A Blackbird In Silver (Book 1) by Freda Warrington

prevented me from entering. So that would seem to prove me right.’
    When he did not at first reply, she said, ‘Ashurek? Do you believe me?’
    ‘Oh, yes,’ he answered. ‘I know that the Shana and Serpent are evil. And Gorethria is not the glorious entity I once thought it, but a ghoulish puppet of M’gulfn…’ She looked at him enquiringly, and he found himself telling her his own story.
    ‘I have exchanged no more than a few words with anyone for years,’ he concluded. ‘I don’t know why I trust you – except that your sorcery, although not evil, seems as much a burden as the wretched Egg-Stone.’
    ‘You must get rid of that Stone,’ Silvren said, her golden eyes still fixed on his. ‘It’s no good fighting just that and Meheg-Ba. The evil needs to be tom out at the roots – the Worm itself! Listen. I have strength to resist the Shana – but I am growing so tired, I know I cannot hold out much longer. I need to reach H’tebhmella. I need help – and so do you.’
    Ashurek sat back, looking away from her.
    ‘I cannot help you, Silvren. I can’t dispose of the Stone, any more than I can tear my own heart out. You must see how dangerous that makes me to you. I would betray you eventually. I murdered my own sister…’
    ‘But that is not the whole story! You are fighting the Shana already. If we separate, we are both lost. But together, we might find hope.’
    Hope! Miril’s eyes, burning into his. ‘As soon as I am gone, you will begin to seek me…’
    ‘Silvren, I don’t think you understand what I have just said to you,’ he persisted bitterly. ‘I am no fit company for you – I have become vengeful, bloodthirsty. I may destroy you.’
    ‘No, you don’t understand,’ the sorceress said softly. ‘I don’t care. The truth is – I cannot stand to be alone any longer. I can’t stand it. Can you?’
    ‘No,’ he admitted. And as she reached out to him, and he pulled her into his arms, he found she was trembling. He was already in love with her. And although he felt the fury of the Egg-Stone at this, his soul cried in relief.
    What Silvren had said proved to be true. They were stronger together. Even the Egg-Stone became quiescent as if subdued by his determination never to harm her. And their love for each other in itself made life bearable, worth living and continuing the fight.
    Ashurek had never met anyone like Silvren before; she made even his beloved sister and mother seem dark, snake-like, even sinister in character. She brought light to everything she touched or regarded, and that included his soul. She was basically a joyful person, and even through extremes of danger, weariness or despair her joy would eventually surface, just as an air bubble, besilvered by sunlight, cannot be restrained at the bottom of a dark pool.
    She wove a web of sorcery to conceal them, for a while at least, from the Shana; and for nearly two years they had a time of calm, solitude and love. But in that time, despite all their efforts, they still did not find a way to the Blue Plane. And one day Ashurek, out hunting alone, was captured by a monstrous eagle-creature and carried to a hideous castle. There Gastada, an insane minion of the Serpent, imprisoned and tortured him. Because the power of the Egg-Stone was dormant, it did nothing to help him; but Silvren forced her way into the impenetrable edifice and rescued him with her bright sorcery, nearly expending her life with the effort.
    Gastada was deeply involved with the Shana (and also jealous and resentful of them), and so Diheg-EI and Meheg-Ba found out that the Egg-Stone’s bearer and the hated sorceress were together.
    ‘Why has it taken you so long to find out?’ Meshurek hissed at Meheg-Ba. ‘Why can’t you catch him, with all your wondrous powers?’
    ‘I told you, dear Emperor,’ the Shanin replied with a bland smile, ‘he used the power of the Egg-Stone. Now the unnatural magic of the wretched sorceress protects both of them. But we