Firebrand (Page 31)
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213
- Page 214
- Page 215
- Page 216
- Page 217
- Page 218
- Page 219
- Page 220
- Page 221
- Page 222
- Page 223
- Page 224
- Page 225
- Page 226
- Page 227
- Page 228
- Page 229
- Page 230
- Page 231
- Page 232
- Page 233
- Page 234
- Page 235
- Page 236
- Page 237
- Page 238
- Page 239
- Page 240
- Page 241
- Page 242
- Page 243
- Page 244
- Page 245
- Page 246
- Page 247
- Page 248
- Page 249
- Page 250
Few had seen her eye, for it was disturbing, but those who had had seen things, she knew, but could not say what. The past? The future? Dreams and illusions? The original looking mask opened a window of the universe and the weaving of all the world’s possible outcomes, and now her eye was a microcosm of it, painful, and one over which she had no control. Had she not smashed the looking mask, had she worn it, she would have been its servant as much as its master, rethreading futures, pasts, and presents. She had rejected the power, but the small remnant in her eye forced her to serve anyway.
Lhean placed his hand on her cheek, and though his touch was warm, she shivered. He gazed into her mirror eye, and as usual, she had no vision in it, just the dark infinite nothing. A minute, two minutes, three, or perhaps an hour elapsed, and they both stood motionless. The fire popped in the hearth on the other side of the room, so she knew the world still went on.
A streak of light slashed across her vision, and she cried with the sudden pain of it. Then there was another, and another. Threads of light, tails of falling stars, perhaps, demarked the weaving of the world. These were accompanied by an assault of images, which had never happened before. They came like an avalanche pummeling her so fast she could make no sense of them. Then they slowed so suddenly that she staggered. Lhean caught her so that she did not fall.
Impressions of the future time came to her. They were cloudy, unfocused. Dirty skies roiled across her vision, along with dreary brick buildings, carriage wheels bumping over cobble streets, a tiny metal man in an open timepiece. She saw people she recognized from Yates’ drawings—Mirriam with her hands on her hips and a stern expression on her face, the professor sitting at a big table with a cup of kauv and a paper, Luke saddling Raven. Raven with his dark dappled bay coat.
And Cade. Cade trained with a practice sword, flowing through forms with grace and power, the ways in which he moved so familiar to her. The vision changed, and he smiled as he told her some story about buttons. Buttons? This, too, slipped away into yet another vision, but one that drew her in, made real as though she could feel his warmth as they lay entwined in the night. His heartbeat, his breaths, the taste of him. She quivered as his hand brushed across her skin. The elation of their joining.
She was thrust into another vision and saw Cade in the light of thousands of moonstones and the maelstrom of a world crumbling around him. She grasped his hand, trying to take him home with her, but he was anchored in the future, anchoring her, too. Lhean was also there pulling on her other arm, attempting to haul her back to their present. She was caught in between, being ripped in two. She would not go home without Cade, but he would not allow her to be trapped in the future, a dangerous future in which it was likely neither of them would survive. Karigan, he said, I love you, and he released her hand. Let her go so she could return home and live, and maybe change the course of history.
Torn apart.
“Nooo!” Karigan screamed. She found herself kneeling on the floor of her chamber, the cold flagstone eating into her knees, with Lhean beside her, supporting her. She screamed again into his shoulder. He spoke softly to her in Eltish as to a child, and held her in his arms, gently rocking her.
“Why?” she cried. “Why didn’t you let go of me so I could stay with him? Why?”
“This is your world, Galadheon,” he said quietly, “and we cannot do without you.”
A LEAF UPON THE BREEZE
Estral jumped up from her chair at the heartrending screams that keened down the corridor and penetrated through stone walls, but the Eletians remained seated and serene. She dashed out of the common room and followed alarmed Riders to Karigan’s chamber. The Riders clogged the doorway with swords drawn. Estral tried to see over their shoulders, but all she could make out was the top of Karigan’s head. She must be kneeling on the floor.
“What’s going on here?” Mara demanded from the front of the pack. “What have you done to her?”
The Riders tensed as they waited, which made Estral’s anxiety rise even higher.
“Peace, Green Rider,” came Lhean’s calm voice. “It is but grief.”
A silence fell, except for the sound of racking sobs.
Oh, Karigan, Estral thought, desperate to comfort her friend.
“Everyone out,” Mara said.
The clot of Riders shifted and backed out, sheathed their swords, and at Mara’s order, dispersed, muttering among themselves. Before Mara shut the door, Estral glimpsed Karigan bowed over on the floor, her hands over her face and Lhean beside her. When the door closed, she reached for the handle so she could go in and help, but one look from Mara warned her against doing so.
“I think this is between Karigan and the Eletian for now,” Mara said.
Daro Cooper limped up to them. “Are you sure she’s all right?”
“If you mean, is she in danger? No, I don’t think so. Is she all right? That’s a different question. A lot happened to her when she was in the future time.” She then gave Daro a stern look. “And I thought Master Mender Vanlynn said you were to stay off that leg.”
“But—”
“To bed, Rider.”
Daro gave her an impudent salute. “Yes, ma’am.” And limped away grumbling something about going mad with nothing to do.
“You might take a look at Rider payroll,” Mara called sweetly after her.
Daro grumbled unintelligibly, and Mara snorted.
Estral instinctively looked at her hands as if expecting to find slate and chalk in them, before recalling she now had a voice.
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213
- Page 214
- Page 215
- Page 216
- Page 217
- Page 218
- Page 219
- Page 220
- Page 221
- Page 222
- Page 223
- Page 224
- Page 225
- Page 226
- Page 227
- Page 228
- Page 229
- Page 230
- Page 231
- Page 232
- Page 233
- Page 234
- Page 235
- Page 236
- Page 237
- Page 238
- Page 239
- Page 240
- Page 241
- Page 242
- Page 243
- Page 244
- Page 245
- Page 246
- Page 247
- Page 248
- Page 249
- Page 250