collars did not shine in the gloom as hers did. Or change their hues. So the queen wasn’t wearing a collar—her own skin must be glowing. Was that the true mark of Naos?
“We have bad news, Marshal. Chancellor Haedus drowned this morning while windsurfing.”
Rigel said, “Oh, damn!” His eyes said more, which Avior could not read.
“My cousin Celaeno has agreed to take over his duties pro tem.”
“Brave lady!”
At that moment a window in the bow swung open and Izar slid in over the sill. “We’re there, Mom! And I’m hungry.”
“Council adjourned,” Talitha said. “Marshal Rigel, will you please remove this intruder and see that he’s put safely to bed? Safely for the rest of the Starlands, I mean.”
Back on deck, Avior realized how astonishingly quiet the Starlands were. With no traffic and no wind, the only sounds were a faint hiss from some of the nearer torches and a mutter of voices. Overhead the stars were dazzling in all their glory. Even the clear prairie air of Saskatchewan never let them shine like that.
The barge had come to rest in a large rectangular pool within an excessively formal, rectangular courtyard of Egyptian style. Statues of animal-headed gods stood sentry along looming stone walls covered in inscriptions. Half a dozen living sphinxes and two centaurs stood guard at the foot of the gangplank, and a dozen human youths held aloft torches that burned brighter than five-hundred-watt light bulbs. Six or seven elves waited in the background.
Avior stayed close to Rigel as he described the location of the root portal to the big sphinx. Then he tentatively offered his arm to her with a sympathetic smile that she would normally have blasted right off his superior-male-juvenile face. But this was not a normal situation, and Rigel seemed to be the only thread of sanity in the nightmare. Besides, it might be the custom of this place. She forced herself to accept, and together they followed Izar down the plank. Running over to one of the statues, which stood at least ten meters high, he slapped one of its enormous toes.
“Open for Starling Izar!”
The statue reached an arm sideways and pushed back a section of wall to make an opening that would have admitted an elephant. Izar went skipping through and the great door closed behind him.
Then Rigel tapped the stone toe. “Halfling Rigel and a trusted visitor. Touch this and say your name, Avior. Good. Now you’re authorized.”
They walked through the gap into a room that seemed like a bizarre combination of office and stable, with filing cabinets, very high desks, an animal scent, and heaps of straw for napping.
“That was a portal,” Rigel said. “Most portals are not kept locked like that one. To go between domains you must travel by air, but you can use portals to go to any other portal within the same domain. We didn’t need the barge to get here from Small Harbor, except that there was no portal close to it. Sometimes short journeys take longer than long ones. May the stars be with you, Officer Praecipua!”
The sphinx he addressed bowed to touch his beard to the pavement. “And with you, Marshal. We were worried when you failed to return.”
“I was a lot more worried than you were. Halfling Avior is newly introverted to the Starlands, but has not yet applied for status. Give her a security rank of three for now.”
Four sphinxes and two centaurs were scattered around the guard room in various states of repose, but they all rose as if to honor the visitors as Rigel escorted Avior to the far end, where a very large, gilt-framed mirror hung on the wall. Izar had already disappeared.
“Alula,” Rigel said, and the mirror dissolved, revealing a carpeted, paneled corridor, lit by hanging lanterns. “How are you for vertigo? Prone to seasickness?”
“I have an iron stomach!” Avior declared confidently.
“Don’t your digestive juices corrode it? The reason I ask is that this subdomain is officially known
“We have bad news, Marshal. Chancellor Haedus drowned this morning while windsurfing.”
Rigel said, “Oh, damn!” His eyes said more, which Avior could not read.
“My cousin Celaeno has agreed to take over his duties pro tem.”
“Brave lady!”
At that moment a window in the bow swung open and Izar slid in over the sill. “We’re there, Mom! And I’m hungry.”
“Council adjourned,” Talitha said. “Marshal Rigel, will you please remove this intruder and see that he’s put safely to bed? Safely for the rest of the Starlands, I mean.”
Back on deck, Avior realized how astonishingly quiet the Starlands were. With no traffic and no wind, the only sounds were a faint hiss from some of the nearer torches and a mutter of voices. Overhead the stars were dazzling in all their glory. Even the clear prairie air of Saskatchewan never let them shine like that.
The barge had come to rest in a large rectangular pool within an excessively formal, rectangular courtyard of Egyptian style. Statues of animal-headed gods stood sentry along looming stone walls covered in inscriptions. Half a dozen living sphinxes and two centaurs stood guard at the foot of the gangplank, and a dozen human youths held aloft torches that burned brighter than five-hundred-watt light bulbs. Six or seven elves waited in the background.
Avior stayed close to Rigel as he described the location of the root portal to the big sphinx. Then he tentatively offered his arm to her with a sympathetic smile that she would normally have blasted right off his superior-male-juvenile face. But this was not a normal situation, and Rigel seemed to be the only thread of sanity in the nightmare. Besides, it might be the custom of this place. She forced herself to accept, and together they followed Izar down the plank. Running over to one of the statues, which stood at least ten meters high, he slapped one of its enormous toes.
“Open for Starling Izar!”
The statue reached an arm sideways and pushed back a section of wall to make an opening that would have admitted an elephant. Izar went skipping through and the great door closed behind him.
Then Rigel tapped the stone toe. “Halfling Rigel and a trusted visitor. Touch this and say your name, Avior. Good. Now you’re authorized.”
They walked through the gap into a room that seemed like a bizarre combination of office and stable, with filing cabinets, very high desks, an animal scent, and heaps of straw for napping.
“That was a portal,” Rigel said. “Most portals are not kept locked like that one. To go between domains you must travel by air, but you can use portals to go to any other portal within the same domain. We didn’t need the barge to get here from Small Harbor, except that there was no portal close to it. Sometimes short journeys take longer than long ones. May the stars be with you, Officer Praecipua!”
The sphinx he addressed bowed to touch his beard to the pavement. “And with you, Marshal. We were worried when you failed to return.”
“I was a lot more worried than you were. Halfling Avior is newly introverted to the Starlands, but has not yet applied for status. Give her a security rank of three for now.”
Four sphinxes and two centaurs were scattered around the guard room in various states of repose, but they all rose as if to honor the visitors as Rigel escorted Avior to the far end, where a very large, gilt-framed mirror hung on the wall. Izar had already disappeared.
“Alula,” Rigel said, and the mirror dissolved, revealing a carpeted, paneled corridor, lit by hanging lanterns. “How are you for vertigo? Prone to seasickness?”
“I have an iron stomach!” Avior declared confidently.
“Don’t your digestive juices corrode it? The reason I ask is that this subdomain is officially known
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