CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The FarReach Mountains, Southern Kyros

S tarDrifter sat numbed. It was late at night, and he stared across the campfire to Salome’s blanketed form. Everyone was asleep—or pretending sleep—save himself, BroadWing and Maximilian, both of whom sat with him, conversing in low tones as they shared a flask of wine.

Earlier Maximilian and Venetia had spent some time with Salome. StarDrifter did not know what they had said to her, but she’d eaten some food before lying down on the mattress of heath that SongFlight had made for her, and pulled a blanket to her shoulders, and StarDrifter supposed she was now asleep.

“Salome will be accompanying us,” Maximilian said.

“Maximilian—” StarDrifter began.

“What else do you suggest?” Maximilian said. “That we leave her here?”

“I wasn’t going to suggest that,” StarDrifter snapped. “Only that I take responsibility for her. That I can do for her, at least.”

“If she will accept it,” BroadWing muttered.

“Good,” said Maximilian, “that’s one less problem I need to worry about.” There was a glint of white as he smiled. “And I admit to feeling relieved that Salome is now your responsibility, StarDrifter. Do try to keep her from murdering you.”

StarDrifter touched his cheek gingerly. “If she was going to murder, I think she would have done so already.”

“Today has been quite the day for surprises,” BroadWing said. “If WolfStar is Salome’s father, then should we fear her?”

WolfStar had caused mayhem, misery, and destruction among the Icarii, and even though now everyone believed him dead (finally), even the mention of his name caused most Icarii to shudder in horror.

StarDrifter gave a slight shrug. “I doubt it. Azhure was also WolfStar’s daughter, and she was not to be feared.”

“And you are Salome’s grandfather,” Maximilian said. “I have heard that the Icarii do not regard incest with the same degree of approbation as other races…but even so, StarDrifter, to sleep with your granddaughter, and to father a child on her…”

Both BroadWing and StarDrifter looked at Maximilian in some mild surprise.

“Well, neither knew at the time,” said BroadWing.

“For gods’ sakes,” said Maximilian. “You know now! It doesn’t give you any pause for thought?”

“It is not a problem for us,” said BroadWing, glancing at StarDrifter before he spoke, almost as if he wanted permission to respond. “Only sexual relations between first blood—parents and children, and between siblings—is forbidden.”

Maximilian gave a somewhat bewildered shake of his head. “Still…I find it strange. And what is this baby to you, StarDrifter? Child…or great-grandchild?”

“Child,” said StarDrifter. He paused, thinking. “Salome was willing, Maximilian—”

“But she had no idea then that she slept with her grandfather!”

StarDrifter gave a faint smile. “And even had she known then,” he said, “it would have given her little cause for hesitation, save to add a certain tang to proceedings.”

And how different Salome was to Zenith, StarDrifter thought, remembering how he’d pursued Zenith, and yet she could never overcome her own repulsion at sharing flesh with her grandfather. Maybe it was WolfStar’s blood in Salome.

His smile widened, just fractionally, remembering that first time he and Salome had coupled. That frantic, desperate union had been the mad, bad SunSoar blood roiling to the surface. They had not been able to resist each other.

Then StarDrifter’s smile faded. And how sad that Zenith had not shared either the madness or the badness.

“Do you know,” said BroadWing, “that today has given me more hope for our future than any other day in the past five years. The Icarii have drifted directionless for all these years. We have lost the majority of our people. We have lost our homeland. We have lost our enchantment. We have lost the Star Dance.

We have lost all purpose. And now? Now suddenly the SunSoars are back. We have our Talon, and his—”

“For the stars’ sakes, BroadWing,” StarDrifter said. “Let this go, I beg you. I am no more your Talon than—”

BroadWing leaned over and gripped StarDrifter’s forearm. “You are our Talon, StarDrifter! Accept it!

You have enjoyed the benefits of SunSoar blood all these centuries, and you will now accept the responsibility of it. The Icarii are desperate. Desperate! You—yes, curse it, you—now have the responsibility, the blood, and the experience to give the Icarii direction and purpose and leadership and a home. Your responsibility, StarDrifter. Yours.”

StarDrifter wrenched his arm free. “Me? Me? Look at me, BroadWing. I’ve never accepted responsibility. I am just feckless StarDrifter—and, oh, how my parents named me well, drifting aimlessly, taking pleasure in nothing but pleasure, and sowing aimless seeds of destruction as I went. Have you forgot who fathered Gorgrael? Who—”

“Who fathered Axis,” said BroadWing, his voice calm and even.

“Axis was no savior,” StarDrifter said. “He was a golden hero who restored the Icarii and Tencendor, but who then allowed everything to slide into bleakness again.”

“And that is why I am here now, arguing with you,” BroadWing said. “Axis was never the man to lead the Icarii, but I think you are.”

StarDrifter gave a soft, hollow laugh.

“I have seen you at your very best and at your very worst,” BroadWing said. “I know to what extremes of dissipation you can sink, and the heights to which you can rise.”

“And today you have seen me at my very worst,” StarDrifter said. “How then can you sit here and argue so passionately that I have the qualities for Talon?”

“I think today he has seen you at your very best,” Maximilian put in quietly.

“Maximilian is right,” BroadWing said. “You stood there before Salome and accepted responsibility for your actions. I know enough about what happened in Coroleas that I am well aware that you could very easily have shifted blame onto Ba’al’uz, but you didn’t. You accepted whatever Salome chose to deal you. That was the action of a mature man, StarDrifter. Not some feckless, uncaring dissipate. And I have seen you in…”

BroadWing’s voice broke, and he had to pause and clear his throat. “I was present in the Assembly Chamber of Talon Spike that day, so many vast years ago, when you addressed the assembled Icarii race. Do you remember it, StarDrifter? Do you remember that day?”

StarDrifter took a moment to answer. “I sang for you. I sang of the Wars of the Axe, of how the Icarii had come to be imprisoned in the Icescarp Alps.”

“And you sang of hope, and of how the Icarii could rise again, and regain that which was lost. Stars, StarDrifter, you had the entire Icarii race in tears, you held them in the palm of your hand, you owned us.

That day was when you and RavenCrest, your brother, and our Talon at the time, persuaded us to accept Axis as our StarMan.”

BroadWing’s voice dropped very low. “But you were so astounding, so powerful, that we would have done anything that day, StarDrifter. Anything for you. You were extraordinarily beautiful and powerful, and you reminded us of how extraordinarily beautiful and powerful we could be. You can do that again.”

An infinitesimal pause. “You must.”

StarDrifter said nothing.

“You take Salome,” BroadWing said, “and you take that child, and you rebuild the SunSoar dynasty, and you rebuild the Icarii pride and race. You lead us to a new homeland, and back into the Star Dance, StarDrifter, or else we will all perish in hopelessness.”

“I am a hopeless messiah,” StarDrifter said.

“You are all we have,” BroadWing said, and he smiled. “And you will be more than enough.”

“And Salome,” StarDrifter said, his words argumentative, but his voice now resigned. “She is hardly likely to—”

“Salome is the best wife you could ever hope for,” BroadWing said. “I have heard of her cruelty and dissipation, but today we saw the better part of her, too. Salome did not accuse or attack you for what happened to her, for what she had lost, but for her son—the loss of his life and future.”

“She has great strength,” put in Maximilian, earning himself a black glance from StarDrifter.

“And I think she has great compassion,” Maximilian added, softly, daring StarDrifter to throw him another look.

“Salome is a far better mate for you than Rivkah ever was,” said Broad-Wing, naming the Acharite princess on whom StarDrifter had fathered Axis, “or Azhure, or her and Axis’ daughter, Zenith, or any other of the women you have thought to have loved. Fate…no…I am prepared to say stronger here, the Star Dance, has led her to you, and you to her, and then the both of you back to the Icarii people. Take a deep breath, right now, StarDrifter, and accept both Salome and the Talon torc of leadership.”

Maximilian watched StarDrifter curiously, wondering what he would do.

The Icarii prince sat in silence for a long time, staring across the fire to where Salome lay; then, without looking at BroadWing, he held out his hand to the birdman, and BroadWing gripped it.

They held the grip for a long moment, then both let go and sat back, and Maximilian passed them the flask of wine.

So passed the leadership of the Icarii to StarDrifter SunSoar.

The three men sat there for another hour in silence, occasionally taking sips of wine.

Finally StarDrifter rose, and went to Salome.