pay further attention. And then, about forty-eight hours ago, I thought to myself that perhaps I’d made a mistake in the execution of Princess Ariadne. Perhaps if I hadn’t asked for her life, I would not have made such an implacable enemy of her son.
“Such violent emotions erupted in this one. Not that violent emotions aren’t always running through the little peons. You cannot conceive of the tedium of always having to ignore their alternate tantrums and fits of despair. But in this instance the upheaval was cataclysmic. I had to find out the reason—it was hindering my mastery of the body.
“It was not easy. This one had actually gone through some effort to compartmentalize his memories. It was only hours ago that I finally broke through. And what a secret: a passionate love affair with none other than the late Princess Ariadne herself. Who’d have thought? Even I had mildly wondered about the identity of your father, Your Highness, and what had happened to him. To think I believed it had been some shenanigans of your grandfather’s, when I’d had him here all along. It really is too bad that I didn’t find out sooner. You would have traded Fairfax for your father, wouldn’t you?”
Would he? Titus thought wildly.
“But it’s too late now. You will have neither. Fairfax will give me another century of life. And you, it will give me great pleasure to watch you leave the shores of Atlantis a broken man. It won’t just be Fairfax I will sacrifice for my health and longevity; I will use a good few parts of you too. Let’s see, I shall require an eye, definitely an eye. Your wand arm, it goes without saying. Beyond that, it will depend on my mood. How would you like to be known as the Eunuch Prince?”
Titus could barely stop himself from wrapping his arms around his knees and rocking back and forth. Where were Kashkari and the real Fairfax? When would this nightmare end?
“In fact, before I apply fire to our dear Fairfax, I shall apply a blade to you. You won’t miss a finger or two, will you?”
The Bane sauntered forward, a knife in his hand. Titus wanted to scream, but he could only whimper. Then, all of a sudden, he leaped to his feet and words rushed out of him like water from a collapsing dam.
“Can you hear me, Father? My mother named me after you. And she never gave up on finding you. I always wondered why she took part in the uprising against Atlantis. Now I know it was for you. That failed, but before she died, she asked me to promise her I would do my utmost to defeat the Bane, because it was the only way for me to ever see you.”
The smile on the Bane’s face became ever more smug, almost radiant. He seized Titus’s still-bound hands. An ice-cold blade settled against Titus’s thumb.
“She loved the vine that you gave her!” Titus shouted. “It climbs over a pergola on the upper balcony of the castle. I could always find her underneath it—it was her favorite spot!”
The knife lifted. “Son?” came a tentative whisper, without a shred of the Bane’s arrogance.
Titus’s heart almost burst out of his chest. “Father! Please help me! Please help all of us!”
The Bane laughed. He hooted and guffawed. “You believed that? Oh dear, oh dear. You actually believed that poor sod could overpower me?”
Tears ran down Titus’s face. He was a child of six again, watching the flames go up around his mother, nothing but despair in his heart. “Please, Father. Do not let him do this.”
The knife dug into his flesh.
“She loved you,” he whispered. “She loved you until the day she died.”
The knife moved away. He raised his head in incredulity. Had he succeeded at last, or was the Bane about to make another cruel play?
It was neither.
Across from him Fairfax whimpered. Slowly she pushed herself to a sitting position, one hand clutching at her head. Then she looked about at the unfamiliar surroundings.
Her gaze settled on the Bane.
She shuddered.
CHAPTER 22
IOLANTHE AND KASHKARI EMERGED FROM the Crucible ready for assault. But the cave, its air still dusty, was silent—and dark.
They stood in place for several minutes, listening. Then Iolanthe set a sound circle. “I don’t think anyone is here.”
The ruse had worked as intended. The Bane believed he now had both the Master of the Domain and the elemental mage whom he had been desperately seeking for so long.