PROLOGUE (18 page)

"The shana-ret'zeri were on the move, and they had allied with the human tribes. Even those whom we had taught and taken into our own towns turned against us. The long enmity between our peoples could not be healed. At this time the year -Sky came to an end, and the counting-women tallied the beginning of the year -Sky with offerings. Thirteen times had the full count of Great Years run to completion, which meant that the Long Count had come full circle. This was the time of greatest danger, for at the end of each Long Count, the gods gained the power to destroy the sun.

"It came to pass that on the two hundredth day of -Sky, two of the fisherfolk captured a heron in the waters of the lake. The bird was so marvelous and strange that none of them could describe it, so they took it to The-One-Who-Sits-In-The-Eagle-Seat. She had io

gone already to the Hall of Night to celebrate the evening banquet.

"A crown of stars was set on the head of the bird. The-One-Who-Sits-In-The-Eagle-Seat said, 'Within the crown I see a mirror, and the mirror shows me the heavens and the night sky. In the mirror, I see the stars we call the Six-Women-WhoLive-Upriver, but they are burning.' Now she was very afraid, because it seemed to her that this was not only strange and wondrous, but a particularly bad omen.

"She looked a second time into the mirror. She saw the human sorcerers standing within their stone looms and weaving a spell greater than any spell known before on Earth. Then the seers and the counting-women of my people understood the intent of the shana-ret'zeri and their human allies.

"Too late had we discovered the danger. Our enemies had already woven the net to catch us."

Abruptly, the old sorcerer could not go on. He faded as the sun fades beneath the hills, losing all power, and his body bent over his crossed knees as though he had fainted.

"I will not speak of the suffering," he said in a whisper that nevertheless penetrated the entire chamber, "or of the ones we lost. Only this. By means of the spell woven by the human sorcerers and their allies, our land was torn away from Earth. Here in exile we have lingered. The land dies around us as all plants die in time, when they are uprooted. We have dwindled. We would die were we to remain in this exile forever."

He straightened up. The fire of anger flashed in his gaze again, the stubbornness of a man who has seen a sight worse than death but means to survive longer than his enemies. He looked directly at Liath.” But what is born out of Earth returns to Earth. This truth our enemies did not comprehend. They thought to rid themselves of us forever, but they only exiled us for a time."

"How can that be?" demanded Liath.” If they flung you and your homeland away from Earth, then surely it must be your own sorcerers who are bringing your land back to Earth." "Give me your belt."

She undid Her leather belt and walked forward with her tunic lapping her calves. The council members had fallen into a profound silence, whether out of respect for Eldest Uncle and his
child
or
flame
memories, or out of sorrow for what had been lost, she could not know.

He took the belt and held it by the buckle so that the other end dangled loose toward the floor. Grasping the other end, he brought it up to touch the buckle.

"Here is a circle." He placed a finger on the buckle.” If I were to walk on the surface of this belt, where would I end up?" He let her draw her finger from the buckle around the outside flat of the belt, until she returned to where she had started.

"So," he agreed, because she was nodding, "think of the buckle of this belt as Earth. When the human sorcerers wove their spell, they meant to throw my people and the land in which we dwelt off of Earth, to a different place,
so
—" He moved her finger from the buckle to the underside of the buckle.” Now the one is separate from the other. Even if I walk on this side of the belt, I will not come back to Earth. Do so." She ran her finger along the inside flat of the belt and, truly, although she remained close to the other side of the belt, although she passed underneath the buckle that represented Earth, she never returned to it. The two sides were eternally separate, having no point of connection.

He let the end of the belt dangle loose again, holding only the buckle.” But it seems they overlooked a quality inherent in the nature of the universe." Taking the end of the belt, he gave it a half twist and then brought it up to the buckle.” Now, you see, if I walk the belt, I pass one time around and circle underneath the buckle but I remain on the same surface and continue once more around the belt until I return to the buckle itself."

"Ah," said Liath, fascinated at once. She traced the surface of the belt all the way around twice without lifting her finger from the leather, and the second time she came back to the buckle, where she had started.

"I never thought of that!" she cried, amazed and intrigued.” The universe has a fold in it."

"So you see," said Eldest Uncle approvingly.” Although our land was flung away from Earth, the fold in the universe is bringing us back to where we started."

He rose unsteadily, as if his knees hurt him. Extending an arm, he addressed the council.” On Earth, the measure of days and years moves differently than it does here. Soon, the full count of Great

in
Years will have again run to completion thirteen times on Earth. The ending point will becoming the starting point, and we will come home."

Cat Mask seemed about to blurt out a comment, but Eldest Uncle's gaze stilled the words on his tongue. Ponderously, Feather Cloak pushed up to her feet. No one moved to help her, until Liath finally stepped toward her but was brought up short by Skull Earrings. The elderly man raised a hand, palm out, to show that she must not aid the pregnant woman who sat in the Eagle Seat.

Panting a little, Feather Cloak steadied herself and surveyed the council. Standing, she looked even more enormously pregnant, so huge that it seemed impossible she hadn't burst.” We will come home," she agreed.” Yet there remains a danger to us. We will come home unless the human sorcerers now on Earth use their magic to weave a second spell like the first. Then they could fling us back into the aether, and we would surely all perish, together with our land."

Pain cut into Liath's belly. She tucked, bending slightly, reflex -ively, but the pain vanished as swiftly as it had come—it was only the memory of her labor pains the day her mother had told her the story of the Great Sundering, and the threat of the Aoi return.

"The only one who can stop them is you,”
Anne had said.

Had Da known all along? Was this the fate he had tried to hide her from—serving as Anne's tool? Pain stabbed again, but this time it was anger. Da hadn't helped her at all by hiding the truth from her. He'd only made it harder. Ignorance hadn't spared her, it had only made her weak and fearful.

"To use magic in such a way seems like the act of a monster," she said at last, measuring her words, aware of the anger burning in the pit of her stomach.” But I have heard of a story told by my people of a time known as the Great Sundering, when the Aoi—

"Call us not by that name!" cried Cat Mask.” If you come in peace, as you claim, why do you keep insulting us?"

"I do not intend to insult you!" she retorted, stung.” That is the name my people call you."

"Don't you know what it means?" asked Green Skirt.

"No."

Cat Mask spat the words.” 'Cursed Ones.'"

"What do you call yourselves, then?"

They all broke out talking at once.

Feather Cloak lifted a hand for silence.” In our most ancient home, we called ourselves The-Ones-Who-Have-Understanding. After our ancestors left that place and came over the sea, we called ourselves The Ones-Who-Have-Made-A-New-Home. Now we call ourselves The-Ones-In-Exile, Ashioi, which also means, The-Ones-Who-Have-Been-Cursed."

"Ashioi," murmured Liath, hearing the word she knew—"Aoi" —embedded within it. Was that how ancient knowledge survived, only in fragments like the florilegia Da had compiled over the years? Surely Da had understood the true purpose of the Seven Sleepers. What had he been looking for in these notes and scraps of magical knowledge? Had he wondered how a spell as powerful as the Great Sundering could come to be? She had to work it through in order to understand the whole.” Wouldn't it also be true that if such a huge region of land fell to Earth again, it would make a terrible cataclysm?"

"Maybe so," said Eldest Uncle, "yet if this land approaches close by Earth and is flung away again by a spell woven by human sorcerers, that act, too, will cause manifold destruction. The tides of the universe spare no object, for even when bodies do not touch, they influence each other. If you are trained in the craft of the stars, then you understand this principle. No part of the shore is safe from a high tide, or an ebb tide. Either way, Earth will suffer."

Twilight came suddenly; the gap in the ceiling darkened so quickly that spinning dust motes caught in shafts of light simply vanished as shadow spread. For a moment, it was too dark for even Liath to see. Then the Eagle Seat and the Jaguar Seat began to glow, illuminating the two figures who stood on their backs: Feather Cloak and Eldest Uncle. In that gleam, the shells and beads decorating their cloaks and arm sheaths took on new colors, roots of scarlet and viridian that shuddered deep within.

His final words, like an arrow, were aimed at her heart.” The only choice is whether my people perish utterly, or whether we will be given a chance to live."

In her mind's eye she saw the ruined city that ended at a shoreline so sharp and straight that a knife might have shorn it off. A knife—or a vast spell whose power beggared the imagination and left her a little stunned—might have sheared off the land so, cutting it cleanly as one slices away a piece of meat from the haunch.

To contemplate the power of such a spell, such a sundering, left her sick to her stomach and profoundly dizzy. She went hot all over. Her blood pounded in her limbs, and the hot taste of fire burned on her lips as a wind roared in her ears.

Who would perish, and who would live? Who had earned the right to make that choice?

The room blazed with heat. The council members cried out as fire blossomed at the heart of the Eagle Seat, engulfing Feather Cloak entirely. Liath staggered at its brilliance, yet within the archway of leaping flames shadows writhed.

Hanna riding in the train of a battered army across a grassy landscape mottled with trees and low hills.

Hugh seated at a feast in the place of honor next to a laughing man who wears a crown of iron, yet as she takes in her breath sharply, horrified to see Hugh's beautiful face, he looks up, startled, just as if he has heard her. He turns to speak intently to the veiled woman seated at his right hand.

Wolfhere walking with bowed shoulders down a forest path. She forms his name on her lips, and abruptly he glances up and speaks, audibly: "Liath?"

Lamps burn in a chamber made rich by the lush tapestries hanging on its walls. People have gathered around King Henry
—
she recognizes him at once
—
but as though a lodestone drags her, her vision pulls past him to that which she most seeks: Ai, God, it is Blessing! The baby is crying, struggling in Heribert's arms as she reaches out for her mother.

"Ma! Ma! " the infant cries.

Blessing can see her!

"Blessing!" she cries. Then she sees him, emerging out of a shadowed corner. Maybe her heart will break, because she misses him so much.” Sanglant!"

He leaps forward.” Liath!" But a figure jerks him back.

They were gone.

"Look!" shouted Cat Mask.

Through the fading blaze, Liath saw a sleeping man. His head was turned away from her, but two black hounds lay on either side of him, like guardians. He stirred in his sleep. That fast, fire and vision vanished, and the flames settled like falling wings to reveal Feather Cloak standing unharmed.

Liath sank down to the floor, shaking so hard she could not stand.

"Let this be a sign," said Feather Cloak sternly.” Who among you saw the Impatient One and the man who must be her son, who partakes both of our blood and of human blood?"

But the others had not seen the vision made of fire, and Liath was too shaken to speak.

"She must leave," said Feather Cloak to Eldest Uncle.” She bears an ill-omened name. Her power is too great, and like all of humankind, she does not understand it. I have spoken."

"So be it," said Eldest Uncle.

Cat Mask jumped forward.” Let her blood be taken to give us strength!"

They all began arguing at once as Liath leaped to her feet.” Is this what you call justice?" she cried.