Herald knew he had to use his brain, but it was hard to do that during the distraction of this rising agony of effort. One more diversion of the monster might be enough. But what would work?

He was running through a chewed-up section of the field, where a slight ridge of earth had caused the wheels of the hunting party to grind apart the turf. His feet slid, causing him to drop momentarily to his knees. Precious time lost!

But maybe this would serve as even more of an obstruction to the monster! Herald climbed to the firm bank beyond, and turned to face his pursuer.

Now the monster showed its cunning. It steered carefully around the dirt-patch, coming at Herald from the side. Herald started for the tree again—but his fatigued body stumbled, and he sprawled full-length on the ground.

No chance now to go for the tree! The monster had cut him off, and had good traction and position—and it was not on the verge of physical collapse from overexertion. Herald went the only way he could: be rolled down into the pool of dirt again.

The monster, certain the prey would make his bolt for the tree, had to halt and reorient again. But now it had its quarry trapped, and knew it. It paused to gloat. "Squirm, victim!" it buzzed. "Soon I eat your aura!"

That was the one thing Herald did not have to fear. With the strength of his aura, and the training and skill he had in its application, he could destroy the lesser aura of the monster. But he would be materially dead at the wheels of the thing before he could do this.

It was physical destruction he somehow had to stave off.

"Run, game, struggle!" the monster said. "I will catch you and eat you and hide myself again, and I will have high aura and no one will find me until I conquer."

"There are two witnesses," Herald pointed out. "There in the tree. They will betray your hiding place, and the hunters will destroy you."

The monster spun its forward wheel in rage. "I shall kill them too!"

"You can't reach them," Herald said. He was speaking more easily now, as his body rested and recovered. That was good; the longer he could keep the monster talking, the better off he was.

"First thing first," the monster said. "I will hide in another place, if I need." And of course that was the answer; it certainly did not have to stay here. It edged around the dirt-pool.

Herald edged in the opposite direction, keeping the bulk of the dirt between them. "Who are you, that you speak Clustric?"

"I am King Caesar of System Capella, Sphere Sol," the monster said proudly. "My throne was usurped by my protégé, Antony, and I was exiled here. But with your aura, I shall return from the dead. Then will the traitorous heads roll, and the gutters will clog with the blood of those supporting the usurpers. Right will be might again!"

Something jogged Herald's Slash memory. "You call yourself Caesar?" he inquired. "Even in Galaxy Andromeda there was news of the Butcher of Capella, who slaughtered indiscriminately and tortured sapients for the sheer pleasure of it, until at last even that hardened system vomited him out—"

The king-monster hurled himself forward with astonishing suddenness. Gouts of dirt sailed back, and the spiked wheels spun momentarily in air as he hurdled the brown pool.

Caught by surprise—when was he ever going to learn!—Herald's host-body reacted automatically. He dived to the side, his head going down, his feet up. He took a forward roll in the soft dirt, coming to rest on his back, while Caesar landed just past his head.

More thoughts tumbled through his brain as his body inverted. There had been a historical Caesar, too, a Solarian ruler two thousand years in Planet Earth's pre-Spherical past. A merciless but able entity, heading the powerful neolithic or age-of-iron kingdom of Rome, said to mate with either male or female individuals of his species—what an example to follow!

Herald sat up, grabbed two handfuls of dirt, and flung it at the monster, hoping to gum up the axles. It was a futile gesture. Caesar's host was a creature of the wild, well adapted to the wilderness hazards, able to bury itself in dirt, as they had discovered. Only the unnatural denudation of turf in this vicinity impeded its progress even slightly.

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

Herald did not wait. He scrambled to his feet and charged for the tree with renewed vigor. Caesar's wheels threw up a tremendous cloud of dirt as they churned out of that hole, but the monster no longer seemed to care. By the time he achieved firm ground, Herald was halfway to the tree.

He was panting again as he reached it, and Caesar was close behind, but now Herald had something he could use as a barrier. He scooted around the bulging trunk—and the Sador beast could not make as tight a turn or cut across the arc to intercept him.

"Climb!" Psyche cried.

Herald jumped, reached up, caught hold of the rim of a branch-wheel and ran his feet up the trunk until one leg hooked over a spoke. This was one thing his human host was better at than his Slash body! He hauled himself about, getting up on the wheel as Caesar cruised by just beneath. Safe at last!

Or was he safe? The monster now attacked the tree. Caesar tilted his bulky host-body back, lowering his rear wheel, and bracing his side wheels so as to shift the front wheel upward. The bottom feeder-wheel also wedged against the ground, while the top general-purpose wheel kept out of the way. The elevated front wheel revved up much faster than it could have when in contact with the ground, its sharp spikes blurring. It was angled so as to be almost parallel to the ground.

Those whirling spikes moved into the trunk of the tree, slowly. Bark flew out as contact was made. The wheel was now a circular saw, cutting into the wood.

Herald peered down, alarmed. Could Caesar actually do it? The trunk was massive; it would take a long time to cut through it, perhaps hours. Long before the tree fell, the hunting party should be back here. So wasn't this effort futile?

The sawing sound changed. Fluid spurted out of the trunk, splashing on the monster. And Herald realized that the tree was hollow, filled with water, with a relatively thin shell. It would not take long at all to slice through!

"I am afraid it is the end," Psyche said, seeming sad rather than afraid. She no longer had her Shield of Arms shield; she must have flung that aside in order to reach the tree faster. "I had thought it would be by fire, but maybe this is much the same."

Herald moved as close as he could and put his arm around her small shoulders. "The hunters must soon return," he said. "They will deal with the monster."

"No," she said, her elfin face turning to him. Her eyes seemed larger than before, more brightly orange. "No, Herald, I feel it, I know it somehow: We must deal with this ourselves, or we are lost."

Herald felt the strength of her conviction manifesting in her aura. Rightly or wrongly, she believed. As Smallbore of Metamorphic had believed in her vision. And he bad to believe too.

Psyche's face was close to his. He moved closer. Their lips touched in a fleeting kiss. He felt the pulse that traversed her aura at that touch, and drew back. This was becoming something other than reassurance, and he knew enough to alter course immediately. He would soon be leaving this planet and this Galaxy, and had no personal reason to become involved with this young female—assuming they all survived the immediate threat.

"There have to be alternatives," he said. "What will stop the monster?"

"We must jam that wheel!" Psyche said, looking down. Her face was now a very pale blue, with little clench-muscles showing around her mouth.

It seemed to Herald that the tree was already shrinking, as its supportive fluid drained out. He hoped that was mere imagination.

"Tree-spokes!" Whirl said. How the Sador sapient had gotten up here was a mystery; wheeled creatures could hardly climb trees!

Maybe Psyche had helped haul him up. Could the Earl have winched up along a line? "If you can hold me in place, I shall saw them off."

Herald braced himself on one side, and Psyche on the other, each with feet braced against a branch-wheel rim and hands holding on to one of Whirl's side wheels. Whirl angled forward, his front wheel coming down to rasp against a spoke. He lacked the massive fighting cleats of the monster, but his rim was able to cut slowly into the wood. He severed one spoke, but it remained anchored at the branch hub. Then he shifted about and got another, and then a third. Then they all moved so Whirl could get the other ends.

Herald bound the freed spokes together with the tie from Psyche's erstwhile ponytail, then carefully oriented the bundle above the monster's saw wheel. "This had better work," he murmured.

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

Even the strength of the monster could not keep the saw going continuously. The spikes chewed out a large cut, requiring much power. Caesar had to pause every so often, to let his axle cool and to reorient for cutting further around the trunk. Nevertheless, the tree was creaking, on the verge of collapse. Herald waited for the saw to stop, then dropped his bundle.

It fell neatly into the saw, jamming between the spokes. And Caesar was in trouble. He could not turn that wheel freely while the bundle was in it, and could not shake it out. He had to lower the wheel to the ground and maneuver.

"It will not hold him long," Whirl said worriedly. "We must prepare another wheel-block."

"No good," Herald objected. "He won't be caught twice by the same trick." He swung down from the branch.

"What are you doing?" Psyche cried in alarm.

"Stay up there," Herald told her. "If that block will hold long enough...." He dropped to the ground beside Caesar, and clasped both hands to the stalled rim. Amazed at this audacity, the monster heaved. But now Herald's human weight was on the wheel, further immobilizing it. His feet left the ground, but he did not let go.

Psyche screamed, thinking his attack suicidal. But there was nothing she could do.

The real battle was invisible. Herald brought his aura to bear against that of Caesar. The monster's Transfer aura was low; it was probably around seventy at the start of his exile to Keep, but now was barely ten. When it sank to the level of the animal host, Caesar would die, becoming no more than the animal he had occupied. His protégé back in System Capella had inflicted a cruel but perhaps fitting punishment on the former king. Caesar himself had sent many innocents to this very situation. Herald was able to derive this from the nature of the aura; the personality was far more monstrous than the host.

Now, because it had come to a direct choice between Caesar's life and Herald's, Herald was undertaking an exorcism. He was using the unparalleled power of his aura to drive the other aura out of the body. Two hundred thirty-six against ten—a gross mismatch.

But it was not easy to expunge an entrenched aura, and only a specialist in exorcism could accomplish it. This was not a task Herald enjoyed. It was the negative face of the bright coin of healing. For exorcism meant death of the subject. It was not harmful to the host or to the host's natural aura, but to the alien aura.

Caesar, suddenly aware of the threat, fought savagely. He could not resist long in aural combat, any more than Herald could survive long in physical combat. The monster had to return to the physical level of strife before he lost his mind—literally. If he could crush or slice Herald's Solarian body, killing it, Herald's aura would lose its base and be unable to pursue the attack. Or if Caesar could shake Herald off, breaking physical contact, he could then escape. But that would mean death for Herald, because the savage king would immediately charge again and kill him. And while killing would take only a second, exorcism required minutes.

So Herald had to hold on to the immobilized wheel now; he would have no second chance.

Caesar threw him about, and rolled, trying to crush the slight Solarian body under the stalled wheel. But the Sador host was not equipped to roll across its own wheel; it was made to be stable in almost all situations. So though Caesar could lift and lower his front wheel, he could not put it flat on the ground.

Meanwhile, Herald's devastating aura invaded the animal's body, closing in on the diminishing region commanded by the king.

Caesar lifted the wheel and shot forward, trying to crush Herald against the trunk of the tree. It was an excellent tactic, but the bundle of tree-spokes remained lodged, and that took the brunt of the shock. There was just enough clearance to save Herald's body. That much was luck, not planning!

Now Caesar twisted about and started across the meadow, carrying Herald along. But the battle was concluding. Herald's aura closed in on the final nucleus.

I will give you riches! Caesar cried through his aura, when he understood that he was lost Power! Things of the flesh! It did not occur to him that Herald might not be interested in things of the flesh, or that he would distrust the proffered bribe. This failure to appreciate the higher qualities of some individuals had led to Caesar's downfall before, and he had not profited from the experience.

In this sense he had always been a beast.

Herald did not deign to respond. He captured the nucleus and shoved it—out. Caesar was dead.

Herald's battered Solarian fingers let go at last as the animal stopped, and he fell to the ground in front of it. The king was gone, but the natural animal of Sador remained—and it could still kill him. The bundle of spokes dropped out of the wheel.

But a cry sounded in the distance. The animal backed off, lowered its alternate wheels, and sped away.

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

There was a halloo of pursuit, but Herald just lay where he was. In moments Whirl was beside him. "Do you survive, valiant Healer?" he cried.

"I survive. The monster is dead," Herald gasped weakly.

Now Psyche joined them. "You saved us," she said. "That was awfully brave, Herald, but how did you hang on so long? If the hunters hadn't come—"

"I exorcised it," Herald explained as she helped him up. He was conscious of the freshness of her body, her sweet odor, though she was speckled with dirt and sawdust. She was hauling him up with both arms about him, her mammalian breasts pressing against him as she exerted herself.

She froze, her eyes growing round. "Oh." Suddenly she was aware of what Herald was capable of doing, for he had come to exorcise the demon from her. Had she realized this before, she might not have kissed him.

"Oh, I don't care!" she said, and resumed lifting.

Herald found his balance and stood up, not wanting either to cause her to strain herself or to have her approaching father misunderstand their position again. Many more contacts like this, and Kade might well have reason for his suspicion. The Lady had some most attractive attributes.

"Only the Transfer aura suffered," he said. "The natural aura cannot be exorcised. Your own aura is natural. Not at all like that of Caesar of Capella."

"Gee, thanks," she said, laughing.

The Duke rode up, hand hovering near sword. "What happened?"

"I witnessed," Whirl said. "Allow me to clarify."

Herald exchanged glances with Psyche—and somehow knew that the Earl of Dollar would cover all details—except the kiss.

Herald had intended to have another session with Hweeh of Weew after the hunt, but he was too tired, bruised, and emotionally worn. Psyche and Whirl shared his condition, so all agreed to retire early. They funneled through the necessities of toiletry quickly and went to their separate slumbers. Herald fell asleep in moments.

He was awakened by the touch of Whirl's wheel on his shoulder. "It manifests," the Earl whispered, his communication wheel hardly turning.

Herald was instantly alert. Every part of his body was stiff and sore, but he ignored that. The room was dim, with a single swath of pale light from one of Keep's moons descending slantwise from the skylight, but he could see well enough. He did not pretend to misunderstand the Witness's meaning.

Psyche was on her feet, facing out the side window. On ground level the walls of the castle were solid and tremendously thick, emulating the massive defensive ramparts of the medieval Solarian originals, but here in the upper levels the embrasures let in a surprising amount of light. The moonbeam touched her head, highlighting it with an ethereal glow. She seemed unnaturally still, though even from behind he could make out the slight motions of her even breathing. Her hair trailed down her back like a shawl, and her little feet were bare.

Herald got to his feet and took a step forward. "Lady," he said softly.

The figure turned. "Did I wake you, Herald?" she inquired, seeming glad rather than regretful. "Will you come share the view with me? Lake Donny is lovely." There was a special, indefinable quality to her voice, like controlled joy.

"Yes." He crossed the room and came to stand beside her. As he did, he became increasingly aware of something aural, yet not alien. It was new to his experience; not threatening, but distinctly odd.

"I am glad you are here," she said. "I feel so good. As when you touched me first, but now it is of myself, not you."

Herald put his hand on her bare elbow—and froze.

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

Herald himself had the most intense Kirlian aura ever measured in the Cluster. This was no mere vanity; he had been tested many times, and had studied the records of the two hundred-K-range historical auras. He knew that the legendary barbarian Flint of Outworld would have deferred to him in this respect, and so would Flint's mistress of Slash, as each had an aura thirty intensities below his. He knew that Melody of Mintaka, as powerful and determined a lady as ever lived, would have deferred to him by at least ten intensities. Even the most obscure, respected, legendary figure of them all, Sibling Paul of Tarot, had probably had an aura less than Herald's own. Never in all the known universe, in all recorded time, had any entity of any Sphere matched the aura of Herald the Heater. He knew this did not mean he had any superior morality or intelligence or basic right to exist; mere chance had bequeathed to him the record. But he was, in the Kirlian sense, a freak.

Now he touched an aura significantly stronger than his own. Not an alien one, not a Transferee. It was Psyche's own individual aura, completely typical of her—except that it had a strength of at least 250 intensities. It was fifteen units higher than the highest Kirlian aura ever known.

This was the aura he had been summoned to exorcise. And of course it was impossible. No entity could drive out an aura higher than its own, and a natural aura in its own host could not be exorcised regardless. So his mission was suddenly manifested as doubly impossible.

Triply impossible. For who would want to drive out the natural aura of an entity as completely sweet and innocent as Psyche?

With an effort Herald removed his hand from her.

"Have I offended you?" she inquired, gently concerned.

"No, Lady, no," he said quickly. "Never that! I must converse with the Witness."

"No need," Whirl said behind him. "Now you comprehend. Now it has manifested for you."

"It has manifested," Herald agreed, amazed.

"What is this?" Psyche asked.

"Lady," Herald said, noting the reverberation of awe in his own voice, "you are possessed."

She laughed without malice. "I am myself! Witness, touch me and know. There is no alien in my body." She glanced at Herald. " Is there, Healer?"

"There is no alien—yet you are possessed," Herald said. "I was wrong before; the Enemy Witness was right. I do not pretend to comprehend this."

Now she showed gentle alarm. "How can I be possessed? I am so full, so complete; I am truly myself at this moment."

Herald did not answer. All that she said was true—but so was all that the Witness said. This thing was completely new to his experience.

"It has manifested," Whirl said. "Now you fulfill your mission, and all is well."

"I cannot," Herald said.

"But you must! You are aware of the alternative!"

"Are you then going to deliver me to be burned?" Psyche asked, this time putting her hand on Herald. Again he felt her aura, ten times the strength it had by day, so fine and strong and wonderful that it wrought its deep joy within him too. He called himself a healer—how much more so was she, now!

"No, never that," he said, humbly. Then, to Whirl: "I beg you, Witness, give me time to consider. I have no means to judge the merits of my alternatives."

"Until morning," the Earl said.

"Thank you." Herald turned again to Psyche. She seemed almost to glow with her own light, looking up at him, her face shadowed except for those golden eyes. "And what am I to do with you?"

"Need it be spoken?" she asked, moving into his arms.

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

He kissed her. This time it was no light extemporaneous effort, but a deep, thorough, enveloping experience. He was not embracing a mere girl; he was immersing himself in Aura. No, it had no need to be spoken!

They went hand in hand to her bed, and they settled into their embrace with complete tenderness and naturalness, their two unique auras merging as their bodies merged. It was the most beautiful thing Herald had ever experienced in any host or in his own Slash body, anywhere in the Cluster. He had never even imagined anything could be like this.

In the morning, waking with her hair strewn caressingly across his shoulder, he became aware of three things: The fatigue and soreness of his human body had been healed by the superior aura he had encountered; Psyche's aura had returned to its former level of twenty-five... and he was in trouble.

He got up and dressed, letting Psyche sleep. He suffered a flash of memory-image: Cupid departing from the bed of his bride before the light of dawn came, that she might not see him. But it was necessary, for there would be an irate parent to deal with.

"Witness, I am ready," he announced.

The Earl of Dollar accompanied him silently from the room. Downstairs the Duke was up, preparing for the morning repast. The odor of sweet syrup distilled from the sap of trees and of confections formed from the sour rinds of citric fruits drifted through the castle. Kastle Kade always ate in style! "I have difficult news," Herald said.

The Duke's jaw muscles bunched. "I will have it now."

"I have observed the manifestation of which the Enemy Witness spoke."

Kade's face showed his shock. "You are—sure?"

"I am sure it exists. But I am also sure it is not a Possession. At least, not in any sense that we have knowledge of. It is simply a remarkable fluctuation of aura, like none known before. Hitherto it has been believed that the intensity of the aura is fixed from the time of birth or even conception, changing only for the worse during illness or Transfer. But the Lady's aura changes for the better.

It should not and cannot be exorcised, and I would not do it if I were able. But that is academic. I am unable, for at its height it is stronger than mine."

Kade considered a moment, and Herald knew he was orienting on the hope he had extended, the rationale for the naturalness of Psyche's manifestation, an explanation that excluded the concept of Possession. The Duke turned to Whirl. "Witness, are you satisfied?"

"No," Whirl said. "I can no longer accept the validity of the opinion of this expert."

Herald had hoped it would not come to this, though he had been sure it would. The Enemy Witness was rigorously honest, and he had good reason for his doubt.

"And why not," Kade demanded, "since you selected him?"

"I can answer that," Herald said, deciding not to force the Earl into this unpleasant chore. "Last night the Lady Kade and I made love."

The Duke's whole body stiffened. "Witness?" he demanded tightly, and in that instant it was evident that the prefix "enemy" had been shifted from Dollar to Healer.

"True," the Earl said. "Voluntary by both parties, however. No force or coercion was involved."

The Duke turned rigidly to Herald. "And what do you propose to do now?"

Herald spread his hands. "I don't know. I am afraid the Witness is correct. I am no longer an objective party, and cannot exonerate your daughter of the charge against her. I will naturally waive my fee and depart..." But could be depart? He had met Aura, and he was in love, however complicated the circumstances.

"Then accept this." And stepping forward, the Duke of Kade struck Herald across the face smartly with his pair of gloves. The material was soft, but it was a smarting impact. Herald stumbled back, perplexed. He was conversant with feudal customs, as heraldry derived from them, but this was confusing. "You challenge me to a duel, sir?"

"To the death, sir. Choose weapons."

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

"I am not certain I can accept such a challenge. May I inquire your reason?"

"The honor of my daughter."

Oh. Herald had thought the Duke would want to be rid of him as quickly as possible, by having him Transfer out. But that would not alleviate the political ramifications. Because any liaison between the Lady of Kade and the Scion of Skot would now be problematical; a creature from another Galaxy had preempted initial honors. "This I understand. But before I accept your challenge, there is something you should know—"

"Choose!"

Herald shrugged. "Laser swords, of course."

"Come this way," Kade said curtly, stalking from the room.

Herald paused to address the Earl. "It seems the personal matter has preempted the business matter. In the event I am not available to testify, I hope you will bear in mind the qualifications of my observation when you report to your authorities. The Lady Kade suffers from no ordinary Possession, and there seems to be no relation to what befell her mother. I believe another expert will confirm my findings. The Lady deserves this chance."

"I will so note," Whirl said.

"Thank you." Herald turned and followed the Duke out.

In the arms room the Duke opened a chest to reveal a fine pair of laser swords. Each was no more than a handle. "Do you wish to inspect?"

"No need," Herald said. "I am certain they are uniform."

Each man lifted a handle and walked to the open court that was adjacent. Here a shaft of sun came down, for this was in the outer castle where the walls were lower and the spaces larger. Herald squeezed his unit, and the blade appeared; a double laser band, the twin beams merging and phasing out about an arm's length from his grasp. He was careful to keep the blade and point out of the way of the furniture. The Duke did the same.

"Do you require a second?" Kade inquired.

Herald considered momentarily. A second would be better, but it would be awkward to set this up now. "In the circumstances, I believe we can dispense with this. Your servants are watching covertly from the embrasures."

The Duke made a snort almost of mirth. The two advanced to the center of the defined court, where lines set off the dueling range.

"As ready," Kade said, striking his pose, sword elevated.

"Ready," Herald agreed, bringing his weapon to bear somewhat negligently.

Instantly the Duke struck, and Herald parried expertly, his point touching the other blade near the handle to interrupt the beams and snuff them out. The Duke jumped back, then promptly lunged—and Herald nullified his beams again with a seemingly offhand flick of his wrist.

"You are conversant," Kade muttered.

"I tried to advise you, sir. I am of Sphere Slash, Andromeda, a natural laser culture."

"Sol is also a laser culture!"

"Certainly." Herald nullified a third attack, this time flicking his point across the Duke's hand as he disengaged. His seeming negligence was merely complete confidence in his own competence; he could spot a laser anywhere he wanted, regardless of the host. It was inborn.

The pain of that swipe had to be intense, for the laser of these formal swords did not burn, but stimulated the nerves of the flesh it touched, overloading them until they could not respond. A touch of an instant hurt; a longer touch would stun the nerves so that it was as though the limb had been severed. But the Duke retained his grip. "Do you mock me?" he cried, his face reddening.

Perplexed at this reaction to first blood, Herald stepped back. "I merely show you my capability, lest you be unaware. Though this Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

host is clumsy and weak, laser is my inherent weapon. Do you wish to withdraw your challenge?" This was a bit insulting, but Herald had no wish to kill the Duke. Since it had been defined as a duel to the death, the only way he could spare the man was by convincing him to have a change of heart.

For answer, Kade hurled his sword point-blank. This unorthodox and dangerous maneuver caught Herald by surprise. He tried to dodge aside, but the sword penetrated his abdomen. There was an instant of sharp pain in his gut, then nothing.

Astonished, he found himself standing unwounded. "Your sword is defective!" he exclaimed.

"My sword is tuned to half power—like yours!" the Duke retorted. "You mock me with a play-duel!"

"I did not know of this," Herald protested, turning off his blade. "How could I detune the swords when I neither touched nor inspected them?"

" I did it," Psyche said from the doorway. "When Whirl woke me and told me what was happening, I ran to turn the weapon-circuit down, lest someone be hurt."

"You foiled my defense of your own honor!" the Duke cried, exasperated.

"My honor!" she flashed, in that manner reflecting the laser-culture aspect of her kind. "Did you suppose I did not heed that honor last night? A Lady needs no defense; she does what is proper in the circumstance. I love him!"

"And I love her," Herald said. "I would not have taken her, had it been otherwise."

"Then why did you not offer to marry her?" Kade demanded.

Surprised, Herald spread his hands. "It did not occur to me that such a thing would be in order."

"Not in order! You, a leading heraldic artisan, expert in ceremonial arms and manner, you did not know the custom?"

"I regret if I overestimated your own knowledge of custom on the Cluster level," Herald said. "I am of Sphere Slash, Andromeda, and the leading Kirlian entity."

"So you have said!"

"We of Slash labor under what is called the Curse of Llume, reflecting an episode of the Second War of Energy. Thus we are deemed the lowest culture of a subject galaxy. It is no honor to marry a Slash, even were my natural form not the every serpent abhorred by the mythology of Psyche's name. I forgot myself last night, in the ambience of the most remarkable aura of all time and space. But in the morning I knew it could not be."

"Why could it not be?" Psyche demanded, her eyes glowing orange like her father's.

"Had I presumed to demand your hand in marriage from your father, he would surely have declined permission."

The Duke of Kade nodded, agreeing. "Still you should have made the offer, providing me the occasion for that formality."

" Formality! " Psyche blazed. "Have I nothing to say about it?" She had become a creature of fire, absolutely lovely.

Herald turned to her. "Would you, like your namesake, dress in mourning clothing to marry a serpent?" he asked her gently.

"Though I appear to you in human form, I am in reality as ugly to your perception as the monster I banished yesterday. I have sharp cutting disks, and deadly lasers, and the shame of a thousand years. That form is invisible to you at the moment, as it were in the dark of night. Overwhelmed by your enhancement, I thought it did not matter, but—"

"I would not dress in mourning to marry you," she said with a rebellious expression.

"This was my realization of the morn," he said. "Therefore—"

"I would dress in celebration, in the finest bridal gown of Keep, and I would carry living flowers and walk in eternal sunlight by your side."

"Therefore the Duke does have grievance against me, for—" Herald paused. "You would marry me, a Slash?"

"Oh, my love," she said passionately. "Did you not suppose I knew your origin? It was never secret! What meaning do you think the Curse of Llume has to us of the Galaxy Llume saved? She made no curse; she made a blessing that your species should be Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

proud to honor! But for her, I would not exist at all!"

Herald was amazed and deeply gratified by her expression. But now he remembered his forced betrothal to Flame of Furnace. How could he explain to adoring Psyche and her suspicious father that in order to marry her, he would first have to sire offspring by an alien female? "I cannot—"

"Pardon the intrusion," Whirl said. Herald had not seen him enter the courtyard, but of course he had had considerable distraction.

"It is not precisely my business, still I feel concern. Did the Healer love the Lady for her demon aura alone, and now that it has phased away no longer has interest in the host? In that case a ready solution offers—"

"The Lady has no demon aura!" Herald exclaimed. "There was no Possession in the sense you mean. But if she had, I would love that demon, for it is but an aspect of herself. It is my own fitness I question, not hers."

The Duke turned a newly appraising gaze on him. "I could not have phrased it better."

"Question no longer," Psyche said. "Last night in my enhancement I explored your aura from a vantage possible to no other entity, and even if I had not loved you and you me, it was fated that our auras unite. Of what account is mere physical form? Psyche will marry the serpent with the soul of a god."

To hell with Flame of Furnace! Herald faced the Duke. "Certain misunderstandings have been alleviated. I now request your permission."

It was Kade's turn to spread his hands. "This is not precisely what I would have chosen. You were correct in assuming I intended to decline your offer, though that would necessarily have abated my complaint of honor against you. But I now perceive my daughter will have her way. She is of Kade; she will not be balked. In the circumstance I discover no preferable alternative."

"Then let the banns be published," Whirl said. "Perhaps this will satisfy those I represent."

Then Psyche was in Herald's arms, raising her lips to be kissed, openly, joyously. Yet even in this moment of delight, Herald wondered: How much justice had there been in the Witness's question about the demon aura? Herald had felt twinges of attraction and, he saw in retrospect, even desire for this young Solarian female. She was physically and personally pretty. But love had manifested only with the enhancement of her aura.

It was not in him to love a minor aura, which was one reason he had not before allied himself with a female. He had refused to accept Flame of Furnace because of principle, but had known that no other aura in the Cluster could match hers. So few available females had auras above 150, and most of those had other qualities to qualify their eligibility. But a young, beautiful, sweet, rich, loving girl with an aura of 250—no, cancel the rest. Any female with an aura of 250 would have compelled his extreme interest, and he would have married her merely to guarantee association with that most remarkable ambience. But by similar token, even the youngest, most beautiful, sweetest, richest and lovingest female was of negligible interest, if her aura was no more than 25.

Which one was Psyche? Did he love her, or was she merely an alternative to the love he feared he would have for Flame of Furnace should he ever meet her physically and be conquered by her 190 aura? Did he have the right to marry Psyche thus, uncertain of the fundamental nature of his emotion? Oh, she was delightful at this moment, no chore to hold and kiss, but without the aura it might be no more than mere dalliance, even in the married state. Was it fair to her? Now he dared not tell her of Flame.

Psyche drew away, her orange eyes glancing into his for a touching moment, and he feared she had somehow divined his thoughts.

"We forget the Weew," she said.

"What?" Herald could not align this with his train of thought. "Oh, yes, time for another interview with Hweeh."

"The Weew can wait," the Duke said. "We forget breakfast."

Psyche laughed, her fire and tension gone. "Life does continue!" They all headed for the odor of treesap syrup.

After breakfast, the Duke went about arranging publication of the banns and preparing Kastle Kade for the wedding. The Earl of Dollar made his farewells and departed, going to make his report to the enemy. "This union alters the situation," Whirl confided semiprivately. "The issue may emerge favorably."

Herald and Psyche interviewed the Weew again. Herald put his hand on the creature's inert mass, and evoked the horn and eyestalk.

"We were covering the myth of Cupid and Psyche," Herald said aloud. "Her husband of the night did not feel precisely like a Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

winged serpent—" Oh, how close to the mark that struck now!

"But it was Cupid!" Psyche picked up promptly. So much had happened since the last interview that it was difficult to place the exact interruption. "Not a dragon, not a monster, not even an ordinary man, but the God of Love!" And she looked into Herald's eyes.

"Yes," Hweeh agreed. "It was he, constrained from revealing himself lest his mother, Venus, discover what he had done, and wreak her wrath on the innocent girl, whose only fault was her perfection." And Psyche smiled at Herald in momentary victory: The Weew was unaware of the interruption.

"But in time she grew curious," Hweeh continued, "and determined to see his face. If he were in fact a serpentine monster, she could cut off his head and be free of his spell."

Psyche jumped. "She would never do that! She loved him regardless!"

"Perhaps," Hweeh agreed after a pause. It was evident that he was beginning to catch on, for he was no stupid entity. "At any rate, she was as inquisitive as females of all species are reputed to be, from Pandora right up to the present. She took a sharp sword of metal and her burning lamp of oil and looked in the bed at night. There was Cupid, as handsome a Solarian god as she could have imagined. As she fell to her knees in joy and relief, ashamed of her prior doubt, drops of hot oil fell on his bare shoulder, awakening him. And Cupid disappeared."

"Oh," Psyche said, and it was as if she were part of the legend. "Foolish girl! Why could she not have had more faith!"

Suppose, Herald thought darkly, Psyche examined his background and discovered Flame of Furnace? One message to the Cluster Council, and he, Herald, would disappear, plucked from his dalliance and transferred against his will to Furnace to complete his obligation.

"The legends do reflect the frailties of their makers," Hweeh agreed. "Modern entities would probably behave more sensibly."

"Would they?" she asked. "If I had a chance to marry an entity like the God of Love, do you think I would agree never to look upon his true form? Never to question whether I had not trapped him into marriage against his better interests, or lured him with some transient quality that was not properly mine?"

She was certainly striking at the problem! Herald realized that it had not been female capriciousness that had reminded her of the interview with Hweeh. Did she, after all, suspect the manner in which Flame nullified the Cluster legitimacy of the forthcoming marriage? Was she trying to provide him a gracious, or at least tenable, mode of retreat? As he had tried to do for her father, during the duel?

"Surely Cupid would know his own mind," Hweeh said. "Gods are not readily deceived or trapped."

Unless they wanted to be, Herald thought.

"Suppose he were attracted to her only for her aura," she persisted, talking nominally to Hweeh. "And then she lost it. Could she still marry him?"

Was she absolutely determined to have this out?

"Where is the Sador Witness?" Hweeh asked suddenly.

"He departed the castle," Herald said. "You were in shock again."

"What is this about marriage?"

"The banns are being published for the Lady Kade and me," Herald said. "Last night the Lady manifested an aura of two hundred fifty."

The horn whistled. "And now that aura is gone," Hweeh said. "Suddenly I understand. Do you seek my opinion?"

"Perhaps we do," Herald said.

"I had understood that entities of highest aura—" Hweeh started, but paused, perhaps realizing that this comment would not be diplomatic. "Of course, an aura of two hundred fifty would be the highest, so that convention—" He stopped again.

That was true! Herald had been betrothed to Flame of Furnace because she was the highest female Kirlian. But now Psyche was the Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

highest. All he had to do was demonstrate that before a Cluster committee, and his marriage to Psyche would be legitimized.

Meanwhile, no need to bother her about the matter. What a helpful insight Hweeh had provided—coincidentally?

"I am not certain," Herald said cautiously, "that it is fair to marry her in this circumstance. I was summoned to exorcise her demon, yet without that Possession, if we must call it that, I might not have had as much interest in her."

"If the thing that repels others is what attracts you, who has the better right to marry her?" Hweeh asked. "Others might desire superficial things, such as her physical beauty or her wealth or family status. This is not the case with you."

Herald turned this over in his mind, and it made sense. "I thank you for your insight, Hweeh of Weew. Now I can proceed with confidence." And so could she.

"It happens to be my particular talent—the unusual revelation," Hweeh said. "I wish I could face my own realization of astronomy that sends me into shock." He paused, his eyeball wavering. "Do you suppose I could be cured by the application of an aura higher than yours?"

Now Herald considered. "Next time the Lady's demon manifests, we shall have to interview you," he said.

"Thank you. Knowing myself as I do, I suspect that what is in my mind is quite important. It behooves us to ascertain its nature."

"Now tell us the rest of the legend of Psyche," the girl said.

"It really is not important. Psyche begged Venus for help, not realizing the identity of her enemy, and the irate goddess forced her to perform a number of very arduous and hazardous tasks. But eventually Cupid recovered, and helped Psyche accomplish these. In the end she was given immortality and allowed to remain forever with Cupid. She bore him a child named Pleasure. As far as I know, it is still a happy Solarian godly family." Hweeh bobbed his eyestalk. "At any rate, you see how much of you I know through your name."

"A child named Pleasure..." Psyche repeated, and smiled knowingly.

5

Duke of Qaval

E Site animation. E

& Details. &

E Location: Galaxy Milky Way, Segment Etamin. Nature: evocation of ancient machine aura, temporary. Specific locale uncertain.

E

& You are certain it was not a contemporary-culture machine aura generation? & E The pattern corresponded closely to the ancient code. Possible confusion, but unlikely. E

& Then key the signature of evocation to its site, and you will have the specific planet. & E Unable. No records of site-signatures available for keying. Need direct site observation. E

& No records! &

X True. All records beyond 10,000 cycles wiped for economy reasons. Our fleets must travel light. X

& Idiocy! We need those records. Well, assign action unit. & 0 Action unit 2, orient on that Segment. 0

2 Oriented. 2

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

Now that the Enemy Witness was gone, it was no longer proper for Herald to sleep in the Lady's chamber. He moved into his own room, where he could exercise without disturbing the household. He transferred back to his own Slash body in Andromeda briefly to put his concerns in order and abate his schedule of assignments and make application for Cluster sanction of his marriage to Psyche. But mainly he oriented on Planet Keep and Kastle Kade, for his future home base had to be here. It was agreed that after the marriage he would have his natural Slash body mattermitted here. Psyche wanted it that way, and was sure she would not be revolted. She was eager to travel with him in Transfer, too, but her range was much more limited than his, and until the mystery of her variable aura was understood it seemed best to keep her home.

Immediate chores completed, he returned to his Solarian host and rode on a fine wheelhorse from the Palace of Crown to Kastle Kade. It was like coming home. Too bad there was no Transfer unit here—but Psyche was enough.

One night he woke to find her in his room, standing silently by his bed in a gauzy white nightie. She looked a bit like a ghost, but an extremely feminine one, for she stood between him and the moonlit window. Solarians, he had discovered the easy way, were visually stimulated, and the half-suggested outline of the female form was potent.

He sat up quickly. "Psyche! Are you—?"

"No," she said sadly. "I am not enhanced. I am only the normal me, low aura." Of course, 25 was not low at all; it only seemed that way after 250. "I thought—I just—oh, Herald, suppose I never manifest again?"

He took her into his arms, and then into his bed. It would have been the height of cruelty to deny her, and he really did find her most desirable as she was, nadir aura and all.

The nobles of Keep arrived in force for the wedding. They came in horse-drawn carriages, richly garbed. Each wore his Coat of Arms, which was the Shield of Arms embroidered on the cloth of a tunic. Herald, as the groom, had to stand beside the Duke of Kade and suffer inspection by each guest, a tedious chore, except for his professional interest in their diversity.

"Duke of Qaval," the doorman announced, superfluously for Herald, who was quite familiar with the general arms of Segment Qaval. A tall, bold figure strode in. He was manlike, with short stout legs showing green under the hem of his tunic, powerful green arms, and a thick scaly tail. His head was reptilian, with projecting snout and a huge slash of a mouth suggestive of the predators of Lake Donny. In short, a handsome specimen of the dominant species of that Segment.

"So glad you could come, Qaval," Kade said grimly. Herald knew this was a leading member of the enemy coalition, the entity to whom Whirl of Dollar owed allegiance. The force behind the move to burn Psyche.

"Couldn't miss the chance to survey your fortifications, Kade," Qaval replied with the smile of a crocodile.

"Meet Herald of Slash, the expert exorcist you inflicted upon me, now to be my son-in-law." Meaning: We have subverted your agent.

Qaval's small eye glared coldly down on Herald as the enemy Duke extended his claw. "My compliments on an apt maneuver," he said, speaking from the side of his mouth so that his huge triangular teeth barely showed.

Herald merely nodded his head, uncertain to whom the ironic compliment was addressed. The nobles of Planet Keep played hard politics! But on this occasion the weapons were left behind, and only carefully selected words could be used for the fencing.

"Marquis of Roundabout," the doorman said, and a Polarian entered. The creature was shaped like a giant candy drop, with a tapering tentacle above and a spherical wheel below. Because Polarians used their skin surface for perception and some communication, the Marquis wore only token clothing, a band of cloth embroidered with his Coat of Arms: an Achievement symbolic of debt exchange, within the Polarian Spherical Circle, within the Dragon of Segment Etamin, within the outline of the Milky Way Shield.

The Polarian touched Kade's hand with the little ball in the end of his trunk, then touched Herald's hand. "May this resolve the conflict," the ball said, vibrating Herald's flesh to make the sound. "It has been an uncircular matter."

So there was one enemy noble who preferred to avoid trouble! Maybe there were others. Still, there was no question the grudge remained. Perhaps because of the mischief wrought by Psyche's mother, the whole planet was watching Psyche.

"Chief of Skot." This was a Solarian, a man about Kade's age and girth, wearing a tartan. This would be the father of the Scion of Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

Skot, who had been mentioned as a possible suitor for Psyche. Well, that situation had changed!

"Viscount of Number." This was a Sador, like the Earl of Dollar, but of higher rank.

Then, arriving late, a very special entity: "Prince Circlet of Crown." A Sador prince, the only guest who ranked the Dukes of Kade and Qaval, and the prime mover in the opposition. The enemy leaders were here in force!

"The Prince does this castle honor," Kade murmured, making a formal bow. He seemed a bit overwhelmed.

"I am well aware of that," Circlet snapped, and rolled on. The royalty of Sphere Sador had never acclimatized to the dissipation of power of a once-mighty empire.

The wedding itself was a ponderous formality that annoyed and bored Herald, who was accustomed to using his time efficiently.

Heraldry was a good survival of medieval times; these other customs should have been allowed to remain defunct. The castle servants garbed him to their satisfaction and guided him through the motions. But he felt better when he spied the Duke of Kade looking just as glum, though perhaps the man had different reason. The forms had to be followed, but who in his right mind could enjoy them?

Nevertheless, Psyche was beautiful—she really was!—like a jewel shining amid the ornate dullness. There were, after all, virtues other than mere aura, and she had them all.

At last the real celebration: the banquet. Now the seriousness abated and the camaraderie began. Liquor in its various guises flowed freely, causing antagonisms to fade into the background. Prime wheels of Sador beef rolled around the table, until only the metallic bones remained. Herald saw the Duke of Qaval's formidable teeth ripping off long shreds of half-raw flesh: there was a true carnivore! What a terror those teeth must be in battle! But even Prince Circlet seemed to be enjoying himself, setting his steak on a sterile mat on the floor and shredding it with his feeding wheel and sucking up the fragments. When a pretty little Sador serving wench brought desert—mounds of quivering gelatin derived from the large bones of freshly slaughtered animals, topped with wheelcow cream in the initial stage of spoilage—the Prince hooked her wheel suggestively, in full view of the throng. She spun off a squeal as his rim touched her intimate axle and almost dropped the tray on his top wheel. Even the circumspect Polarian noble glowed in color for an instant at this good-natured indecency, and the long, long lip of Qaval curled momentarily. These entities never let a little warlike disharmony interfere with the basic pleasures of life.

After the banquet, the ball. Musicians played the themes of different species, and creatures circulated in conversation, dancing, and innocuous competition. Psyche was much in demand as a dancing partner, and not merely by those in Solarian form. The Polarian Marquis did a minuet with her, executed very prettily, and then the Duke of Qaval took her, putting his reptilian snout right up against her pale-blue cheek and using his tail to assist in intricate turns. Finally the Prince of Crown himself joined her in a free-form endeavor, spinning grandly about on his wheels while she pirouetted in counterpoint. It was quite artistic. One thing the leisure class of Keep had mastered well was the art of diversion.

Whirl of Dollar, back in the company of his compatriots, nudged up beside Herald as he watched.

"Do not feel out of alignment," the little Sador murmured. "They are verifying that she is not possessed. My Lord Qaval feels that my report was exaggerated, and does not want war on a fallacious pretext."

Oh. In that case, let them dance with his wife all they wanted! There was no demon aura present.

The nobles did not neglect Herald himself. The Duke of Qaval strode up with a mug of distillate in one claw, and wished him hearty congratulations. Then, in a lower tone: "Will you permit a personal observation?" The reptile noble had a strong aura of about sixty. It was easy to believe that Qaval was one of the leading combat knights.

"Permitted," Herald agreed guardedly. He was very curious to know what really motivated these enemies. Surely they did not believe they had a genuine case against Psyche.

"We of Qaval have long been devotees of the Temple of Tarot, and of the animation connected with it. does this fall within your sphere of talent?"

"It does," Herald said. "As a healer, I have necessarily studied many related disciplines, though I am not a literal devotee of the Temple."

"A fair response! My concern is why an entity such as you, of high aura and skill, should conjoin with a client of comparatively low aura."

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

A trap? Herald marched right into it. "She is not always of low aura, Duke. At times she manifests a higher Kirlian than I. But this is not Possession; it is enhancement of her natural aura. Or perhaps her lower aura is the nether cycle of a widely fluctuating Kirlian force. In that respect, she is my natural mate."

"How can you be sure it is natural?"

"You touched her. Found you any indication that she has ever been possessed?"

"None. And this is what confuses me. Our Witness reports that she has manifested supernaturally, but he might be mistaken. You were our hired expert. Had you reported no manifestation, we should have been satisfied. Instead you marry her—on the basis of that very quality."

"Yes. Your suspicion was at least partly valid. The manifestation is genuine, but there is no threat such as you experienced with her mother."

"I prefer to believe that you distort the case."

"Sir?" Herald inquired stiffly.

"That you became enamored of the Lady and her style of life, one that must be quite enticing to an entity from a downtrodden Sphere of a subject Galaxy. So you justified your liaison by perceiving in her a more potent aura than in fact exists. In this fashion you had a hold on Kade, who would never otherwise have unbent sufficiently to yield his daughter to such a union. Rather than submit her to verification of your claim at our claws, he suffered her to be allied to you."

"There are dueling swords available, if you care to oblige," Herald said tightly.

Qaval affected not to hear him. "Certainly a creature like you would not actually marry an entity who posed any potential threat to you or your livelihood. And a female who is no threat to her alien husband can hardly be a threat to her world. Therefore we seem to have no case against the Lady Kade."

Suddenly Herald understood. The Duke was offering a rationale that would effectively terminate any suspicion of Psyche, despite Whirl's report!

"There may be merit in your view," Herald said gratefully.

"However, if there needs must be a duel—"

The enemy Duke would have his mouthful of flesh! "I meant only to admire the caliber of decorative weapons, so rarely seen these days," Herald said. It was in effect a groveling apology.

"Even so." Qaval smiled with twoscore teeth. "I have reason to believe the Prince will concur. We are a peaceful planet where many species coexist in harmony, and Kade's fortifications are impressive. We never wanted war. It was necessary merely that we be quite certain that the mother was not echoed in the daughter. Our precautions may have appeared extreme, but—"

"I understand completely," Herald said. "You have many powerful and hostile auras on this planet. They must be controlled. My own existence was very nearly terminated by one such rampaging animal. No precaution is too extreme."

Qaval nodded gravely and drifted away. The party continued unabated, as savage in its fashion as a battle. Herald finally wangled a dance with his bride.

"You make me jealous," he murmured in her shell-blue ear. "All the royalty seeks your company."

"But I seek only yours," she said, holding him close. "Though I am not certain about you. I saw you eyeing that cutewheeled serving wench—"

"Oh? Which one?" he asked, glancing around.

"Just how many did you eye?" she demanded severely. But she couldn't hold the expression, and abruptly kissed him.

There was a general exclamation from many entities, as of the sight of something naughty. "Oh, shut up, lechers!" she cried at them all, smiling.

Circlet of Crown did not like being upstaged. There were no Sador wenches immediately handy to be goosed. "Let's play a game,"

the Prince suggested loudly, rolling off his disk of fermented grainmalt intoxicant. He had evidently sucked up several dishes too Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

many. But no one could afford to ignore or rebut even the drunken word of the Prince. "Hide and Quest!"

This was so old a game it seemed to date from the period of the Ancients; every Sphere had its variants. "Everybody hide—and the bride and groom are IT!" Prince Circlet continued. And he rolled wavily off. "Block your wheels for five minutes," he called back as he left the room. "Give us time!"

Kade shook his head. "Just what I need! Drunken enemies all over my castle. If any one of them hurts himself, a diplomatic incident!" But even he could not deny the Prince. He departed, seeking a suitable place to hide.

Suddenly Herald was alone with his wife. "Five minutes? Let's give them five hours," he suggested, taking Psyche in his arms again.

She yielded gladly, moving into a kiss of considerable depth. She might look like a child from a moderate distance, but she had a woman's instincts! Yet something was subtly wrong.

He concentrated, zeroing in on that wrongness. It was not a matter of wedding-day tension, for she was relaxed and joyous. Hardly any other person would have noticed it at all, but this involved aura, and he was the Kirlian expert.

Aura—that was it! Her aura was rising. It was now about thirty-five, ten intensities above her norm.

She drew back. "What is it my love?"

"The enemy is satisfied. They no longer oppose you, believing that I'd never marry a demon. They think it is the wealth of Kade I desire."

"So?" she said, delightful in her certainty that he had no interest in any material thing except her. Which was close enough to the truth. Herald was not yet rich, but he was getting there.

"But now your aura is strengthening," he said, worried. "If they become aware—"

"I will not hide!" she exclaimed. "We shall go to the Prince and show him! There is no harm in me."

"The Prince is drunk!"

"Then let him think my aura is the result of his besotment! But let it be open. My aura won you; I want all Planet Keep to know."

Herald sighed. If she really wanted to show off her demon aura, he would not be able to restrain her. "Maybe that's best. Actually what you have is a variable aura, a cyclic intensity. None of that type has been known before, so perhaps it is a mutation, but it is not inherently strange. If they see that even at the height there is no alien Possession...."

"Come! We have to seek them out anyway. We shall show my aura to every creature in this castle!" And she drew him eagerly by the hand.

Creatures were scattered all over the premises. One by one they routed them out, and Psyche touched each. "See? My aura is stronger, because I am married to the King of Aura." And one by one, startled as much by her illogic as the fact, the higher-aura entities agreed.

In the course of an hour, Psyche's aura rose to 135, but it was obvious to all that she had not changed. Herald was increasingly nervous, however. He wished the enhancement had occurred after the guests were safely departed. This was a touchy situation, like a firebrand hovering near dry tinder. Maybe it would not touch, but distance was preferable.

But the Duke of Qaval remained hidden, and so did Prince Circlet of Crown. "They must be together," Herald conjectured. "The Prince would have chosen his own location, and the Duke stayed with him to be sure he didn't hurt himself. But where can they be?"

"It's a big castle, with many crannies," Psyche said. "But I know them all. They shall not escape us!" And she led him on, intent on the fun of the game. Ah, the exuberance of her youth!

They searched through the chambers, right up into the highest turrets and parapets, while her aura climbed also, to 160. Now Herald had two reasons to want to be rid of the guests: to prevent alarm over her too-high aura—and to allow him occasion to make love to her. After all, it was their wedding night! But so long as the Prince remained hidden, the game was not over, and no one could go home. Any lesser entity could have been summoned in free—"ALLEE ALLEE CREATURES IN FREE!—but not the Prince. He had to be found, and no other entity could help.

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

"The drunken wheelie," Herald complained. "I want him out of here before you fade again!"

Psyche smiled knowingly. "I do, too, Herald. I wish I could always be high, for you. But from what you say, I will not peak for another hour. If we haven't found him by then, I'll sneak into a closet with you and rip off your clothes."

"With our luck, we'd bump into the Prince in the back of that closet," Herald muttered darkly.

"Oh, no!" she cried. "Making love to an alien Slash monster serpent is one thing, but I draw the line at Sador voyeurism!"

Herald spanked her pert posterior. "Don't worry. He doesn't have any clothes to rip off. But he might tear a wheel off that wench who was serving him drinks."

Psyche halted suddenly. "The wine cellar! That's where he would be!"

"Of course!" Herald said, snapping his human fingers. "Where else for a drunk? We should have checked there first."

They hurried down the curling stairs hand in hand, while her aura intensified more rapidly than ever. "It's accelerating!" Herald said. "It's up to one hundred and ninety already." One hundred and ninety—the level of Flame of Furnace. He didn't want it to stay there.

"We'll never get the castle cleared in time," she said. "Come on, they won't miss us for a few more minutes." She tugged him toward the bedroom.

"Few minutes, hell," he said. "I want the whole night."

"You'll have the whole century, after tonight! Stolen moments are most precious." And she drew him back up the stairs.

"I suppose so," he grumbled. Actually her mere presence, surrounded by an aura nearing two hundred, was a joy to him.

Two hundred? "It's one hundred eighty," he said, surprised.

"You mean I've peaked already? I somehow thought it would go as high as before." She curbed her disappointment. "Well, we'll just have to hurry." And she ran up the next flight of steps, her skirts flouncing up to give him nice flashes of her slender, shapely legs. Whoever had designed wedding dresses had known how to excite a man!

In the bedroom she was down to 165. "Wait," he said. "There's something funny about this. First you shot up, then down. Come below with me."

She paused, about to unsnap the assorted fastenings of her costume. "I thought you wanted—"

"I'm not an absolute sex maniac," he said. "I'll suffer through lovemaking at zero aura if need be; it isn't as though you had no other attractions. There's your money, and this fine castle, and—"

"Oh, I wouldn't want you to suffer," she said, making a moue.

"Humor me. I'll make it up to you in a moment."

She smiled. "I know you will. I'll deduct one gold coin and one brick of the castle for each modicum you are deficient in your performance."

"There may not be any castle left!" he cried.

She kicked him with her soft slipper. "It's not that much of a chore, serpent!"

They trotted down two flights of stairs again. Just getting around this castle was good exercise! And her aura jumped to 190 again.

"It's inversely proportional to elevation!" he exclaimed.

"But it's been rising slowly as we climbed—until now," she said.

"We seem to have two factors. It is cyclic, rising steadily at about a hundred intensities an hour until it levels off and fades at a similar rate. But it is also related to height; the farther you go from the ground, the weaker the effect."

"Then I'd better bring a pillow for the cellar," she said with a lift of her eyebrow. "Knowing the way aura excites your—"

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

"Not while the Prince is there!" He drew her in and kissed her. "Come on, let's rout him out right now. We can sneak back while your father is seeing them out the gate and keeping them from falling into the lake. Though the Duke of Qaval might frighten the alligators away if he fell in."

"You're more interested in the enhancement pattern than you are in me," she pouted.

There was just enough truth in that to hurt. "If he's not in the cellar, we'll do it there now," he said. "Standing up, if need be."

"Oh, joy!" she snorted, laughing.

"Lots of species breed on their feet."

"Mintakans breed with their feet," she said. "But you can just keep your feet out of my—"

He cut her off with a hasty kiss and squeeze. "Be assured I'll take my shoes off first."

Her aura jumped again as they descended. At the level of the cellar it stood at 215. At this moment, the second-highest Kirlian in the Cluster.

"Where are the lights?" Herald asked, blinking in the dark.

"No lights for the wine cellar. Father says light damages the wine."

"Then we'll just have to feel for the Prince," he said. He slid one hand along the cold stone wall, still holding onto her with the other.

"Great Circle!" a voice exploded ahead, startling them both. "A ghost!"

"Found you, Prince!" Herald cried.

"Look at the Lady!" another voice said. It was the Duke of Qaval.

Herald looked. Psyche was glowing in the dark.

It was her aura, manifesting visibly. It pulsed gently with her life processes, its colors showing the stresses of differing functions. It extended in a nimbus, fading at the periphery in little sparkles. It was absolutely beautiful.

But it was also disaster. "Possession!" the Prince cried in horror. "Dollar was right!"

"No," Herald protested. "Her aura is variable. During certain periods it rises as high as mine, then fades again. But she is herself.

There is no alien influence."

"Then why does she illuminate?" Qaval demanded.

"This occurs at times with strong auras in certain fields. That was how the aura was identified in System Sol over two thousand years ago, when the scientists who photographed it—"

"Then why do ours not glow?"

"Perhaps they are of different types. I assure you, this is not a supernatural manifestation. Come, touch her; verify that she is normal, the same girl you danced with anon."

"Keep her away from me!" Circlet screamed. "She is possessed of a demon!"

"In another light, perhaps our auras would glow, and hers not," Herald said. "She has a rare type—"

"Kill her," the Prince said coldly.

Herald's human hand snapped to his sword, but he carried none for this festive occasion. Nor did the Prince and the Duke.

"We may not strike during truce," Qaval assured his liege lord. "Even were we armed."

"She must die," the Prince insisted.

Herald moved in front of Psyche. "She is my wife."

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

"Come... we must depart," Qaval said. He sounded sad.

The two moved past Herald, who remained tensely alert. But there was no attack. The Prince was trying to give Psyche as wide a berth as possible, and the Duke was intent on guarding him. It would have been tactically foolish of them to attack, for the knights of the Duke of Kade controlled this castle, and no guest could escape alive without Kade's consent.

Herald and Psyche followed the Prince and Qaval to the main hall. The party ended swiftly. Iron-faced, the Duke of Kade stood by the front gate and mumbled empty pleasantries while the enemy guests filed out to the ferry.

Psyche's aura had risen to about 240. But Herald was no longer interested in making love. He knew that chance had passed a sentence of death on her, when she had been so near to safety.

"I regret I shall not be able to complete your therapy," Herald said. "It will not be safe for you to remain here."

"But we are progressing," Hweeh protested. "I know it. Each session I am better able to approach the shock subject. It concerns deep space, some manifestation beyond the Cluster itself, and it is extremely important. If only I can comprehend it without blowing out my mental fuse. Perhaps even this session...."

"The other nobles of Planet Keep have decided that my wife, Psyche, is subject to Possession," Herald said. "They demand her execution. Since neither the Duke of Kade nor I will tolerate that, there will be war. It is not fair to keep you here, as this castle may be besieged, perhaps destroyed."

"I appreciate your consideration," Hweeh said. "But I feel that the information I carry is worthy of the risk, and that only you can evoke that information in time. We are faced by some terrible threat and it will not abate merely because I ignore it. My intellect knows what my emotion does not; there is no escape from reality by hiding from it. And... I have developed a certain fondness for the Lady Kade, and for you, Herald. I would not feel right about departing in your period of stress."

"This is very generous of you," Psyche said. "But there is no way you can help us."

"Perhaps I will find a way," the Weew said. "I have certain connections in my Segment. If a protest were lodged...."

"The Duke of Kade feels this matter must be settled internally," Herald said. "If he cannot repulse the enemy forces, an extra-Segment protest would not avail. Distant politics cannot act as swiftly as a near arrow."

"Perhaps some other way, then. At any rate, I shall remain—because I must stay with you, in the hope that you can evoke my information in time."

In just a few days the enemy marched. Kade marshaled his own forces efficiently. Kade was the most powerful Dukedom of Keep, but its available forces could not match those of the Prince.

"All this is unnecessary," Herald told Kade. "Let me take Psyche away to Andromeda, where they cannot follow."

"She would not go," Kade said. "She is a creature of Keep, and of Kastle Kade. To remove her would be to destroy her. And the Transfer and mattermission facilities are in the control of the King."

It had to be mattermission, of course. With a normal aura of twenty five, Psyche could not last indefinitely in Transfer. In less than a year she would fade to oblivion. And if her body remained here, it would be destroyed.

"Can we hold them off?" Herald asked.

"We must hold them off," Kade said. "If they cannot overwhelm us in the first month, they will desist for they must tend to their own households and keep the beasts at bay. Many are not too keen on this battle, after meeting my daughter on her wedding day and seeing her innocence. But now the honor of the Prince requires that the effort be made."

The effort was made. Soon the Duke's lookouts reported the banners of the Prince's army to the south across the water of Lake Donny and beyond the dam. "They will not attack today," Kade said wisely. "First they will rendezvous their forces and make a base camp. Tomorrow shall be the initial action."

He was correct. The enemy did not advance further. The banners had been shown, giving fair warning; that was part of the Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

protocol. In due course the visible army removed to the south, out of sight of the castle.

"I was not pleased to have you marry my daughter," Kade told Herald gruffly. "But you have stood up well, and she loves you. Will you consult on strategy?"

"I am not expert in siege strategy," Herald said, flattered at this attention. The Duke's acceptance came slowly, but was worth having.

"It is mainly common sense. You will take the part of the enemy commander."

"As you will, sir."

Kade walked to a wall-sized map. "Here is Kastle Kade," he said, pointing out the bulging triangle. "Set within Lake Donny, in turn formed by our dam across Donnybrook." He indicated the area south of the castle. "The main approach is up the valley from the south, since the northern front is ideal for defensive ambush. But we can release the water from our dam, flash-flooding that valley.

This is well known to the enemy, of course. Such flooding would diminish our effective moat, but there would still be a bog for troops to cross while under fire from our parapets. How, then, would you approach with a siege force?"

Herald considered. "It would be tedious and difficult, therefore improbable—so I would attempt to approach over the ridge-road to the west. I would send out skilled knights to eliminate the defensive sentries, then funnel the troops and siege machinery along the heights, debouching at the castle shore. I would set my catapults at the pass, so as to lob stones conveniently down."

"And if I sent knights to block you off at the high pasture beyond the Ridge Road?"

"I have—how many?—two thousand knights? You have perhaps two hundred. I would wipe out your entire force, if it were so foolish as to meet me in open battle away from the protection of the castle. It is true that the castle of the Baron of Magnet is in that vicinity, but he has few knights—in fact they are all here at Kastle Kade for the main defense—so there remain nothing but household troops to secure that castle. I would set a minor siege about it, not attacking it but merely preventing any access to it, so that there could be no interference from there." Herald glanced at Kade. "In fact, I don't see how you can stop me. The Prince, I mean. He will have his siege force by the castle despite all you can do. You can't flood a ridge, can you?"

"I cannot flood a ridge. I could place troops in ambush—"

"My knights might take losses of three or four to one, but very soon they would clean out your forces. And where could your knights hide—down the slope?"

"So you see no way I can abate your thrust?" Kade said.

"Frankly I don't, and it has me worried. Maybe you could dig a ditch, or throw up a wall, and guard it—"

"In two days or less? When they have full-scale siege works?"

"Duke, you make me nervous indeed! Kastle Kade is vulnerable!"

"That seems to be a reasonable conclusion," Kade agreed.

"We'll just have to stop them at the wall. Unless they are fool enough to march straight up the southern valley."

"They are not such fools. They will march a small contingent up the valley, and should we drown those the major force would remain—and our defense would be weakened far more than their offense."

"So they can move troops past the dam by doing it a little at a time, and we can't stop them."

"Yes. We shall reserve our forces for the castle."

"Damn it!" Herald exploded. "How could such a liability have been left so near the castle?"

"Actually, the dam is guarded by bowmen, so a small force will find approach difficult—"

"I mean the high trail!"

"The Ridge Road is necessary for herding our cattle to and from the high pasture," Kade said patiently. "It is a good pasture, the best in this region, and our cattle are the finest and fattest wheelers available. You saw how our recent guests tore into that wheelbeef! Much of the wealth of the Dukedom derives from that herd."

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

"And no one ever expected to go to war," Herald said glumly. "Who could have anticipated that a Lady of Kade would become haunted?" He touched the sword he now wore. "The whole thing is so foolish! This damned superstition that says anything new must be suspect! Anybody who really knew Psyche...."

Kade smiled with one of the few touches of warmth Herald had seen in him. "You begin to echo me."

"And why not? The truth bears echoing."

Kade returned to the map. "I, too, objected to the vulnerability of the Ridge Road. One never considers one's defenses with the assumption that they will never be used. But in the end I left the ridge unfortified. Can you see why?"

Herald studied the map again. "It is a mystery to me. I assume the certainty of inconvenience for your prime cattle outweighed the uncertainty of war. Why go to a lot of trouble and expense for something so theoretical?"

"Why, indeed," Kade agreed. "So I am sure the Prince's strategists have pored over this same map and reached a similar conclusion."

"Yes."

"And thereby lies the Prince's fall—perhaps."

Herald looked up sharply. "How so?"

"Suppose these fine fat cattle should stampede from the high pasture?"

Herald looked closely at the map a third time, seeing the high pasture and the way it channeled into the familiar—to cattle—ridge path. Slowly he smiled.

Psyche caught him arming for battle. "Herald! You're not going to fight? Your host doesn't have the strength or training!"

"All hosting is voluntary," Herald reminded her. "I could never take my host into danger without his permission and cooperation."

"I don't know," she said. "We've seen strange things here on Keep, and with your aura—"

"I'll let you speak to him directly," Herald said, and turned over the vocal apparatus.

"It's true, ma'am," the host said. "I'm a nobody myself. I knew when I started that I had to choose between serfing and hosting, and if I went the host route I'd have to stay out of the way and let my Transferee do it his way. Mister Herald has exercised me and made me stronger and tougher than I ever was before, and his aura heals me all the time, making me feel real good, you know—"

"I know," she agreed.

"And I like having people admire what my body carries. Even if it's not exactly me. And—no offense, ma'am—I'd never get remotely close to a doll like you by myself. I'm nothing, and you're the Lady Kade. So I'll take my chances. Maybe I'll die with Mister Herald, but it's a sight better than living on my own."

It didn't faze her. "Yes, I have been making love to two men, haven't I! But this is the nature of Transfer. Herald knows that I'll never love anyone but him in any form, ever."

"He knows," the host agreed. "Thanks for the word, ma'am, and now I'll just submerge again, okay? I feel sort of out of place, you know, talking to you like this."

" 'Bye, host," she said, making a cute little wave of her hand. Then, to Herald: "I still want you by me, husband. We haven't been married long, and I want to conceive Pleasure. If anything happened to you now—"

"It is you they are after," Herald reminded her. "We have to defend the castle, and its main vulnerability is the dam. If the enemy holes the dam, the lake will drop, and they'll be able to cross to the very walls. The mud will slow them, but still—"

"No they won't," she said. "The lake is deeper around the castle, to make a good moat. The water will never sink that low. All the alligators will congregate there, and—"

"Still, it would allow them to bring their siegecraft that much closer. So I'm taking a crossbow to help defend the dam."

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

"Can't you use your crossbow here in the main keep?"

"If the dam falls, I'll be back here soon enough." But he didn't like to see her doubt, so he brought her close and whispered in her sweet ear: "The crossbow is only part of the uniform. I'm running Kirlian check on the defenders just to be sure none of them turn out to be Transferees who will sabotage the dam or take a potshot at your father. I'm not there to fight, and the ferry will bring me back." He bit her ear lightly.

She shook her head, whether in negation or reaction he was not sure. "I suppose I knew it would be this way. You're trying to prove something to my father."

Herald smiled. "I suppose I am." He kissed her and left. Actually, he looked forward to this bit of participation; it made him feel genuinely useful in abating a situation that he had in part precipitated.

The enemy rode up the valley toward the dam with martial fanfare and banners flying; a line of knights mounted on their wheeled chargers. Herald recognized the Arms of Crown, Qaval, and Skot, along with others that were new to him. But where were Runabout, Number, and Dollar? Had they balked at this campaign, or were they elsewhere?

Where else, except up on the ridge, ready to start their avalanche? Properly executed, that slide could fill in a sizable section of the lake, making a good start on the ramp required to achieve the castle. Especially when destruction of the dam lowered the water level.

If treachery were to manifest, now would be the time! Herald took his eyes off the approaching banners and moved rapidly along the battlement of the dam, passing close enough to the standing crossbowmen to feel their auras without actual physical contact.

The archers had not been told what he was doing, of course. In fact, he carried a bow himself, as though to fill in where needed.

All their auras were authentic. There were no Transfer traitors—not here, at least. Maybe he had been unduly suspicious.

The Duke of Kade was ready. He had landed beside the dam with his picked force, not to defend it per se but to offer ritual combat.

It was not an ethic Herald properly understood, but the master of the castle was expected to sally out and offer honest battle on the field of honor.

So now the banners of Kade and Magnet and the other allies were flying. There were about fifty knights on each side, half Kade's force, and surely a much smaller fraction of the enemy's total. This honored the principle of token combat, a tradition throughout the Cluster for millennia, for what that was worth.

There was nothing Herald could do now except watch. The ferry would convey the surviving knights back to the castle, and Herald would go with them. Then the real action would begin, though it might be considerably less dramatic than this sample battlefield engagement.

The two groups of knights charged each other. Lances crashed into shields—oh, the insult to those beautiful Shields of Arms!—and some of the knights were unhorsed. Then it became a melee of flashing swords and maces and battle-axes. These were mainly physical weapons rather than lasers, brutal and bloody for the armor embodied interference layers to disrupt laser weapons. The banners fell, and all was chaos; only the flash of shield and crest made it possible to identify any of the participants.

But soon the recall was sounded, for such action could not be maintained long. Slowly the forces disengaged, while retainers on foot dashed out to reclaim the dead. Slightly smaller groups of knights formed about the restructured banners of their sides. It was over, with not too much damage done.

Over? The charge sounded again, and the battered knights resumed the fray. Herald realized that this had been only the first clash of many, the figurative testing of the water. The break had been agreed on to remove the disabled and the debris, so as to keep the battlefield clear. No sense getting fouled up with the clutter of the dead and dying, after all; that was not neat and noble.

So it went: fierce clash, recall; clash again between smaller forces; recall again. It was a kind of elimination tournament, with luck seeming to be as much of a factor as individual skill. But it was soon apparent that the Duke of Kade's forces were getting the better of it. With each break, the enemy band was smaller, not merely in number but in proportion, until the difference approached two to one. At last the enemy had had enough; their knights were too tired to hack it any more. They sounded retreat, and this time retreated all the way down the valley. Kade of course did not follow; it could only mean an ambush by the numerous fresh knights beyond, and he would not be able to flood them out without drowning himself along with them.

Kade retained some twenty-five knights, while the enemy band was down to fifteen. Among the fallen were the Duke of Qaval and the Scion of Skot. This battle might have been a form of ritual, but the deaths were real. Herald regretted the death of Qaval, who Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

had seemed to have some decency and considerable acumen; in other circumstances, a good entity to know.

The victorious party rode back up to the dam, leading several riderless horses. They rolled up the road to the side, where the barrier-gate opened to let them through. "The fools were out of condition!" Kade cried jubilantly. "They were astonishingly awkward. An excellent omen!"

Qaval, awkward? Herald would hardly have believed that, if he hadn't seen the defunct Shield of Arms. The enemy Duke had impressed him as the very last creature to go into battle unprepared. Had he been torn by conflicting loyalties?

Now the ferry hove to, and the knights rode their chargers aboard. Kade rolled by Herald, signaling him to step up on the outside of the saddle for a lift. "Clear?" he inquired quietly through his visor as Herald obliged.

"Clear," Herald agreed.

Several of the horses were skittish, changing their wheels about, and it required stern guidance to keep them in line. "They should be better disciplined than that," Kade muttered, but his elation over the easy victory mitigated his ire at this detail.

The ferry cast loose. The paddle animals revved up, and the boat nosed across the clear water toward the castle. The honor guard of alligators closed in.

Suddenly there was a commotion. Six knights fell into the water with screams of surprise and dismay. In their heavy armor they could not swim or float; they had to cling to the rail, where they were subject to the wash from the paddles. The alligators were plunging in, dragging them away and down, eager to tackle the problem of extracting the morsels from the metal in their own fashion. The knights on the deck leaned far over in their saddles to grasp the flailing limbs of their companions, and five more fell in.

"Treachery!" Kade cried, lifting his battle ax high. "Show your faces, miscreants, or I shall have the archers on the dam slay you all!" And the Baron in charge of the crossbows was already marshaling them to orient on the ferry, which was well within their range.

Slowly each knight raised his visor. And the first face Herald recognized was the long green snout of the Duke of Qaval. "No treachery, Kade," he said. "Tactics."

"The dead!" Kade exclaimed. "They put their knights in the armor of our dead!"

"Did you really suppose your knights were that much better than ours?" Qaval inquired with a sneer that reached three-quarters of the way around his head. "Had we shown our true skill, you would have opened the sluices on us."

True enough, Herald thought. The enemy had found a cunning way to get past the sluices and the archers of the dam—by appearing to put up a poor fight. What an astonishing feat it had been, to change armor on the battlefield without alerting Kade's forces.

Probably any knight who caught on had been expeditiously killed, and the bodies of Kade's knights had been stuffed into enemy armor and dragged off during the breaks. Herald himself had watched the whole battle and seen none of this; the operation had been a miracle of ingenuity and precision. And this boded ill indeed for the campaign. The enemy was not inferior, but superior to Kade's forces in proficiency, courage, and strategy. He knew the same thoughts were going through Kade's mind. They were in trouble!

But perhaps this had been the one supreme effort of the enemy, an all-out attempt to infiltrate the castle and open it to the main forces. It had been balked because Kade had caught on too quickly, and invoked the power of his dam archers. Perhaps.

Eight of the knights remaining on the deck were enemy. Only six were loyal, counting Kade himself. The other loyals were in the water, shoved there with their steeds by Qaval's ruthless ploy.

"Now let your archers fire," Qaval continued through another toothy smile. "At this range they will kill all here indiscriminately, you included, for we all bear Kade Shields and armor and they cannot see our faces to know friend from foe." Then his closing visor covered his sardonic expression.

"Get you to horse!" Kade rasped at Herald. Then he snapped his own visor shut and charged Qaval, battle-ax swinging.

It was melee again, this time not viewed from a distance, but right up close. Herald had memorized the identities of the eight enemy knights. It was not a talent that he normally possessed, but the shock of discovery and his familiarity with the Shields of Arms and Crests of the knights' armor enabled him to fix them instantly in his mind.

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

He leaped into the saddle of the nearest vacant steed, suddenly understanding why the horses had been skittish before. They had borne strange riders! Normally each steed was ridden by a single knight, whatever the occasion, so that sapient and sentient got to know each other. It made for better control and performance. The horses would obey any rider, but they were uncomfortable about strangers.

A spiked mace hung from this saddle. His human hand took up the weapon of its own accord. Maybe his host was helping. The mace was no light laser thing; it was a genuine, solid, bone-crushing instrument. He struck the horse with his feet, urging it forward.

Herald swung the mace at the head of the nearest enemy. The knight countered skillfully with his own mace. Herald was a novice at this sort of combat, and the enemy knights were obviously picked professionals. Herald really didn't have a chance.

However, this was a boat rocking gently on the water, crowded for mounted combat, and the other knight had been orienting on a different target, not expecting attack from Herald's direction. He was stationary, while Herald's steed was rolling forward. As a result, the impact sent both knight and steed toppling into the water. Herald was the victor.

He looked around. Two knights were bearing down on Kade, who had evidently dispatched his original target. Qaval had moved out of the way, engaging one of Kade's knights who had gotten there before Kade himself. Herald drew himself half out of the saddle to swing at the nearest enemy. His blow scored on the creature's upper section, but lacked the force and direction to do much harm.

The knight swung his sword about: a laser blade. Herald grabbed his mace in both hands and smashed it down squarely on the knight's crest. The sword of light was unable to block this purely physical blow. Herald felt a searing pain in his right elbow where the joint in the armor permitted part of the laser to penetrate, but his own blow crushed in the enemy's helmet, and that was enough.

"Fool!" Kade bellowed at him. "It's you they want! Get behind me!"

Herald hastily obliged, guiding his mount back across the deck. Another knight went for him—only to be cut off by Kade. It was Qaval, using another ax, and he was adept with it. Sparks flew as the two weapons clashed against each other.

Elsewhere on the boat Kade's knights, tired from the prior battle, were being brought down or pushed into the water. The Scion of Skot, a huge young Solarian, laid about him so fiercely that soon he rode amid corpses. This was the man Psyche might have married had she not seemed haunted. If Skot's ferocity were any indication of his other qualities, it might have been an exciting union!

Skot started toward Herald, and there was no mistaking the special menace that knight represented. He wanted Herald's head, literally, and meant to have it before someone else deprived him of the privilege of taking it. While Herald hesitated, knowing it would be the height of folly for him to meet Skot in combat yet tempted anyway, the Baron of Magnet moved in instead. Magnet needed no armor; he swung a fist-sized ball of dense metal, keeping it in magnetic orbit about him. This he hurled at Skot's head with terrible force and accuracy. The enemy knight batted it out of the way with his mace, demonstrating reflexes Herald never could have matched, then fetched down a wooden lance and rammed it at Magnet. Magnetism was ineffective against wood. The point scored cleanly, knocking the Baron out of the saddle with such force he flew through the air to splash into the water. His ball splashed after him.

One other knight remained—another enemy. The three closed in on Kade and Herald, the only two of their side still in combat status. Kade, too, was tired. He wavered in the saddle, and his steed stumbled for him, fouling up its wheels momentarily. Kade had fought a great battle, twice, but he was not young, and blood was spattered on his mail where he had been wounded. The ferry, propelled mindlessly forward by its paddlers, was now out of crossbow range.

Still, the enemy was wary of the Duke of Kade, who might be less tired than he seemed. Even in his extremity, he was dangerous.

Qaval and Skot approached him cautiously, while the third knight, a Polarian, guided his steed swiftly at Herald.

Herald, panting from his own exertions, meager as they might have been compared to the efforts of the seasoned warriors, knew he could not really fight another physical battle. There was only one chance: If he could get a hand on the Polarian's flesh, and if—

The tentacle shoved a lance at him. Herald threw himself to the side, started to fall out of his saddle like the duffer he was, reached across and grabbed hold of the other horse's saddle. The back of his fingers touched the Polarian's spongy flesh where it braced against that metal rim. Herald concentrated—and he was in luck. This was a Transferee! He had gambled that such highly trained knights would be required for this mission that some had been brought in from far castles by Transfer.

He wore heavy gloves to protect his hands, but now this was an interference. He yanked his hand back, letting the gauntlet be Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

pinned by saddle and bide, then set his bare fingers against that hide. He sent his own aura into the same pattern he had employed against the monster Caesar: exorcism. In this brief time he could not hope to drive the aura of the Transferee out of the host—but he could give him an awful scare!

Enemy— GO! he willed.

It worked better than he had anticipated. The knight jerked back, breaking contact, and put his communication ball against the side of his horse.

"Enemy—GO!" he buzzed.

The steed shot away backwards—right into Skot. So hard was the impact, both were carried into the lake.

Thus victory, so suddenly! Yet Herald was sorry, for he knew it had merely been the result of a freak combination of talent and luck. There was precious little honor, here.

Now it was Kade against Qaval, ax against ax. Both knights were weary but determined. Herald wanted to help, but knew he would only get in the way. He had already done as much as he could.

The two horses wheeled around and around each other in response to guidance by the knights' legs. The axes clashed and clashed again, more sparks flying.

Then Qaval performed an intricate maneuver, and hooked his ax into Kade's, sending Kade's weapon flying out of his hand. Qaval's horse crowded him against the rail so that Kade had his back to the water with no way to retreat.

"It has been a good battle," Qaval said. "Now you have fairly lost. Give up your daughter for exorcism by the Prince's machine unit, and siege will be lifted and you permitted to retain your demesnes. I should have no joy in shedding your noble blood needlessly."

"I would not give her up to you if I could," Kade retorted. "She is married now, no longer mine to direct."

"Then do you stand aside," Qaval said evenly, "while I settle with the Healer."

"I shall not—"

"Do it!" Herald cried. "It is my responsibility!"

"That would be the death of you—and her," Kade said. He lunged at Qaval barehanded, but the enemy knight, thoroughly experienced, leaned back in his saddle, avoiding Kade's grasp, and calmly brought the flat of his ax down hard against Kade's helmet Kade slumped in his saddle, unconscious.

Now Qaval wheeled to face Herald. "Yield you now?" he inquired, momentarily lifting his visor to show his green snout.

Herald could not help admiring the enemy knight, so strong in battle yet courteous too. Qaval had been ready to drop the charge against Psyche at the wedding, until her aura had glowed. Perhaps even then he had not been alarmed, but when Prince Circlet insisted, his loyal Duke had supported him with all the cunning and power at his command. Now, victorious, he would compromise, asking only that the girl be given over. Qaval obviously was not after the spoils of the Dukedom of Kade; he could readily have killed his enemy, but had deliberately spared him. Rather it was a matter of principle: the Prince must be served, and no suspicion of Possession could be permitted on Planet Keep.

It was a perfectly reasonable position, inviting acquiescence. Qaval had won fairly, demonstrating not only his superior cunning but his courage and honor as well. Yet it could not be.

"Her aura is not mine to yield, either," Herald said. "It is her own. To exorcise it by machine would be to kill her, Transferring her to nowhere. I shall not give up my wife—and you cannot take her, even if you kill me. The castle defenders will not turn her over to you. In fact, if you try to take this raft there yourself, you will be killed or taken prisoner yourself."

"Do you arm yourself suitably," Qaval said quietly, "for now we must duel."

Inflexible! "You can't win!" Herald said. "There is no way short of conquering Kastle Kade by storm—"

"I have not slain Kade; I shall not slay you. You both shall be hostage against the girl. I believe your castle will come to terms.

Does the Dukedom not devolve on the Lady Kade in your absence?"

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

Smart, smart! And ruthless. If Psyche assumed charge, she would immediately give herself up to save her father and Herald. Was there a creature on this planet with more nerve than Qaval? Without the support of such a knight, the throne of Prince Circlet and his father, the King, would surely be a mockery.

Herald guided his horse to another horse while the Duke remained in place. Herald located a laser sword in the other saddle, and lifted it out. He turned it on, and the blade glowed. Powered by the castle broadcast, it was deadly.

"You have been the perfect knight, even in your treachery," Herald said. "I wish I had friends as noble as you the enemy. You have allowed me to arm myself. It is only fair to warn you that I know how to use this weapon, for I am of Slash, Andromeda."

"I am well aware of that, Healer," Qaval said. "You are a better swordsman than Kade, whose repute is widely known. But so am I." And he hung up his ax and drew his own laser sword.

Oh-oh.

Mounted, Herald would be at a disadvantage, for Qaval was an expert wheelhorsecreature. So he jumped down to the deck. He ran the risk of getting run down, but he was better off this way.

And Qaval, honorable to the last, did the same. Chivalry was far from dead on Planet Keep!

They moved together, fencing. Herald quickly verified that the enemy knight had not been bluffing. Qaval had short thick arms, but he was by no means clumsy. He handled his sword and shield with such expertise that Herald dared not try any tricks. The enemy used his tail to balance his body, making his motions more certain. Qaval had power; his tail, not his body, absorbed the recoil from his swift motions.

The enemy knight was under pressure, however, because the ferry was approaching the castle. Once it came within range of the defensive crossbows, Qaval would be in trouble. So he had to press the attack instead of waiting his opportunity. Herald, in contrast, could play it safe, being defensive.

It was some attack! Qaval had to be tired, but his blade flicked about Herald as though guided by its own mind. Herald foiled each thrust, but he had to retreat. Qaval was forcing him back toward the water. Soon he would be trapped, as Kade had been. Yet he had to keep stepping away; Qaval was simply too strong.

His heels came up against the rail. Herald tried desperately to drive Qaval back, taking the offense for the first time, but feint and thrust as he might, he could not make the knight fall for any ruses or give ground. Herald was making himself vulnerable by this effort. In a moment Qaval would counter with such authority that Herald would have to go into the water.

Only one chance. Herald blocked Qaval's blade to the left, causing the enemy to flick his weapon outward to avoid interruption of the circuit, then threw himself to the right, taking a quick forward roll on the deck. But even as he committed himself, he knew it hadn't worked. Qaval had not been fooled, and was in place to stab him before he regained his feet. It had been a desperation ploy to get out of the corner, and the invincible knight had anticipated it.

"Now you must yield," Qaval said calmly. But at this moment of disaster, something flew across the deck and struck him on the helmet. The knight fell back on his tail, unconscious. Amazed, Herald struggled to his feet.

A metal ball rolled across the deck. Then Herald saw the design on it: the crest of Magnet! It was the Baron of Magnet's mace!

Herald peered into the water in the direction it had come from—and there was the Baron, floating.

Herald leaned over the rail and reached, but it was too far. So he ran to a horse and grabbed a mace from the saddle, extending its metal head toward the Baron. Sure enough, the Magnet drew into this, and Herald was able to haul him in close, where he could be lifted up and out.

"You showed up just in time!" Herald said.

Once the Baron was back in the saddle, he was able to speak, using his translator. "Water immersion does not harm my kind, and the teeth of the reptiles mean nothing to me. But I was not able to maneuver. It took a few moments to pump up enough gas to float for we are hardly more dense than water, and by then the boat had left me behind. It took some time to paddle back."

"Paddle back?" Herald asked, perplexed. "You have no limbs, no jets!"

"I used my mace," Magnet explained, twirling his ball in momentary orbit. Suddenly Herald comprehended: The ball, shoved against the water, provided the metal brace the Baron could use to propel himself slowly forward. Apparently the water did not Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

interfere with the creature's magnetism. This was a marvelously versatile species, one that could survive in the vacuum of space or on the bottom of a predator-infested lake! "But I have also—exhausted my fuel." And the Baron settled into the saddle, his mace dropping.

The doughty little warrior had done his utmost!

Now Herald was in charge of the ferry, with three unconscious knights. He had little notion what to do, but it didn't matter, because the paddlewheels were carrying them all to the castle anyway. He looked like much more of a hero than he was. He thought he saw Psyche waving a handkerchief from a parapet.

6

Siege of Psyche

E Second animation of site. Specific location: Segment Etamin, native Sphere Sador, Planet Keep. No manifestation of technical site penetration. Animation faded without action. E

& Miscue? Site animation without penetration or action? & E Stet. E

& Then the Quote species of Segment Etamin are on the verge of complete site activation by remote control. Dispatch action unit.

&

0 Unit 2, orient and proceed. 0

2 Enroute. Assignment? 2

& Await further animation of site, orient specifically, nullify. &

"You're a hero," Psyche told him after her kiss and hug.

"Your father and Baron Magnet are the heroes," Herald said. And Duke Qaval, he thought, for in the battle proper the reptilian knight had won the day.

They stood on the parapet, while others attended to the knights. "Qaval would have won, if he hadn't been so noble about it,"

Herald added after a moment, feeling the need to be fair in word as well as thought.

"After his treachery of impersonating the dead," she said wryly. "Well, he is our captive now."

The threat of taking the Duke of Kade and Herald hostage was over; it had rebounded against its perpetrators. But the siege was still to come.

He glanced up at the Ridge Road. "Use the scope," Psyche advised. So he moved over to the mounted telescope, and traced what was visible of the ridge.

"I see them!" he said. "They've cleared away our men during the distraction of the dam battle, and now they're wheeling dozers in."

For the solid draft-beasts were capable of shoving sizable rocks about and starting an avalanche.

In the course of the next hour they watched the enemy setting up. It looked ominous indeed. Then, just as the dozers were massed for their surprise move, the stampede from the high pasture started. Hundreds of fat healthy cattle charged along the ridge, shoving everything aside. Troops and dozers tumbled down the side, cracking into trees. There were many enemy knights, there to guard against any possible counterattack and to supervise the forming of the ramp after the avalanche, but they were helpless before the nearly mindless panic of the cattle.

The cattle braked and milled about some as they funneled onto the narrowest path and then hit the steep descent. Their wheels Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

skidded. They slewed around and spread out all across the slope, shoving bodies ahead of them. But their fury was spent. When the herd finally reached the bottom, the cows stopped to graze on the green grass near the lake.

Well, they had done their job! The enemy had been suckered into that trap, and the retainers of the Baron of Magnet had spooked the herd on schedule. There would be no avalanche now!

Herald kissed Psyche again—and felt her aura rising.

"Come on," he said. "This time I'm going to find out just what governs your variation. And I want Qaval as Enemy Witness. We may resolve this yet."

"Why don't you just accept me as I am?" she inquired, pouting. "There's been trouble every time you—"

"Let's ring in the Weew, too," he said. "He has a high aura, and can help observe. We'll start at the cellar. I'd certainly like to know why depth raises your aura."

"It does sound backward," she admitted. Then she got more practical: "This time let's bring some pillows. I don't want to have to lie on that cold wet stone again."

"You never lay on it before!" he said.

"I didn't say I did lie on it, I said I didn't want to before, and I don't want to again. But when I didn't before, I never got to lie upstairs either, so if it's got to be in the cellar, at least let's make it comfortable."

He patted her fanny, then gave it a tweak. "Seems comfortable enough to me. The trouble with you females is you think you're good for only one thing! This it serious."

"You only married me for my aura," she complained.

She never tired of that game! But—neither did he. So he followed through on what was becoming a ritual. "No, you're an heiress too, and you have a pretty... face. For a shotgun wedding, those were recommendations enough."

"Never marry a snake," she muttered. "My old nurse warned me."

He grabbed her, spun her about, and buried his face in her flowing hair, kissing her smooth neck. Script it might be, but it did set him off. "This is absolutely crazy," he said, his lips moving against her skin as though he were speaking Polarian style. "I can't justify it at all. But I'm in danger of falling wildly in love with you, child bride." He nipped the blue skin where neck met shoulder.

"Well, no one's perfect," she said. And twisted around to kiss him on the lips with savage fervor. "Oh, Herald, just to be with you forever—that's an I want. Is that so greedy?"

"To the cellar, girl," he said, pointing dramatically. "If we don't get this investigation started, your main attraction will fade before I can get your secondary attraction down on that cold wet stone."

"A fate worse than death," she agreed. "I suppose it never occurs to you to put pleasure before business?"

"What do you think I'm doing? " he demanded.

"Make that forever minus one day," she said. "Any more remarks like that and I'll remove another day."

"Already I'm pressed for time. I'm losing a day a minute."

They picked up Qaval, who seemed none the worse for his knockout except for a darker green splotch on his brow, found Hweeh, and descended to the cellar. Herald made each entity touch Psyche on the way. "We are investigating the so-called Possession phenomenon," he explained. "Note that her aura is up to fifty now."

At the foot of the steps: "Note that it has jumped to sixty. That's unique. With other entities, aura is their most constant property.

But Psyche's aura is not supernatural. She varies with time and elevation. It is my purpose to ascertain what factors govern her cycle, and demonstrate that there is no need to postulate Possession. Once Duke Qaval is satisfied, the siege may be over."

"And if it becomes certain that she is possessed?" Qaval inquired with a rippling curl of his green lip.

"My wife shall not be burned," Herald said firmly. "If we can't exonerate her, the siege continues." He shook off the unpleasant notion. "All right. We know her aura will increase to a level above two hundred in the course of the next two hours. She will began Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

to glow. What we need to learn is why—and what in this cellar affects it."

"In short, we shall locate the demon," Qaval said.

"And lay it to rest forever! We'll crisscross this whole labyrinth and chart her fluctuations. Maybe we'll zero in on the key."

They crisscrossed. Psyche's aura peaked at a certain spot on the floor near the wine cellar, fading evenly in a radius out from it.

Qaval, accepting his status as Enemy Witness with singular grace, became quite interested in the proceedings. He had an active scientific curiosity. On his suggestion, Psyche approached that area on the floor above, and they found that the effect there was similar but less marked.

"It is an intersecting plane of a sphere," Hweeh pointed out. "The center is some distance below the castle cellar. We shall have to excavate it to locate it specifically."

"That would undermine the foundations and encourage intrusion of water," Qaval said. "Not the wisest course during a siege."

"Maybe we could make a sampling core," Herald said.

"Not before her aura fades," Hweeh said. "Drilling takes time, if it is done carefully enough to be worthwhile in its sample, and she is already up to my level."

"Higher than that," Herald said. "Here in the spot, she's one hundred seventy."

"What was the nature of the site on which this castle was constructed?" Qaval inquired.

"I can answer that," Psyche said, glad to contribute something other than her mere presence. "The first Kade was granted this estate eight hundred years ago. He dowsed for the best site, which turned out to be right here."

"Dowsed?" Herald asked blankly.

"Dowsed. He cut a section from a wheelbranch and held it in his hands a special way. Where it dipped, he built."

"I had understood this was normally done to locate a source of water or precious metal," Hweeh remarked.

"In this case, he was dowsing for feel," she said. "He was a religious man, and he insisted that the spiritual vibrations be correct."

"So he located the spot where an immortal demon lay buried," Qaval said, "and built his edifice on that."

"Do you consider this to be Possession?" Herald asked.

"It may be. But removal of the bones or tomb of the demon should abate it."

"Will Prince Circlet provide us time to excavate?"

Qaval shook his snout. "He is now committed to siege. Only a successful siege-defense will convince him."

"Do you know, there is something familiar about Psyche's cycle," Hweeh said. "I can't place it, but—"

"Something to do with your specialty?" Herald asked.

"Yes. In fact... possibly even with the reason I shock out. I wonder whether...."

Herald was abruptly more interested. A tie-in between Psyche's aura and Hweeh's shock? "Is her connection beneficial or inimical to your health?"

"I don't know. But I am willing to experiment."

"Let's try it," Herald said. And to Qaval: "Enemy Witness, this entity has no part in the Possession. If the siege against Kastle Kade should be successful, see that he is granted safe passage out."

"Agreed," Qaval said.

Herald put his hand on Hweeh, who was now a blob with eye-stalk, horn, and three feet. "Space Amoeba," he said.

Immediately the Weew sagged. But Herald maintained contact. "Wake, Hweeh. Sight. Sound. Recovery."

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

Slowly the Weew came out. "I suffer disorientation. Did I—?"

"I sent you into shock with the key phrase," Herald said, "and brought you out of it immediately, allowing you no reorientation period. Do you wish to continue?"

"Yes. It is important. Your treatments have helped me, or I would not have been able to revive so soon."

"Psyche, your turn," Herald said.

Psyche put her hand on Hweeh. She was now 180. "Amoeba," she said gently.

Hweeh sank again. "Wake," she said urgently. "Wake, Hweeh!"

Slowly the Weew came out of it.

"Her aura is less than mine," Herald said. "Yet it is working as well. That indicates an affinity. Perhaps when she peaks...."

"What manner of problem does the Weew have?" Qaval inquired.

"Sorry, I forgot you were not the same Enemy Witness we had before. Hweeh is a research astronomer who discovered something he believes is of Galactic significance, so serious he went into shock. He returns to shock at the mere mention of certain words. His Segment felt the matter warranted my attention, and I believe they were justified, but so far I have been unable to help him."

"It should not be difficult to define," Qaval said. He turned to Hweeh. "Is your concern in inner or outer galactic space?"

"My specialty is Fringe-Cluster space, so—"

"So it was some extra-Cluster phenomenon you noted," Qaval said, exactly as if confirming something he had always known.

"Trans-Milky Way or trans-Andromeda or trans-Pinwheel?"

Hweeh hesitated. "None of them seem right. I don't think it is near a major galaxy."

"But not so far away as another cluster?"

"No, not that far, not exactly...."

"Now there are not many trans-Tri-Galaxy close-in extra-Cluster phenomena that would show on the charts of a research astronomer. I daresay you can name them readily out of memory."

"Yes, of course," Hweeh said. "But—"

"And the mere naming of known constellations is hardly a matter to send any creature into shock."

"No, but—"

" I know what it is, for I heard it just now, twice. You know what it is. Are you fool enough to suppose that you can fight an enemy by turning away your gaze?"

"No, of course not. Yet—"

"Name your enemy. Then you can conquer him."

Hweeh concentrated. "Not Sculp. Not Cloud Six. Not Fur—Fur—not Furnace, but very—" He could not continue.

"Are you an astronomer or a stuttering child?" Qaval demanded, beginning one of his fabulous sneers. "Seek you to pretend that identifying it by elimination is less clumsy than naming it direct? Where is your pride of profession?"

Hweeh's color flexed in anger. His flesh shuddered with the ferocity of his effort. "The—Space—AMOEBA!" he cried. And sank into shock.

Herald considered. "Sir," he said to Qaval, "I think you have shown us the way. He can face it, with proper preparation."

"I have a certain expertise in the interrogation of prisoners," Qaval said. "It transfers readily enough to similar situations. It is a matter of invoking the basic drives, and also of timing terms and expressions, as in combat."

"Yes, you are the compleat warrior," Psyche said.

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

There was something about context and tone that altered the very spelling of the word in Herald's mind: compleat, not complete.

Which was odd, because he had not realized his host was literate. Some time at his leisure he would have to run down the allusion.

"Let's let him rest for a little while," Herald decided. "Three shocks is about the limit, if we are not to damage him and risk losing it all." He took Psyche by the arm. "You're coming up on two hundred now. I'll bring you back here at two hundred and fifty. Qaval can keep an eye on Hweeh."

"Why not send them upstairs, so we can have the cold stones?" she inquired mischievously.

Qaval affected not to comprehend, to Herald's relief. He hauled her upstairs. It was a very fast, very thorough, very delightful lovemaking. "Just call him the Silver Meteor," Psyche muttered around his fierce kiss. And he had her back in the cellar at 250.

"Now we'll try it again," Herald said.

"Again?" Psyche inquired brightly, and even Qaval could not refrain from twitching a green brow.

"The interrogation!" Herald snapped, changing color himself. He put his hand on the Weew to rouse him from shock.

"Hweeh, you have suffered some realization about the nature of this extra-Cluster phenomenon that sends you into shock." Herald kept his hand on the body, hoping that his words were making a subconscious as well as a conscious impression. "You know that it is better to bring the threat out into the open. All we have to ascertain is what, not where, that threat is. What is there about the Space Amoeba that—Psyche, bring him out of it."

Psyche put her hand on Weew, suffusing him with her potent aura. "Wake, Hweeh, wake...."

And he did. "That aura... beautiful!" he exclaimed. Then: "The Space Amoeba! I can face it! I know what it is! "

"You have broken through!" Herald exclaimed.

"What is the threat?"

"It is in the very nature of the Amoeba, which we have misconceived from the outset! It is not an amoeba at all, not an explosion of dust, not a supernova remnant, but a—remarkable! Absolutely remarkable! Don't let go of me, child bride, or I shall surely go into shock again! Oh, we must get word out immediately! "

"But what is it?" Herald demanded.

"To comprehend, you must first comprehend the nature of—I must fill in the background—like describing color to a blind entity—the ramifications—"

"Try, in orderly fashion," Qaval said calmly. "We are not blind entities."

"It is—it is an invasion from extra-Cluster space!" Hweeh exclaimed. "A pattern of living creatures, traveling by mattermission—"

"An invasion!" Qaval said. "How could there be an invasion from beyond the Cluster! We have never had contact with the larger Universe. The sheer energy required—"

"I don't know how or why," Hweeh said. "My shock cut me off before I could work it out. But I do know it is so. A monstrous fleet, mattermitting to a point in space, tunneling through, radiating out. On that scale it takes a century merely to organize the staging area! Hundreds of thousands of ships—a million ships—the most tremendous fleet of full-scale battleships ever. It can conquer our entire Cluster in a mere century or so, maybe less, if it—" He broke off in sheer wonder.

Qaval glanced at Herald. "This entity is a creature of repute? Not given to hallucinogenic indulgence? He knows whereof he speaks?"

"He knows. It seems we must face a siege of much larger proportion than that of Kastle Kade."

"Then we had better get a message out," Qaval said. "I can arrange—"

He was interrupted by a tremendous rolling shudder, somewhat like thunder and somewhat like an earthquake. There was a cry from above. "AVALANCHE!"

"Too late!" Qaval said. "They have launched the main thrust."

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

"But we balked that ploy!" Herald protested. "We had our cattle stampede—"

"Get you to your walls and see," Qaval said grimly.

They hurried up out of the cellar, blinking in the light of day, for their eyes had become acclimatized to the wine-dark.

It was true. The cliffs of the east face had collapsed, filling in a quarter of the lake. Displaced water was rushing over the dam, sweeping its defenders away. The Duke of Kade was surveying the situation angrily. "Explosives! They used explosives!"

"Not so," Qaval countered. "We do not violate the Code Medieval. No explosives on Planet Keep! Our animals mined the cliff by night, lo these many nights, while you prepared for siege. Wheelbores, tunneling into the stone like little Andromedan Quadpoints, weakening it crucially, silently. Just a little hammering of wedges at the key spots, and down it came!"

"There was no explosion, sir," a crossbowman assured the Duke of Kade. "We heard tapping, but did not realize...."

Already the dozers were descending the new slope of rubble, pushing the broken rock farther toward the castle. Some animals rolled into the water, scooping out the sides of the fall, making a narrower but longer ramp. The causeway was driving inexorably toward Kastle Kade, and there was little the defenders could do about it. Even the alligators who had not been crushed by the fall itself were cowed and stunned by the shock of it. Kade turned to Qaval. "You are drawing all the stops, sir. I could have wished that such perseverance and imagination had been employed in a better cause."

"A just critique," Qaval agreed.

Kade did something like a doubletake. "Another creature might alter his views at the convenience of the moment, for fear of retribution, but you were never thus, Qaval. You have doubts?"

"I think it at least as likely that your daughter is a mutation as that she is possessed," Qaval said. "This castle seems to have been constructed upon the tomb of some demon creature whose lingering aura moved the first Duke of Kade, and now moves Kade's distant descendant. Excavation of the tomb should abolish that influence. Still, even if it does not, it is possible she is a kind of healer. Her changes follow a pattern that is typical of no Possession I know of. I have felt her aura at its low and at its high, and though I have only a fraction of the Kirlian perception that Herald does, my findings concur with his. Were I of your species, I believe I would be moved to marry her myself. What she has is far too valuable to throw away."

Herald and Psyche watched the enemy Duke in silent, gratified amazement. Even Kade seemed startled. "You would testify thus to the Prince?"

"No."

Again Kade reacted, this time with angry puzzlement. "How can a noble of your courage and integrity be found on such opposite sides of the question?"

Qaval smiled, the long edges of his lip curling in a sine wave of mixed emotion. "Delicately put! My rationale is this: There is doubt in my mind, with the preponderance in the girl's favor. She seems in most respects a normal example of her kind, very female. I would let her go. But there is no doubt in the mind of the Prince. To plead her cause before Circlet of Crown at this stage would be merely to invite the fire for myself. I made the attempt before, and nearly lost my status in his counsels; hence you find me on the battlefield instead of in the command tent. He has committed himself to the fray; he cannot with pride retreat. And I must serve my Prince."

Kade turned away, looking down at the advancing causeway, aimed like a lance at the heart of the castle. "I cannot quarrel with your rationale, sir, though it doom me to destruction. Still, perhaps we can deal. If I yielded my daughter to you captive, and gave you passage out of my demesnes, could you guarantee fair trial for her, with all evidence considered?"

"No."

"What likelihood for her, then?"

"Perhaps ten percent. How could the Prince justify what he has undertaken, without a witch to be burned and plunder for his minions? A fair trial might absolve her, undermining his honor. It would not be politically feasible, therefore it will not come to that."

"Has the pride of fair Keep sunk to such state?" Kade demanded with disgust.

"It seems it has."

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

"What would you have me do, then?"

"Proffer me as hostage for her safety. I am not at the moment held in high esteem by the Prince, but that offer, rejected, might cause my own forces to rebel against him. My contingent is by far the strongest of his forces. Such revolt would so weaken the Prince as to render him unable to complete the siege."

"You speak practical politics," Kade said. "But this is not my way. I would not promote my interest by stooping to treachery, or otherwise sully my own honor."

"This is your liability," Qaval said. Then, slowly, he extended his claw. Kade shook it gravely, accepting this silent token of respect.

"Isn't that beautiful?" Psyche murmured to Herald, her eyes moist. "They are so like each other."

Herald felt tears in his own human eyes. Solarian and Qaval, each interested in saving Psyche, each constrained by honor to sacrifice her—and she admired their stands! This was the beauty and tragedy of this truly heraldic culture. He had dallied with its symbols, without ever before appreciating its inner quality. If by some miracle they all survived this crisis, he would spend the rest of his life here, and not merely because of Psyche. This was a society an entity could truly believe in.

Kade returned to business. "You do not believe we can withstand siege directly?"

"I am sure you cannot. Kastle Kade will fall within the day."

"Then I must take desperation measures. You shall be chained to my daughter, and the two of you and Herald the Healer will be removed from this castle via our underwater crawler. You will go not to her trial, but into hiding. The castle may fall, but the Lady Kade will survive."

"This I would not recommend," Qaval said.

Kade signaled. Human guards stepped forward. "I am unable to follow your recommendations," Kade said. The guards clamped manacles on one wrist each of Qaval and Psyche, adjusting them to fit snugly. Qaval did not resist. The two of them were then guided down toward the courtyard between the outer and inner walls, Kade following with Herald. "My daughter knows who possesses the key to these locks," Kade said. "You all arrive alive—or none do. Then you will be released."

"This cannot succeed," Qaval said.

The guards conducted them down to another part of the cellar, leaving the Duke of Kade to his defense of the castle. Psyche glowed again as they marched along the dark corridors; her incredible aura was still rising.

Behind a barred door was a contraption like a giant alligator, with projecting paddles in lieu of legs. Evidently it was designed to rest lightly on the bottom, propelled by the paddles worked from inside. A medieval submarine.

Herald bent over and entered the crawler, putting himself into its front seat. Two oar handles projected in, one from either side, and a transparent panel showed the terrain in front. It would be slow and clumsy, but presumably they could escape the castle this way.

They could surface at the north end of Lake Donny, where no one was watching, and get away overland through the deep forest.

But Qaval balked. "This is pointless death for us all," he said. "Better to remain in the castle."

Psyche put her free hand on Qaval's chained wrist. Even in this gloom, Herald saw the contrast between blue fingers and green wrist. "Why, Enemy Witness?" she asked gently.

Her aura had stood at 250 at the time of the avalanche, but Herald realized that it had not been near its peak. She had hit that level before, upstairs; at the ideal spot of the wine cellar, it would have been higher. What astonishing intensity it was moving toward, Herald could only guess. Perhaps 275. The Duke of Qaval was being exposed to the persuasion of aural power such as Herald himself could never muster.

"Lady, I cannot oppose you," Qaval said with another of his rippling smiles. "The Prince knows of the crawler, his spear entities lurk for it outside. We would drown."

Herald scrambled out of the crawler. "We'd better get back upstairs," he said, catching Psyche's elbow.

He paused, feeling her aura. He had been right: It had almost tangible power. The glow in the gloom was stronger.

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

They returned through the main cellar—and there, forgotten in the sudden crisis of the avalanche, was Hweeh of Weew. He had lapsed into shock when Psyche so abruptly broke contact, and remained here, puddled on the floor. "Oh, poor thing!" Psyche cried, running to him. Qaval had to follow, putting his tail to the floor momentarily to balance as he shifted direction.

"Wake! Wake!" Psyche said, touching the Weew.

"Wow!" Hweeh said, popping into focus. "Lady, you are something!"

"I am peaking," she said. "Hweeh, we were interrupted by an avalanche, and forgot you. I'm sorry; I know how cold these stones are, and should never have left you here. But we'd better define the Amoeba threat, so we can warn the Cluster." Her power of aura was now so great that Hweeh did not even flinch at the dread word. "You told us it is a huge fleet from alien space. That it could conquer our whole Cluster within a century."

"Yes, Lady! I perceive it even more clearly now. The fleet has been approaching via mattermission and half-light dispersion for centuries, and now is deploying for a multiple intrusion. There is no question of destination, and little of motive; we are the target."

"But how could a million-ship fleet mattermit inter-Cluster distances?" Herald asked. "The energy requirement would be prohibitive. The fleet would have to convert much of its own mass into transmission energy. Are you sure it's not a purely local phenomenon?"

"Absolutely sure," Hweeh said. "What local Sphere has a million full-diameter spaceships? It would require a billion sapients just to crew a fleet that size. It has to be from an alien Cluster!"

"But at this range... fuzzy photographs... how can you be sure they're spaceships? They could be meteorite clouds, or imperfections in reproduction—"

"Trust me to know my speciality!" Hweeh replied curtly. "The information is not from the holographs—which happen to be considerably more sophisticated than photographs, not subject to the same types of distortions—but from my interpretation of diverse sources. I did holographic spectroscopy and verified what could be the emission trails of half-light propulsion. The Amoeba is definitely an artificial structure. I went into shock when my fantastic suspicion was confirmed. We are being subjected to invasion—and we don't have much time. Our records go back four thousand years; there has been no prior Amoeba manifesting, and no other Amoeba is showing now. That means it is not any recent natural occurrence. My estimate is that this fleet is mattermitting from an alien Cluster, perhaps a million parsecs out, or ten million. Perhaps they destroyed that Cluster to gain the energy required for this jump, and will destroy our Cluster, as Andromeda tried to destroy Galaxy Milky Way, to enable them to make their next jump. What does a species do, once it has destroyed half of its own Cluster in the course of the war to conquer it?

They proceed to some new, virgin Cluster, as the Andromedans would have done in time, had they been successful. The Amoebites do not travel in force merely to see the sights of the Universe."

"But this is unbelievable!" Herald protested, stung by the references to his own galaxy. Bless Llume of Slash, who foiled that disaster!

"Precisely. Hence no one believes it. Yet it is true. Therefore a matter to send a creature into shock."

"It has to be an invasion force," Qaval agreed. "And there is only one thing that would warrant such an excursion."

"Power!" Herald and Hweeh said together.

"Power—on a universal scale," Qaval agreed. "A new door has been opened, one that defies our experience or imagination." Then his teeth clicked: his indication of surprise. "Why did it not occur to me before! This news must be transmitted, and the Weew must return to his Segment where experts can consult with him and verify his findings. Only the Lady can keep him on the subject and out of shock. She should be released for that service, preemptive. It is a Cluster security matter overriding a mere planetary matter."

"Yes!" Herald agreed. "Let's go up to the library so I can call Swees of Weew, the mathematician. He can make the necessary contacts."

They hurried upstairs, this time not forgetting Hweeh. Psyche kept her hand on him all the time, though this was awkward because of the necessary proximity of Qaval, still manacled to her. "What is the connection between me and the Amoeba?" she asked as they went.

"It is—it is—I cannot quite fathom it, Lady," Hweeh replied. "Not that you evoked the information. There is a more fundamental, if peripheral—your aura—" He stopped. "It remains buried," he said regretfully.

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

"Maybe we'll find it when we delve beneath the cellar," she said. "Somehow I am tied to—oh."

"What?" Herald asked, worried.

"I cannot go to Weew," she said. "My aura peaks here only, near this cellar. I would be of no use elsewhere."

"Of course you would be of use elsewhere!" Herald retorted.

"Without my enhancement of aura?" she asked, giving him a direct look that half destroyed him.

"Then we shall bring the Weew experts here," Qaval said. "All the more reason to abate this siege of the castle before it becomes uninhabitable."

They reached the library. Herald placed the call, half fearing that the besieging army would be jamming communications; but he got through right away.

"Swees of Weew here," the Sador host said. "So good to communicate with you again, Healer. I understand you have a bit of trouble there."

"Swees, we have a critical situation," Herald said. "Our castle is under siege and will soon fall. We are trapped. But we have information of inter-Galactic importance. Will you be able to contact Segment Weew to make arrangements for Segment intervention and possible extradition of Hweeh and his party?"

"But—" Psyche began.

"First we must save your life; then we can save the Cluster," Hweeh told her. "Let him proceed."

"Segment intervention!" Swees exclaimed. "Surely you know I have no authority for such a thing! I could relay your information and serve as liaison, but I should have to have much more to go on than what you have told me. They would laugh me right out of shape, if I—"

"They will pay attention to this," Herald said. "Hweeh has located a million-strong fleet of spaceships approaching our Cluster from extra-Cluster space, obviously coming to raid our fundamental energy. It may be a greater threat to our survival than that of the two inter-Galactic Wars of Energy, and we have to ascertain—" He broke off, interrupted by Qaval's tap on his shoulder.

"Swees of Weew has gone into shock," the Duke said.

Indeed, the communication wheel of Swees' Sador host was drifting to a stop. "I should have thought of that!" Herald exclaimed.

"The mere concept of Cluster doom knocks out these Weews! How can we get through to them?"

"Maybe some other Segment?" Psyche inquired. "After all, the threat applies to all Segments."

Qaval slapped his tail irritably against the floor. "Only a creature's home Segment can extradite him. Hweeh is the expert; he is the one who must testify. And he is the only one who requires the Lady's assistance."

"Don't imperil the Cluster for my sake!" Psyche objected.

But it was more complex than that. Psyche could be saved only through Segment Weew, and the Cluster could be warned only through Segment Weew, because the statements of nonexperts would never be heeded in time. But they had no way to alert Weew to the problem! Sufficient detail would send any Weew they contacted into shock.

But it was imperative that they get word out about the Amoeba, regardless of their personal fates. An actual Cluster invasion....

"Maybe some other Segment will listen," Herald said. "Once we get the alert out, the Cluster Council may take over directly. In fact, this is a Cluster Council matter. Why don't we see if we can get through to a Minister?"

Psyche shook her head. "You know the red tape to reach a Cluster Minister? You have to go through channels—"

"And the Planet Keep channel leads right through King Roundlet of Crown," Qaval said. "Whose egg, Prince Circlet, is besieging this castle." He paused. "Nevertheless, I might be able to navigate that channel, as I know the entities there and they know me."

"Wouldn't that be taken as traitorous action?" Herald asked.

"Perhaps. But the higher allegiance is to my Cluster, and I hardly think I will be very strongly condemned for saving my Galaxy or Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

Segment or Sphere from invasion by aliens. In fact, if such invasion were facilitated because Prince Circlet had burned the only entity who could evoke the testimony necessary to prevent it, the Prince himself would burn."

Good enough! "We'd better go up and get you and Psyche unlocked," Herald said.

"It is not necessary. I shall work on the ministerial contact," Qaval said. "We should not waste time."

"All right," Herald decided. "I'll go out to find Duke Kade. You try to get through. If you do, have Hweeh explain the situation."

And he set off.

The activity on the outer wall had intensified. Soldiers were moving war supplies to their battle stations, especially the parapets nearest the approaching ramp. There were not merely weapons and arrows and stones for the catapults, but also piles of wood, buckets of oil, and even sewage from the deep septic sumps. Nothing was wasted, in war—except lives and property.

The Duke of Kade was hard to find. Everywhere Herald went, Kade had just left, organizing this, touching up that, making last-moment adjustments. Siege-defense was a complex business!

The causeway was not yet all the way to the wall; the increasingly accurate fire from the castle crossbows balked its near approach.

But now the enemy was using heavy shields held up and interlocked over their heads, protecting them while they worked. The catapult on this side was lobbing stones down, trying to score on this phalanx, but it was hard to nail a moving target. Herald found these grim proceedings fascinating. This was elementary warfare, from which heraldry had sprung thousands of years ago. Other things might be transient, but war was eternal!

Then as he watched, the main thrust commenced. Dozers poured down the road fashioned from the cliff-collapse, each animal shoving a mound of dirt and rubble before it. There seemed to be an endless line of them. They rolled right down to the end of the ramp, then spun off to the side and climbed back. This was not the same maneuver as before. The earlier dozen bad been shaping the ramp from the immediate debris of the fallen cliff, scooping it from underwater, leveling the travel-track. These new ones were pushing material from over the hill, using the foundation for more effective motion. As a result, the ramp suddenly grew much more swiftly.

But why was it being done this way? The avalanche had shoved water out of the lake, drowning the defenders of the dam. By now the enemy surely had control of the dam, and could let the water out of the lake. They did not need to build a high ramp to get above the water level. Had signals been crossed—or was there some more devious thrust in store?

The crossbows fired, but the large fat animals were hardly affected. Their body processes were diffuse, the vital organs protected by the hard wheels. Arrows might cause them pain, but did not kill them or even stop them. And there were so many! All they required was firm ground for their heavy wheels—and that they had, now.

"Cease fire!" the knight in charge of this section of the wall cried. It was the Baron Magnet, rolling along in the saddle. "They've got more dozers than we have arrows. Save your fire for the sapients."

Herald hurried up to Magnet. "I'm looking for the Duke," he said. "Do you know—?"

The Baron did a bounce in the saddle. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be on your way!"

"The enemy has spears waiting for the crawler. We can't use it." It occurred to him now that that could be one reason the lake had not been lowered: The enemy wanted Kade to think the crawler was serviceable, so that key personnel could be trapped when they tried to use it. Once the water was down, it would be obvious that the crawler would be useless. "I need to tell Kade we can't escape."

"You'll never catch him. Stay here and supervise the wall. I will send him back to you."

"I don't know anything about siege defense!"

But the Baron was already wheeling on his way, lost in the commotion.

Herald watched the rapidly progressing causeway, hoping the Baron would be back soon. A number of the dozers were dumping their loads prematurely, causing the road to hump upward more than forward. The fear of arrows most be having its effect, though no arrows were being fired.

Then he realized: That rising elevation was no accident—they, wanted the road to rise! This was no causeway, it was a ramp, to be used to ascend the height of the wall! The knights would be able to charge right up and over the ramparts of the castle, Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

overwhelming it. The level of the lake hardly mattered. The dozers would be able to work all night, and with the dawn....

Was there any defense? The catapult and hot oil and crossbows were calculated to discourage troops who tried to ram or scale the wall from below. But a charge over this ramp—No wonder Qaval was sure Kastle Kade would soon fall!

To his relief, Kade was striding toward him. "Where's my daughter?" he demanded.

"Chained to Qaval," Herald said. "We can't escape, so—"

"Well, bring her up here!" Kade snapped. "I can't leave the wall, not while the ramp's building. I'm organizing a counterthrust. Six good knights astride that ramp can hold off the Prince's whole army, if they're well drilled in ridge-combat. Then we can doze out a gap near the wall so that—"

"Sir, the Lady and Qaval are trying to reach the King's palace on the phone, and—"

" What? "

Herald coughed. "Psyche's at peak aura. She—"

"Oh, don't repeat that superstition! There is nothing wrong with her aura."

Didn't the Duke know how his daughter's aura fluctuated? But this was not a matter to be argued now. "She's got the Weew talking.

He says there's a Cluster invasion in the making. We have to reach the Cluster Council of—"

"A Cluster invasion!" Kade exclaimed unbelievingly. "It must be a ruse to subvert our—"

"No, sir. The Weew is no spy. He believes in this thrust—and I'm not sure he's mistaken. We have to get experts on it."

"All right," Kade said, humoring him. "Contact the palace. They may grant the Weew safe passage out; he should not have stayed here anyway. But make it fast. Things are going to get very difficult in a few hours."

Kade had no conception of the Amoeba threat. And there really was not time to educate him now. Herald would have to focus on the immediate details.

"Duke, you don't understand," the Healer said. "Psyche is the only one who can facilitate Hweeh's testimony. She has to go with him." Except that she would have to come back, to enhance her aura—but that, too, was too complicated to go into right now.

Hweeh was right: first save her life, then worry about the rest.

Kade stared. "No, that would never work. The Prince is a stubborn idiot, but he's no fool."

"Duke Qaval is speaking for the Lady. But we want to reach the Cluster level, and have them put a hold on this siege while they investigate—"

"And Qaval supports that?" he demanded incredulously.

"Yes, sir."

Kade headed for the down-ramp inside at a heavy run. "Come on, Herald. It's a long shot, but just maybe— We've got to get on that phone!"

They tore into the library, where Qaval was speaking. "... and if you do not pass me up the chain to Sphere HQ, I will nail your wheels to the floor and loose my sand-dogs on you," he was saying into the phone. "We have a Cluster emergency here, Code Thirty-three, and it has nothing to do with the siege of Kade. Now roll! "

Kade brought out his key. "Were it any other, I would have sword in hand," he said. "But you, Qaval, when you lie, the planet will surely burst asunder. How came you to participate thus?"

"The Lady has a persuasive aura," Qaval said as the fetter came off.

Now Kade took his daughter's wrist, to remove the handcuff. He stiffened. "That aura!" he exclaimed. "It is stronger than the Healer's!"

Psyche smiled. "Two hundred and sixty and rising, Father. Maybe two hundred and seventy in the cellar. Do not be alarmed."

Kade fell back, his face a mask of horror. "Then you are possessed! I never believed it, no, not for a moment, never let myself Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

believe—"

There was the key, Herald realized. The evidence was there, but the man had never let himself examine it. Now, caught by surprise, he was taking it the wrong way.

"Kade, she is not possessed," Qaval snapped. "If you have no faith in your daughter, get you back to your ramparts and let us handle her defense at Cluster level."

But Kade was too shaken to comprehend. He had been extremely active for many hours, under a great burden of tension, and he had been knocked out on the ferry. He was not in a reasonable condition. "There is no natural aura that strength! Only demon Possession could—"

"Sphere Sador HQ," the phone said. "What is your emergency?"

"News of a Cluster invasion," Qaval said. "This is Duke Qaval at Planet Keep. I—"

"Where is your Shield of Arms?" the Sador demanded.

"Elsewhere, dolt! I am captive of Kastle Kade. But my face is on record. Verify my credits and bounce me up to Segment level."

There was a pause while a computer check was run on his snout. "Credits verified. Detail?"

"Research Astronomer Hweeh of Weew, here for treatment of shock, has identified an invasion fleet approaching—"

"Possession!" Kade screamed, his mind finally snapping under the strain. "First my wife, now my daughter. What is this curse of Kade?" He swept his hand through the phone image, breaking the connection.

Herald jumped at Kade, trying to get him away from the phone, but the man shoved him back with insane strength. "Help me, Qaval!" Herald cried. "We have to complete that call!"

Qaval shook his green head. "I may not lift arm against my captor, under terms of—"

Psyche reached out and put her free hand on her father's arm. The chain of the manacle still dangled from the other. "Rest, Father,"

she said. Under that intense aural compulsion, Kade leaned back against the wall. "Demon! Demon!" he muttered brokenly.

"We shall have to start over," Qaval said. "The channel cannot be restored from the center. Perhaps I can convince them we suffered a technical interruption."

But a new commotion interrupted the proceedings. There were screams from below, and the clashing of arms. Combat in the halls!

Qaval shook his head. "I feared this. We are too late."

"What's going on?" Herald demanded. Events were moving so rapidly he felt a bit dizzy.

"The castle has been breached," Qaval said. "A secret squad tunneled through the wall under the water, on the side opposite the ramp. The distraction of the cliff collapse and the elevation of the ramp enabled—"

Kade drew his sword. But suddenly wheeled soldiers, bearing the Shield of Arms of the Prince, were crowding into the room. Too many to oppose.

Kade charged Herald, dismayed by this rashness, started to go after him—but it was already too late. Two Sador battlewheels moved onto him, and his sword-arm was sliced away in pieces. Kade fell, blood spurting from the stump.

"Father!" Psyche cried, horrified, starting forward herself. The chain of the manacle swung like a weapon.

But Qaval was there ahead of her. "Hold, troops!" he bellowed. "This is the Duke of Kade! See you not his Arms?"

They paused. A Sador commander rolled forward; it was the Earl of Dollar. "Hold!" he echoed, and the troops obeyed him.

Herald and Psyche dropped to their knees beside Kade. "We can heal him!" Herald cried. "Psyche, put your hands on his arm. Stop the blood. Concentrate your aura...."

They put their hands on him. Psyche was drenched in blood, and Herald was spattered, but neither paid heed. Their two auras worked in tandem, meshing through the body of the patient.

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

The blood-flow slowed—but not because of their healing. Kade's burdened Solarian heart had stopped.

Psyche's big eyes met Herald's, filled with appalled compassion. "I felt it," she said. "He—he didn't want to live."

The Duke of Qaval and the Earl of Dollar stood somberly before the corpse. "He was in error," Qaval said. "Yet he was a great man. A benediction on the Duke of Kade."

"A benediction," Whirl agreed.

The soldiers brought a curtain bearing the Arms of Kade, and Qaval laid it as a shroud over the body.

Now the troops gave way. A royal Sador rolled forward. It was Prince Circlet of Crown himself. "So we have captured the Possessed," he cried exultantly.

Qaval hardly deigned to face the Prince. "She is not possessed," he said. "She is a healer."

"Who just killed her father. Did she work her demon wiles on you, Duke?" the Prince demanded. "Do you join her in the fire?"

Qaval's body shook with the fury of an emotion Herald was certain was not fear. "I beg the Prince's indulgence," he said humbly.

"As captive of Kade, I was chained to her. I believe her aura is natural; it did not hurt me. But more important, there is a Cluster threat that preempts the local question, and the girl must be saved to—"

"Remove this traitor from my sight!" Circlet snapped. "We shall deal with him anon. Bring the Possessed to the courtyard. We shall attend to this before permitting the looting."

The Duke of Qaval turned slowly to face the Prince. Qaval was unarmed, but beside him the Earl of Dollar was spinning his fighting wheel, and several soldiers bearing the Shields of Arms of Qaval were in the room. All were intent on the Duke. One signal from him, and they would turn against the Prince, for their ultimate loyalty was to their own.

Herald saw the war that raged in Qaval. On one side was his loyalty to his Prince; on the other, to his Cluster. And Herald knew what the decision had to be. Qaval was the supremely practical warrior; he did not scheme and fight for personal power, but for what he felt was right. But for that right, he always took the most expedient course. To obey the Prince would mean the possible loss of the entire Cluster society including Planet Kade.

Psyche put her hand on Qaval's stout arm. "Peace, Duke," she said. "Let there be no strife on my behalf."

He turned to her. "Lady, it is not merely—"

"Do not imperil your demesnes for me, good Lord of Qaval," she insisted. "I know the Cluster will be saved, if we but let fate take its course."

And Qaval, obviously against his better judgment, acceded to the will and aura of the Lady. Human soldiers of the Prince came and put new manacles on him and led him away, and the Earl of Dollar made no move.

Herald squatted by Kade's corpse as they took Psyche out. He was stunned by the suddenness of the collapse of this mighty castle, not quite comprehending what was happening. Solarian troops entered and took him by the arms, guiding him after the Prince. He went, numbly.

Behind him he heard the melodic chime of the phone. A servitor of the castle moved to answer it. Herald hardly cared.

Soldiers were breaking up the priceless antique furniture of Kastle Kade and throwing the pieces into a huge pile in the main court.

A great metal framework was being assembled above this pile, its supports already buried in the fractured wood. Manacles hung from the upper bar.

Suddenly Herald comprehended. "No!" he cried, jerking away from the two who held him. They drew their weapons.

But Herald was free and moving. He dived for Prince Circlet. Qaval had not done this chore, but Herald had no such restriction. As his hand touched the Prince's wheel, Herald blasted him with his exorcism power. It should not have had any effect, but such was his concentration and determination and blind rage that it smashed into Circlet's lesser aura, almost wiping out his life.

The Prince screamed in mortal agony, then slumped on his support wheels while his vocal wheel shuddered to a stop. The soldiers and knights stood baffled, not knowing what to do. There was no visible wound on the Prince; they did not understand what Herald had done.

Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony

But Psyche understood. "No, that is not right," she said, turning. "By your leave...." And she drew her small arms from the grasp of her captors as though they were children, then walked to Prince Circlet and laid her hand on him. "Be well," she said—and Herald's deadly blast was nullified by a power greater than he commanded. The Prince recovered.

Then she went to Herald, looking up into his face as she touched him. She was painfully lovely, and her aura smote him with its incredible love, an intensity of at least 275, despite her distance from the cellar. She glowed, even in daylight. "Let no one else suffer on my account. I love you, Herald." And she left him and walked to the center of the court.

The soldiers of the Prince had no compunctions. They stripped her ruthlessly, roughly, until she was naked. They manacled her wrists to the frame, using the one already on her and the one hanging from the upper bar, so that she hung above the pile of wood.

Herald, somehow blocked from action by Psyche's touch, so much more tender even than a kiss, watched with amazement and horror. How could he stand here, and let this abomination happen? Yet he was doing it!

Suddenly he saw an image, as of the Cluster Tarot, the Queen of Energy. A naked woman chained for a monster. It symbolized Andromeda, both Galaxy and mythical girl, and also Melody of Mintaka. Now it was Psyche, chained for the fire.

"Ignition!" Prince Circlet cried. The Sador's fervor had not been changed by Psyche's touch. Perhaps she had not wanted to change it, being constrained by a similar honor to that of her father and the Duke of Qaval.