Ivane swept the Hall with a haughty stare that stung like a lash. When her eyes found Alys standing beside Kieron, they brightened, became feral.
"Guards!" she commanded. "Seize that woman! She is the killer of the Emperor Toran!"
A murmuring filled the chamber. The Janizaries pressed forward. Kieron drew his sword and leaped to the dais beside Ivane. She did not shrink back from him.
"Touch her, and Ivane dies!" shouted Kieron, his point at Ivane's naked breast. The murmuring subsided and the Janizaries pulled up short.
"Now, you are al! going to listen to me!" shouted Kieron from the dais. "This woman under my blade is a murderess and plotter, and I can prove it!"
Ivane's face was strained and white. Not from fear of his sword, Kieron knew.
"In the Palace dungeons you wil! likely find Landor. ." Kieron continued. "He will be there because he knew of Ivane's plottings and talked too much when he had a dagger at his throat. He will confnrm what I say!
"This woman plotted to usurp the Imperium as long as five years ago! It may have been longer. ." He turned to Ivane. "How long does it take to incubate an android, Ivane? A year? Two? And then to train him, school him so that every move he makes is intended to further your aims? How long does all that take?" I
vane uttered a scream of terror now. "Freka! Call Freka!"
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 mich tiers drew back, giving them room to fight. No one made a move to interfere. It was known that Valkyrs held the city of Neg, and according to the warrior code 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 threast 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 KaHgan. 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 artificia! 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 stil! 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.
Tthe 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, 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…"
Ile looked up at her once, pain in his eyes, but he did not speak.
Afys 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 s treaked her cheeks 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.