Aillas With the truce in effect, the Kings of Troicinet and Lyonesse exchanged ceremonial visits, Casmir coming first to Miraldra.

Upon meeting Aillas face to face, he smiled, then frowned and looked in puzzlement. "Somewhere I have seen you before. I never forget a face."

Aillas returned only a noncommittal shrug. "I will not dispute your Majesty's powers of recollection. Remember, I visited Haidion as a child."

"Yes, perhaps so."

During the remainder of the visit Aillas often found Casmir's gaze upon him, curious and speculative.

Sailing across the Lir on their reciprocal visit to Lyonesse, Aillas and Dhrun went to stand on the bow of the ship. Ahead Lyonesse was a dark irregular outline across the horizon. "I have never spoken to you of your mother," said Aillas. "Perhaps it is time that you knew the tale of how things went." He looked to the west, to the east and then once more to the north. He pointed.

"Yonder, perhaps ten or twenty miles, I cannot be sure, I was pushed into the water of the gulf by my murderous cousin. The currents carried me ashore, as I hung on the very verge of death.

I came back to life and thought that indeed I had died and that my soul had drifted into paradise. I was in a garden where a beautiful maiden, through the cruelty of her father, lived alone.

The father was King Casmir; the maiden was the Princess Suldrun.

We fell deeply in love and planned to escape the garden. We were betrayed; I was dropped by Casmir's orders into a deep hole, and he must yet believe that I died there. Your mother gave birth to you, and you were taken away that you might be secure from Casmir.

In grief and utter woe, your mother gave herself to death, and for this anguish visited upon someone as blameless as moonlight I will forever in my bones hate Casmir. And that is the way of it."

Dhrun looked away across the water. "What was my mother like?"

"It is hard to describe her. She was unworldly and not unhappy in her solitude. I thought her the most beautiful creature I had ever seen..."

As Aillas moved through the halls of Haidion he was haunted by images of the past, of himself and Suldrun, so vivid that he seemed to hear the whisper of their voices and the rustle of their garments; and as the images passed the two lovers seemed to glance sidewise at Aillas, smiling enigmatically with eyes glowing, as if the two had been playing in all innocence no more than a dangerous game.

On the afternoon of the third day, Aillas and Dhrun departed Haidion through the orangery. They went up the arcade, through the sagging timber portal, down through the rocks and into the old garden.

Slowly they descended the path through silence which like the silence of dreams was immanent to the place. At the ruins they stopped while Dhrun looked around him in awe and wonder.

Heliotrope scented the air; Dhrun would never smell the perfume again without a quick clutch of emotion.

As the sun settled among golden clouds the two went down to the shore and watched the surf play over the shingle. Twilight would soon be coming; they turned up the hill. At the lime tree Aillas slowed his steps and stopped. Away from Dhrun's hearing he whispered: "Suldrun! Are you here? Suldrun?"

He listened and imagined a whisper, perhaps only a stirring of wind in the leaves. Aillas spoke aloud: "Suldrun?"

Dhrun came to him and hugged his arm; already Dhrun deeply loved his father. "Are you talking to my mother?"

"I spoke. But she does not answer."

Dhrun looked about him, down to the cold sea. "Let's go. I don't like this place."

"Nor do I."

Aillas and Dhrun departed the garden: two creatures, living and quick; and if something by the old lime tree had whispered, now it whispered no more and the garden throughout the night was silent!

The Troice ships had sailed. Casmir, on the terrace in front of Haidion, watched the sails grow small.

Brother Umphred came up to him. "Sire, a word with you."

Casmir regarded him without favor. Sollace, ever more fervent in her faith, had suggested the construction of a Christian cathedral, for the worship of three entities she called the "Holy Trinity." Casmir suspected the influence of Brother Umphred, whom he detested.

He asked: "What do you want?"

"Last night I chanced to notice King Aillas as he came in for the banquet."

"Well then?"

"Did you find his face familiar?" An arch and meaningful smile trembled along Brother Umphred's lips.

Casmir glared at him. "As a matter of fact, I did. What of it?"

"Do you recall the young man who insisted that I marry him to the Princess Suldrun?"

Casmir's mouth sagged. He stared thunderstruck, first at Brother Umphred, then out across the sea. "I dropped him into the hole. He is dead."

"He escaped. He remembers."

Casmir snorted. "It is impossible. Prince Dhrun is all of ten years old."

"And how old do you make King Aillas?"

"He is, at a guess, twenty-two or twenty-three, no more."

"And he fathered a child at the age of twelve or thirteen?"

Casmir paced the floor, hands behind his back. "It is possible.

There is mystery here." He paused and looked out to sea, where the Troice sails had now disappeared from view.

He signaled to Sir Mungo, his seneschal. "Do you recall the woman who was put to question in connection with the Princess Suldrun?"

"Sire, I do so remember."

"Fetch her here."

In due course Sir Mungo reported to Casmir. "Sire, I have tried to implement your will, but in vain. Ehirme, her spouse, her family, each and all: they have vacated their premises and it is said that they have removed to Troicinet, where they are now landed gentry."

Casmir made no response. He leaned back in his chair, lifted a goblet of red wine and studied the dancing reflections from the flames in the fireplace. To himself he muttered: "There is mystery here."

EPILOGUE

WHAT NOW?

King Casmir and his ambitions have temporarily been thwarted.

Aillas, whom once he attempted to kill, is responsible, and Casmir already has developed a great detestation for Aillas. His intrigues continue. Tamurello, fearing Murgen, refers Casmir to the wizard Shan Farway. In their plotting they use the name

"Joald" and both fall silent.

Princess Madouc, half-fairy, is a long-legged urchin with dark curls and a face of fascinating mobility. She is a creature of unorthodox habits; what will become of her? Who is her father? At her behest an adventurous boy named Traven undertakes a quest. If he succeeds she must grant him whatever boon he demands. Traven is captured by Osmin the ogre, but Traven saves himself by teaching his captor chess.

What of Glyneth, who loves Watershade and Miraldra, but yearns for her vagabond life with Dr. Fidelius? Who will woo and who will win her?

Aillas is King of South Ulfland and now he must reckon with the Ska, who wage war against the world. When he thinks of the Ska he thinks of Tatzel, who lives at Castle Sank. He knows a secret way into the fortress Poelitetz: how will this knowledge serve him?

Who nets the turbot who swallowed the green pearl? Who proudly wears the pearl in her locket and is impelled to curious excesses of conduct?

Many affairs remain unsettled. Dhrun can never forget the wrongs done him at Thripsey Shee by Falael, even though Falael has been punished well by King Throbius. From motives of sheer perversity Falael provokes the trolls of Komin Beg to war, in which they are led by a ferocious imp named Dardelloy.

What of Shimrod? How does he deal with the witch Melancthe?

And what of the knight of the Empty Helmet, and how does he comport himself at Castle Rhack?

At Swer Smod Murgen works to elucidate the mysteries of Doom, but each clarification propounds a new puzzle. Meanwhile, the adversary stands back in the shadows smiling his smile. He is potent and Murgen must presently tire, and in great sorrow concede defeat.