The soldier glanced down at the scout, but if he was surprised to see the queen’s bodyguard sitting helpless on the floor, his face did not show it. “The swine told us that Queen Brianna had a special plan to turn the giants back,” the man explained. “He sent me to Prince Arlien-”
“Then Arlien’s here?” Tavis demanded. He braced his hands on a chair seat and pulled himself to his feet. “Arlien is in the castle?”
The man nodded. “He’s with Earl Cuthbert, on the windward wall-at least until it collapses,” he confirmed. “That’s where Avner said to send…”
The soldier let his sentence trail off, for Brianna’s face had gone pale. She was slowly backing across the room, her gaze fixed on the empty air.
“Milady?” Tavis asked. He started to stumble toward her, but stopped when her expression changed to one of fear. “What is it?”
Brianna shook her head, freeing herself of whatever it was that had gripped her mind. “It’s the prince,” she admitted. “There’s something about him.”
Tavis nodded. “There is indeed,” he said. “But I’ll protect you. That’s my duty.”
The queen blinked several times, then ran a doubtful gaze over Tavis’s battered body. “You’re hardly in condition to perform that duty-or any other.”
“But I can-if you’ll lend me your ice diamonds,” Tavis said, tightly gripping the necklace. “They’ll numb my pain.”
“But they were a gift-”
“From a man you fear,” Tavis said. When Brianna frowned and started to object, the scout quickly interrupted. “Don’t deny it. I can see in your eyes that he frightens you. How can you value any gift of his?”
A confused expression came over Brianna’s face. She looked away and forced herself to shake her head. “I suppose I shouldn’t,” she said. “You may borrow the diamonds.”
“Thank you, Majesty,” Tavis sighed. “Now we can defeat the prince.”
The scout sat in a chair and rubbed the cold stones over his anguished feet. As the icy numbness began to replace the searing agony in his feet, he motioned the red-bearded soldier over.
“I want you to take a message to Captain Selwyn.”
Basil painted the last line of his rune, then raised the silver chalice to admire his work. “A true work of art, if I say so myself,” he said. “My thanks for providing such excellent material, Avner.”
The youth gave a casual shrug. “I used to find stuff like that all the time.”
They were in the small chamber where Basil had originally been confined. Avner sat in the windowsill, keeping an eye on the battle outside. Although he could not see over the inner curtain, the youth could tell by the number of refugees streaming through the inner gate that the giants had broken through the outer curtain.
“I don’t understand why you needed a cup,” Avner said, continuing to watch the inner gate. “What are you going to do, crush the ice diamonds and make Brianna drink them?”
“Oh, dear me, no!” the verbeeg replied. “Where’d you get an idea like that?”
“You said you were going to reverse the love magic,” Avner said. “And the magic’s in her necklace.”
Basil shook his head. “That’s what you’re supposed to think.”
“ Supposed to think?” Avner asked. “Says who?”
“Says the Twilight Spirit,” Basil explained. “His real name is Lanaxis, by the way.”
A deafening boom sounded in the front bailey, then Avner saw the head of a frost giant’s axe rise briefly above the inner curtain.
“What are you talking about, Basil?” the youth demanded. “Who’s this Lanaxis?”
“I wish I had the proper folio-but I’m sure the earl has returned it to his library by now,” Basil said. “I’d read it to you. You might find it quite interesting.”
“I’ll settle for the short version.”
Basil nodded. “I thought you might.” The verbeeg cast an annoyed glance toward the battle outside, then raised his voice like an orator speaking over the din of a storm. “It seems that many millennia ago, before the first human kingdoms arose, this part of the world was ruled by an empire of giants known as Ostoria. The kings of this realm were the firstborn of each race of giants, immortal sons born directly of Annam the All Father and Othea the Mother Queen.
“Unfortunately for these kings, a marital dispute between their parents resulted in the creation of the Endless Ice Sea, which promptly began to swallow their lands. Needless to say, this upset the giant kings, so they decided to destroy the glacier. But their mother, Othea, heard about the plan and forbade her sons from carrying it out
“So Lanaxis, the first titan, and Julien and Arno, the first ettin, poisoned her. Unfortunately, they inadvertently poisoned most of their brothers as well.”
“Most?” Avner asked. Somewhere outside, a chorus of screams announced the destruction of a catapult crew.
“All except one, and he’s of no consequence to us,” Basil clarified. “What is of import is this: before Othea died, she sentenced Lanaxis and the ettin to live in the twilight of her shadow for as long as they wished to remain immortal-and so they have.”
“That’s where the Twilight Vale is,” Avner surmised.
Basil nodded. “But now, the ettin has sacrificed his immortality to kidnap Brianna.”
Avner frowned. “What about Tavis?” he demanded. “Doesn’t he know about the golden arrow-?”
“The ettin knows,” Basil interrupted. “That’s why he isolated us in this remote castle, where only a great scout stood any chance of summoning help. Then, once Tavis was out of the way, the ettin made his attempt.” The verbeeg smiled very proudly at this point. “I stopped him.”
“Good for you,” Avner said. At another time, he might have asked Basil to elaborate. “I still don’t see what that has to do with the ice diamonds.”
“You’ve never played Wyverns and Wyrms, have you, my boy?” Before Avner could answer, the runecaster continued, “You see, to win, you must guess the opponent’s plans. So a good player, knowing that the other player will try to figure out his plans, always plants false clues.”
“And that’s what Arlien did to us.”
“Exactly,” Basil said. “Lanaxis has had a very long time to learn the game of Wyverns and Wyrms — thousands and thousands of years. The ice diamonds were a decoy. The necklace seems to have a certain deadening effect on Brianna’s emotions, but the real magic is in the potion that Arlien’s been feeding her. We were lucky to find him out when we did.”
Avner nodded. “Fine,” he said. “But I still don’t get what they want with Brianna. Giving up your immortality is an awfully high price to pay for a woman-even a queen.”
“But not for someone who can bear a king that will restore your lost empire,” Basil said.
“The giants think Brianna can do that?” Avner gasped. He was still watching the inner gate.
Basil nodded. “And they may be right. You see, when Othea died, she was still carrying Annam’s last unborn son…”
Avner did not hear the rest of the explanation, for his attention had been captured by a pair of armored figures climbing through the mandoor of the inner gate. One of them was wearing a distinctive horned helm.
“We’re out of time,” the youth reported. “Arlien’s coming, and Cuthbert’s with him!”
As the youth spoke, an extremely long wooden arrow arced away from the keep, apparently fired from a window one floor below. The shaft hissed across the ward in the blink of an eye, then bounced off Arlien’s magical armor without causing any harm.
“Tavis is awake!” Avner yelled.
Basil rose to his knees and stuck his massive head into the window, nearly crushing the youth against the sill. Another wooden arrow hissed away from the keep, but the prince and everyone around him were already scrambling for cover. The shaft missed its target cleanly and lodged itself in the gate.
“But Brianna couldn’t possibly heal him until her mind is clear!” Basil objected. “He can’t be in any condition to fight!”
“As long as he can crawl, Tavis can fight,” Avner replied. “I just don’t know if he can win.”
A third arrow arced across the ward, this time glancing off one of Arlien’s pauldrons. The prince watched the shaft clatter to the cobblestones, then rushed through the entrance to the nearest gate tower and disappeared from
