Untitled (43 page)

Dav shrugged. "So, Milos, before we draw swords over Syg here, what do you think? How's the spar?"

He looked up again. "The spar is fine—never better. A fine repair, I must say."

"The Silver tech can stay?

Probert turned to Syg. "My Lady, will this 'Silver tech' degrade or require any maintenance with time?"

"No, no, sir. It will stay as it is."

"Then, Dav—yes, the silver can stay. Be proud of it—I will instruct my craftsmen to build around it. We should re-christen this lady the
Silverback
, if you ask me."

Dav laughed. "We'll leave you to it, then, Milos. I shall expect you for dinner this week, yes?"

"Indeed—will Lady Poe be there?"

"She will."

"Then I shall wash. I must smell my best for her. Err … will the Lady Branna be there as well?"

"I think so. She is a good friend of my sister, Countess Pardock."

Probert shook his head. "Heaven on the one side … and hell on the other."

After waving good-bye to Probert, Dav and Syg left the bay. Alone in the dark hallway, Syg threw her arms around him.

"Countess—I must say I like the sound of that."

Dav looked down at her. "You wish to be the Countess of Blanchefort, do you?"

"I do, gladly. I want it like nothing else. I only await a standing offer."

"Should I drop to a knee and beg you right here in the hallway?"

"The place matters not to me—anywhere is fine. And why bother asking? You certainly know what my answer will be."

"It will happen, Syg, but not here. At a time and place of my choosing."

"I hope the place and time is soon—we've plans to make and I am ready to begin—Suzaraine will be a Grenville long before I am a Blanchefort at this rate."

Dav blushed. Syg kissed him.

"Are we finished here, sir? I am anxious to see your castle. May we go?"

"Go to your quarters and pack a small bag. I have some matters to attend to on the bridge. Once those are done, we can to the castle."

Syg smiled. She couldn't wait.

2

Davage entered his quarters and began to pack. He rarely spent much time there anymore, and he couldn't recall the last time he slept in his own bed. He was constantly in Syg's quarters; that's where he wanted to be. But with rules, regulations, and decorum, he couldn't just move in with her, or she with him, for that matter. It would not do. Syg could not understand that.

He pulled off his shirt and began packing his bag.

The Com chattered.

"Com," he said.

"Com, sir, a message from Fleet Command has arrived for you, marked Blue."

"Aye Com, I'll take it here." He flipped a switch on his Com to disable the screen. Fleet Command didn't need to see him with his shirt off.

"Aye, sir, standby."

The screen opened despite the fact it was disabled.

He wasn't really surprised at what he saw.

It was Marilith.

It had been a while since her last message, when she was desperate to warn him of danger to come. That something "evil" was searching for him.

A lot had happened since then; a lot had changed.

Marilith sat back in the viewer. She wasn't wearing any of the thick makeup she usually wore. She was very beautiful, as she always had been. And her voice—not the usual howl or shriek that she normally had to use, her voice was musical. It was the voice he'd fallen in love with years ago.

"Hello, Dav," she said, sitting up a little on her pouf. As usual, she was draped in light Xandarr veils, leaving little to the imagination.

"Hello, Marilith," he said.

She looked at him for a few moments and smiled.

"I heard about that foolishness in Metatron. Did I not warn you of danger to come?"

"You did, and I thank you. I believe I discovered the thing that you said was searching for me in the dark."

"Oh? So tell me, what was it?"

"A Black Hat named Sygillis of Metatron."

"I know her—very evil, very cruel. Did you fight her?"

"Of a sort. I turned her."

"You turned her?" Marilith smiled and shook her head. "Only you, Dav."

"Now she has fallen in love with me."

A wave of darkness crossed Marilith's face. "I see, and … surely you do not return this love?"

"I do. It took some time, but I indeed love her too."

"Truly? To love a Black Hat. Are you certain it is not merely a fascination … an infatuation?"

"No. I am sure. I have Zen-La'ed with her. In Metatron."

"That is not possible. You have Zen-La'ed with me, Dav."

"There is no hope for us, Marilith. And as Sygillis taught me, the Zen-La is not forever."

"The Zen-La is forever, and you have offered it to me!"

"That is simply superstition and talk, Marilith."

"Talk … If you were here, where I am now, we certainly wouldn't be talking, you and me."

"And where are you, Marilith?"

She paused for a moment. "Somewhere …" she said in a dreamy voice. "I still love you, Dav. I've never stopped. I still dream of you every night. It harms me that I have to pretend to hate you when we both know I don't. My public persona is … tiring to maintain. I am ready for you to come back to me. It has been too long. You are my Zen-La, and I am yours … forever."

Dav sighed.

"And," Marilith continued, "I think this long interruption has actually enhanced my love for you, added a bit of spice."

Davage looked into the screen, at the image there. "And Marilith, if I were to say that I've come to my senses, that I am ready to be your husband, what would your response be?"

"I would be elated, but of course, should you say such a thing, I would not be able to trust you. How could I? As I have always said, you are the only person in the universe who can kill me. You would, no doubt, be attempting to spring a trap of some sort."

She closed her eyes. "I would force you to submit to any number of terms and conditions leaving you naked and vulnerable. I would force you to meet me on some lonely, out-of-the way place. And then, bound and shackled, I would drag you off to some unknown locale, and there we would make love …"

"No blindfold?"

"Why bother with a blindfold, Dav? What good would it do? Besides, I want you to look at me when we come together. I would have to keep you in chains for years as you proved yourself, though I would be as kind and gentle as I could be." She had a look of longing for a moment. "Are you offering yourself to me? Are you submitting to what must be done?"

"I have told you, I am in love with Sygillis, Marilith. I will marry her. She will be my Countess," Davage said.

Marilith sighed and wagged her finger. "At least you had the good sense to cast aside that old battle axe Demona of Ryel, Dav—a singularly uninteresting person in my mind. Well, I suppose I'm going to have to kill her, Dav, your Sygillis. There is no one for you if not me. You know that."

"You might find that pretty difficult, Marilith. Sygillis was a Black Hat Hammer, and a mean one as well."

"But Dav, it's me you're talking to. You know perfectly well that I've fought Black Hats before, just like you have. Only with me, I just went ahead and killed them. You're so sentimental."

"You'll find that I've thoroughly trained Syg in all the various failings of Black Hat battle tactics. She won't be beat by the simple tricks that other Black Hats fall for."

Marilith frowned. "Oh … 'Syg,' is it? How cute. Still, Dav, you have never fully given me the credit I'm due. I'm you Dav—simply on the other side of the mirror. I'm just as tough, fearless, cagy, unbeatable, and unkillable as you are. I will find a way to kill her. I will find a way to win. I always do."

"You know, Demona of Ryel never forgave you for that foolish attack on
Triumph
a few years ago. She was determined to hunt you down and make you pay. To bring you to justice."

Marilith brightened into a cheerful smile. "Oh, but wouldn't that have been fun. She wouldn't have lasted mere seconds against me. Will you please admit that?"

"I admit you are a worthy opponent. You feel no remorse for all the death that attack wrought?"

"Should I, Dav?"

"Yes, you should. You see, that's why we could never be together, why we traverse different paths. You say you're on the opposite side of the mirror from me. That small, shiny space is an impenetrable barrier. That is why there was never any real hope for us. You, Marilith, could have been so much to so many people. You could have been a Queen … and yet look where we are. That is why Pardock threw down the baton. Because you are you and I am me, Xaphan and League."

Marilith sat there for a moment. She wiped a tear from her eye. "You really say some very mean things to me."

"Oh, please. You are fully capable of leaving a mountain of corpses in your wake, yet your feelings are hurt by a few truthful words? Marilith, we've had this conversation before, and I am certain we'll have it again at some point. You …"

"I must away, Dav," Marilith said, more tears coming from her eyes. "Please tell your Syg that I will be coming for her. Please have the courtesy to tell her that she is going to die. She will not be your Countess. I'll see her dead first."

The screen shut off and went black.

3

Syg stood there on the crowded Blanchefort dock, staring at the huge reddish castle high in the mountains for several long minutes. Dav, holding her bag, allowed her to take it all in.

It was like a dream for her, seeing such a wonderful place for herself for the first time.

She finally turned to him, grinning. "All of this is yours?"

"I am the Lord of this principality. These are my people."

She looked at the village, the maze of colorful shops, busy storefronts, eateries, pubs, residences, and the huge mountains beyond, and the fairy-tale castle perched in the clouds.

"How could you ever bear to leave this place?"

"It's hard. I do love these people, but I love the
Seeker
too."

Arm in arm, they began making their way through the crowded dock, the vendors stopping Dav to embrace and visit with him. They'd see Syg there and inquire about her. Dav, not wanting to embarrass her, said she was his special guest and left it at that, but after a time, she began speaking up and introduced herself as "Lord Blanchefort's future Countess—his soon-to-be Countess-in-Waiting." The vendors lit up with excitement—finally Davage was going to be wed and Blanchefort will have a Countess. This was an occasion to celebrate.

Eventually, flush with moment, Syg wanted to stop at every shop she saw and introduce herself, amid cheers and fanfare. She wanted to see everything, to talk to everyone. It took hours to get through to the steep mountain road leading up to his castle.

"I'm going to call for a ripcar," Dav said. "It's a long, steep climb to the top."

Syg looked up at the steep, dizzying heights to the misty top. She took off her sandals and put them in her bag.

"What are you doing?" Dav asked.

"If I am going to be the countess of this land, I want to feel it beneath my feet. And, no ripcar—I want to walk to the top. I want to experience it all."

"You realize it's a walk of several miles and an elevation change of about three thousand feet?"

"Feeling out-of-shape, Lord Blanchefort?"

Dav smiled. "Fine, fine—but there's no turning back once we get started."

Syg, beaming with happiness, took his hand, and they started for the top.

* * * * *

Of all the places Syg and Dav had ever made love, the balcony in his old bedroom was her favorite by far. It was a small, windswept, precarious stone slab about eight feet long and four feet wide sticking out of his large bedroom window. It wasn't a place for one with a fear of heights. It creaked and shuddered when walked on, the howling wind blowing across its face was strong enough to sweep one away, and only a tiny, two-and-a-half-foot rail was all that stood between the person standing on the balcony and a harrowing four-thousand-foot drop to the crags far below. Looking over the side, the huge
Seeker
appeared as a tiny white spot in the bay.

Syg loved it. Out there, in the wind and the heights no one could hear and no one could see, Dav's tower being one of the highest in the castle, she savagely made love to Dav on it—thrashing, screaming, and tearing all she wanted. On the ship she had to reserve herself quite a bit, lest other people hear. She flirted with the edge, she made the slab rock and bounce, and she allowed her bare legs to dangle over the side. Syg was fearless.

Here, under the northern stars, she thought about allowing herself to become pregnant. To carry Dav's child made her warm with happiness, but she decided it was best to wait until they were properly wed. Then she will give him as many children, as many heirs, as he wanted.

And from the balcony, if she gazed far off to the west and screwed her eyes up, she could just begin to see a castle in the clear, cool distance—white, tall, full of patina-capped spires, but not quite as grand as this one.

Dav, awakening, saw her gazing at it. He pulled up alongside and took her into his arms.

"Can you see Castle Durst in the distance?"

She reached up and kissed him. "Just barely. It's so far away. How could you … Oh, I keep forgetting you and your Sight that I love so much."

She looked at the castle in the distance again. "You can clearly see that? It must be fifty miles away."

"It's more like seventy. On the tall tower, can you see that little plaque near the top, just there?" he said, pointing.

"No, Dav … I can't."

"I barely need Sight to see that, Syg. It's the Durst coat of arms. It even says DURST in old Vith. The castle looks old and down in the weather … just like the Dursts themselves, I suppose."

"I hear tell you and Lady Hathaline of Durst often sent messages to each other."

"We did—from this very balcony. She had the Sight too. Pretty decent with it."

"And now you make love to me here." Syg regarded Dav for a moment. "I understand I look much like she did."