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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] She fumbled with the buckle of his belt, and he moved one handfrom her back to release it with a short, impatient tug. He loosedthe laces of his pants, too, but then returned his hand to herback. She got his message he would go so far on his own, butno farther. She would have to show him she wanted him. Her heart pounded and her blood burned. In the dreams, they hadonly danced, but she wanted more than dancing. She wanted him,wanted to take him as her lover wanted to meld with him, tocomplete herself. She stopped dancing and tugged his pants down. He kicked off hisboots, stepped out of pants and underclothes. Waited. The beat ofthe drums, resonating through the floor, mimicked the racing of herheart. He kicked his clothes out of the way, then enfolded her hands inhis and began to dance with her again. They moved slowly,sensuously, skin against silken skin, heat to heat, kissinglightly, nipping and biting, dragging fingernails down backs,always spinning close and then stepping apart, then pullingtogether again, tighter than before. At last they danced their way into a corner, and Ry stopped. Now, he said. And she said, Now. He stepped in closer and caught her around the waist and liftedher up, and pressed her back to the wall. She locked her legsaround his hips. And as the tala drums died away to silence, theydanced another, older dance. Chapter 38 H asmal began to sense the wrongness ofthe night even before Kait leaped from the tower. He d carriedthat gut-wrenching premonition of pending disaster with him whilehe watched her fall and when he and Dghall lashed out at Ryfor insisting she lived. While he and Dghall knelt on thefloor of the common room, saying the offices for a dead Falcon for though Kait had not taken the oaths of the Falcons, andthough she had not yet learned all the secrets, both of them agreedthat she had been a Falcon in truth that sense of doom hadgrown worse. The sense of wrongness had become an inescapable horror as thenight progressed, until Hasmal asked Dghall if he felt it,too. Of course I feel it, Dghall had snapped. She s dead, and lost to us forever. How could I not feelit? But Hasmal wasn t convinced that his grief over Kait sdeath was the demon that rode him. Ian joined them for the final prayers, and Hasmal wished hewould go away. In normal circumstances he would have been pleasedto share the burden of praying a soul safely through the Veil in normal circumstances, it was a burden best shouldered byas many as would willingly assume the task. But the presence ofeven such allies as Ian grated on him like a rasp on bare bone. Thenight felt like it would never become dawn. When Yanth burst into the room in the midst of their prayers,grinning like an idiot, and Ry stepped in behind him holdingKait s hand, Hasmal had looked at his clearly unharmed friendand had been unable to find any joy inside himself at theindubitable proof of her survival. He cared about her; she was adear confidante and a trusted colleague; and still the factthat she lived couldn t even begin to penetrate the haze ofdread that gripped him. Ry stood staring at him and Dghall and Ian, his facebewildered. She s alive, you asses, he said. You can put aside your mourning clothes and leave yourprayers for someone who needs them. She s alive Page 152 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html . Dghall rose, looking old and stiff and bent, and walkedover to Kait, a false smile on his face, and embraced her the way apolite man embraces the confused stranger who insists he is a dearfriend of years past. You re a sight for hurtinghearts, he said. But Hasmal heard in the old man s voicethe same pain he felt in his own soul. The entire universe vibratedlike strings tuned off key. Kait frowned and turned to Ry and said, You said theydidn t believe you when you told them I was alive, butI d think they didn t believe me . Ry put one arm around her shoulders in a protective gesture andsaid, I don t know what s the matter with them. Butyou have me. I do, she said, and turned into his arms and kissedhim. Ian looked like she had slapped him, and Hasmal felt the manreverberate with an echo of the night s wrongness. Ian staredat Kait with eyes gone flat and hard and cold, and said, You ve chosen, then. She swallowed and nodded. It isn t as if. . . I don t want you to be . . . happyor . . . Her voice trailed off and she shook herhead. Yes. I have. I ve chosen. I m sorry, Ian I truly am. His hand moved to his sword, seemingly on its own, and Hasmalbraced himself for sudden violence. But Ian only fingered thesword s pommel and said, You need not apologize to me.You were always free to take the path you desired. I had hoped Iwould be on that path, but I wouldn t want to spend my lifewith someone who didn t love me, no matter how much I lovedher. His whole face tightened, and he looked at Ry. Iwish you every happiness. Brother. That was said in a voiceHasmal would have reserved for cursing enemies into Iberanhell. Then Ian stalked from the room, his movements angry and his backstiff. And Hasmal thought perhaps that was the heart of thedespair that clutched at his heart, but no the wrongness ofIan s fury was a single grain of sand on an infinite beachcompared to the hollow, foul fear that gripped Hasmal. He said, Kait, your return brings me great joy, but I mexhausted. Dghall and I have been praying and performing theFalcons last offices since we thought you died. Hehugged her and kissed both her cheeks. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |