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Sincerely,

Quinn

Chapter2

2

FOR A LONG TIME after I finished the letter, I didn't move

I sat listening to the inevitable sounds of Sugar Devil Swaainst , the lass s open to the night breeze

All ell in my little palazzo in the swampland

No sign of Goblin No sense of Goblin's thirst or en but that which was natural, and faraway, keen to s fro, with the loving help of Jasht Soon the television would be going with an enchanting old black-and-white hts In an hour perhaps Aunt Queen would be saying to Jasmine, "Where is my Little Boy?"

But for now there was tih

I took the cao, when I was still mortal -- still alive -- I would have had to hold it to the lamp, but not now I could see it clearly

It was my own head, in semi-profile, carved skillfully froe was entirely white and re black

It was a heavy caive toelse, but the Dark Blood had come before the perfect moment And now that moment was forever past

What did it show ofoval face, with features that were too delicate -- a nose too narrow, eyes round with round eyebrows and a full cupid's-bow irl No huge eyes, no high cheekbones, no rugged jaw Just very pretty, yes, too pretty, which is why I'd scowled for raphs taken for the portrait; but the artist hadn't carved that scowl into the face

In fact, he'd given me a trace of a smile My short curly hair he'd rendered in thick swirls as if it were an Apollonian halo He'd carved race

Of course the caht of six foot four inches, that my hair was jet black, ht of build I had the kind of long thin fingers which were very good for the piano, which I played now and then And it was ht that told people that in spite of my all too precious face and fe man