Tomorrow, Elcho Falling,” Eleanon said softly, leaning against the rock wall of Serpent’s Nest. They were high in the mountain, having followed stairwells and corridors that lay under centuries of dust. Eleanon was sure that not even Ishbel could find them here tonight.
“Tomorrow, Elcho Falling,” Inardle said. She had her eyes focused far out into the Infinity Sea.
Eleanon reached out a hand and touched her cheek softly. “Do you mind being with Axis?”
“No,” she said.
“Do you love him?”
Inardle did not answer.
“Do not love him, Inardle. Surely you could not have fallen for his corrupt charms. He yearns for Azhure, and—”
“Do not lecture me, Eleanon!”
Eleanon remained silent, studying Inardle. “You are Lealfast first and foremost, my love,” he said eventually.
“I have as much Icarii blood in me as Axis.”
“You are Lealfast, Inardle, not Icarii! I can see now it was a mistake to send you to Axis.”
“What?” she said, turning her face to him. “You think it a mistake to have me so close to Axis, and thus to Maximilian? Do you think it a mistake that I now sit in on their close counsel, and if I am not there, then I hear it from Axis’ mouth later? Do you think it a mistake that Ishbel now thinks to befriend me, and that—”
Eleanon held up his hands in surrender. “Peace, Inardle! Ah, you had me worried there. I had thought you so besotted with Axis that you preferred him to me.”
“It has been a long time since we have been lovers, Eleanon.”
“But we can be again, yes, when this is all done?”
She shrugged.
“And when all is done, Elcho Falling will be ours, and we shall control our own destiny. We shall be whole, Inardle. Not half and half. Whole. The One has promised this.”
“You believe him?”
“Yes. I had my doubts, but yes, now I believe him.”
“And what price does the One demand for this, Eleanon?”
“Elcho Falling. Its master.”
“Everyone wants Elcho Falling,” she said quietly, then sighed. “And so, shall you commit your grand treachery against Maximilian tomorrow, Eleanon?”
“No. I—we—shall wait. We both learn all we can about Elcho Falling and its magics. We learn how Maximilian and Axis plan to defend it.” Eleanon gave a short laugh. “Already BroadWing is taking me into his confidence, and Axis will tell you whatever you ask him. Are you with us, Inardle?”
“Of course, Eleanon.”
He nodded. “Have you heard about the curse the One placed on Maximilian? Has Axis told you?”
“Yes. It seems…cumbersome.”
“As it is meant to be. It is to keep Maximilian occupied only, like giving a child a puzzle to keep him quiet while the adults play games elsewhere.”
“And we are to play the games.”
Eleanon laughed. “Of course! We shall be the ones to deliver Elcho Falling, and Maximilian, and Axis and all the cursed Icarii to the One, earning for ourselves, in the doing, a home and a future.”
Inardle stayed for a long time after Eleanon had left, staring out over the ocean, wondering where she could go from here.
There didn’t seem a single safe place left for her.