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"So we have a little time," she says

Time It’s e’ve alanted, e rarely have

She’s sitting in the copilot’s chair and she turns it so that she faces reen eyes and I catch my breath

Cassia slides her hands behind my neck and I lean forward

I closeas beautiful as snohen she caainst her cheek on the Hill I re down onme back

"I love you," she whispers

"I love you," I say back

I choose her again, and again, and again Until the Pilot interrupts us and it’s tiether As the wisps of clouds go by, I pretend that they’reeven higher on their way to so new

CHAPTER 61

CASSIA

He takes us up higher and the air ship shudders and groans, and my heart beats fast, and I am not afraid

There are the ainst the sky, and then less, and less, below us, and it is blue all around

In the blue, there is white and gold, white wisps of cloud trailing across the sky like the cottonwood seed I once gave Grandfather "Clouds of glory," I whisper, re, and I wonder where he found those words and if this is a journey heup to be war hold of these bits of sky, letting go

And then where? I wonder Could there be anywhere else as glorious as this?

Maybe this is where the angels hen they flew up Perhaps it is wherein the sun Maybe it would be a cruel thing to bring hiht, they are lonely

I look over at Ky His face is as I have rarely seen it before, perfectly serene

"Ky," I say "You’re the Pilot"

He smiles

"You are," I say "Look how you fly It’s like Indie"

His smile turns sad

"You must think of her when you fly," I say, a little sharp pain cutting through h I understand There are places, times, when I will always think of Xander Whenever I see a blue pool, a red newrose, the roots of a plant pulled up froround

"Yes," Ky says "But all the time, I think of you"

I lean over and pressto distract hiht, with the lorious But there are so many people trapped below

We drop lower, out of the clouds, and the ht on their faces turns white snow pink and gray rock gold Dark trees and water, flat at first and then glinting and gaining di to the sides of the reen foothills

Hand in hand, alk up the path froe to find and speak with Anna and Eli I hope they’ll come with us, I think We need theo to the Otherlands, or stay in the o out to look for Hunter, or back to the Carving There are many choices now

Ky stops on the path "Listen," he says "Music"

At first I hear only the h those tall pine trees And then I hear singing froe

We all quicken our pace When we coe, Ky points at soht Xander’s ahead of us--I see his blond hair, his profile He must have flown in on one of the other ships

He’s going to try to go to the Otherlands

Xanderfor us All he’s doing, right now, is listening

The villagers aren’t just singing, they are also dancing around the stone, in a farewell Fire dances, too, and so, the villagers aremusic

One of the officers moves to break it up, but Ky stops him "They saved us," he reminds the officer "Give them a little time"

The officer nods