... when you made a certain promise ...
"Yes?" Evian's smug manner was gone; he looked guarded.
"You mentioned the Nine-Fingered One."
Evian glared. He grabbed Jared's arm and hauled him into the crowd, moving so fast, people stared as they were pushed aside. Out in the corridor he hissed, "Never say that name aloud. It is a sacred and a holy name for those who believe."
Jared tugged his arm free. "I have heard of many cults and beliefs. Certainly all the ones the Queen allows. But this--"
"This is not the day to discuss religion."
"Yes k is." Jared's eyes were sharp and clear. "And we have very little time. Does he have another name, this hero of yours?"
Evian breathed out angrily. "I really can't say."
"You will say, my lord," Jared said pleasantly, "or I'll make such an outcry right now about your assassination plan that every guard in the Palace will hear it."
Evian's brow prickled with sweat. "I think not."
Jared glanced down; the fat man had a dagger in his hand, the blade hard against
Jared's stomach. With an effort, he met the man's eyes. "Either way, my lord, you would be discovered. Ail I ask is a name."
For a moment they were face-to-face. Then Lord Evian said, "You are a brave man, Sapient, but don't cross me again. As for the name, yes, indeed there is one, hidden in time, lost in legend. The name of the One who claimed to have escaped from Incarceron. In the most mysterious of our rites he is known as Sapphique.
Does that satisfy your curiosity?"
Jared stared at him for a split second. Then he shoved him aside. And ran.
KEIRO WAS wild with anger; he and Gildas were yelling at her. "How can you abandon us?" the Sapient scorched. "Sapphique Escaped! Of course there is a way out!"
She was silent. She was looking at Finn. He sat huddled up against a smashed angle of decking, stiff with misery. His jacket was torn and there were cuts on his face, but now more than ever she was sure he was Giles. Now that it was too late.
"And you're marrying him," he said quietly.
Gildas swore. Keiro gave his oathbrother a scathing look. "What does it matter who she marries! Perhaps she decided she likes him better than you." He turned, hands on hips, and faced her arrogantly. "Is that it, Princess? Was this all a little diversion for you, a pretty game?" He jerked his head. "Such lovely flowers! Such a sweet dress!"
He came up so close to her that she almost felt he would reach out and grab her, but then
Finn said, "Shut up, Keiro." He got up and faced her. "Just tell me why. Why is it so impossible?"
She couldn't. How could she tell them that? "Jared found some things out. You have to believe me."
"What things?"
"About Incarceron. It's finished, Finn. Please. Make a life for yourself there. Forget the
Outside ..."
"And what about me?" Gildas snapped. "I've spent sixty years planning my Escape! I scoured the Prison for a lifetime before I found a Starseer, and I'll never find another! We have traveled to the End of the World, girl! I will not give up my dreams of a lifetime!"
She stood up and stalked toward him, furious. "You use him like my father uses me. All he is to you is a way out; you don't care about him! Any of you!"
"That's not true!" Attia hissed.
Claudia ignored her. Looking hard at Finn she said, "I'm sorry. I wish things could have been different. I'm sorry."
There was some sort of commotion outside her door; she turned and yelled, "I won't see anyone! Send them away!"
Finn said, "Do you know what I'm escaping from? From not knowing myself. Having this darkness inside me, this emptiness. I can't live with that. Don't leave me here, Claudia!"
She couldn't bear it anymore. Not Keiro's anger, not the fierce old man, not him. He was hurting her, and none of this was her fault, none of it. She reached out for the Key. "This is good-bye, Finn. I have to give up the Key. My father knows about everything. It's over."
Her fingers closed on the link. Voices argued outside the door.
And then Attia said, "He's not your father, Claudia." They all turned to her.
She was sitting on the floor, arms around her knees. She didn't get up or say anything more but just sat there in the shocked silence she had created, her narrow face grimy and calm, her dark hair greasy.
Claudia came right up to her, "What?" Her own voice sounded small and unfamiliar.
"I'm afraid it's true." Attia was cool and distant. "I wouldn't have told you, but now you're forcing me to, and it's time you knew. The Warden of Incarceron is not your father."
"You lying little bitch!"
"No, it's true."
Keiro grinned.
Claudia felt as if the world had shaken. Suddenly the hubbub outside was too much; turning her back on them, she hauled open the door. Jared was there, and two guards holding him back.
"What is this?" Her voice was steel. "Let him through."
"Your father's orders, lady--"
"My father," she screamed, "can go to hell!" Jared pushed her back into the room and slammed the door. "Claudia, listen--"
"Please, Master! Not now!"
He saw the lightfield. Claudia stalked back to it. "All right. Tell me," she said.
For a moment Attia said nothing. Then she stood up, brushing dirt from her bare arms. "I never liked you. Haughty, selfish, spoiled. You think you're so tough--you wouldn't last ten minutes in here. And Finn is worth ten of you."
"Attia" Finn growled, but Claudia said sharply, "Let her speak."
"Back there in the Sapient's tower we found lists of all the Prisoners who have ever been in this place. They all looked for their own names, but I didn't." Attia came close to