Page 38 (1/2)

A hazy night of screa the walls

Yet another scene arose Malko her black hair in front of a linting green eyes

Carrow?It had to be her as a child Even amid the reverie, Malkom knew that this scene had taken place, that this was one of her memories, taken from her blood Some of the vampires had possessed that talent The Viceroy had And 'twas his blood that had infected Malko a bell, calling for "Lady Carrow" Lady hborn

When the bell rang again, this young Carrow dashed the back of her hand against her tears He could feel that she was miserable, heartsick far beyond her years, but he had no idea why

"All right, all right," she said, drying her eyes, while h she spoke and thought in Anglish, he understood the words

She exited that roo in the city of Ash Her bedrooh fabric to make hundreds of robes It looked as if all the silk in the world had been contained in that room

She was rich So how could she possibly have been unhappy?

From her room, servants escorted her down a hall into a warth of the spacious area, the surface covered with food Steam wafted from the dishes - what had to be a year's worth of fare - and uniformed servants lined the walls

At one end of the table, a ed to the other end, she addressed them in a toneless voice, "Mother Father"

The woht "Carrow" But she didn't look at her daughter Malkom wondered if she was blind

Her father was clean-shaven, his hair short and kee to him but were unmistakably well-made

These are her people, this is her life Malko was Silver gleaht fro abundance

I was clad in tatters, my body filthy, my face unshaven No wonder she'd bathed him Even in sleep, he suffered a spike of embarrass and serving Carrow She didn't eat, merely pushed food around on her plate Her sto worse with each noring her

"Mother, Father," she suddenly said, "I have soun understanding her words frolish With each o to Andoain"

Without glancing at Carrow, the father replied, "We're not discussing this with you again You can't go to spell school because you have no powers yet Besides, it's for common folk"

Spell school? His mate was a witch, a channa Which meant that just because fate had marked her as his, she wouldn't necessarily want hi to run aith a pirate," Carrow said They didn't respond "I'e and steal your sole heir from you That's why you had me, isn't it? For an heir? I can't think of another reason - "