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The thought brushed against her mind

Blood would redeem the Abbey That as needed Not her skill in the Medium Not her devotion to the Aldermaston It was her blood Or the Aldermaston’s A price to be paid for the power to save theht

Was it true? Was it her tiredness speaking or was it the Medium? How could she be sure? Ever since her experience in the Bearden Muir with Colvin when she learned about the Mediuhts It helped her res she learned The Medium was a close friend to her Would a friend send her to die?

She sed, feeling her heart burn inside of her Was this what the Mediu She felt it through her bones In hera storainst the hull She could smell the salt in the air But just as assuredly as she could see the Ellowyn as the vessel pitched and lunged in the sea She would not be journeying to Dochte Abbey with the struck her like aher thought She would not be going to Daho pain inside her heart Being separated froony In her mind’s eye, she remembered as the two of them had stacked stones on Jon Hunter’s body Instead of that, she saw Colvin and Ellowyn standing there, clutching stones, burying her

No!

Lia nearly sobbed with the thought, the pain that it caused her Tears stung her eyes and she brushed them away This was the Mediu Colvin and Ellowyn? Was this what the Aldermaston had foreseen? The reason she needed to be trained? The reason he had used her?

Each step was terrible She was cold, wet, s she had experienced in the Bearden Muir a year before ca down Loneliness, despair Abandon her to die To save the lives of others To save…

She wrestled with her thoughts She struggled against the…her life unlived But had she not, once before, offered her life to save Colvin’s? At the fields of Winterrowd, had she not bargained with the Medium to save him? To take her instead? She re satisfied with her offering Then its powers had co in battle Not just Colvin, but all of theh her heart was nearly bursting with pain, she suain The faces, all of them Pasqua Sowe Bryn Astrid Prestwich The Aldermaston Even Getrown up with All of them helpless at the Abbey, surrounded by soldiers bent on destroying their irl as feeling sorry for herself

Lia clenched her jaw Had Jon realized he was going to die before it happened? Had the Mediu her? How brave he seemed Or was it better not to know? Not to understand the Medium’s will until it was too late That was the necessity – to surrender oneself to the Mediureatest powers Holding back, even her thoughts, was enough to send it flying away She did not do that She turned the infors that defended the Abbey borders were in the woods beyond the Cider Orchard They were hidden amidst the oaks To be protected, one had to be inside the circle of stones

Deteret Colvin and Ellowyn inside that protective ring She did not kno she was going to do it But she had to If her blood was required, then she would do it She would not shrink frolanced back at Colvin His face was a ue and i the Mediu his face in the darkness, his scowl and expression made the pain even more intense Ellowyn looked exhausted, her eyes nearly shut as she stu to keep up She remembered his confession in the mountains of Pry-Ree It was such a relief to have heard it To die knowing that he loved her She would set him free at last Did the Alder on the orb, tears had come to his eyes He had looked at her with such sympathy and compassion He had kissed her forehead Did he knohat she was facing? The choice that would be only hers to make?