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The winter man feared the unknown He was afraid of ould happen to his world if the prophecy came true Oliver saw it all in his eyes, and he understood But this was Julianna’s life
"If ere ever friends…" he began, but could say no lanced from Halliwell to Collette and back to Oliver In the end, he reached out a hand and touched Julianna’s hair, and he nodded
With a gesture, the winter e The air tre on the other side Through the mist, Oliver could hear the honk of car horns and the roar of engines Sohed, and a
Oliver glanced at Collette as his sister reached out She grasped the edges of that passage, invisible to the eye, but he could feel her take hold and knew that he could do the same Perhaps they could use their power to unmake the Veil, and perhaps not
Noasn’t the time to find out
"See you soon," Oliver said
Collette nodded
He hefted Julianna, bent to kiss her forehead, and then stepped forward As heto cross the border betorlds, he felt resistance Julianna was one of the Lost Ones The Veil’sback to the land of the ordinary But Oliver was not Borderkind Nor was he merely ordinary Nor was he a Walker Between Worlds He’d been a lawyer and an actor, a son and a lover, a brother and a friend Though they weren’t yetmeant more to him than the woend and aaside whateverhome with him Oliver Bascombe did the impossible He tore the an to unravel
EPILOGUE
In late October, with the trees afire with the red and orange of auturassy hill with her legs drawn up to her chest, chin resting on top of her knees She gazed out across the valley below Fishermen who had been up before the sun stood on the shore of the lake, casting their lines with an easy grace A shepherd guided his flock in a silent parade up a distant hill Morning light silhouetted the battlements of the Castle of Otranto on the horizon
Darated into the ordinary, little fragend and wonder scattered all over the huhtful places None of the roads she had known her entire life led to familiar places anyed into the human world in North America, Europe, and Asia The capital city of Perinthia no longer existed King Hunyadi’s palace still stood, but in a forbidding old land
Hunyadi had always loved Otrantohad that in common Its appearance in the mountains not far from Innsbruck, in Austria, had been met with fascination by the locals--a far better reception than the legendary had received in some places
She did not blaht the destruction of the Veil with any purpose, no matter what so many of the Lost Ones wished to think He had unraveled its s, no matter how difficult this neorld had proved, Damia understood that She wished him well
But she hated hi breath and squeezed her legs htly to her chest The irony cut deeply The Lost Ones--both those who’d crossed over theh the Veil--had yearned to return to the ordinary world…to go "hoendary had called thest the st ordinary people, she truly felt lost for the first tio ho, now Hoer existed
"I wish you ith me," she said softly Only the rustle of the leaves in the trees responded "I h your eyes At your side, it could have been a grand adventure"
A pair of tiny birds darted fro to the ground like feathers
Da their way across the sky, turning toward the lake and then the castle in the distance Reluctantly, she glanced at the small mound of earth to her left, beneath the tree A stone marker had been planted at the head of the rave where the blue bird had been buried She had briefly considered having his na with soh that she had buried Blue Jay here, instead of in the land where his legend had originated, but she needed him close by her
The stone had been etched with a single word Four letters that cos of his soul, as well as a constant reminder to live by his example
Soar
Damia stood, shook fallen leaves from her cloak, and looked out at the lake and the castle once lanced at the srave
"I knohat you’d say Tiain at the four letters etched into the marker and nodded Then she turned and started away
On the other side of the hill, a co’s Guard awaited her on horseback Hunyadi himself spurred away from the others He held the reins of her horse--its saddle as black as her own battle dress--and he brought the beast to her Da should keep hold of her horse while she spent a fewthe job to soesture of extraordinary respect and fondness
"I’rateful, Your Majesty"
"As a replied "We "
Daripped the po over In the saddle, holding the reins, she felt herThere ork to be done The United Nations was holding a special session in Vienna to meet with representatives fro of Yucatazca--some cousin of Mahacuhta’s--in Rio de Janeiro Hunyadi had made Commander Beck the Euphrasian a to her Many of her people were atte to return to the nations of their births, or of their ancestors’ origins But Damia would always be Euphrasian
"Let’s be off, then," she said
Daan to trot His Majesty rode at her side and the King’s Guard fell in behind theht of a pair of birds--perhaps the two she had seen ht from the Castle of Otranto They darted across the surface of the lake, flying low, chasing one another, ether on the air