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"So he is More than what he seems"

"Cleverer than he looks?" the old abbess chuckled

"So it appears from the nee have heard of the battle in Dals from Wendar, if it is all true"

"tru lo tru lye tru la tru lee

where the river flows, did the deer flee"

"What will happen," Obligatia asked in a low voice, "e are come with Sapientia?"

"I don’t know She does not see"

"Our chronicles tell us that fitness was no barrier to the kings of Salia and Aosta There are here and there stories of feebleminded children raised up to the throne, and ruled by those who held their leading strings"

"It is not true of the Wendish, for we Wendish have always denants be worthy of the nalant that one? Worthy of the name?"

"Laws are silent in the presence of arlant possesses the loyalty of the ar, and the luck of the king, without which no regnant can prosper The rest of his clai to the Lions, there is debate and dissension on the matter of his queen, as excommunicated and is known to be a sorcerer That cannot help hith touched the book Rosvita held on her lap "Will we see her again? Do you think her lost?"

"Like the books?" Rosvita had forgotten The Book of Secrets, clutched against her She was afraid to let it go, as if it would vanish once no part of her body grounded it to the Earth "She is lost to us We ain We ress safely As for the rest, I cannot know It is taught that the daimones of the upper air can see into both past and future But we are reed Obligatia, and the thought made her smile as she patted Rosvita on the hands in the saaze strayed toward the nuns busy at their packing and ca into a chest and counting soers: eleven At the far end of the hall, a young nun hung shutters and locked the departure It was a sturdy hall, meant to weather storms and years When all this trouble passed, it would still be standing

"I would be at peace, having atia, "but I have a few questions I must still ask her Therefore, I am selfishly sure that she must still be alive and that she will return to us"

Rosvita nodded sadly "That is hope enough for ht"

5

"LI-AT-DANO"

She woke disoriented and still blind She hadn’teffect of the poison had sed her