was hoarse, almost inaudible. “No.”
She should have been left behind. Safely behind.
He should have realized, when he saw Skytower at the meadow before Sleeping Beauty’s castle, that the Crucible had not been open for mere minutes, but at least several hours. And Dalbert knew—and had said nothing.
“No?” Fairfax narrowed her eyes, eyes as ruthless as Helgira’s. “Then perhaps I should have you escorted to my dungeon. It is a most hospitable place for mages who say no.”
She would do it. She would have him locked up in the bowels of Black Bastion while she ventured forth to her doom.
He shook. “Please reconsider, my lady. Please.”
Please stay here. Please come no farther. Please do not make me watch you die.
Around him, his companions were rising, since she had ordered them to their feet. Titus remained on his knees.
“Get up or be dragged to the dungeon,” she said softly, coldly.
He gazed up at her pitiless features, his cheeks still stinging with the imprints of her hand. “Please, I beg you.”
Her expression seemed to soften. His heart leaped—the last time they had been in Black Bastion together, she had looked at him exactly like this, with both fury and tenderness. And it had been the beginning of the happiest time of his life.
“Blindfolds,” she said.
Soldiers blindfolded Titus and everyone he had brought. The strip of black cloth over his eyes tightened into a band he could not remove.
“No!” he shouted in panic, as someone pulled him to his feet and shoved him forward. “You cannot send me to the dungeon.”
“Then shut up and walk,” came her curt reply from somewhere behind him.
The sounds of footfalls were all around him. He could not tell where Kashkari or Amara were, though occasionally Aramia whimpered a few feet to his right. They were escorted down corridor after corridor, and up steep flights of stairs—heading toward Helgira’s bedchamber, the prayer alcove of which served as the actual portal.
What could he do? The guards’ weapons were at his back again, and when he walked too slowly he felt the chill of the sharp points of their spears, spears that could travel more than a mile to hunt him down.
They came to a sudden stop.
“I have changed my mind about the young woman in the green overrobe,” said Fairfax. “About thirty-five miles south-southwest of here stands an empty castle surrounded by bramble and guarded by dragons. Take her to the meadow west of the castle and leave her there.”
“Please, please don’t!” cried Aramia. “My mother—and yours—if the Bane doesn’t fall, she will never leave the Inquisitory.”
So she had figured out that they were dealing not with Helgira, but Fairfax.
“And that should concern me?” Fairfax countered flatly.
“Everything she has ever done was to keep you safe.”
“Everything she has ever done and will ever do is to keep herself safe. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you will stop making excuses for her.”
Aramia made a sobbing sound. “I know you don’t think of her as your mother, but she is my mother and she has never been unkind to me. Please let me do what I can to help her—and you. I am far more useful than I look.”
“If I may,” said Kashkari. “The meadow before Sleeping Beauty’s castle is something of a war zone right now. Skytower is in the vicinity, and my lady’s soldiers might have trouble getting through.”
Titus could almost see Fairfax’s lips twist. “We are going to die, Miss Tiberius, every single one of us. If you wish to die for Lady Callista, that is your choice. But the moment you become a hindrance, you will be left behind to fend for yourself.”
A door opened and closed, her footsteps disappearing inside. The door opened again. Titus was once more made to move. He kept trying spells that would undo the blindfold. But some older forms of magic had no exact modern counterparts.
A few seconds later their blindfolds were removed. He recognized the interior of Helgira’s bedchamber. Haywood stood near the door, listening. Fairfax, across the room, was no longer in the wig or the white dress, but a simple blue tunic and trousers, her short hair still mussed from the wig’s removal.
“Don’t try anything,” said Fairfax, her voice uninflected. “We are already in the copy of the Crucible on Atlantis. And I have sealed the connection.”
His blood ran cold. He had thought she had only marched them into Helgira’s bedchamber. But no, she had already guided them past the prayer alcove inside the bedchamber, which served