Lister paced up and down in the darkness beyond Maximilian’s camp.
Vorstus stood to one side, irritatingly calm.
“Where is she?” Lister muttered. “I need to know what happened.”
“Maxel has abandoned me,” Ravenna said, walking out of the night. “That is what has happened. He is blind to Ishbel’s danger, and thinks me the greater one!”
Lister had to repress a smile at that last. “You’re upset,” he said.
“My mother is dead!” Ravenna said. “So, yes, I am upset!”
“And now your fair prince has abandoned you,” Vorstus murmured. “After all you have done for him.”
Ravenna gave Lister an irritated look. “We need to leave. I need to leave—Maxel will surely have his damned Emerald Guard out hunting me—and I want to know if you are coming with me.”
Lister stared back at the camp, at Maximilian’s command tent. “I have watched him so long, longed for him so long.”
“He is set on a path of destruction,” Ravenna said. “He cannot see past Ishbel, and she will murder him and this land. This,” she laid her hand on her stomach, “is Elcho Falling’s future now.”
“Lister, we need to get the crown.”
Lister turned a little so he could look toward Ishbel’s tent. “Maximilian is in there with her at the moment,” he said. “It would be too foolish to try for it now.”
“You’re afraid of him?” Ravenna said.
Now Lister’s eyes slid back her way. “You’re not? We can snatch it later, but for now…”
“For now,” Ravenna said, “Armat. He is close. We can be with him within the day.”
“I had hoped it would not come to this,” Lister said.
“So did I,” Ravenna said, a catch in her voice. “But now it has. Come.”
Maximilian had been sitting with Ishbel for an hour when Egalion came in.
Maximilian motioned him to stay by the door, and himself moved to speak to him quietly.
“Ravenna?” Maximilian asked.
“We can’t find her,” Egalion said.
“Shit!” “There is more bad news. Lister has gone, and Vorstus also.”
“And how is that bad news?”
“Well, obviously Lister and Vorstus have gone with—”
“Yes, I know, Egalion. I was just making a bad jest.” He rubbed a hand over tired eyes. “What else can go wrong, eh? Isaiah is dead, and his loss I do most deeply regret. Venetia is dead, murdered in the saving of Ishbel’s life. Lister and Vorstus have taken up with Ravenna, believing her lies for whatever reason they choose. I worry about Axis, and what is happening with Armat.” Maximilian looked at Ishbel. “And Ishbel…what happened? Did she free or destroy the Weeper?”
Now he turned his gaze back to Egalion. “Should I just go home, Egalion, and allow the entire world to destroy itself? I need to say this, my friend, but I have never been as low as I am at this moment. There is no brightness left, no hope.”
“Perhaps when Ishbel wakes…”
Maximilian gave a soft laugh that was bereft of any humor. “Perhaps when Ishbel wakes she will compound my despair, Egalion. Perhaps Ravenna was right.”
“No,” Egalion said in a low tone, but fiercely. “Ravenna was not right. Look, Maxel, go back and wait by Ishbel’s side. Rest, if you can. Perhaps tomorrow will bring—”
Maximilian gave Egalion a look of such cynicism that the man broke off.
“Perhaps,” Maximilian said, then he turned his back on Egalion and went to Ishbel.
Despite his low spirits and the uncomfortable chair, Maximilian eventually drifted off into a doze. He woke, suddenly, when Ishbel whispered his name.
“Ishbel! Are you well?”
“Yes, just very tired. Maxel, what happened to Venetia?”
“She is dead. I’m sorry. Ravenna—”
“Ravenna killed her. Maxel, if it wasn’t for Venetia…”
“What happened, Ishbel?”
Briefly Ishbel told him how Ravenna had attacked her, and how then Venetia had come to her rescue. “She saved my life, Maxel.”
Maximilian squeezed her hand. “I know. Ishbel…Ravenna has gone. I said harsh words to her and struck her. I have never been so angry before.”
Ishbel attempted a small smile. “Not even at me?”
“Not even at you. I found her, with Venetia’s body. I just…”
Now it was Ishbel who squeezed Maximilian’s hand.
“Venetia saved my life, Maxel. I will forever be grateful to her.”
“Ishbel…”
She gave a small smile. “Do you want to know what happened? Did I free the Weeper?”
Maximilian was so terrified of her answer, and so completely unable to read her face, he could not frame the question.
“Maxel, we need to go into the Twisted Tower.”