Gene rose, laid the sword on the bed, then unfastened the sword at his waist and placed it beside the other. A strange sight emerged. The two swords were almost identical: the width and length of the blades, the shape of their points and hilts. Tahyang spoke.
“A curious thing. It is as though one were the original of the other.”
Gene thought about it. His sword had been made long ago as a copy of the sword belonging to Garon, whom he had known as Beka. Since he had learned swordsmanship from him, it was only natural that training with a weapon of the same weight and shape would be most effective. Then had Garon copied this sword? If this really was Ganax, Garon had spent only a single day looking for it. How could they be so alike?
“Is this sword Ganax?”
At Gene’s question, Sara frowned.
“If the name matters to you, call it that. But I’ve no interest in names, and the resemblance between the two swords doesn’t look especially remarkable to me. I’ve seen countless swords like them. The Children of the Billin want little skirmishes where they can survive without honor, rather than splendid, majestic battles that go down in history. It’s a sword suited to that sort of fighting. Heh heh. Come to think of it, there’s a little of the Children of the Billin’s blood in you too, in spirit. The blood of those who grow strongest with death right before them.”
Luke approached the bed, studying the sword as he spoke.
“Then the story that Ganax came from the north must be true. Could it really be King Yoel of Pranbilia’s…”
“I don’t know anything about that. I wasn’t keeping the sword hidden in a cupboard. I’ve known where it was for a long time, but there was no need to take it out, so I left it alone until today. Anyway, carrying that lump of iron here has made an old woman’s back ache. I’ve no strength to carry it back.”
Sara sprang up. This time she really meant to go. When Gene rose too, she looked him over from head to foot. Then she spoke.
“Do you know why they call Irko the Shadowhawk?”
Gene shook his head. Tracing it back, the nickname Shadowhawk came from Garon’s homeland. In other words, it came from Garon’s true nature. It was chance that Gene too had come to be called by it. Or perhaps it was not chance.
“When a single patch of shadow falls at their feet, the beasts begin to flee. They know by instinct there’s no time to look back. They’re wise. Irko is faster than any hawk. Everyone sees only its shadow. A hawk that isn’t there when you raise your head, a hawk that exists only as a shadow. That is Irko.”
At dawn the next day, four people stood on the shore.
There might have been more, or fewer. Perhaps some who should have gone remained, and some would have been better staying behind. But the reason these four were chosen was surprisingly simple. All four names were written on the invitation.
After Sara Izram left the night before, Gene, Rosa, Tahyang, and Luke had talked for a long time. About Sing’s invitation. Its followers planned to hold a coronation on an outlying island not far from Delphinad, and said they would invite the four as special guests. It was not Nikephoros who had sent the invitation. It was the man calling himself King of Sing, Vitalis.
What were they planning? The message from Kenneth the Bag said they intended to bring destruction to Delphinad. But since the coronation was taking place on an island, it did not seem likely to happen today. A coronation without followers in attendance made no sense. Most of the general’s men, who seemed to be preparing a diversion, and most of those who had stayed at the inn in question, had already left the city. According to Hanbun’s report at dawn, both the general’s manor and the inn by the canal stood empty.
Meanwhile, Rosa and Luke had gathered various pieces of information at the library, but in the end it all remained conjecture. Alph Sidin’s disappearance was certainly connected to Sing, but they had no idea what had happened to him afterward. Nor did they know why Sing had targeted Rosa. They had discovered that Sidin’s disciple was her great-uncle Randri Daeior, but why he had disappeared five years later was another mystery.
Luke had asked whether Sing had kidnapped Randri too, but Rosa told him her great-uncle had returned home, lived another two years, and died. In other words, Randri Daeior had not vanished. He had simply returned home immediately after being banned from the library. It was therefore unclear whether he had anything to do with Sing at all. Still, the thought of Huan knowing in advance that Rosa was banned and trying to exploit it left an uneasy feeling.
Above all, they could not rule out the possibility that the invitation was a trap. But looked at another way, might this coronation be the ritual that would give them full possession of the strange power they had already displayed? If so, they would become much harder to fight once they had it, and discovering the nature of that power would become harder too.
Besides, Hanbun’s investigation showed they really were preparing a party. That made it seem unlikely the invitation was only a pretense and that they would kill the four in a trap the instant they arrived. At least they would witness something: the birth of some tremendous being, or its end.
This shore was where Rosa and Nana had found the flag while walking. They had been told a boat would come to take them to the island if they waited here. Tahyang spotted it first.
“There it comes.”
It took a little longer for the others to see it. The boat was not large. It had a sail, but moved chiefly by oar, like the vessels that carried cargo from a shallow harbor out to merchant ships. Apart from the rowers, one stranger stood aboard, watching them.
For the first time in a while, Rosa wore the same traveling clothes she had worn when she first entered Delphinad. Tahyang carried his usual bow and sword, along with a short spear made by fixing the bone dagger to a shaft. Gene wore both his usual sword and his newly acquired one at his belt.
Luke had no weapon. In Ayanad, where weapons meant nothing, that had not mattered. This time, everyone had told him to carry at least a dagger. At first, he refused because a poet’s pride was his only weapon. Later, he said that since he did not know how to use one anyway, worrying about it would only distract him from what he could do.
Standing in a row and watching the boat, the four said nothing for some time. They had made various plans, but honestly, none could entirely shake their unease. Luke, who believed a poet’s gift was needed when everyone found it hard to make jokes, suddenly rolled both shoulders vigorously and spoke.
“There are seven men aboard in all. If the Shadowhawk’s twin swords take three apiece, Rosa can manage the last one. I’ll watch every detail. I’ll need to write a poem when we return. A perfect plan. If necessary, I can even sing something to lift our spirits.”
Tahyang looked at Luke and spoke.
“To be honest, friend, you worry me a little. Being unarmed.”
“You mean you’re afraid I’ll be useless? Look, I express your feelings for you. A hero needs a poet to sing of his deeds.”
Then Tahyang answered.
“Yes. I have felt that already.”
“Really? When?”
Luke looked at him, his eyes bright with interest. Tahyang spoke.
“When you cried Aaagh in Ayanad.”
Rosa burst out laughing. The boat came in to shore and stopped. The stranger rose and stepped off. As Gene walked toward him, he spoke.
“Thanks to you, we’ve lost the solemn mood.”
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