Jack Whyte - The Skystone

Our horses grazed contentedly nearby for more than an hour while we dallied in the rich warmth of the sun, and then she suddenly sat up and reached for her clothes.

"I am lost, husband, " she said. "How far are we from the valley?" I remained where I was, supine and spread-eagled, and pointed with my thumb over my head in the direction of the crest of the hill above us.

"Just on the other side of the summit, there, " I told her. "About a half hour ride to the top, and we'll be looking down into it. " She leaned across to kiss my chest and then caught hold of my flaccid maleness, pulling it gently but firmly upwards as if it were a handle by which she could lift me.

"Well then," she said, "up off your lazy rump and let's go and look at it."

I started to rise and then lay back, staring into the sky.

"Look, up there, right above us. "

Sitting as she was, she could not see anything, so I pulled her back down beside me and we lay side by side for minutes, watching two tiny crosses floating in the sky a mile and more above us.

"What are they, Publius? Dragons?" I could hear the smile in her voice.

"No, " I said, "those are eagles. A mating pair. "

"A mating pair? You mean they are mating now?"

"Hardly, my love. I meant that they are male and female. "

"How do you know that? And how do you know they are eagles? They could be hawks. "

"No, too high up. And look at the wing span, even from here. " I reached out and took her hand where it lay beside me. "Those are eagles. They're probably watching us watching them. "

"You mean they can see us from that height?"

"Probably better than we can see them. The eagle's eye is the keenest in the world. "

She squeezed my fingers. "Do you think they are in love?"

"Probably. Eagle love. They mate for life. "

She leaned up on one elbow, looking down at me. "Really? I didn't know that. "

I squinted at her. ''Come now, I thought you knew everything!"

"No. " She lowered her head to my chest. "Not everything. Just the things I need to know and the things I want to know. " She paused for a while, then asked, "Where do you think their nest might be?" I lowered a hand to caress her hair. "I don't know, but it must be around here somewhere. This is the hatching season. They must have chicks. Wherever it is, it's somewhere high up. Probably on one of the hilltops, on a cliff face. They nest in the same place every year, too, you know. "

"The same mate and the same nesting place for life? They sound almost human. "

I still had not taken my eyes from the two solitary shapes wheeling above us. "Don't malign them, Luceiia. Some humans, very few, attain the dignity and honour, you might almost say the purity, of eagles. Very, very few. "

"What do you mean, Publius?" Her voice was very quiet.

"I mean that only eagles can be eagles, my love, and eagles can only be eagles. They are unique. They never demean or disgrace themselves. Their purity is absolute because they are incapable of voluntary imperfection. " She kissed me. "Just like you, you mean?"

I returned her kiss. "No, Luceiia, not like me at all. I'm far too human. "

"Then, husband, if you are too human, no man can ever hope to be an eagle. "

I sat up and reached for my own clothes. "That's not true, my love, " I said. "Have you ever looked closely at your brother?" She lay still and blinked her eyes in silence.

The great birds were still circling above us when we crossed the summit of the hill and looked down into the Valley of the Dragons. I showed her where we had unearthed the skystones we had found, and then I pointed out the circle segment in the lake side. As I started to lead the way along the crest of the hill towards the lake, she spoke again.

"It seems strange to realize that those massive stones at the bottom there are broken pieces of mountain. " She stared at the cliff opposite.

"Could that be where the eagles have their nest?" I turned and looked across the valley to the great rock face. "Very probably. It's sheer enough, and inaccessible. "

She rode in silence as we approached the lake, and soon we reined in our horses right above it, looking down into its depths, it was a genuine lake, much larger than a normal mountain tarn. This close, all sign of the circle segment we had seen from the distance had vanished. The bright sky and the sun above gave the surface a much friendlier aspect than some I had seen, and I was pleased that she was seeing it at its most appealing.

"Well. " I asked her, "what do you think? Have I wasted your time dragging you out here and making you spend the night in a leather tent?"

"No. " Her voice was subdued. "It's very large, Publius. Much larger than I remember. How deep is it?"

I angled my mount closer and placed a hand on her shoulder, feeling the strength of her.

"I don't really know. No way of telling. But it's deep. My estimate would be about a hundred feet or so at its deepest, judging from the slope of the valley floor, but I could be short by half as much again or even more. "

"A hundred and fifty feet? And you intend to drain it? How? Where will you drain it to? Where will it all go?"

"Come, I'll show you. " I led her for another half mile around to the western rim of the lake where she could see for herself the steep fall of the land down into the neighbouring valley. "Can you see what happened here? The impact of the falling stones threw up this rim across the end of the valley, building up the natural dam that was here already and strengthening it. You can see how new the fall is here, on this side. See it?" She nodded and I went on. "The lake here is like wine in a bowl. All we have to do is crack the side of the bowl, down there, by digging a hole into it, and the wine will spill down into the valley below, there, and then down into the next one, and so on until it reaches the plain and flows into the streams and rivers. "

"That will be dangerous, Publius, won't it?"

"How?"

"Digging that hole into the side of the bowl, as you call it. It will be dangerous. What if you dig too far?"

"No. " I shook my head disparagingly. "It's simple engineering, Luceiia. There's nothing to it. "

She was staring at me keenly. "Perhaps not, for an engineer. You are not an engineer. "

"So? What of it? Engineers can be bought, my love. "

"Where?"

I shrugged. "Anywhere. "

"Where?" Her voice was edged with determination.

"Many places. "

"Where?"

"Ye gods! I don't know! I haven't even started searching yet, Luceiia. "

"Where will you start?"

I shrugged again, suddenly uncomfortable with this inquisition. It seemed she was determined to be difficult. I was wrong, however, as her next words showed.

"This is very important to you, Publius, so it is also very important to me, but I will not have you grubbing and digging around down there on your own, so think! If you had to find an engineer, urgently, for anything, where would you start looking?"

I gaped at her, feeling the surprise on my face. "The army. "

"Exactly. The army. Surely you and Caius have enough friends and influence between you to arrange to borrow a decent engineer? What about Tonius Cicero? Could he not arrange something?" For the space of a few seconds I was filled with elation, but then my spirits slumped again. She was watching my face closely and noticed it.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, " I said. "And everything. It is a fine idea, but it would not work. Caius would never condone the use of imperial troops for a private operation like this, and when I think of it, I wouldn't, either. "

"Why not, if it benefits the army, too? I heard Tonius myself, during the wedding feast, saying that his people are always trying to find something to do to give their men experience in different areas. It seems to me that this operation would make an exciting training project — a tactical exercise in the physical removal of large volumes of water. " I couldn't get close enough to her to kiss her, but she came to me. "My love, " I told her, "you are your brother's sister!"