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let something terrible into the world, Leovigild Ackenzal. You’re responsible for that.”
    “Who are you?” Areana asked suddenly. “You didn’t come here to talk about the custody of Mery.”
    The lady smiled. “I admit to practicing a bit of deception,” she replied. “But I’ve come here to tell you certain things and to perhaps give you a bit of a slap in the face.”
    “Who are you?” Areana repeated, looking askance at the lady’s armed guard.
    “Hush, child, so I can tell your husband something important.”
    “Don’t speak to her like that,” Leoff said.
    The lady set her cup down. “Don’t you wonder why, since the days of the Black Jester, no one has ever discovered what you discovered?”
    “Robert placed certain books at my disposal.”
    “Yes, my point. There are books! They describe armies being slain by choirs of eunuchs and water organs. They explain how the modes function. These books are well known to scholars. Do you think in all of this time no one else with the talent to do so has attempted what you did?”
    “I hadn’t thought about it,” Leoff admitted.
    “It didn’t happen because it wasn’t possible,” Graham, or whoever she was, said. “The music you created can only exist when the law of death is broken, as it was during the reign of the Black Jester. As it is now.”
    “The law of death?”
    “The thing that separates life from death, that makes them different states.”
    “Robert!” Leoff exploded.
    “Robert wasn’t the first, but before him the law was only compromised. His return from death was the breaking point, and once broken, the law is more easily violated again and again, until the boundary between quick and dead is entirely gone. And when that happens—well, that’s the end of us all. Imagine the law as like a dike, holding back deadly waters. When it’s first compromised, there’s just a small leak. Left alone, the hole gets wider no matter what. But when vandals start poking at it with shovels, it widens very quickly, and eventually the whole thing collapses.”
    “Why would anyone do that?”
    “Well, you might put a small hole in a dike to run a water mill, yes? And you turn a profit and need a bigger mill, a larger stream of water? There is great power in violating the law of death. Robert can be stabbed in the heart and keep walking. You can write a sinfonia that murders, and that’s only the start. As the law grows weaker, those who break it grow stronger. This is especially true now, as other powers of destruction are waxing.”
    “Why are you telling me this?”
    “Your music made the hole, so to speak, considerably wider.”
    “But what can I do? How was the law of death mended before?”
    She smiled. “I’ve no idea. But consider the possibility that if the right song can weaken the law—”
    “Then another might strengthen it,” Areana finished.
    The lady stood. “Precisely.”
    “Wait,” Leoff said. “That’s not nearly enough. Why should I even believe any of this?”
    “Because you do.”
    “No. I’ve been duped before. I’m not off on another fool’s errand that might make everything worse.”
    “If that’s true, there is no hope,” the lady replied. “In any event, I’ve said what I came to say.”
    “Wait a moment.”
    “No, I shan’t. Good luck to you.”
    And despite his further protests, she left, mounted her carriage, and was gone, leaving Leoff and Areana staring after her.
    “Artwair knew she was coming,” Areana said. “Perhaps he can shed some light on this.”
    Leoff nodded and absently realized he still had the duke’s letter in his hand. He held it up, and blinked.
    What had earlier appeared to be Artwair’s seal was only an unmarked dab of wax.

PART I
    THE UNHEALED
    The land bristles shadow and shrugs off the sun
    Frail voices sing beneath the wind
    It all ends soon
    In health, courage comes easily
    Death is still a dream
    But I watch now
    I see the true heroes
    Stagger up on shaking