| "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, 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 chanel mens watches j12 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 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 knock off chanel watches 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 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 chloe bag 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 somethingThey are too far away to make out the wordsThey see her turn though, to the darkness, to the nightNot this!" Alessan's voice is a ragged whisper scoured up from his heart
On his knees in the dusty road, Devin sees her fall
Not wheeling or tumbling to death, but graceful as she has always been, a tiffany silver diver cleaving the night downwardSandre thrusts forward his maimed wizard's hand, straining upwardHe speaks rapid words Devin cannot understandThere is a sudden weirdly distorting blur in the night, a shimmer as of unnatural heat in the airSandre's hand is aimed straight at the falling womanDevin's heart stops for a moment, seizing at this wild, impossible hope
Then it starts beating again, heavy as age, as deathWhatever Sandre has tried, it is not enoughHe is too far, it is too hard a spell, he is too new to this powerAny of these, all, noneUnstayed, unchecked, beautiful as a moonlit fantasy of a woman who can flyDown to a broken, crumpled ending behind the garden wall
Alais bursts into desperate louis vuitton replicas handbags sobs |