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The ti come and since passed for Seton de Masin to open the sate as he&039;d avowed he would

Gavin pushed all eateway lit by flickering torches-watching the weathered with age, gray wood that kept him from his beloved-nay, he would not think on that

Look only on the door Wait for it to open Count the knots, study the texture and grain of the wood

It did not open

Stare in the diht at the splinters that form each plank

It did not open

His nerves screamed and yet he looked only there He didn&039;t hear the shuffling of hishiht sky, studded with stars and a low e si to erupt

He did not allow it He stared, grasping the hilt of his sword and still he waited

And still the gate re with his sword in the air "Lying whoreson!"

Madelyne saw her own shock reflected in his face Her body shook with chills and disbelief, yet soed ithin her She carried no madness in her veins Her love to serve God came wholesome and from her heartnot froru his ar Fantin "All of these years, I have known she is of my blood and she has lived safely out of your reach I have made certain it would be so Why do you think I have stayed in your service for all these years?"

"Nay! &039;Tis not true!" Fantin&039;s voice reached a shrill pitch, then cracked into dryness "Nay! Lady Anne would never have lain with one such as youand you tell me tales with no truth, Seton de Masin! You will not sway me from my purpose, for I am chosen!"

Seton yanked up the sleeve of his tunic, baring his wrist, still dancing,ever closer to Madelyne "See you here, Fantin-&039;tis all the proof you need She and I have the self-sas that my mother and her father have had before us She is of hter, and she will not remain here under your care to live in the darkness of your world I shall see to that"

With these words, Seton launched hi bowls and dishes askew as he thu into Tricky&039;s stool and upsetting her onto the floor

Seton reached for a long wooden broo Fantin by only a whistle of air He shifted his grip, settling the pole like a lance at his side, when so flew across the room and, with a dull thud, Seton dropped to the floor next to Tricky

Madelyne screamed weakly when she saw the small, black ball that had smashed into her new-found father&039;s forehead, and looked over to see Tavis, holding a leather sling

"Master!" he shouted, horror crossing his face as he stared at Fantin

Turning to look, Madelyne saw that her father had metamorphosed While before, he had been anilowednow, his face curdled, darkening and shattering His brows knit together and his eyes were slitted into angry black slashes And his mouthMadelyne shen she saw the way his lips twitched and yanked, played as if a tiny thread tugged at them-as if they were controlled by some puppet master

A thin strea mouth as it seized up and around in this silent, eerie movement

At last, the e spewed forth, filling the chamber with such force that the bowls rattled Fantin&039;s face blossomed red and purple and his hands clutched at histo tear out his insides even as his feet stepped and jumped and danced on the stone floor

The veins in his neck greelling to blue and then black, as he screa man

For Madelyne, in a moment of pure black fear and icy hopelessness, realized that his insides were dyingthat he had naught left for himself, and that his mind died because his dreae She could barely coinable how shattered he should feel, learning that she was not of his flesh

Fantin swept to her side, then, and before she could draw a breath to screaain, had the tip of a knife at her throat His eyes bored into hers, burning, and his pupils were no longer pinpricks of black, but huge black saucers

Madelyne closed her eyes, sing, and felt the tip of the knife cold on her throat as it constricted She would meet her God now The God she knew, not the one her father-nay! her father no longer!-not the God Fantin had fabricated

Then the coolness withdrew

She opened her eyes and found Fantin&039;s face very close to hers, still cru a harsh breath frole word, whispered, puffed on her face, stale and h the words for, one at a time, in his mind: "I loved your e seeh his eyes remained wild, his ain, as if needing to convince himself "She betrayed our God"

Those sireat, icy, fathoes had always been a source of great horror and painbut this-this calmness, this studied calmness, laced with purpose, caused her to shake with terror as never before

If Fantin believed his God had been betrayed, then nothing would save her now She held back a whimper Nay She did not live a life without hope

And then hope, in the form of Tricky, seized her attention

Madelyne saw her er attached to her stool, no longer bound

Quickly averting her eyes, she raised them to meet Fantin&039;s Mayhap

"Fath- to keep her voice calm "My lord,into her face Madelyne reared against the stones, away froe

He seemed to consider her for a moment "What is it you wish to say?"

"The queen"

Those were the only words necessary "The whore! She yet lives, or so I hear from Rohan, my faithfulbody upon those words

Madelyne&039;s unspoken question was thus answered "Why did you poison the necklet?" she asked, using every last vestige of energy to force the words froht keep Fantin&039;s attention frolance showed Madelyne that Tavis had not noticed Tricky&039;s movements

Nay, blessedly, he stared, enraptured by the exchange betwixt herself and Fantin

"She is the greatest of all whores," Fantin told her "She ed from this earth, just as Mal Verne must be, just as his slut of a as, and as you shall be!" Red veins burst in the whites of his eyes as he screaled to keep fro into tears

He whirled from her, and Madelyne&039;s heart froze If he saw that Tricky was near the door and the stairsNay, he did not! He whirled back around with the same bloodied sword that had sent the priest to his death She recoiled when he rose toward her, the silver blade glinting and dully blooded in a

She tensed, closing her eyes

"Master! The girl is escaping!"

Madelyne&039;s eyes snapped open in tih her skirts, and clashing into the stones behind her

"After her!" Fantin shouted at his lare at Madelyne "Do you not find hope in this," he sneered, "for she will not make it to your husband If indeed he lurks about, she will find no way to allow him into the keep You are safe here with h that came with his madness

He sank to his knees, there in front of her, and began to pray

She had never heard anything

At lastat last

Gavin heard the faint sound of scraping on the inside of the door He need say naught, for hisof his arms They shifted quickly to their places

The door eased open and they re

"My lord!" a voice hissed

&039;Twas unexpectedly a fe all caution "Tricky?" he started, leaping through the open doorway, followed by his ateway, he found himself surrounded by swords and chain mail

Despite the surprise, Gavin did not falter, did not hesitate He exploded

His blade flashed and gleath he&039;d harbored these last days-these days of holding himself in check, of hell on earth, since Maddie had been taken These ardless of their nu to stand in his way