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I stiffened at the question Most sword masters - not sword owners, but masters - named their weapons, and that name often followed a blade from master to e-blade student was given his first battle-weapon To a traditional swordsman, the blades he used were alive, with personalities and characters all their own I had never nah the cere adult-hood, thus I had never received my adult weapons Maybe I would feel differently about them if I had, but tois your right, but only after you draw first blood in battle" Audric handed him the sword sheath "Strap it on beneath your cloak Today, it&039;s for show Most likely" His voice was disappointed; therein the streets

"What are we today? Her escorts?"

Audric&039;s mouth turned up, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes "Her champards"

I closed my eyes The title was a fore-blade for the none - chaht the saed thee-leader And died by her side Cold scuttled upin the arts of war had only begun when Audric came into his life He wasn&039;t ready for his first battle blade He was good, very good, but was years away froht in a real war "I don&039;t want anyone to fight beside me I never want anyone to die because of me," I said

"We took on your battles e became partners in Thorn&039;s Ge the sheath on his waist beneath his cloak "When we first became friends This was inevitable"

But he didn&039;t knohat he was saying, what he was proh the door with a blast of icy air, her boots on the wood floor telling me who she was as surely as if she had announced herself It took a long moment for the door to close "You people look wicked," she said, her voice muted "Dreadful And terrible And exquisite Like pure fla the power that purified gold and lass Her words fell like an omen on my soul I didn&039;t want to look terrible, yet it was the effect I had planned for It was the exact impression I wanted to make And with two ar else

When I opened oith long, full skirts, and a dark crimson cloak thrown back to reveal the dress I was surprised she wore her best clothes And then I wasn&039;t In her oay, Jacey, too, was declaring herself a cha lipstick, so she seldom bothered with I blinked back a sheen of tears "Who&039;s going toThorn&039;s Gems It&039;s been decided we need a show of force to coues Don&039;t argue," she said as I was about to protest "I need jewelry," she added Going to the emerald display case, she lifted out the chunky emerald necklace made of locally mined stone and draped it over her head The pendant nestled in the velvet and caught the light "This emerald find made all the news It won&039;t hurt to reood bit of their tax base coled es on her fingers On her wrists went ht the light

Cal onfrom beneath my battered war-cloak Her broent up but she didn&039;t comment Instead she looked over the door to the loft, at the fra there It was my birth prophecy, the divination that claiainst Darkness A Rose by any Other Name will still draw Blood The prophecy that could never come true because Rose was dead

"You don&039;t have a family," she said, "except us And fa Zed and the kids are waiting" Regal, she floated through the room and out the door

"You ever see her like that?" Audric asked

"Yeah, with her kids," Rupert said ue She&039;ll box our ears"

"Do tell I&039;d like to see her try" Flipping his pale"

Dread tight instick tapping for balance, the bloodstone handle-hilt of its hidden sarm in my hand With a deft movement, I freed my cloak&039;s hood and pulled it over my head Sleet had formed a brittle layer on top of the softer snow, andtowith a secretive patter

A snow-el-bile - a hybrid, battery-powered carand slipping Another el-car, this one painted with the logo of the Satellite News Network and equipped with a rotating track like a bulldozer, churned toward us on the slick surface Chasing a seraph sighting, reporters from SNN had been stranded in tohen a blizzard hit and were desperate to find so to share with the nation before their superiors and fans forgot they existed Or they could take the mule train back to civilization Not a fun prospect Oliver Winston had tried to interview the local e, as had his coed to avoid theed, locking up behind thelances our way Others turned away as if we didn&039;t exist Only a few acknowledged us, and I ed across the street to join our little cavalcade; Sennabel Schwartz, who ran the local library; and her husband, whom I didn&039;t know A few others followed

I smelled Thaddeus Bartholomew, a state police cop and Rupert&039;s cousin, across the street before I saw hi pheromones into the air like an advertise come-hither machine, and I wasn&039;t the only one to notice Hu why His face was haggard, pain lines cutting through once-s hue was jueneration kylen had halted But the enzy his transformation were still active and, because I knehat to look for, I could see the slight hus had begun to ee

"Can anyone join this parade, or is it only for the blood kin and the condemned?" a voice drawled I cast Eli Walker a quick sainst the wall of the dry-goods store, his booted feet crossed at the ankles, partially blocking the ay I figured he was one of the people Audric had phoned when preparing for reat dancer, and a spiffy dresser Today he was decked out in Post-Ap cowboy gear: jeans, hobnailed boots, cowboy hat, and fringed leather jacket Around his neck was an old Indian necklace of dyed wood beads, glass beads, and porcupine quills on a woven, knotted jute thong Eli liked ht conjure, or ht raw eh prices for thelance at them before he looked back at me His lips lifted in a slow smile, the kind that excluded everyone else present and spoke voluet me into bed for weeks

"All help is welcome," Jacey said

"Then you won&039;tacross the ice as he stood upright, he intercepted Miz Essie and took her ar to side with you She always sides with the underdog, and that ood boy," the older wo his face, "but you should have shaved Sharizzled his cheeks It looked good below his odd aood

"Yes, Malove over her knuckles, his eyes on me as his lips touched His expression said clearly that he&039;d like to kiss me, and wouldn&039;t stop at the knuckles I blushed hotly and Eli chuckled It was disconcerting "And you&039;re a pot of trouble filled to the briet And when he stood, I saas prepared for trouble of the worst sort Beneath the buckskin jacket he wore a white flannel shirt with guns holstered beneath each ar blade, was strapped across his back

"No fighting," I said, ainst hureed "But they daasped and ht He&039;d seen ht And the history books confirrinned aton the losing side in this little internecine war some town fathers and orthodox elders have cooked up"

"What have you heard?" Audric asked, his hands gripping the hilts of his weapons beneath his cloak Two el-cars skidded past us and disappeared Silence settled on the landscape, broken by footsteps and the rustle of people on the move Sleet peppered over my hood

"Since Jacey called? Little here, little there Enough to know soot less sense than balls Your pardon, ladies" He tipped his hat as his mother swatted him The unmistakable affection between the two made me appreciate Eli, , he winked at h, e all stoh of an i Make a few people think instead of getting all heated up andabout whether to intercede in her behalf Politics by coroups come to blows"

That hat I dreaded, a ers through the ring of , walking stick tapping Its vibrant green-and-red bloodstone hilt wares had only one prime I had two I hoped I wouldn&039;t need to drain the ratified by the supporters around me, should have been persuaded that numbers would make a difference to the future I feared But I wasn&039;t Instead, I re&039;s dreaers found and worried the tiny release that allowed

As we moved up the street, Eli stepped close In a laconic tone he said, "So rumors about a seraph trapped in the Trine" I whipped round? Seven seraphs went in after you and only six caht mention that now, but I nodded stiffly "Yes One is still underground Trapped"

"H He pushed back the briht to waro back after hi Watch your back"

"I will never - never - go underground again," I said quickly, preventing a shiver of fear before it took me

"I see," he said "Fine Sure Whatever" And thecurve and saw the former Central Baptist Church ahead, ious services It was now the townof peopleparty to either side of the entry doors The group with me faltered and nearly stopped We would have to walk between the two crowds to gain entry Well, in one way that was symbolic of what I had done to the town: Divided it utterly

Mur voices raised on the cold air as black-clad orthodox and angry roup debated in loud voices with the sured it was the first tiher ele Too bad that agreeroup looked so cowed If I was attacked, they would probably run instead of co to my defense

I was so toast