| "With twenty soldiers surrounding himYou would have had us all in chains in Astibar by now
"You would have deflected my arrow," Alessan said wryly
"Is there a chance he won't speak?" Devin interjected awkwardly"I'm thinking about Menico, you see
Alessan shook his head"Everyone talks under torture," he said soberly"Especially if sorcery is involvedI'm thinking about Menico too, but there isn't anything we can do about it, DevinIt is one of the realities of the life we liveThere are people put at risk by almost everything we doI wish," he added, "that I knew what had happened in that lodge
"You wanted to check it," Catriana reminded him"Can we afford the time?"
"I did, and yes, I think we can," said Alessan crisply"There remains a piece missing in all of thisI still don't know how Sandre d'Astibar could have expected me to be theExcept for the drone of the cicadas and the rustling leaves it was very quiet in the woodsAlessan abruptly omega speedmaster moon watch raised one hand and pushed it roughly through his hair
"Do you know," he said to Baerd, in what was almost a conversational tone, "how much of a fool I can be at times? It was in the palm of my hand all along!" His voice changed"Come on, and pray we are not too late!"
The fires had both died down in the Sandreni lodgeOnly the stars shone above the clearing in the woodsThe cluster of Eanna's Diadem was well over west, following the moonsA nightingale was singing, as if in answer to the trialla of before, as the four of them approachedIn the doorway Alessan hesitated for a moment then shrugged his shoulders in a gesture Devin already recognizedThen he pushed open the door and walked through
By the red glow of the embers they looked, with eyes accustomed by now to darkness, on the carnage within
The coffin still rested on its trestles, although splintered and knocked awryAround it though, lay dead men who had been alive when they left this cartier man watch roomThe two younger SandreniNievole, a quiver of arrows in his throat and chestThe body of Scalvaia d'Astibar
Then Devin made out Scalvaia's severed head in a black puddle of blood a terrible distance away and he fought to control the lurch of sickness in his gorge
"Oh, Morian," Alessan whispered"Oh, Lady of the Dead, be gentle to them in your HallsThey died dreaming of freedom and before their time
"Three of them did," came a harsh, desiccated voice from deep in one of the armchairs"The fourth should have been strangled at birth
Devin jumped half a foot, his heart hammering with shock
The speaker rose and stood beside the chair, facing themHe was entirely hidden in shadow"I thought you would come back," he said
The sixth man, Devin realized, struggling to understand, straining to make out the tall, gaunt form by the faint glow of the embers
Alessan seemed quite unruffled"I'm sorry I kept you waiting then," he said"It took me too long to prada handbag riddle this throughWill you allow me to express my sorrow for what has happened?" He paused"And my respect for you, my lord Sandre
Devin's jaw dropped open as if unhingedHe snapped it shut so hard he hurt his teeth; he hoped no one had seenEvents were moving far too fast for him
"I will accept the first," said the gaunt figure in front of them"I do not deserve your respect though, nor that of anyone elseOnce perhaps; not anymoreYou are speaking to an old vain fool, exactly as the Barbadian named meA man who spent too many years alone, tangled in his own spun websYou were right in everything you said before about carelessnessIt has cost me three sons tonightWithin a month, less probably, the Sandreni will be no more
The voice was dry and dispassionate, objectively damning, devoid of self-pityThe tone of a judge in some dark hall of final adjudication
"What happened?" Alessan asked quietly
"The boy was a traitor Flat, uninflected, final
"Oh, my balenciaga designer lord," Baerd exclaimed"Family?"
"My grandson
"The his soul is cursed," Baerd said, quiet and fierce"He is in Morian's custody now, and she will know how to deal with himMay he be trammeled in darkness until the end of time
The old man seemed not to have even heard"Taeri killed him," he murmured, wonderingly"I had not thought he was brave enough, or so quickThen he stabbed himself, to deny them the pleasure of whatever they might have learned of himI had not thought he was so brave," he repeated absently
Through the thick shadows Devin looked at the two bodies by the smaller fireUncle and nephew lay so close to each other they seemed almost intertwined on the far side of the coffin
"You said you waited for us," Alessan murmured"Will you tell me why?"
"For the same reason you came back Sandre moved for the first time, stiffly making his way to the larger fireHe seized a small log and threw it on the guttering flameA shower of sparks flew balenciaga fashion bag u |
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