Page 81 (1/2)

Bags settled himself into the corner of the door frame and took my hands in his He nuzzled htly with the pleasure of a father who sees his litter grown, hunting swift and strong

“Just listen, love, for I have a tale to tell which will be repeated in the alleys of Al-a-Nur as long as there are Towers to shadow the streets…”

OF COURSE WE KNEW SHE WOULD COME, SOONER OR later We knew she would co all the hordes of Shadukiam, all the horrors the Rose Do a great black antelope, whose slender legs were hooved in fire, and whose baleful eyes seeions, Djinn with beards of ss, Monopods drafted out of their ghettoes, their feet ar with iron spikes, Centaurs and archers with a dozen are And the hu their war cries like frenzied ravens, all those , drunk on hatred of the Golden City, and adoration of the pale-haired Papess

But she did not bring her dah the silver spires of the Salreen fields outside the ringed Towers, and they halted They quieted their cries and laid theh they had come to a country picnic—so completely were they in her power

And Ragnhild, First and Second of her Name, the Black Papess of Shadukiam, entered the Holy City alone, without even a knife at her belt She entered it like a postulant, with nothing but her torn dress fluttering in the wind, and her pale hair strea behind her like a battle standard

And alone she walked to the center of the City, to the Tower of the Papess, and no one dared to stop her, but all who could lay down their duties followed in her wake like a wave of flesh Slowly, and without a sound, she seelide over the blue-pebbled streets to the plain Toith its deer-skin-slung s, and strode through the door as if no one could contest her right to do so—as if it were her own house

We were closeted with Yashna, in conference as we so often are these days My brothers and I irowled; our hackles rose, ready to defend our Papess froht with her into that sacred place But the Apostate, her face as fair and terrible as it had been in the depths of our dreaesture of amity

“Peace, ht with you, or to molest your poor Yashna Smooth your venerable furs, and cool the blood in your veins I have cos, that you have no power over ain: Calm yourselves”

Yashna said nothing, but s in a faint autumn wind Bartholomew snarled in her stead: “An errand of friendship? With that band of creatures at your back?”

Ragnhild sht them for my own defense Surely you do not expectbut hi I know too well the fate of innocent maids when the ire of the Towers is raised” She lifted her delicate wrists and shook the goldenthere like a dancer’s bracelets The high, thin sound echoed in the chamber

Balthazar’s

fiery eyes narrowed into slits “She cannot be trusted, Mother You hi now, before she has unleashed whatever ”

Ragnhild laughed, a sound like glass breaking, or ice shattering over a running river “Surely you do not think I could hideto the wide tears in her violet gown “But enough—I did not come to speak with those I have already welcomed in my own hall I ca behind us”

Yashna stirred in her chair and peered out at the Black Papess, whose siveness and kindness

“Very well, my child Speak with me,” she said, her voice steady and deep