about things he could well avoid. He would have to divert its course into matters of more direct concern.
'The wizards of Brythia are responsible for the imps of which this-this Prince Elezar speaks,' he said. 'Restricting the masters from such reckless action might help with your other problem as well.'
Aiodar nodded absently but kept his attention on Astron. 'What else then, demon,' he said. 'Of what other wonders should I know besides the multitude of realms?'
'There is the ultimate precept,' Astron said. 'That is what my prince seeks-the ultimate precept, a concept superior to the laws of magic, one transcendent to the metalaws behind them, the answer to the riddle that provides the greatest power of all.'
'In which realm does one search for this ultimate of precepts?' Alodar asked.
'Only Palodad knows that,' Astron said. 'In exchange for bringing him some exotic matter from whence he directs us, he will tell us where to look.'
'Palodad, additional realms, ultimate precepts.' Alodar's frown deepened. 'It is all too much to swallow at one sitting. Perhaps Elezar has constructed what we men call a fantasy and expects somehow to convince us that it is real.'
'It is a chance for redemption,' Phoebe interrupted suddenly. Kestrel saw that she had placed the bucket of water on the stone floor. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement.
'It came to me while the two of you conversed,' she said. 'I cannot continue through the rest of my life always blushing in apology for a single failure in my craft. I must strike out again and somehow prove a woman's worth. It is by accomplishment that I will yet show the wizards of my council the meaning of respect. By proven deed will I gain comfort, even in the presence of the archimage of all the crafts.' She paused and took a deep breath. 'And even though the archimage hesitates, then I will not. Tell me, Astron, is this Palodad strong-willed, like your prince?'
Kestrel bolted across the room. He put his hand on Phoebe's arm and looked over his shoulder at Alodar. 'She has not quite recovered from the haste of our journey,' he said quickly. 'Dismiss her words as merely some nervous prattle.'
He spun his head back around and looked at Phoebe intently. 'This is no game with imps and sprites,' he said. 'Did you not hear the words from the flames and see the strange beasts the skyskirr were? Be careful or you will get us into a pit deeper than we presently are.'
Kestrel stopped and studied Phoebe's expression. He did not like what he saw.
'Imps and sprites,' she shot back. 'Is that indeed all you think me capable of? If the need arose, despite your words, would you trust me with more?' She looked away for a moment and then disengaged herself from Kestrel's grip. 'I know I stated when we began the journey that the adventure was all that mattered. But how can I be other than the demon's slave, if deep inside you cannot judge me to be your equal?'
Kestrel opened his mouth to speak, but he did not know what to say. For Astron to talk of other realms was his own business. No doubt at the root of his desires was the wish to return safely home, regardless of where that really was. And the affairs of demon princes were certainly the concerns of one such as the archimage. But Phoebe was another matter altogether. He glanced quickly at her sudden determination and shook his head. He must have been right when he first explained her words. It was the fatigue of the journey. In a calmer moment she would see the folly of dealing with such immensities just as clearly as he.
But Phoebe ignored his outstretched arm. She grabbed the sack of powder still at Alodar's feet and threw another handful into the dying flame. Thrusting the pouch into her cape, she took a deep breath as the fire roared back to life. 'Palodad,' she said. 'Palodad, come forth. I command you to submit to my will.'
'Who tugs and pulls at the one who reckons?' a deep voice suddenly boomed from the hearth in response. 'He is no mighty djinn who can be commanded to burst asunder great rocks or wield bolts of awesome lightning. Begone! Let him be! Wrestle with someone else, someone more worthy of your mettle.'
'If you are named Palodad, then you are the one I seek,' Phoebe said. 'Submit now to your master so that you might answer the questions that I have about realms other than my own.'
'It is not the one who reckons whose tendrils of thought intertwine with yours. He is my prince. I speak on his behalf for all who come asking at the doors of his domain.'
Kestrel hesitated, not knowing whether to rush forward and pull Phoebe away or let her be, so her concentration would not be disturbed.
Astron released one hand from the book he still clutched to his chest and tugged on Alodar's purple sleeve. 'If the one that has been touched serves old Palodad, then it is just as well,' he said. 'He can learn from the old one and tell us in turn in which realm we are to seek-tell us what is to be brought back in fulfillment of the bargain to the one who has him duty-bound.'
Kestrel saw Astron shudder. 'In fact, the intimacy of mind is probably all the better with a minion than with the old one himself,' the demon said.
Alodar's expression did not change for a moment, but then he nodded. He indicated for Phoebe to continue.
'Whose mind then do I touch?' Phoebe said. 'Speak your name as token of submission to my will. Tell me how it will be that you will convey Palodad's thoughts. Be swift about it. There are many assembled here and the waste of time is great.'
The flame flashed hotter. Kestrel felt a blast of warmth on his cheeks.
'I am Camonel, the one who carries,' the voice rumbled deeply. 'Prince Palodad has instructed that indeed I do submit to what you ask. We need not exercise the ritual of struggle. Feel my thoughts. I do not resist. He can speak through me as if my mouth were his own.'
There was a brief pause while the fire danced wildly and then the demon behind the flames spoke again.
'Time, did you say time?' The words rolled out from the hearth. Kestrel heard what he thought was laughter and saw Astron take a cautious step backward. 'Time-there is no way either to save or waste it.' The flame spat and crackled. 'It flows regardless, marching past to be lost forever. Do not speak to me of what even the most
