Worlds Without End by Caroline Spector Page A

even when she wielded so much power that most of my people trembled before her, I had won a small victory over her.
    But there was no more time to wonder over such childish things—we had reached the gate of the castle.
    Alachia waved and the gates swung silently inward. The courtyard was bathed in the light from thousands of floating will-o’-the-wisps. They fluttered around us, rising and falling with the breeze. It was like walking through a rain of stars.
    Then we were moving up the wide, white, marble steps leading to the great doors. Made of oak and tall as a two-story house, they were banded in brass in deference to the faerie hatred of iron. As the doors opened, a radiance spilled forth. I stepped into the brilliance.
    * * *
    The great hall of the castle dwarfed any I had seen before or since. This was no mean feat given what I’ve seen in my time. I could feel the magical energies flowing through this place. The magic to pull Hy-Breasail from the sea, to create this castle upon it, to gather the members of faerie who still remained here on Earth, and to pull back those who had left for other planes. An impressive feat indeed.
    At the far end of the hall, I saw a group of elves. Alachia moved toward them with her usual single-mindedness. As she approached, the group parted and allowed her to pass. I squeezed in just as they closed ranks again.
    Standing at the center of all this attention was a tall elf wearing a black leather breast plate over a long white dress. Her fine hair was bobbed off short, one side shorn away so short I could see the fragile shape of her skull beneath. Her skin was the color of amber and I saw that her eyes were blue, transparent and glittering as ice. Though she was only as tall as Alachia, there emanated from her a power that I found compelling. The same sort of power that Alachia had once wielded so many lives ago.
    She glanced at Alachia, then at Caimbeul, and finally, at me.
    “Lady Brane, may I present Aina Sluage.” said Caimbeul. Alachia shot him a hateful look, but didn’t say anything.
    I stepped forward, but didn’t bow. Though I knew she was made as I, she was only a child compared to me. Just as I was a child compared to Alachia. And even if she did hold sway over this court, she did so at the sufferance of myself and the other Elders. So, instead of bowing, I offered her my hand. For a moment, I thought she might not take it, but then her smooth, cool hand was in mine. I felt an odd shock, and then our eyes met.
    Yes, she was fit to rule, I saw. Though I had abstained from participating in the new politics between the Tirs, I was glad to know that there was someone strong enough to deal with whatever was to come. The only question was: Could I convince her that the threat was real?
    “I have heard your name.” Lady Brane said. Her voice was sweet as summer wine. “When I was younger I almost thought you were a ghost, invented to scare children.”
    So that was to be the way of it. Well, I’d handled worse in my time.
    She released my hand, then beckoned me to her side as she turned to leave the group. I heard the murmuring of the others as we passed, but I ignored it. Alachia’s face was even paler than normal and I saw her eyes narrow as we passed. Good, I thought. Let her worry a bit. I suspected the nature of the poison she had managed to spread about me while I was gone worrying about more important matters.
    “You’ve created quite a stir.” she said. “Calling up the Hunt’s horses. A most impressive feat. And, from what I understand, only you and Harlequin were present.”
    “That is correct.” I said. “There are those of us ... who are of an age ... who have found such things to be . . . within our grasp.” I looked around for Caimbeul, surprised to see him hanging back. It was so unlike him.
    She stared ahead, leading me toward the back of the hall. I caught the scent of her perfume. A complex scent: grasses, sandalwood, and a few other notes of