home, they have to leave Allaban.' He nodded at Shadow's astonishment. 'Yes, they even had a trial already, after their fashion.'
The president called the meeting to order. Shadow strutted over to him, turned his back, and addressed Vindax.
'King,' he said loudly, 'I can give you your justice--I can put you on your throne. But I would need the help of the republic, so you must waive claim to Allaban. I would need the help of the eagles, so you must swear to free all the birds in Rantorra. Are you willing to pay the price?'
The mask regarded him steadily, unreadably.
'Yes,' Vindax said. 'I agree to those terms.'
Shadow swung around and looked up at the president. 'I shall need an army. It won't matter if they're not very good--there won't be much fighting, but I must have men to seize the palace. Will you permit King Vindax to raise a force? With the help of the church, of course. He will need money, but you will gain security. You will never need to fear attack from Rantorra, ever.'
The spice merchant folded his arms. 'How are you planning to work this miracle?' he asked, but his manner was cautious; money had been mentioned, and he was wary now of this puny youth whose displeasure had so aroused the eagles.
Shadow grinned. He turned to Karaman, who had been translating for Eagle Speaker. 'The birds can't keep a secret, can they? Anything we tell them here will be all over Allaban and then the Rand?'
The circle of eyes was skeptical and impatient, but Karaman was giving Shadow a stare of shrewd appraisal. 'They can't keep a secret,' he said. 'And I wouldn't keep that one. Think before you speak.'
'Come with me!' Shadow snapped. He almost dragged Karaman from his chair and led him off to the side, out of the shade and into the sunshine beside the pile of grindstones and cartwheels and old bicycles.
And then he explained the obvious: The eagles could free themselves.
'God the Pilot!' the old man exclaimed. 'You sure? It doesn't make sense!'
Shadow was aware that he was grinning like a monkey, and he couldn't help it. 'What's the last time you ate with your feet?' he asked.
Yes, he was sure this would work--and how simple it was! It wasn't a case of thinking from a different viewpoint. It was a case of putting it all together--what Karaman had taught him of the birds and what he knew as a skyman and what had happened in Dead Man's Pass. And NailBiter cleaning his talons.
Karaman shook his head in wonderment. 'You certain?'
'Yes! How many skymen did you have on your side in the war?'
The old man sniffed. 'About two, more or less. I just can't believe it could be so easy!'
'That's the problem,' Shadow said. 'If the word gets out, then Jarkadon could block it just as easily. We'll have to go like a stooping eagle, hit them so fast that they don't know and have no time to take countermeasures.'
Karaman was still skeptical. 'Why has it never been done?'
'Who cares? It'll work,' Shadow said, 'won't it?'
'Yes, I think so,' the old man said, and took hold of his arm. 'But do you know what you're letting loose, lad?'
Shadow hesitated. 'Yes.'
A pair of sad old eyes regarded him from a face as brown and wrinkled as the Rand. 'Do you? Life is not the same after, you know. And why? Why are you doing this?'
Why? 'To free the eagles? Is that not what you have always wanted?' Shadow asked.
The silver mane waved in a nod. 'Me, yes. But you? And I wanted to make a republic, as the First Ones had. You are putting another king on the throne.'
'Vindax will be a good king!' Shadow protested. 'I always thought so, and now he has seen poverty as no king of Rantorra ever has.'
Karaman turned and stared at the group of watchers, at the back of Vindax's head. He sighed. 'You can't turn a straight furrow with a bent plow, lad.'
'Perhaps not!' Shadow snapped. 'But good things can grow in crooked furrows!'
The old man studied him in silence and then sighed. 'Only if the soil is fertile. All right, if you're sure. Come along.' He led the way back into the circle.
'Yes, it will work,' he announced. Astonishment swept the ring of faces. He started to sign to Eagle Speaker, translating as he went. 'The-one-who-came-through-the-dark has shown me an updraft, and I follow him. He can free the eagles, if the eagles will do as he says. Not-many eagles will die and many-many-many eagles will be freed. But he cannot signal the way now--if he hatches the egg too soon, then the dark ones may kill the chick.'
Flicker. Pause. Flicker.
Karaman nodded. 'She says they will follow you if I vouch for you. As long as you do not start killing many-many eagles.'
'We want peace, though,' Shadow said. 'Will the eagles be merciful? We do not want many-many-many men killed, either. When a slave bird is freed, will it turn on its rider?'
Fingers flickered; comb replied.
'She says 'what would you do?'' Karaman asked grimly.
Revenge?
'The High Ones will ask the slaves to be merciful?' Shadow asked. 'The birds of Allaban and the men live together without war. That's what we need in Rantorra, too.'
There was more flickering, then a pause for discussion in the sky. It was a long pause by bird standards. Was a big argument going on? Finally the birds replied.
'She says they will try,' Karaman said. 'They can't sign contracts, Shadow--that's they best they can do.'
'Right!' Shadow said. He turned and grinned at Vindax. 'What size crown do you take, King?'
Teeth were bared in the inhuman face. 'You will give me my revenge?' Vindax said.
Not justice?
'Yes!' Shadow said as confidently as he could.
NailBiter was rocking with excitement. Shadow would have to negotiate that sentence of banishment.
'What do we do about this letter from Ramo?' the president demanded.
'Stuff it!' Shadow snapped. 'They can't be sure you've even received it. I know Jarkadon! He's probably far more scared of you than you are of him.'
The spice merchant looked doubtful.
'We're going to depose him anyway,' Shadow said. 'And I also know the Royal Guard. They're scattered all over the Range. They're great at evicting old ladies who can't pay taxes, but they can't put more than three hundred decent fighters in the air.'
Vindax raised his eyebrows but did not speak.
Chapter 16
'Rapture is a state of mind.'
THE Range was everything Elosa had expected and a thousand times more. Its fertility amazed her after the barren lands of the Rand: vineyards and orchards and brilliant greenery. The slopes were crowded with hamlets and little towns; there were roads with traffic on them, and the distant birds in the sky were mounts being ridden,
