In the first moment, Ajax thought he had truly shattered the world along with the Mirror. There was blinding light that burned straight through his tightly closed lids and a rushing wind that seemed to tumble him like a leaf. But when he opened his eyes, he found himself looking up at a luminous disk like the mouth of a well seen from far below. Around him on every side was a shower of luminous shards as big as himself. He found that he could plant his feet on one of them as it passed and propel himself forward with just enough force to resist the wind. He did it again, and again, and again. Each time, he had a searing glimpse of what he knew to be a potential reality.

He saw himself married to Daffodil, Cerasa, Diantha, Persephone, even Lemmia. He glimpsed Nopalina, only shaking her head. He saw himself still in the dungeon, forced to watch Cerasa and Xaja at play. He saw Naam ruling from the throne of the High Queen's Palace. He saw himself on the throne of Alcaraz, Pruna at his side. He saw himself and Hector comforting their mother as their father's coffin was lowered into the earth. He saw himself as Meliboia's Second, commanding the Geryon against a great fleet of the Star Union.

Yet each time he jumped, the next shard was further away, until it seemed he was only holding his place. He was sure that soon, he would fall back. Then there was a flash and a staggering rush of air separate from the wind. He glimpsed the luminous shape of something like a bird, its wings half-furled in a dive. Then another draft came from behind, and he found himself lifted up, now rushing toward the light. He closed his eyes…

And then he tumbled and rolled across the Dungeon floor, to come to a halt on top of the Hammer. He raised his head to find only Lemmia looking down. "I ordered the others to flee," she said. "It has been doing this for hours. Hector and Pruna were reluctant." She moved to help him up. He saw the mirror scintillating with an endless pattern of electric-white cracks, as if it was imploding and regenerating at the same time. Already, the even brighter center was expanding. He grabbed the Hammer as he followed Lemmia up the stairs. Between them, something like a bolt of ball lightning shot upward, trailing tendrils of blue mist. A last backward glance confirmed that the fragments of the Mirror had finally fallen from the frame. Ahead, the unlocked door of the Dungeon flew open before the onrushing ball. Ajax guessed that if it had been bolted, it would have simply been blown out of its frame.

They caught up with the others in the largest courtyard, immediately outside. The sky was the half-light, half-dark of early evening, but scores if not hundreds of Attendants and visitors had gathered, all keeping as far as they could from the luminous mass in the center. Ajax found Hector and Daffodil holding hands, with Robert in her arms and the young Princesses gathered around them. Beside him, Meliboia slipped her hand into his. The young Prince pointed and said, "Birdt."

Indeed, the shape had assumed a shape not unlike a bird, or at least more like a bird than a bat. The ball of energy held its place in what would have been the breast, with streams of silent lightning running from the spread tail to the point of what seemed to be a long bill. The faintly luminous wings stretched to either side. The bird seemed to spread its wings gradually, as if to enter soaring flight. But instead of rising, it simply grew, as if they viewed it descending head on. Already, its wings spanned the width of the courtyard. It slowly turned, so that they filled the length as well.

Finally, the shape seemed to rise, but it grew exponentially faster, as streamers of mist continued to rise up to the body. By the time it reached rooftop height, all that could be discerned of the shape was one wing, as diaphanous as the Cingulum, a comparison that made Ajax blush as he thought of it. He squeezed Mel's hand.

"We will go to the tower top to observe it," Hector said.

"No," Ajax said. "I will take up the Clipper."

In the time it took to raise the Clipper, the shape filled the sky to every horizon. They took to the sky before a full accounting could be taken of who or even how many had crowded onto the deck. "How big is it?" Ajax wondered.

Mel made the necessary calculations better and faster than he could have. "They will be able to see the wingtip over your Palace," she murmured.

There was no concern about taking the Clipper higher than the Bird, as night-flying birds and small sky craft could already be seen passing through its wings without harm to either. In any case, the Bird rose higher still, until it looked like a blue aurora, with thicker powder-blue tendrils defining the outline of its body and the leading edges of its wings. From maximum altitude, they could finally see both the Bird's shape and size.

The span of its wings was nearly as wide as the World Island itself, and the wings were still in a partly furled W shape. The leading edge of the left wing extended over the World's edge. Its right wing tip faded at the edge of the line of dawn in the Wild Wastes. Here and there, the nebulous mass formed thicker swirls that seemed to mingle with the clouds.

"It is a Star Bird," Lemmia said. "A few have been observed by the Scribes and Mages, at great distance. The dimmest legends tell of a time when one made a nest of our World. Certain Relics have been said to be made of its shell."

"Is it the Mirror Pruna?" Ajax wondered. "At least, the Image of her that was trapped in the Mirror?"

"It is the power and essence of the Mirror itself, which she fused with," the Lindormess said. "It took the only shape that could contain it without setting the World ablaze."

The motions of the Bird were like a time-lapse film in reverse. What could be called a flap of the wings had started as they rose, and still had not finished. Even so, the Bird had already progressed visibly beyond the edge of the world. That was when Pruna called out. "It is not one Bird alone," she said. "Look!"

Sure enough, beneath the right wing, another shape nestled, difficult to see. But there was no mistaking the form of a second Bird. It looked almost pure white. It beat its wings quickly, yet with growing assurance, often enough to keep pace with its parent. "If the Bird is the Image of Pruna," Mel mused, "does that mean the baby is the child she bore in the Mirror?"

"If it is," Ajax said, "then I am made a father after all… after a fashion."

"Yeah, that's going to have to be enough for a while," Mel said. As they turned, they saw a guest whom they had not known was aboard. It was Naam, in his human semblance.

"Well met, Ajax," he said. "I came here when it was told my daughter was staying to study the Mirror. I am sorry we did not have a better chance to speak at your wedding."

"Yes, well, that wasn't your fault," Mel said. "Or his. I was surprised myself. Well, I'll leave you two alone."

"Your Queen suits you well," Naam said.

"I know," Ajax said. "I keep wondering how I will lose her."

"All men think that," the Lord of the Lindorms said. "Just make sure you do not make it happen."

"I am still sorry for what I did at your wedding, all those years ago," Ajax said. "I only hope that I have made it up to your Lady."

"There was nothing to atone for," Naam said. "Do not think I took it lightly, but what you did was its own punishment. The rest was the penance you imposed on yourself. She would rather have had you ask for forgiveness yourself."

"I see that now," Ajax said. "Sometimes I still wonder, why we did not marry. What I can finally see is that she is a far better Queen than I am a King."

Naam chuckled. "Don't make excuses to doubt yourself," he said. "What makes a good king is how well he fits his subjects. The same goes for his Queen. The folk of your lands are rough and restless. Pruna would never have been happy with them, nor would they have been happy with her. You are the right person to rule them, as long as you show them who you are. In time, they will see that Meliboia is right for them and for you. Frankly, to us, even Prunus seems as savage as your Warrior Queen."

"Oh, she is, in her way," Ajax said. "Remember, she is my mother-in-law."

"Well, send my regards, when you see her," Naam said.

"You know, there's another thing I've noticed about Kings," the King said. "The good ones are the only ones who will give it up.

"Mark my words, a day may come when it is time to give up your throne," said the Lindorm. "But it will not come for a while yet. When it does, I think you will know. If you do not, your Lady will tell you."

"I think you are right," Ajax said. "It is just that there are so many troubles I could not have dreamed of so long ago. Sometimes, I think it was easier when the only choices were life or death."

"There is a saying, not so old to us," Naam said. "`Do not worry after tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry after itself.'"

Ajax looked across the deck. Meliboia was talking and laughing with Hector, Daffy and Lemmia. In her arms, Prince Robert slept. As the Fifth Moon rose above the deck, her hair shown gold. "Yes," he said. "For tonight, I have enough."

And behind them, the great Bird spread Her wings to soar.