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THE MAGIC SWORD

She couldn&039;t stop laughing Her throat had taken a bruising, and blood was backed up in her mouth

&039;You stupid, stupid bitch,&039; Kate spluttered

She felt her neck It wasn&039;t even broken

Princess Asa Vajda looked at the sword in her hand as if it were a snake It seee Not blood, strawberry ja up

Orson Welles looked sheepish Asa stabbed at his enorh his chest without haric, Princess,&039; Kate said &039;Not necroitation&039;

The Princess looked an utter prawn Kate wasn&039;t the only one laughing Penelope desperately tried to keep a straight, syht at the hu "prestidigitation" in my state,&039; said Kate

&039;What manner of sword is this?&039; the Princess demanded of Welles

&039;A conjurer never reveals his secrets,&039; he said

Asa Vajda hadit had taken the name to which she was not yet entitled A subtle hint of terror crept across her beautiful, mask-like face Dracula would hear of her presumption, probably already knew about it

Tartars seized Kate and hauled her upright Genevieve laid a hand on one of them, calmly powerful and iuards Kate was released

Penelope handed Kate her shoes She was crying with suppressed laughter The mark of Asa&039;s whip had disappeared

&039;I think you&039;d better leave, Katie,&039; said Penny, biting the insides of her cheeks to keep froht&039;

Kate kissed Penelope

&039;Lovely to see you, as always, Penny,&039; she said, really hugging her friend &039;And you too, Genevieve I withdraw unequivocally o You&039;re the best friend a girl could have&039;

Genevieve kissed her too

Asa muttered about the barbarous lands and isles of the West Ireland, England, and France were far from Moldavia The custoht,&039; said Kate &039;Do enjoy the rest of this democratic century&039;

&039;Out,&039; Asa spat

Kate left

She was outside the palazzo before she re on Vi her appetites Should she wait for him, or hitch a lift back to Roh the barred s and spread out over the town Kate sat on the broad front step and slipped her shoes back on She was still drunk, but now under control The danger had passed, her red rage was spent She would not attack anyone else tonight Unless she ran into soht with Asa Vajda had been scary If the Princess had found a more reliable sword, Kate would be a head shorter, and truly dead Even if she&039;d avoided the blade and gouged out the vauts, she&039;d have wound up dying for it Only ared rolled on the driveway: the ball she&039;d been following It was as if it aiting for her Even in her current state of not thinking straight, she knew toys were not supposed to have minds of their own

A cannon sounded fro whizzed out to sea then exploded, scattering fiery chunks down onto the waves She sunpowder and conquered an iround She&039;d been in too ure at the edge of the cliff She looked at the dark and couldn&039;t see the little girl anyblood rolled across her brain, the beginnings of a truly spectacular headache She wanted to curl up and go to sleep here beside the stone lions that guarded the doors of Dracula&039;s palace

The girl had left a silhouette burned into Kate&039;s eyeballs She lasses and rubbed her eyes In the red darkness, the child stood out

She had a flash of the sad face she&039;d seen in the waters of the Trevi Fountain The look she knerong She al with the picture

The ball was at the edge of the cliff She stood up and walked across the drive onto a stretch of long, wet grass that sloped down gently until the land broke sharply away Below the battleainst the base of the cliff, ha them

Eventually, the Palazzo Otranto would fall, like Mr Poe&039;s House of Usher And a good job, too

The red ball was trapped by a shrub that clung to the very edge Kate reached down to free it and was struck dizzy at the worst possible ht by the froth of foam hundreds of feet below The waves cao