A Gathering of Gargoyles Read online

Chapter 1 Isternes

 

  Aeriel sat on the low window seat. The stone was warm from the light of Solstar. That sun lay on the far horizon, two hours from setting. Heaven above spanned black and star-pricked. The spires of the city fanned out before her, beyond the palace walls. Men with plum-colored skin and long head veils, women in full sheer trousers that gathered close at the ankles passed in the streets below. Aeriel listened to the criers' long, wavering wails, calling the people to prayer.

  Dusk wind rose, bringing the scent of myrrh. The city had always smelled of that to her, ever since the first day - even the dust blowing in off the Sea. They called their city Isternes, though in the far place she had come from, Aeriel had known of it as Esternesse.

  Was it only three daymonths ago that she had come? Three leisurely passes of Solstar overhead, two long fortnights of dark. The fair-skinned girl closed her eyes and tried to picture again the great throw she and Irrylath had woven from the feathers of a darkangel.

  They had taken that throw and spread it to the winds. Like a sail, it had borne them away over the white plain of Avaric. And the scream. She remembered the scream of the White Witch sounding far and shrill from the distance behind, turning the feathers of their sail from night-dark to white as Aeriel and the young prince sailed out of her grasp. The memory of it made her shudder still.

  They had drifted east, she and Irrylath, over the Sea-of-Dust. High above that dryland Sea, they had watched dust whales spouting and sounding hugely below, seabirds like specks bathing and pouting in the fine, rolling powder - till they saw the city upon the far shore of the Sea: Isternes. All its buildings of white stone.

  Horns sounded from the watchtowers as the wind swept them near, lifted them high over the city gates and dropped them gently within the main square. Palace guard and city guard came at a run. Strangely garbed women, men with almond-shaped eyes pressed close.

  The Lady came toward them from the palace. She was tall, and wore a robe of grey satin.

  The turban upon her head was silk. Aeriel could not see her hair, but her lashes were the color of flax-corn fiber. Her eyes were violet.

  "Are you Syllva?" said Aeriel, clad still in her wedding sari. She put her hands together and bowed as she had been taught to do in the syndic's house - so long ago. "The queen of Avaric?"

  The turbaned Lady nodded. "I am she, that was the king's wife in Avaric, a score of years and more ago. But now I am Lady again in Isternes. What are you, that have fared all this way across the Mare?"

  "I am Aeriel," the girl replied, "and I have come from Avaric to bring you back your son. "

  Irrylath stood close to her, not touching, but she felt his hold upon the throw. Wind tugged at the sail as it settled behind them. He said nothing. The Lady's eyes had not left Aeriel.

  "My son in Avaric fell into a desert lake and drowned. "

  Aeriel shook her head. "Not drowned. That was a lie his nurse told you. " Her skin grew cold at the thought of Dirna: she who had been the young prince's nurse in Avaric - then was later sold into Terrain, became a servant in the syndic's house, where Aeriel had known her. The Terrainean girl turned her gaze back to Syllva again. "Not drowned. In the desert, your son's nurse, Dirna, gave him up to the lorelei, a water witch who kept him ten years prisoner beneath the lake, then. . . "

  She faltered there. What could she say? Lady, your son has been a darkangel. The White Witch of the Mere steals children to make them her icari: pale bloodless creatures with a dozen dark wings - then sends them out to prey upon the world. I undid that sorcery on him, made your son mortal again, but in the years he was the witch's "son," he stole the souls of thirteen maids, and drank their blood, and murdered them.

  How could she say it? The Lady watched her. Aeriel cast down her eyes.

  "Ten years the witch's prisoner in the lake," she said, "then fourteen more under enchantment in Avaric. " Not a lie - but not the whole truth either. Coward, she reproached herself. She found the Lady's eyes again. "But I have undone that enchantment. " Truth now. "Your son is free. "

  The Lady studied Aeriel for a long moment. She drew a deep breath then, turned her eyes to Irrylath - and started. She had not really looked at him before. Aeriel felt her young husband move past her now. He knelt. The Lady stared.

  "You have the gold skin of the plainsdwellers," she breathed, "and their straight black hair. Your eyes are the eyes my Irrylath had. " She stopped herself. "But my son died when he was six, a double dozen years ago. Had he lived, he would be thirty years by now, and you are a youth no older than sixteen. "

  Aeriel could see the young man's face only a little, from the side. Syllva had dropped her eyes. Irrylath reached suddenly, catching her hand as she made to turn away. The guards started, lifting their bows, but though the Lady drew back a bit, surprised, she did not pull away.

  "Lady," the prince began, "when I lived with the White Witch under the lake, I changed from boy to youth and grew older. But when. . . " He drew breath then, and Aeriel saw he could not say it, any more than she, not the truth - not all of it. "But when I was in Avaric, I was under a sorcery, and did not change. "

  The Lady eyed him, hesitating. Aeriel bit her breath. If they could get no harbor from the White Witch here, then there was none for them in all the world.

  "Mother," the young man kneeling before her said, "much in you has changed since last I saw you, but still I know you. Look at me. "

  She saw the Lady sigh once, silently, as one taken by a great longing. Aeriel shivered.

  Still the other did not speak.

  "Say it then," Irrylath cried suddenly, casting off the Lady's hand. He tossed his head toward the guards. "And bid them shoot. Say that I am not your son, not Irrylath. "

  She stood off yet. Aeriel felt light-headed; she feared she might fall. The young man was kneeling perfectly still. Then the Lady drew breath again, and moved nearer. She touched the sark hanging clawed to ribbons at his shoulder, then his cheek, tracing the five long scars.

  "I cannot say it," she answered, soft. "For you are he. My son. My Irrylath. "

  Aeriel leaned back against the win-dow seat. Even in the light of Solstar she felt cold.

  The criers from the temple continued to wail. She balanced the instrument of silverwood across her lap and tried to stop remembering. But she was alone in the high palace room, and the memories came.

  She remembered the outer chambers of her and Irrylath's apartments: dark, hangings drawn against the light of stars. Only the inner room was shadowy light, for the Lady's son could not sleep, even fitfully, in darkness. Twelve-and-one lamp-stands surrounded his bed.

  Aeriel stood in the doorway, watching him. It was a daymonth since the two of them had come to Istemes. His long hair, neither plaited nor fastened now, lay loose about the pillowcase. The lamps were burning very low.

  Aeriel held a pitcher of oil in her hands. She had meant to be there before he came, refill the lamps and be gone. But she had misjudged the time. He had been sleeping some while now, by her guess.

  Aeriel entered the inner room and knelt beside him. The feather throw on which they had sailed to Istemes cascaded in great rumples from the bed, spreading as far as the lampstands' feet. Aeriel ran her hand over the soft white feathers.

  She knew that she should go away. The young man's breathing had grown uneven. His eyes fluttered beneath their lids: he dreamed. She touched his cheek. It was hot. Her hand fell to his shoulder, and his fingers upon the covers twitched. Aeriel leaned near.

  "Husband," she said softly, "awake. " Then softer still, a whisper now, "Irrylath, Irrylath, come back to me. "

  The young man shuddered, moved beneath the
counterpane. A rush of longing overcame her. Aeriel bent and brushed his eyelids with her lips.

  "Irrylath," she said. "Husband, awake. "

  His lids tremored, and for a moment she was certain he must rouse - but no. She closed her eyes, remembering him as he once had been: the darkangel, white-faced winged fiend who had borne her away from her home in Terrain to his keep on the plain of Avaric.

  He had married her at last, when he was yet the witch's son, for expedience's sake, because he needed a final bride. And he had lain just so, that last fortnight, poisoned by their wedding toast.

  She had held a dagger above his breast, ready to kill him, but could not strike. He was so fair. So she had rescued him instead, giving him her own heart, cut from her breast, and laid in his, to replace the one of lead the witch had given him. His heart, made flesh once more, became her own.

  He was mortal now, the Lady's son, the prince of Avaric, no more the darkangel. He had sworn to fight the witch, to find a winged steed to ride against her and her other "sons,"

  his former "brothers," the icari. Aeriel gazed at Irrylath: husband to her, but only in name.

  She dared touch him only when he slept.

  eriel put her lips to his. His breath was warm against her skin. A drop of oil fell from the pitcher that she held. She felt it strike her cheek and his. Startled, she drew back, and two more drops fell. The young man caught his breath between his teeth, and woke.

  He sat with a start, blinking, staring at her. One hand was at his cheek. The oil there smeared. He ran the back of his hand over his lips, his eyes.

  "Something touched me," he muttered, his breathing harsh. His eyes found Aeriel's again.

  "Did you touch me?"

  Aeriel felt all her boldness vanish now. "I came to refill the lamps," she stammered, and drew back, holding the pitcher before her in both hands now.

  The other stared after her. "Did you kiss me?" he whispered.

  Aeriel shook her head. She could not think. "No," she told him. "No. "

  He caught the bedcover about him suddenly, rose and quit the room. Aeriel set the heavy pitcher on the floor, ran after him. In the dimness of the outer chamber, the white throw swirled about him like a robe. It dipped low in back. Aeriel could see the marks down his back where wings once had been. I did that, she told herself, took away his wings.

  At the window, Irrylath tore the hanging aside. He stared out over starlit Isternes, breathing in the pure night air in gasps. He shook the hair back from his eyes without turning to look at her.

  "Why?" he said. "Why did you come?"

  Aeriel put both hands to her forehead. She wished that she might wake from this. She wished that she might run away. "Your dreams," she started.

  He did turn then. "They are my dreams," he almost shouted at her. "They are none of your affair. "

  And then for a moment it almost seemed his face changed, the fierceness of his gaze turning to something else. He said something, so soft she barely caught it. What had he said? "You cannot help me," or "No one can help me. " Aeriel put down her hands. She could barely see him for the dark.

  "You cannot sleep two hours together but you wake, shaking from your dreams," she began. "Let me call for the Lady's priest-physician - "

  "No. "

  "Then let me tell the Lady___"

  "No!" His voice was hoarse. "Tell her nothing. "

  Aeriel went toward him, to see him better. His face wore a hunted look in the dim starlight. He drew away from her. She began again, softly, daring:

  "Tell me what you dream. "

  He turned hard and would not look at her. The cords of his arm were drawn so tight the flesh looked like stone. "Go. Can you not leave me?" he whispered. "I did not ask you to come. "

  Aeriel stopped herself, for she had failed, again. It seemed he stood leagues, half a world away from her. She could not touch him, could not make him speak. He brushed by her.

  The feathers of the white robe rustled and sighed.

  And he was gone, into the inner room. She could not see him anymore. The doorway there was very dim. The lamps within were burning out. Aeriel put her hands back to her eyes. Her limbs trembled.

  She wanted to weep, but could not manage it. Dry as dust, her eyes, her mouth. No sound save the sputter of lampwicks dying. Aeriel turned from the inner room, and fled.

  The criers in the temple spires had ceased, foot traffic in the streets below grown much less. Aeriel opened her eyes. From where she sat on the smooth stone bench, she fingered the neck of her bandolyn, the four tune-strings and heavy drone. Three daymonths she had been in Isternes.

  Hearing movement, she turned toward the door. The Lady Syllva entered. Aeriel smiled, a little wanly. She had wanted to be alone. The Lady wore no turban now, her pale hair set with combs and thickly plaited. Aeriel moved to give her room upon the bench.

  "All's still," the Lady said, gazing past her across the square. "All gone to the great kirk to hear the tales. "

  Aeriel set down her bandolyn. "Will they not be needing you in the kirk?" she asked.

  Syllva shook her head. "Not till Solstar sets. There is time. Play me your bandolyn. "

  Aeriel lifted the instrument again. She had learned to play a long time past, in Terrain.

  Her mistress, Eoduin, had taught her. Aeriel's lip trembled. They had been more companions than mistress and serving maid, like sisters almost - until the darkangel had stolen Eoduin away.

  Darkangel. Irrylath. The fair-skinned girl bit her lip till she stopped thinking. She fretted the strings of the little instrument.

  "The world wends weary on its way;

  The ha^e hangs heavy on the Sea. If only there would come a day When you would not turn from me. . . . "

  The words wound on, with runs and ornaments, as Aeriel plucked and thrummed.

  "That is a sad song," the Lady Syllva said, when she had done, "for one so young and lately wed to be singing. "

  Aeriel looked down and said nothing. The Lady seemed to be watching her. After a time, the other said carefully, "Tell me, if you will, how things lie between you and my son. "

  Aeriel felt her throat tighten. The knuckles of her one hand about the instrument grew white. She toyed with the hem of her wedding sari.

  "You do not sleep in the same chamber," the Lady said, very gently.

  Aeriel turned, gazed out the window. She wanted desperately to fly, fly away from Isternes, but she could not leave Irrylath, for she was drawn to his beauty still. She had chosen to love him, rather than destroy him, a choice which bound her yet.

  Solstar lay partially hidden by mountains to the east. Aeriel found herself speaking, without meaning to; the words were low.

  "He will not enter a chamber where I am sleeping, or lie where I have lain. So I have left him the inner room of the apartments you gave us, and sleep without. "

  Syllva said nothing for a little. "My attendants say his dreams are troubled. "

  Aeriel shook her head, not quite sure what she meant, save she felt that she must answer somehow, and her voice had deserted her. The Lady sighed.

  "When you first came, three daymonths past, I bade the two of you tell what had befallen to bring you here. But Irrylath would not speak, left you to tell it all. "

  Aeriel would not look at her.

  "You did not give us the whole tale, then," said Syllva gently. "Some parts, I think, you did not tell. What was the enchantment upon my son? How came he by the scars upon his shoulder and cheek?"

  The lyon did it, thought Aeriel. The lyon of Pendar, rescuing me. The darkangel would have killed me if the lyon had not come. But he is the darkangel no more. He is Irrylath now. My husband is the darkangel no more. Her voice came back to her.

  "Lady, I may not tell you. Those things are my husband's to speak of, if he chooses. "

  Again the other fell silent, eyed her a moment, as if considering, then seemed to chang
e her mind.

  "You have such green eyes, child," she said, "like beryl stones. They remind me of my birth-sister, who was regent here when I wed the Avaric king and followed him across the Sea-of-Dust into the west. " The Lady sighed a little, sadly. "She went merchanting after my return. I have not had word of her in many years. "

  Aeriel felt her fair skin flush. All during her childhood in Terrain, her mistress Eoduin had teased her unmercifully for her odd-colored eyes. Syllva was speaking again.

  "Eryka," she murmured. "My sister's name was Eryka. "

  She stopped herself suddenly, drew breath and stood, gazing past Aeriel. The Terrainean girl turned and saw Solstar now three-quarters sunk away.

  "Time's short; I had not realized," the Lady Syllva said. "I must to kirk, but afterward, I would talk with you more, dear heart, about my son. I am troubled for him, and for you.

  Say you will sup with me. "