"I will not harm you again," WolfStar said, looking at her carefully.
Her mouth twisted. "But will I harm myself?" she said.
WolfStar struggled up onto one elbow. "Why should you?" he asked.
Zenith looked at him. His face and form were half-hidden with the shifting shadows cast by the lamp, but she could see the gleam of his eyes, the hard planes of his face, the rise and fall of his chest.
"StarDrifter and I," she said, in a matter-of-fact tone, "have been having some personal difficulties."
"Yes?"
Zenith stared at WolfStar suspiciously, trying to find the merest hint of sarcasm, or even triumph, in his voice. But it was not there. What she could see of his face was merely wearied by the effort of raising himself up to look at her.
Zenith shrugged, letting her eyes drift away. "We are SunSoar," she said. "And our blood calls each to the other."
She glanced back at WolfStar, but his face was unreadable, and he remained silent.
"But ... but however much I love StarDrifter, and I do, and however much I want to be his lover, and that I desire as well, I cannot."
"No," WolfStar said, and his voice was low, thoughtful. "You could not, could you?"
Now it was Zenith's turn to remain silent.
"You are Azhure's daughter," WolfStar said, "and you could no more sleep with your own grandfather than you could thrust your own child into the fire."
And then he burst out laughing, apparently with genuine amusement. "Ah! I forgot. That you could do, and that you did do, very well, didn't you? Oh no, Zenith, do not go. I am laughing, but at my own stupidity and careless words than at you. Please, stay. Please."
Zenith sank back onto the stool, and let WolfStar take her hand again.
It was warm and dry and very soft and reassuring.
"I used the wrong words," he said, "but the meaning is true enough. StarDrifter is your beloved grandfather, and as much as I like to belittle the man, there are some things he does well — and being the warm, protective grandfather is one of those things. But now he wants to bed you. Poor Zenith. Your Acharite reserve must be at full war with your Icarii longings.
"And yet I," his voice lowered, and his hand slipped down to grasp lightly her wrist, "am a full-blooded Icarii man with no such reserves. A man who abused and wronged you, true, but one who has now been suitably punished, is suitably regretful ... and who is of SunSoar blood."
"Shut up!"
His fingers tightened. "Hate yourself, Zenith. Not me. Not for speaking the truth."
WolfStar paused, and when he resumed his voice was hard with truth. "Why are you here? Why?
Why come back?"
Chapter 30
The Unexpected Heavens
As StarDrifter had said, Axis had more than enough help without begging assistance from anyone.
Sanctuary was peopled with helpers, and while few as yet realised the imminent danger that faced Sanctuary, those that did were numerous enough, and eager enough, for what Axis needed.
There was the Lake Guard, twiddling their thumbs about now that DragonStar had no immediate need for them. There was Zared, and the vast army and loyalty he commanded. The Icarii numbered in their tens of thousands, and while Axis had only told FreeFall and EvenSong and their immediate aides about the demonic danger facing Sanctuary, they could command enough Icarii into the sky to blot out even Sanctuary's apparently limitless light.
"Just a few score will do," Axis had said, smiling.
Now he, Azhure, Zared and FreeFall stood about on one of the larger balconies of the main palace complex, Katie clutching Azhure's skirts as she had once clutched Faraday's. Katie had been very, very quiet in the past few hours, and while Azhure had worried about it, and tried to ask the girl what was wrong, Katie had only shaken her head and refused to speak.
The Mother's death had made her fully conscious of the terms of her own sacrifice.
A light, warm breeze blew over the balcony, tugging at coat and shirt-sleeves and wrapping the folds of Azhure's gown about her body. Zared, tired of the inaction, wandered listlessly about the balcony itself. It was tiled in a wondrous translucent turquoise, and it had salmon crystal columns supporting a balustrade of the same material.
"Not something I would have commissioned myself," he said dryly.
"It could be," Azhure said, one of her hands absently ruffling Katie's hair, "that the original Enemy had a more ostentatious taste in colour and vibrancy than their later children."
"And it could be," FreeFall said, walking to the balustrade and looking out over the orchards and fields spread out below them before turning back to the others, "that Sanctuary is merely storing all the colour and vibrancy that has been lost above. Tis no wonder, perhaps, that at times it appears a trifle gaudy."
Axis sighed, and restrained the urge to pace about restlessly. Where were the scouts he'd sent out hours ago? Was there no news?
"Storage for no reason," he said, folding his arms and tapping a foot impatiently, "if Sanctuary is about to collapse about us."
Axis' eyes flitted skywards as if he could see the cracks appearing in the sky already. He remembered how the wards covering the Star Gate had sickened and died, and he thought that much the same would eventually happen to the skies of Sanctuary.
I curse Isfrael, he thought, and then let his mouth twist wryly. He had spent the past forty years cursing the wrong son; he would have done better to raise Drago in love rather than hate.
But would love have tempered him into the man he is now?
"What are the other Star Gods doing?" Zared asked.
