Mallara and Burn: On the Road Read Online Free Page A

behind
her.
    The light in the Winter King's eyes dimmed.
He shrank, perhaps a hand's breadth, and the bony frame stooped and
sagged.
    *How long?* he said, and his voice was thin
and weary.
    "I don't know," said Mallara."A thousand
years? More? I cannot say."
    *A thousand turnings of the sun,* he said,
eyes downcast. *So long. None will remember.*
    "Untrue," said Burn, before Mallara could
speak."Half the kids in the Five Valleys still put out hats for you
to fill," he said."And the Sorceress here was bemoaning your
absence just before she sneaked past the stones. You've never been
forgotten," he added."But -- Council of Mages be hung -- you have
been missed."
    The King straightened, and his eyes flared.
*The small ones remember?* he said, and his voice boomed throughout
the Round. *They wait? Wait for me?*
    "You bet," said Burn."It's Ollow's Eve beyond
the stones now, and who's going to spread all that cheer if you
stay here and dance for the rocks?"
    *I will go,* said the King, sharp eyes
ablaze. *Take me with you!*
    The Piper's music rose up, strident and
shrill, breaking Mallara's Words and drowning out her voice when
she tried to speak another. The Winter King reached out to her, but
before his hand met hers he spun away with a wail and fell again
into his twirling, footless dance.
    Mallara, too, felt the pull of the music.
Dance for but a time, it said, and the sky above became the
tile-worked ceiling of the Imperial gala at Vo Sinte, and the
twelve old stones marble pillars hung with garlands of red roses
and trails of white lace. Dance for but a time, lady -- how can one
not dance, to such beautiful music?
    "Mistress!" shouted Burn, from within
Mallara's left ear.
    "I'm fine," muttered Mallara. She gritted her
teeth and stood still, her boots firmly planted, her black staff
gripped tight. The music beat against her like a driving wind for a
time, and then the bright ceiling and the soaring pillars faded,
until they were touched here and there with stars and angry
pumpkin-faces.
    Mallara swallowed. Such music, she thought.
So sad, so sweet. How long has it been since I danced?
    Burn darted close to her right ear, began to
bellow out a risqué Eryan tavern-ditty. "I saw the lass a
bathing'," he shouted, and the Piper's music fell away. "And my
heart began to pound --"
    "Thank you, Burn," she said, letting out her
breath in a whoosh. "No more, please."
    "I wasn't to the good part yet," replied
Burn, but he fell silent.
    Sweat broke out on her forehead despite the
chill in the air, as she realized how close she had come to taking
that first, fatal step of the Round's long dance."You'll have to do
much better than that," she said, pushing back her hair. "Much
better."
    Oh, we will, whispered the stones. We have
the King, they said. We shall have you as well, have you to dance
until your flesh falls away and your bones are ground to dust among
us.
    Mallara spoke a Word. Her staff muttered
assent, and the Piper's music faded from about her, though the
Winter King still danced and leaped.
    You shall dance for us, said the stones. We
shall find your music, and you shall dance.
    The piping changed, sounded of strings and
horns, became a melody that rose and swelled and sent a shiver down
Mallara's spine.
    Better, said the stones.
    Louder, they said.
    Mallara shook her head and raised her staff.
She forced the music away, concentrated instead on the chill in the
still air and the warm heft of the black staff in her hands.
    "I didn't come here to dance," she said.
"Release the King. I will not ask again."
    Mallara spoke a soft Word. The runes which
crawled and writhed about the staff halted, hastily re-arranged
themselves into three very long Words, and began to turn rapidly
about the shaft.
    See what she does! said the stones. How dare
she!
    Dance! they cried.
    "No," said Mallara, and the lilting music
fell silent."I will not dance for you. Nor shall he."
    We know best! shouted the stones. We will
have