Sara Douglass - The Serpent Bride

This far north the river journey was no longer. pleasant In its lower reaches the Lhyl was a broad, serene waterway, but close to its source the river narrowed and became an ever more unruly travelling companion. The travellers swapped their initial broad-beamed riverboat for a narrow and much smaller vessel, which depended on both sail and the raw brute force of rowers to enable them to continue against the current. There was little room, with both travellers and rowers crammed onto benches, and Ba’al’uz had to put up with the indignity of having the stench and grunting of the rowers in his face twelve hours a day.

It was a relief finally to disembark, pay the riverboat captain, and continue their journey by horseback.

After almost three weeks on the river, Ba’al’uz and his companions were now in the very north of the En-Dor Dependency, itself the northernmost of the Tyranny’s dependencies. Directly north rose the foothills of the FarReach Mountains, and beyond them the soaring pink and cream sandstone snow-tipped peaks of the mountains themselves. Ba’al’uz faced many days on horseback across a dry and barren landscape to reach Hairekeep, Isaiah’s northernmost fortress which guarded the entrance to the Salamaan Pass in the FarReach Mountains.

Once they’d left the Lhyl water was hard to come by, and they needed to carefully plot each day’s travel to ensure that they reached the next water source alive. The travel was a strain on both men and horses, and Ba’al’uz was heartily relieved to finally reach the fortress at the dusk of a particularly hot and uncomfortable day.

The fortress of Hairekeep had been built almost three centuries ago by one of the Isembaardian tyrants to control travel through the Salamaan Pass, which connected the lands of the Tyranny to the kingdoms north of the mountains. For travellers — apart from braving the treacherous sea passage between Coroleas and the Tyranny, or sailing down the Infinity Sea to the east (and in both cases there were no large ports on the Tyranny’s coastlines at which trading vessels could dock) — the Salamaan Pass was the only dependable passage between the north of the continent and the south, and the soldiers stationed at Hairekeep ensured that it remained closed to all but the very few who had the necessary permissions.

Ba’al’uz thought the fortress resembled nothing less than a massive stone block rising vertically out of the rock-strewn landscape. For almost twenty paces from ground level there were no windows in those walls, then only slits for a further ten paces, and only after forty paces did windows punctuate the stone to allow light inside. The walls continued vertically for another fifty paces to parapets that commanded magnificent views, not only of the Pass to the north, but of all the surrounding countryside. Despite its forbidding aspect, the fortress was stunning: built out of the sand and rose-coloured stone of the FarReach Mountains themselves, it glowed with an almost unearthly radiance in the twilight, reminding Ba’al’uz of the small glass pyramids Lister had given himself and Isaiah.

The fortress commander was expecting them, and treated them to a good meal and the promise of an evening of good company.

But Ba’al’uz was tired, and impatient to retire to his quarters, so he made his excuses as politely as he might, and made his way to his chambers set high in the fortress.

Here, having fortified himself with a glass of wine, and washed away most of the grime of his journey, Ba’al’uz unwrapped his own rosy glass pyramid that he’d carefully stowed in his pack.

Ba’al’uz sat, fingering it for some time.

He didn’t like Lister. He was a complication in Ba’al’uz’ life. No one had been more surprised than Ba’al’uz at the arrival of Lister’s offer to ally with Isaiah. Ba’al’uz was even more surprised at the gift to himself, from Lister, of one of the rosy pyramids.

Beautiful things they were, and powerful. Ba’al’uz had thought initially they were connected in some manner to DarkGlass Mountain, but use demonstrated that they were different entirely. The power associated with Lister’s pyramids was colder, and far more horrid, than that which DarkGlass Mountain radiated. Ba’al’uz didn’t particularly like using the pyramid, but it was useful, enabling him to discover what Lister was about and also to aid Lister’s and Isaiah’s plans to invade the kingdoms north of the FarReach Mountains.

There was nothing more Ba’al’uz wanted than to see Isaiah out of Isembaard.

So Ba’al’uz pretended to be Lister’s ally, for at the moment it suited Ba’al’uz’ purpose. He wondered, at times, if Lister thought he might use Ba’al’uz against Isaiah, and would smile at the thought of everyone plotting against everyone else.

Life sometimes could be so much fun.

Ba’al’uz took a deep breath, settled himself more comfortably on his bed, and wrapped his right hand about the pyramid.

As with Isaiah’s pyramid, so Ba’al’uz’ glowed first a radiant pink, then red, then flared into sun-bright gold before subduing to a soft yellow.

Ba’al’uz removed his hand and there, waiting for him as arranged, was Lister, the Lord of the Skraelings.

“Where are you?” said Lister.

“Hairekeep. Well on my way to the north.”

“You will need to negotiate the FarReach Mountains yet, my delightfully crazed friend.”

Ba’al’uz grinned. “You know you can depend on me.”

Lister laughed. “Yes, I know that. Now, tell me about Isaiah. He is hiding something. I felt it the last time I spoke with him.”

“He has a new friend. Axis SunSoar. Perhaps you have heard of him?”

There was a brief silence when Ba’al’uz could almost feel Lister’s surprise, but then Lister spoke calmly. “Surely. The Skraelings curse with his name. But I thought Axis was long dead, sunk beneath the waves of the Widowmaker Sea along with his land. The Skraelings drank themselves silly with jubilation the day that happened, I can tell you.”

“Some months ago Isaiah made a weekend foray down to Lake Juit. He took a punt out into the lake, and from its waters dragged forth Axis SunSoar. Remarkable, eh?”

“I imagine that you must have aided him in this,” Lister said.

“I did not. Isaiah managed it all on his own. Do you know how he did it, Lister?”

“Me? How should I know? I cannot begin to imagine what Isaiah could want with the man.”

“Surely you can work that one out, Lister. Isaiah doesn’t trust you, and who better to tell him how to outwit the Lord of the Skraelings than Axis SunSoar.”

Lister managed a small smile. “Then he is sadly mistaken if he thinks Axis can better me. I have far more secrets than the Skraelings to batter at Isaiah should he think to outwit me.”

“Really? What? Do tell. You know you can trust me.”

Lister waved a hand, dismissing Ba’al’uz’ question. “Tell me, beloved friend, how goes DarkGlass Mountain?”

Ba’al’uz frowned. What did Lister know? “What do you mean?” he said.

“Just curious. I find myself fascinated with the mountain. It doesn’t … chatter to you at all?”