| The window was elegantly designed, easily tall enough for her to stand upright before itShe looked outward and down for a momentThe room was over the garden, far above itMore than high enoughThe scent of the sejoia trees came drifting up, and the heavy sweetness of tainflowers, and there were other night flowers whose names she did not knowBoth moons had risen now, Vidomni and Ilarion watching herShe looked at them for a moment but it was to Morian she prayed, for it was toward Morian she was crossing, through the last portal of all
She thought of her motherOf his dream that had become hers, and for which she was now to die in a land not her ownBriefly she thought of her father, knowing how much this all had to do with making redress, with the way dior women each generation seemed to put its mark upon the next, one way or anotherLet it be enough, she prayed then, aiming the thought like an arrow of the mind toward Morian in her Halls
The door burst inward with a grinding crashHalf a dozen men stumbled into the roomCatriana turned back from the stars and the two moons and the gardenShe looked down at the men from the window-ledgeThere was a singing in her heart, a crescendo of hope and pride
"Death to Barbadior's servants!" she screamed at the top of her voice"Freedom for Senziol" she cried, and then: "Long live King Brandin of the Palm!"
One man, quicker than the others, reacted, springing across the roomHe was not quite quick enough, not as fast as sheShe had already turned, the acid of those last, gucci monogram wallet necessary words eating in her brainShe saw the moons again, Eanna's stars, the wide, waiting darkness between them and beyondFelt the night wind in her face and in her hair, saw the dark ground of the garden begin to hurtle up toward her, heard voices for an instant, and then none at all, only the loud, rushing windShe was alone, fallingShe had always been alone it seemedA dream, a prayer of flames, that they might comeThen a last doorway, an unexpectedly gentle darkness seemed to open wide before her in the airShe closed her eyes just before she went through
Chapter 19
A WARM NIGHT, THE FRAGRANCE OF FLOWERSMOONLIGHT on the trees, on the pale stones of the garden wall, on the woman standing in the high window
Devin hears a sound to his left and quickly gucci handbag turnsRovigo running up, to stop, rigid with shock as his gaze follows Alessan's upwardBehind him now comes Sandre with Alais
"Help me!" the Duke orders harshly, dropping to the cobblestones beside DevinHis expression is wild, distraught, he has a knife in his hand
"What?" Devin gasps, uncomprehending?"
"My fingers! Now! Cut them! I need the power!" And Sandre d'Astibar slaps the hilt of the knife hard into Devin's palm and curls his own left hand around a loose slab of stone in the streetOnly his third and fourth fingers are extendedThe wizard's fingers, of binding to the Palm Devin begins, stammering
"No words! Cut me, Devin!"
Devin does as he is toldWincing, gritting his teeth against pain against grief, he poises the sharp slim blade and brings it chanel backpack down on Sandre's exposed fingers, cleaving throughHe hears someone cry out
But in the moment the knife cuts clean through flesh to grind against stone there is a swift and dazzling flashSandre's darkened face is illuminated by a corona of white light that flares like a star about his head and dies away, leaving them blinded for a moment in the after-image of its glow
Alais is on the Duke's other side, kneeling to quickly wrap a square of cloth about his bleeding handSandre lifts that hand, with an effort, silent in the face of painWithout a word spoken, Alais helps him, her fingers supporting his arm
From high above they hear a sharp, distant crash, the sound of men shoutingSilhouetted in the tall window, Catriana becomes suddenly tautShe screams chanel bucket tote bag something |
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