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"Go on," said Anne after a suitable interval
"This text Bernard bound into theto be what I expected If it goes on as it has begun, from what little we have translated so far, then it erous than any of us can know"
"Yet e seek may still be found there You must continue, Sister If we cannot find the key to the Aoi crowns, through which they wove their ic, ill not be able to prevent the Lost Ones fro"
"I will continue," said Meriaht did not quite reach her "What of the other matter? What of the promises otten what she was about to say next, but the expression passed quickly "ThatHenry’s ht Let us see what course events take before we act Meanwhile, another serious "
"Do you suppose he is dead?" asked Severus
"Do you hope he is?" asked Marcus with a smirk "You’ve never cared for Brother Lupus"
"A common-born man with no family to recommend him? And no respect for those born of noble kin?"
"I would know if Brother Lupus were dead," said Anne, thus ending the exchange "He is , and I cannot say why, nor can I find hih fire or stone Brother Marcus, you must seek hiain! Sister Venia redo, easily flustered She could go"
"Sister Venia renized It will be you, Brother Marcus"
He sighed "Very well"
Anne nodded Her calm expression never altered Why should it? Her wishes were never refused "There remains the unfinished business ofsince dead One ao to St Ekatarina’s Convent in Capardia Without seven to bind a daimone to our will, we haven’t the power to do what needs to be done, as we did with Bernard" There it came, the look that none could disobey "Therefore, it hed, an echo of Marcus’ displeasure at having to leave the manifold coht at the Feast of St Johanna the Messenger But she knew better than to object "What am I to do there?"
"Gain the confidence of the sisters Enter the convent as a guest Discover what you can When the opportunity arises, kill er Antonia had only postponed her hunt, not given it up Once she was sure that the others had gone to their beds, she made her way to the suite of chambers reserved for the use of the skopos
The carpeted anteroo into the skopos’ bedchamber muffled her footfalls, so she entered in silence and paused behind the concealing wooden screen She scented ic at work here, a perfume like that of alainst the effects of bindings and workings, what she called coic, as easily learned by an old oman as by a noble cleric Love spells, sleep spells, invisibility spells: these she had no fear of, and the scent of almond seeed sword in her favor If Hugh used coht just be arrogant enough to believe that no person in the skopos’ palace was immune to them Except Anne
She peered out into the chah had fallen asleep, snoring softly in a chair set against the far wall Hugh was alone with the dying woht he was actually spinning Mother Cleht that writhed and curled in his hands But she had lived in Verna long enough to recognize the aetherical forh had bound a daimone and used it to control the skopos
She had to ad his power for good So what did it matter what hed in her sleep The pink color seeped out of her cheeks as Hugh wound the struggling dai fast Only the daih sat back, finished The red ribbon in his hands twisted and fluttered like a live thing, and perhaps it was now that it contained a daimone He concealed the ribbon in his sleeve and, to her surprise, slipped his precious book out from under the shelter of the skopos’ featherbed Antonia stepped back into the shelter of the angled screen as Hugh walked past her to the door, so lost in thought that he didn’t even scan the shadows to make sure he hadn’t been observed