'Sentrymen, to your duty.' Prydwin motioned from his litter. 'Arrange an escort so that her honor might not be unduly tempted. Bring her with Thuvia. It will be a pleasure deciding which will be first.'
'Never,' Nimbia suddenly shouted in a voice almost as deep as that of a male. 'I will not meekly submit like Vastowen, just because a few wish it so. Our traditions are ancient ones, but there are times when even they must be disobeyed.'
She kicked at the dagger of the first sentryman who approached, sending the blade twirling to the ground. Then scrambling in front of him, she retrieved the knife before the surprised guard could react. With a wide swipe, she spun quickly about, waving off the others who had begun to approach.
She looked quickly at those who stood near the high king and then at the sentrymen converging from across the stream. 'You all saw the images,' she shouted. 'You do not need the age of Finvarwin to search for small subtle differences. Be true to what your eyes have shown you. Mine was a true creation, a difficult balance of predator and prey. Prydwin's was no more than the bubbling flow of plasma, thick pastes swirling in convection in a heated pot.'
Except for the closing sentrymen, no one moved. Finvarwin squinted at Nimbia, then shook his head.
'Your underhill is no better protected than all the rest, Nimbia,' the high king said. 'Against all the rest, eventually it will fall. You are dealing with the inevitable. Prydwin has offered to accept you as his mate. Go with him in peace. Perhaps together the two of you will combine to produce an imagination greater then either of its parts-just as the fourth dictum states.'
'Prydwin!' Nimbia spat. 'Never.' She waved the dagger in the air. 'Who among you has the courage to act as his heart tells him?' she called out. 'The courage to aid a lady of the realm when she calls in distress?'
'The hillsovereign speaks with too much boldness for one defending herself alone,' Prydwin said. 'Fan out and cover all of the trails. She may have aid just beyond our view.'
'That is the signal that we start to move.' Kestrel tugged at Astron's arm. 'I doubt it will do us any good to be mistaken for part of the losing party.'
Astron shrugged off Kestrel's hand. 'The one named Finvarwin is one that we need to interrogate further. Perhaps more than any other he would know of harebell pollen and even the ultimate precept.'
'Yes, the old one certainly,' Kestrel whispered back. 'But at a time when not so many are about. Now we must be going, before it is too late. Being hunted in two realms should be enough, even for a demon.'
Astron looked out at the ring closing in on Nimbia. He glanced over his shoulder in the dimness. Kestrel was right. There was a path leading through the dense underbrush and he should lead, because he was more familiar with what they would encounter.
Astron glanced a second time at Nimbia. His thoughts took a strange turn. Kestrel also had been right about how to get the imps into a bottle. The way the human had planned to manipulate the wizards at Phoebe's cabin was something no demon would have conceived on his own. For the dozenth time he realized there was much about the mortal that Astron wished to learn.
But the words Kestrel spoke were sometimes so unexpected and peculiar that Astron could not fully comprehend the intent-duty to oneself rather than a prince, lures for gold djinns when none such existed, or travelling through the flame for Phoebe and no other.
Perhaps mere words would not be enough to unravel the mysteries of men; perhaps their experiences would have to be sampled before understanding could come. Astron looked one final time at Phoebe and Kestrel, standing close together with their arms about each other, and made up his mind.
He stripped away the hood and cape from his back. Gripping the book of thaumaturgy firmly in both hands, he suddenly sprang out from the cover of the heavy leaves. The sentryman standing nearest turned in the direction of the rustling sound, but grappled for his dagger too slowly to defend himself as Astron rushed forward. The demon swung the book high overhead and then crashed it down on the skull of the startled guard.
The fey crumpled to the ground. Astron staggered to retain his balance and somehow managed to tuck the bulky volume under his arm. He bounded down the hillock toward where Nimbia still waved a dagger of her own. A shout of alarm went up from the onlookers. Everyone seemed to freeze in their tracks. Astron felt the beginning of a compelling pressure in the depths of his thoughts.
He grimaced in resistance, pulling his face into a tight little ball, forcing the mental probes away. Through eyes half closed, he saw Nimbia dip her dagger cautiously as he ran up and extended his free hand.
'To safety, through the underbrush,' Astron shouted as he closed. 'If no one else will defend you, then I am the one.'
Nimbia hesitated a moment, but then firmly clasped Astron's outstretched wrist. He felt a surprising tingling when the smoothness of her skin touched his, but pushed the sensation away. Almost jerking Nimbia from her feet, he reversed direction and began racing back up the hill.
The pressure against his thoughts increased. The fey dealt with a demon by force of will, not slashing blades. He felt the probes of many minds mold into one unifying whole. 'Stop, desist,' a voice inside his head seemed to say. 'We are many and you are one. You cannot resist the combined will of us all.'
Astron stumbled over a small rock, but continued his climb. His limbs began to stiffen. The panic in his stem- brain stirred from its slumber. As they reached the sentryman Astron had felled, Nimbia drew even with the demon. In half a dozen more steps she was tugging on the grip between them, pulling Astron forward into the cover of the bush,
'Why did you do that?' Kestrel shouted as the pair ducked under the leaf. 'Have you gone mad? Has some wizard put you under his control?'
'I do not know for certain,' Astron said thickly. He waved at Phoebe and then dropped his arm heavily to his side. 'But then I would not have had to, if you had explained-explained why you rescued your wizard when you could have been safely away from her cabin.'
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
A dagger soared into the underbrush over Astron's head, entangling in the drooping leaves. Retreat deeper into the foliage was an immediate necessity or else Nimbia would not be the only one captured by hillsovereign Prydwin.
But Astron found his thoughts becoming much more sluggish. His limbs would barely move. It was difficult enough understanding the words of both Kestrel and Nimbia as they spoke in their respective tongues.
'There are only three of you!' Astron heard Nimbia exclaim. 'And none from my own underhill as I had supposed.'
Another dagger crashed into the canopy. Kestrel pushed Phoebe to the ground out of its path. 'Well, what is the rest of the plan, demon?' he asked. 'You know this place as we do not. In what direction do we proceed?'
'Only three,' Nimbia repeated, 'but then effective, nonetheless. Prydwin's kind are so used to his will being obeyed without resistance that his sentrymen have little chance to do more than serve as a frame for the presentation of his creations. As I think of it now, none of my kind would have succeeded. The daggers were too many. A bold action, demon, was precisely what was needed.'
Astron felt her grip tighten in his hand. 'Come,' she said. 'If we escape safely back to my own underbill, even though you are not one of the fey, you will be rewarded.'
Nimbia turned into the darkness toward the huge trunk and pulled Astron after. He clutched the book of thaumaturgy to his chest and struggled as best he could not to stumble. Dimly, he was aware of Kestrel and Phoebe following behind.
The little light that filtered between the overhanging leaves vanished altogether. Astron saw Nimbia pull what looked like a gnarled root from her belt and, with her free hand, extend it overhead. The tuber glowed with a feeble yellow light that just managed to illuminate the obstacles that lay in their way.
The thick trunks that supported the overhang grew closer together. Aboveground, suckers caused more than one stumble as they ran. Grublike insects with bodies as big as the arm of a djinn scurried out of their way. Rasps and loud clicks blended with the stomp of their feet against the ground.
