And this time it was Jared. 

35

The gate shuddered.

"Don't worry. It will never break." Calm, the Warden surveyed Finn. "So this is the one you think is Giles." She glared at him. "You should know." Finn stared around. The room was so white it hurt, the glare of the lights making his eyes ache. The man he recognized as

Blaize laughed lightly, folding his arms. "Actually, it doesn't matter whether he is or not.

Now you have him, you will have to make him Giles. Because only he stands between you and disaster." Curious, he stepped closer to Finn. "And what do you think, Prisoner? Who do you think you are?"

Finn felt shaky and filthy; suddenly he knew that his skin was grimed with dirt, that he stank in this sterile room. "I ... think I remember. The betrothal..

"Are you sure? Or might it not be that these are memories someone else had, that are now buried in you, filaments of thought trapped in borrowed tissue, that the Prison built into you?" He smiled his cold smile.

"Once we could have found out," Claudia snapped. "Before Protocol."

"Yes." The Warden turned to her. "And that problem I will leave to you."

Finn saw how pale she was, how angry. She said, "All my life you let me believe I was your daughter. And it was all a lie."

"No."

"Yes! You selected me, you educated me, you formed me ... you even told me all that!

Created a creature that would be just what you wanted, that would be pliant and marry whom you said and be what you wanted. What would have happened to me afterward?

Would poor Queen Claudia have met with an accident too, leaving only the Warden to be

Regent? Was that the plan?"

He met her eyes, and his were clear and gray. "If it was, I changed it because I grew to love you." "Liar!"

Jared said unhappily, "Claudia, I ..." but the Warden held up his hand.

"No Master, let me explain. I chose you, yes, and I freely admit at first you were a means to an end. A squalling infant that I saw as rarely as possible. But as you grew, I came ... to look forward to seeing you. To the way you curtsied to me, showed me your work, were shy with me. And you have become dear to me."

She stared at him, not wanting to hear this, or believe it. She wanted to keep her anger bright, newly minted like a coin.

He shrugged. "I was not a good father. For that I am sorry."

In the stillness between them the hammering broke out again, even louder. Jared said urgently, "It hardly matters, sir, what you did or who this boy is. We are all condemned now. There is no escape from death unless we all enter the Prison."

Finn muttered, "I have to go back for Attia." He held out his hand to Claudia for the other

Key; she shook her head. "Not you. I'll go back." Reaching out, she took the crystal copy from him and compared the two. "Who made this?"

"Lord Calliston. The Steel Wolf himself." The Warden stared at the crystal. "I had often wondered if the rumors were true, whether a copy existed, somewhere in the depths of the Prison."

She moved her finger toward the panel, but he stopped her. "Wait. First we must ensure our own safety, or the girl will be better where she is."

Claudia looked at him. "How can I ever trust you again?"

"You must." He put a finger to his lips and nodded. Then, striding across the white cell, he touched the door control and stood back.

Two soldiers fell headlong into the room. Behind them, the ram on chains swung at empty air. Swords were drawn, sharp whispers of steel.

"Do please enter," the Warden said graciously.

The Queen herself was there, Claudia saw with shock, wearing a dark cloak. Behind his mother Caspar glared at her. 'I'll never forgive you," he snarled.

"Be quiet." His mother stalked past him into the room, paused at the strange shiver of energy at the threshold, then gazed around. "Fascinating. So this is the Portal."

"Indeed." The Warden bowed. "I am happy to see you so well."

"I very much doubt that." Sia stopped before Finn. She looked him up and down and her face paled. She pressed her red lips tight.

"Yes," the Warden said softly. "Unfortunately a Prisoner has escaped."

Furious, she turned on him. "Why have you done this? What treachery are you planning?"

"None. We can all come out of this safely. All of us. With no secrets spilled, no assassinations. Watch me."

He strode to the control desk, touched a combination of controls, and stood back.

Claudia stared, because the wall blanked and showed an image that she took a moment to recognize. In a vast room courtiers crowded in a buzz of scandal. Half-eaten food lay ignored on huge tables. Servants gossiped in anxious huddles.

It was her wedding feast.

"What are you doing?" the Queen snapped, but it was too late. The Warden said, "Friends." Every head in the room turned. Talk dried into a stillness of astonishment.

After a hundred years of Protocol the vast screen behind the throne had probably been forgotten; now Finn stared out at the Court through a fringe of cobwebs, a film of grime.

"Please forgive all the unfortunate confusions of the day," the "warden said gravely. "And I beg all of you, ambassadors from Overseas, and courtiers, dukes and Sapienti, ladies and dowagers all, to overlook this breach of Protocol. But a great day has dawned, and a great wrong has been righted."

The Queen seemed too astounded to speak; Claudia almost felt the same. But she moved; she grabbed Finns arm and hauled him close to her. They stood together facing the bewildered, fascinated faces of the Court as her father said, "Behold. The Prince we thought was lost, the heir of his father, the hope of the Court, Giles, has returned to us."

A thousand eyes stared at Finn. He looked back, seeing in each one the pinpoint of light, feeling their intense curiosity, their doubt, descend right into his soul. Was this how it would be, to be King?

"In her great wisdom the Queen found it necessary to conceal him in safe exile against a conspiracy against his life," the Warden said smoothly. "But at last, after many years, this danger is ended. The plotters have failed, and are arrested. Everything is calm again."

He glanced once at the Queen; fury was in every inch of her upright back, but when she spoke, her voice was pleasant with happiness. "My friends, I am so delighted! The "warden and I have worked so hard to counter this threat. I want you to prepare the banquet now, for the Prince's coming. Instead of a wedding, a great homecoming, but still a wonderful day, just as we planned."

The Court was silent. Then, from the back, a ragged cheer began.

She jerked her head; the Warden touched the panel. The screen dimmed.

She took a deep breath. "I will never, never forgive you for this," she said evenly.

"I know." John Arlex flicked another switch idly. He sat, and crossed one leg over another, his dark brocaded coat shimmering, and then he reached out and took both Keys from where Claudia had placed them and held them glinting in his hands.