Dark Moon

'Apparently not,' replied Forin. 'But they die, boy. And more of them will die when they break through.'

'It is said they don't die,' put in the soldier. 'They go back to eggs or some such, and are born again.'

Forin did not reply. When Karis walked away, he followed her. 'You are pensive today,' he said, as they strolled along the avenue towards the palace.

'I have much to think about.'

'We will survive, Karis. I'm sure of that.'

'It would be nice to be so sure.'

'I don't intend to fall before some whey-faced giant termite — not now I've found you.'

'I hope that you don't!'

'You have a plan yet?'

'If I tell you, then you will not be able to lead the fighting in the catacombs. Do you want me to tell you?'

He paused. 'I would dearly like to say yes to that, but I cannot. Tarantio and Vint have their magical swords. I have my strength. It will be needed in the catacombs. Speaking of Tarantio, I haven't seen him for days. Where is he?'

'I don't know,' replied Karis. 'He has failed to attend two meetings. I want him there tonight.'

'I'll fetch him myself,' promised Forin. She made to walk on, but he gently took her arm. 'When this is over, would you consider marrying me?' he asked her.

'You are certainly an optimist, Redbeard.'

'Always. But especially now. You think I will allow the Daroth to steal my joy?'

Karis looked up into his broad, flat face and met the intensity of his green gaze. 'You are the strongest man I've known. Perhaps you can survive. Ask me again when the Daroth are defeated.'

He moved to kiss her but she stepped back, her eyes cold. 'Not in the open, Forin.'

'Are you ashamed of me?' he asked, bewildered.

'Have you not heard what they call me? "The Ice Queen". Let them keep their illusions. Now is not the time for them to see Karis the woman.'

She swung away from him and strode on. Forin cut off to the left and made his way to the small house Tarantio had rented. He hammered on the door, but at first there was no reply. Four times more he thumped his fist against the wood, then finally the door swung open and Tarantio stood there, bare-chested. 'Sleeping in the middle of the day? You are getting old, man.' Without waiting to be invited, Forin stepped inside, walking through to the main room. His nostrils flared; the smell of strong perfume lingered in the air.

'I am sorry, my friend, I did not know you had company.'

'Well, I have,' said Tarantio. 'What brings you here?'

'Karis wanted to make sure you would attend tonight's meeting.'

'Tell her I will not be there.'

'You must be - that is where we will plan the fight in the catacombs.' Swiftly he told Tarantio of the caverns under the city. 'Ozhobar thinks the Daroth will break through sometime tomorrow.'

'I am no longer willing to fight,' said Tarantio.

'Is this a joke? You think you have a choice?'

'A man always has a choice. I am leaving tomorrow.'

'I don't believe it,' declared Forin, stunned. 'You of all people! How can you consider leaving us to fight alone?

You are the best swordsman I ever saw, and you have a magical blade. We need you, man.' 'The sword is by the door. Take it when you go.' Forin looked at him quizzically. 'What has happened to you, Chio? You are not the man I knew. You are certainly not the man who said he could swallow me whole if someone buttered my head and pinned my ears back. Gods, man, has the heart gone out of you?' 'Yes,' said Tarantio. 'The heart has gone out of me.' Disgusted, Forin swung away from him and headed for the door. The sword belt was hanging on a hook and the giant lifted it clear.

'I am sorry,' he heard Tarantio call out. 'Rot and die,' replied Forin.

Dressed in a loose-fitting white gown, the ties undone, Miriac came out of the bedroom as the front door closed behind Forin. For a moment she said nothing, but stood looking at Tarantio. He smiled at her. 'Would you like some wine?'

'He was your friend,' she said.

'Yes. Would you like some wine?'

'No. I don't understand why you told him that.'

'What is there to understand? I'm not going to fight any more. I want to get you somewhere safe.' He reached for her, but she drew back. 'What is wrong?' he asked her.

'I don't know - but he was right, Chio. Something has gone out of you; I've sensed it for days.'

'Is it that obvious?'

'It is to me. I love you, but you have changed. Have I done this to you? Have I robbed you of your courage?'

'My courage has not gone!' he said, but the words came out defensively and he could hear his own fear echoing

in his denial. 'It has not gone,' he said. 'He wasn't my courage.'

'He?'

'I don't want to talk about it.'

'Not even to me?'

Tarantio turned away from her and stared around the room. Miriac remained quiet and still, allowing the silence to grow. He moved over to the fire and added coal to the embers, then sat down on the rug and looked into the flames. In a low voice he told her of his life, and the birth of Dace, and how they had lived together ever since. 'I am not insane,' he assured her. 'Dace was as real to me as you are. You asked me why I fled that night. Dace wanted to kill you; he felt my love for you, and saw it as a threat.

When you came to the house two nights ago, it was Dace who met you.' He fell silent, and did not look at her.

She moved alongside him and sat down beside the fire. 'I don't understand,' she said gently. 'I have never heard of anything like this. But I do know that the man who met me was not you. And when I kissed him he was holding a dagger.' Taking his face in her hands, she looked into his deep blue eyes.

'And his eyes were grey,' she said, 'and fierce.' Her hands fell away, and she leaned in and kissed his cheek.

'I am not insane,' he repeated, 'but the next morning Dace said goodbye to me - and I can no longer find him. I call, but he is not there.'

'And that frightens you?'

He nodded. 'Dace could fight his way clear of any danger. He feared nothing in combat. But I do. And I do not want to die - not now I have found you again.'

'We are going to die,' she said. 'Perhaps not today or tomorrow - but sometime in the future we will cease to be. It cannot be avoided, no matter how far or how fast we run. I do love you, Chio, but I do not know you very well. So I may be wrong in what I am about to say, but I will say it nonetheless: you will come to hate yourself if you run now. I believe this to be true.'

'You want to stay here? And face the Daroth?'

'No, I want to run too. Yet I will stay. I will stare my fears in the face, as I have always done - not over my shoulder as I flee.'

'I don't know what to do,' he said miserably.

'Look into your heart, Chio. How did it feel to have your friend look at you with contempt? How do you feel about yourself?'

'Lessened,' he said simply.

'Then go to the meeting. Take back your sword. No-one can take away your pride; you have to willingly surrender it. Once you do so, you will never be the same man again.'

'I don't know if I'll be much use to them without Dace.'

'Perhaps you are Dace. Perhaps he is merely another manifestation of you. Even if he is not, you are still a man of courage. I know this, for I could never love a coward.'

He smiled then, and she saw his expression lighten. 'You are a wonder,' he said.

'Indeed I am,' she told him. 'And if Dace returns, tell him I love him too.'

The Meeting Hall was filled with officers and men. The Duke, dressed in a tunic and leggings of black silk, sat at the head of the table, with Karis to his right. The white wall behind him had been stripped of paintings, and Ozhobar had sketched out a map of the catacombs on the bare plaster.