Kieron dropped his sword point and stepped away from Ivane as though
she were contaminated. There was little danger from _her_ now--but
there was still another.
Freka appeared at the edge of the dais, his tall form towering above
the courtiers. "You called for me, Imperial Ivane?"
Ivane stared at Kieron with hate-filled eyes. "You have failed me!
_Kill him now!_"
* * * * *
Kieron whirled and caught Freka's blade on his own. The courtiers drew
back, giving them room to fight. No one made a move to interfere. It
was known that Valkyrs had sacked the city of Neg, and according to the
warrior code the two warlords must be allowed to fight to the death if
they wished.
Kieron made no attack. Instead he retreated before the expressionless
Freka.
"Did you know, Freka," asked Kieron softly, "that Geller of the Marshes
is dead? He was your father in a way, wasn't he?"
Freka made no reply, and for a moment the only sound in the hushed
chamber was the ring of blades.
Suddenly Kieron lunged. His sword pierced Freka from breast to back.
The Valkyr stepped back and pulled his blade clear. The crowd gasped,
for Freka the Unknown did not fall....
"Are you really unkillable?" breathed Kieron. "I wonder!"
Again he lunged under the mechanical guard of the Kalgan. Again his
blade sank deep. Freka backed away for a moment, still alert and
unwounded.
Kieron shouted derisively at the star-kings: "Great warriors! Do you
see? You have followed the leadership of an android! A homunculus
spawned by the warlock Geller!"
A gasping roar went up in the chamber. A sound of superstitious horror
and growing anger.
Kieron parried a thrust and brought his blade down on Freka's sword
arm. Hard. A sword clattered to the flagstones--still gripped by a
slowly relaxing hand. There was no blood. The android still moved
in, eyes expressionless, his one hand reaching for his enemy. Kieron
struck again. A clean cut opened from shoulder to belly, slicing the
artificial tendons and leaving the android helpless but still erect.
Kieron raised and lowered his blade in glittering arcs. Freka ... or
the thing that had been Freka ... collapsed in a grotesque heap. Still
it moved. Kieron passed his point again and again through the quivering
mass until at long last it was still. Somewhere a woman fainted.
A thick silence fell over the assemblage. All eyes turned to Ivane. She
stood staring at the remnants of the thing that had been ... almost ...
a man. Her hand fluttered at her throat.
Alys' voice cut through the heavy stillness. "Arrest that woman for the
murder of my brother Toran!"
But the crowd of courtiers was thinking of other things. Jaded and
cynical, they had seen with their own eyes that Ivane was a familiar of
the dreaded Great Destroyer. Someone cried: "Witch! Burn her!"
The mass of courtiers and warriors swept forward, screaming for the
kill. Kieron leaped for the dais, his sword still bared.
"I'll kill the first one who sets foot on the Great Throne!" he cried.
But Ivane had heard the crowd sounds. The black mantle slipped from
her shoulders, and she stood stripped to the waist, like a marble
goddess--her eyes recapturing some of their icy hauteur. Then, before
she could be stopped, she had taken a jewelled dagger and driven it
deep into her breast.
Kieron caught her as she fell, feeling the warm blood staining his
hands. He eased her down on the foot of the Great Throne and laid his
ear to her breast.
There was no pulse. Ivane was dead.
* * * * *
Before the assembled Court, the Warlord of Valkyr knelt before his
Empress. The star-kings had gone, and the Valkyrs were the last
outworld warriors remaining in the Imperial City. Now, they too, would
take their leave.
The Empress sat on the Great Throne, mantled in sable. Somehow, the
huge throne and the vast vaulted chamber seemed to make her look small
and frail.
"Your Imperial Majesty," said Kieron, "have we your leave to go?"
Alys' eyes were bright with tears. She leaned forward so that none but
Kieron might hear. "Stay a while yet, Kieron. At least let us say our
goodbyes alone and not ..." She looked about the crowded Throne Room,
"... not here."
Kieron shook his head mutely. Aloud, he said again, "Have I Your
Majesty's permission to return to Valkyr?"
"Kieron...!" whispered Alys. "Please...."
He looked up at her once, pain in his eyes, but he did not speak.
Alys knew then that the gulf had opened between them again; that this
time, it was for the rest of their lives. The tears came and streaked
her cheek as she lifted her head and spoke for all the Court to hear.
"Permission is granted, My Lord of Valkyr. You ... you may return to
Valkyr." And then she whispered, "And my love goes with you, Kieron!"
Kieron raised her jewelled hands to his lips and kissed them.... Then
he arose and turned on his heel to stride swiftly from the Great Hall.