Total pages in book: 204
Estimated words: 193124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 966(@200wpm)___ 772(@250wpm)___ 644(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 193124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 966(@200wpm)___ 772(@250wpm)___ 644(@300wpm)
… was returned to me at the very moment, and in the very circumstances, when I most needed a miracle.
Eighty-Three
So Close, Yet So Far Away.
When Lavante and I ride back through the city with our guards, I hold the ruby high over my head. I do this not in triumph, but so there’s a public record of my having returned the gem to the court. And they all know what it is. Regardless of class, the citizenry stares up in awe as the last of the daylight plays in the facets, and then they drop to their knees wherever they are, whatever they’re doing. Their bowed heads and tented palms suggest many prayers of thanks are being offered, and I’m glad so many people see the jewel.
Mural behind the throne notwithstanding, it’s crucial that I provide no out for the advisor to manipulate any of this.
And upon further reflection, I feel like there has been some thievery on the Queen’s part. That setting in the palm fit too well, and I wonder if maybe she stole it after the city down there collapsed. Someone took it back, however—and I’m not sure whether I’m delivering the thing to its rightful owner or not.
For Merc, though, I’m willing to become a robber—and much worse.
The guards take me right to what turns out to be an entry into the court’s great colonnade and audience hall, and I recognize the one who takes Lavante’s reins. He’s the kind man who escorted me into the ceremonial hall yesterday, the one who took pity on me as much as he could.
As I dismount, he’s staring at me like he’s seen a ghost. I suppose I must look like one with all the spiderwebs still clinging to my hair.
“Take care of him,” I say. “He needs to be cooled down before he eats.”
The guard bows, his eyes locked on the ruby that I still have over my head. “Yes, missus.”
I don’t wait for permission to walk forward, and quite honestly, if any one of the men with the muskets and swords had gotten in my way, I’d have pushed him down. I ride a wave of exhausted power up a set of steps, and find my way into the colonnade I went down before—whereupon I drop my numb arm because the crowd can’t see me anymore. The guards come with me, but stay in my wake, their boots echoing on the marble smartly. I am leading them, not the other way around.
Maybe all this changes the instant I am not holding the jewel.
I’m not going to worry about that right now, and I know the way. I make the turn at the corner at the lineup of feminine statuary … and now I am before the entrance into the audience hall itself, with the two pairs of red-uniformed guards.
It’s not a surprise that the vizare is standing there, waiting for me. And I can look at her full face now because as with everybody else, her eyes are on the ruby in my hand as if she cannot believe she’s seeing the stone.
Coming to a stop in front of the woman, my voice is rough, but strong. “I will be the one to take this in.”
She opens her mouth as if she’s going to dispute the carrying of such a sacred object by someone of no pedigree or standing in her community. Something in the way I stand before her changes her mind.
The advisor nods sharply at the red-uniformed guards, and they open both sides of the doors for me.
I enter the hall and hobble down the center aisle toward the throne and the mural. Up above, in the oculus, the shape is in place behind the mesh, the profile present.
As I pass by the marble soldiers on their marble steeds, I think of the ruins of the other city … and then the settlement that was burned out. People should never confuse the habit of days with permanence. Everything can die, anything can be lost … nothing is forever.
When I get to the throne, I look up to the oculus. “I have brought you back the sacred stone.”
I mount the dais by the shallow set of steps off to the side, and place the ruby on the seat. Then I take off my pack, remove the box from the folds, and go to flip the hooked latch. The thing resists, until I nearly split my nail once again, but I get the top up and balance the ancient wooden container on the throne’s arm as I take out the crown of black crystals.
Holding it up over my head, I put volume into my words. “This is yours. I was sent here to give it to you. Wear this and know that you can defeat the Dark King—”