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He bent his head and began to sing
"Hear my cry for mercy when I call out to you,
when I lift my hands toward your holy sanctuary
Do not number me with the wicked and the evildoers who speak sweetly to their fellows
while malice boils in their hearts
Reward the to their deeds
Glorify those who trust in God
Blessed are They, who listen to my plea for mercy"
He waited ain the laels, attracted by the sweetness of his voice? But if he aiting for so his book of secrets, he tied it shut with a red ribbon, tucked it under his arh the doors The lamp burned on It was so silent she heard the hiss of the wick
She lingered in the shadows in the gallery that ringed the inner sanctuallery so soon after Hugh’s departure Anyway, she liked it here in St Thecla’s Chapel Emperor Taillefer had modeled the royal chapel at Autun on this very sanctuary, with its eight sides, double-vaulted walls, and do to Heribert, St Thecla’s Chapel was more perfectly proportioned than the copy at Autun, but certainly the royal chapel at Autun inspired awe and holy fervor because of its grandeur
Liath was Taillefer’s great granddaughter, heir to his earthly glory and power Just as she, once known as Biscop Antonia of Mainni but now called Sister Venia, understood the delicate balance of power at play within the skopos’ palace as a long and deadly winter turned the corner into the lean weeks of early spring The Holy Mother Cle Soon, her soul would pass out of her body and ascend through the seven spheres to the Chaht while, below, on Earth, some noblewoman of proper birth, rank, and holy stature would be elected to govern in her place
"‘Our hearts have not gone astray,’" she murmured, "‘nor have our feet strayed from Your path’"
3
LIATH dozed in co in a bath filled with rose petals with the water neither too hot nor too cold She was so spectacularly comfortable that she si hurt; she had not a single nagging discomfort No reason to hurry forward She had been on the road for so long it seemed cruel not to rest here a while
In the distance she heard faint singing, a vocal acco music of the spheres A person could just lie here forever and bathe in the perfect counterpoint of the , always melodious and in faultless harmony
Wind brushed her face A touch, as soft as a feather, tickled her lips A cool rush flowed down her throat as though a breath of wind had insinuated itself into her very body
"Pass through the horned gate of Somorhas, if you would see your heart’s desire"
She opened her eyes, startled by those sweet-toned words, as fluid as water Who had spoken? It al she meant to, she rose A featureless plain surrounded her The pleasant bed on which she had been resting was si with a layer of mist Alabaster towers bristled on the horizon, as nu built entirely of marble stood between her and the forest of towers She knew at once that in this building she would find a library complete with every scroll and book she had ever wished to read The towers receded into the mist even as the dome rose before her, flanked by avenues of stone lined with oversized statues of every animal known on Earth and in the sky: ravens and peacocks, panthers and bears, ibex and serpents Where the avenues met in the forecourt, they joined into a broad stair sur arbor of dog roses and belladonna
As her feet led her forward under the arch, a treh her body rather as a pan of water, shaken, will run with ripples and wavelets and then quiet She found herself in a vast hall where churchmen ornareen silk hurried about on their errands Tables lit by a profusion of cerahout the hall Here sat scholars bent over ancient scrolls or freshly copied to clerics, scarcely h some old chronicle
On a stand at the center of the hall rested a thick book She crossed between the tables and halted here No one glanced at her strangely No one found her presence res, quiver with arrows and bow, the gold torque given to her by Sanglant, and the lapis lazuli ring The stone floor rely warm to her bare feet