Yggur blew on his chard. He took a tentative sip, then blew on it again.

Malien tested the bouquet of the wine with a delicate sniff and smiled with pleasure. She sipped, rolling it back over her tongue. 'A truly great year, and a master winemaker.'

'Unobtainable now,' he said. 'The vineyards lie abandoned and covered in weeds.'

'Vines are long-lived,' Malien replied. 'Should the-war end, with judicious pruning they'll yield again. And the oldest vines give the best fruit. I could spend a pleasant day in your cellars, Yggur, if only we had the leisure. You were saying?'

'I've realised that the world is worth saving, and who else but we can do it. What's your tale, Malien?'

'It has elements in common with your own. My line doesn't come from the long-lived Aachim, so I expected my end a hundred years ago. It never came. Since the Forbidding I've been an exile, revered for my place in the Histories but rejected for the independence of spirit that made my name. It's a hard thing to suffer when your own people won't have you. I'd had enough and was preparing to go to the Well when Tiaan came and shook me out of it. I too have begun to live again.'

So here we are, two geriatrics — three if you count Flydd taking on the mighty. How the scrutators would roll about if they knew.'

She smiled. 'I dare say. Well, let's see if wisdom and ageless cunning are their match.'

He raised his bowl. 'To ageless cunning.'

They drank the toast, after which Yggur said curiously, 'Why do you need Gilhaelith?'

She explained her fears about the excessive drain on the world's nodes, the danger to the nodes themselves, and the wider threat that posed. 'Bilfis might have solved that problem, in time and with sufficiently good maps of the nodes. Now he's dead, I know of no one with the talents -geomancy plus the new Art of mathemancy — to do the same.'

'Except this miserable fellow I have in my dungeon,' said Yggur. 'I understand your concern. Profligacy is the curse of the modern age. Mancers no longer care for elegance, subtlety or economy in their Art. Nothing but raw power will do, and the more of it the better. Match power with greater power and simply blast your enemy away, no matter that it brings the whole world to ruin.'

'You're right, of course. Our age is well over, and lamenting it makes no difference. But who else has the vision to see where the world is heading?'

'The bigger picture,' he said approvingly. 'To me it's all part of the same picture. In the past we had our differences, Malien, but I trust you and I hope you feel the same way about me. I'll help you with the nodes, and even pressure this miserable worm Gilhaelith for you, though I doubt you'll find him cooperative. I know his type.'

'What do you require in return?'

'I require nothing,' he said, surprising her.

'Nothing?' He'd certainly changed from the single-minded Yggur of old, who had measured his debts to the last copper grint, and expected those who owed him to be equally exacting.

'You know what I want — the use of your thapter — but given freely. I would not make things worse by coming between you and your own kind..' 'We are already sundered,' said Malien, quaffing her wine.

'Vithis has declared clan-vengeance against Tiaan, for injuries done to his son during her escape. Since I helped her get away from Stassor, it applies equally to me.' In response to his quizzical glance, she told that tale.

'Astounding,' said Yggur at the end of it. 'And Tiaan is just a slip of a woman. Who would have thought she could do such marvels?'

'Other slips have,' Malien said dryly, 'going all the way back to my distant ancestor, Elienor. Not all heroes are big, sword-waving louts. Or tall, dark, wand-waving mancers, for that matter.'

'I forget the very Histories I've lived through.' He stared into the fire, remembering ancient days, but some thought must have caused him pain for he put his hands over his face, breathing heavily.

'Since I am exiled,' said Malien, 'no act of mine can further reflect on the Aachim. Therefore I offer my thapter to you, freely and unencumbered. Better yet, I will come with you to Nennifer. There may be a need for my talents.'

He did not react at once. Yggur rocked on his chair, then shook off his malaise and stood up. Malien did too.

'Thank you,' he said, bowing from the waist. 'You give me new hope. Shall we go back and plan the attack?'

'Walls have ears, even those as solid as your own. Let's keep the details to those who need to know, at least until we've lifted away from here.'

'Very wise,' he said. 'Just you, me and Xervish Flydd, then. We'll be on our way with the utmost speed. Who knows but Gilhaelith may find a way to reveal our secret, in time.'

'It feels as though we've gone back to last year,' Nish said to Irisis the following evening. 'Tiaan turns up and suddenly we're not trusted any more.'

Yesterday's meeting had been cancelled and they had been set to packing supplies and weapons and stowing them in the thapter, along with ropes, climbing irons, armour, tents and alpine sleeping pouches, and the myriad other things on Flydd's lists that they would need for an assault on the most closely guarded fortress in the known world.

'You're just feeling guilty for the way you treated her before,' said Irisis.

'I own it. I behaved shabbily to her. And so did you.'

Irisis shrugged. 'I've never denied it, but guilt isn't one of my afflictions.' That wasn't entirely true, but she didn't suffer from it the way Nish did. He was still having trouble coming to terms with Tiaan being here and, not knowing what to say, avoided her whenever possible. 'I can see why they'd want to keep it secret.'

Despite her words, she felt aggrieved at being left out. She'd helped to carry the crated and sealed items from Yggur's storeroom. They had to do with the Art, and with controllers too, and therefore came within her province, but she could discover nothing about what was inside, or what they were to be used for.

The attack would consist of Yggur, Flydd, Malien, Fyn-Mah, Inouye, Flangers, Nish, Irisis and Tiaan, plus three of Yggur's most experienced soldiers. They were leaving tomorrow afternoon, but had been told nothing more.

'It'll have to be one hell of a clever plan,' Nish persisted. 'The twelve of us against two thousand soldiers, hundreds of mancers, and everyone else in Nennifer.'

'Or a suicidal one,' said Irisis. 'If we fail, as seems likely, it'll be the end of any effective resistance in Lauralin.'

'That'll no longer be our worry.'

'Or our friends' or relatives',' she reminded him. 'The scrutators will destroy them all, down to the fourth cousins.'

He contemplated that in silence. 'And if we win, we'll have the Numinator after us.'

'I wish you hadn't mentioned that.'

'I wish I hadn't thought of it.'

'I dare say they'll tell us the plan on the way,' said Irisis. 'It'll take quite a few days to fly to Nennifer, so there'll be plenty of time for detailed planning. Better get a good night's sleep. It'll be your last in a proper bed for a while.'