[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Moonsteel swords gleamed at their belts. I stood there, caught between the acorn door
and the cage. My lute was still in my hand; I swung it over my back by its strap.
One of the guards stepped forward, his hand going to the hilt of his sword.
Who
Then the wolves were at the door.
They poured through like the shadows they were, suddenly all around me, all
around us. They sniffed at the bars of the cage. Their eyes reflected the endless storm
above us. I tensed, waiting for the leap.
Leith? Ash looked up. A welter of blood shone on his face. His eyes glittered
with lightning or with tears.
The wolves howled. The captured storm cracked and twisted above us in the
dome. One of the guards stepped closer, his sword high and gleaming above my head.
One of the wolves leaped. It landed with two paws on the guard s shoulders. The
sword fell from his hand and spun to the ground. The other took a step two wolves
were at his heels, baring their teeth. He slowly reached toward his sword, and they
snapped; he raised his hands, bare and empty, and took a step back, fear in his eyes.
The rest of the wolves circled the cage. Ash watched them. Tears trickled down his
cheeks, cutting clean trails through the blood.
Leith& he said again.
Beleth is dead, I said.
What have you done? Lord and Lady, what have you done?
148 John Tristan
I shook my head. Not me.
He laughed. It was the sound of a man caught between warring desperations.
And now they ll hang us both.
No. I knelt before the cage. No, they won t.
I pressed my hand to the lock. One of the wolves, watching me, took a leap and
it leaped into me. There was a moment where the wolf and I passed through each other,
a shadow and a man, one and the same, and then all of its lightning-edged dark passed
from within me through my hand, and the lock shattered.
The cage door swung open. I got to my feet. Ash staggered out, pulling himself to
his full height with a groan. The guard cried out; the wolves growled.
I took Ash s hand and pulled him toward the door. Come on.
He looked back. I can t.
Ash. I stood on the tips of my toes and pressed a quick kiss to his mouth.
Nothing binds you here anymore.
He looked back. His face was a revelation.
Don t follow us, I said to the guard. The wolves stepped away from him, loping
backward, their teeth still bared. Please.
He only watched us with wide and terrified eyes. The lightning still crawled
across the dome above. I saw the hanging tree, a dreadful shadow. Then I turned away,
Ash s hand still in mine, and we ran.
The wolves were at our heels, swift shadows, and it seemed they lent us
something of their speed, their obscurity. We made our way through the Citadel, down
and down until we came into the night, and we ran with the tireless grace of wolves
and shadows.
Only when the great trees of the Citadel were hidden from sight by the enclosure
of the forest did we start to falter. First one, then another the shadow wolves first
slowed and then faded away. One by one they left us, and as we breathed, some of their
Forest of Glass 149
shed shadow flowed inside us. It burned in my veins, cold as winter and bright as
lightning.
The wolves loved him, I thought. She should not have killed them. The wolves
loved him, and I did as well.
At last they had all gone, and our run slowed to a crawl. Ash breathed heavily,
sweat standing out on his brow. With a strange, disconnected curiosity, I noticed I was
struggling to breathe as well.
They will they will be coming soon, he said, but I can run no more.
I nodded. I pulled him close to me. His skin was hot to the touch; he smelled of
wolves and the forest. We should find a place to hide.
He shook his head. There is nowhere we can hide.
We have to try.
He looked at me, a long look, and reached a hand to stroke my hair. I almost cried
out as he touched me; I grabbed his hand and kissed it. Yes, he said at last, his voice
almost dreamy. Yes, we have to try.
We rooted through the trees, searching every space between the roots, every
shadowed copse. In the distance I heard the call of the hunting horn when they caught
us now, it would not be for kisses.
Here. Ash pulled at my arm; he had found a place: a sort of cave, draped in
vines and lined with leaves, hidden between two massive roots. If we pushed the vines
aside, just so, and made our way under the roots, it might hide us from view, at least for
a while.
Come, then, I said and pulled him inside.
150 John Tristan
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The Last Song
Outside our leafy den I heard the wind, and in the distance the shouts and pound-
pound of hoofbeats. A horn call went up, far and clarion. Our pursuers were in the
forest, no doubt, but not close. I let out a soft breath, a kind of relief.
Ash turned his head from side to side, as if trying to get a fix on the direction of
each sound. They ll find us eventually.
I put a finger to his lips. Eventually. But not now.
He held my gaze. His eyes were the brightest thing in the gloom, gleaming like
wolf s eyes. We shouldn t have run.
It was the only thing we could have
I am glad, he whispered and kissed me. I am glad we did.
I blinked at him, silenced and stupid. He pulled me closer to him. There was just
enough room in our little den for me to straddle him. I felt his heart beating beneath me.
It seemed almost to echo.
Leith? he whispered, making a question of my name.
I silenced him with another kiss. We had to wring the little time we had dry, and I
was through with talking.
With swift fingers I undressed him, unlacing every thong that kept his skin from
my greedy touch. It was all that I could do. The horns called out in the distance, but I
could no more stop myself from wanting him than I could stop myself from wanting
breath. From wanting life. He was life, there in that dark place, and I would not let
myself die without tasting his skin once more.
Forest of Glass 151
I kissed his broad belly, his chest, his neck. When I touched my lips to his scar, he
did not push me away. I mouthed it softly, and a kind of sigh left my lips, a quiet breath
of surprise. The scar was still there, of course fire put to skin is not so easily erased
but somehow the collar that Beleth had laid on him was gone. This belonged to him,
every beautiful imperfect inch of it.
I let my hands slide down his chest. His nipples stiffened under my exploring [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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Moonsteel swords gleamed at their belts. I stood there, caught between the acorn door
and the cage. My lute was still in my hand; I swung it over my back by its strap.
One of the guards stepped forward, his hand going to the hilt of his sword.
Who
Then the wolves were at the door.
They poured through like the shadows they were, suddenly all around me, all
around us. They sniffed at the bars of the cage. Their eyes reflected the endless storm
above us. I tensed, waiting for the leap.
Leith? Ash looked up. A welter of blood shone on his face. His eyes glittered
with lightning or with tears.
The wolves howled. The captured storm cracked and twisted above us in the
dome. One of the guards stepped closer, his sword high and gleaming above my head.
One of the wolves leaped. It landed with two paws on the guard s shoulders. The
sword fell from his hand and spun to the ground. The other took a step two wolves
were at his heels, baring their teeth. He slowly reached toward his sword, and they
snapped; he raised his hands, bare and empty, and took a step back, fear in his eyes.
The rest of the wolves circled the cage. Ash watched them. Tears trickled down his
cheeks, cutting clean trails through the blood.
Leith& he said again.
Beleth is dead, I said.
What have you done? Lord and Lady, what have you done?
148 John Tristan
I shook my head. Not me.
He laughed. It was the sound of a man caught between warring desperations.
And now they ll hang us both.
No. I knelt before the cage. No, they won t.
I pressed my hand to the lock. One of the wolves, watching me, took a leap and
it leaped into me. There was a moment where the wolf and I passed through each other,
a shadow and a man, one and the same, and then all of its lightning-edged dark passed
from within me through my hand, and the lock shattered.
The cage door swung open. I got to my feet. Ash staggered out, pulling himself to
his full height with a groan. The guard cried out; the wolves growled.
I took Ash s hand and pulled him toward the door. Come on.
He looked back. I can t.
Ash. I stood on the tips of my toes and pressed a quick kiss to his mouth.
Nothing binds you here anymore.
He looked back. His face was a revelation.
Don t follow us, I said to the guard. The wolves stepped away from him, loping
backward, their teeth still bared. Please.
He only watched us with wide and terrified eyes. The lightning still crawled
across the dome above. I saw the hanging tree, a dreadful shadow. Then I turned away,
Ash s hand still in mine, and we ran.
The wolves were at our heels, swift shadows, and it seemed they lent us
something of their speed, their obscurity. We made our way through the Citadel, down
and down until we came into the night, and we ran with the tireless grace of wolves
and shadows.
Only when the great trees of the Citadel were hidden from sight by the enclosure
of the forest did we start to falter. First one, then another the shadow wolves first
slowed and then faded away. One by one they left us, and as we breathed, some of their
Forest of Glass 149
shed shadow flowed inside us. It burned in my veins, cold as winter and bright as
lightning.
The wolves loved him, I thought. She should not have killed them. The wolves
loved him, and I did as well.
At last they had all gone, and our run slowed to a crawl. Ash breathed heavily,
sweat standing out on his brow. With a strange, disconnected curiosity, I noticed I was
struggling to breathe as well.
They will they will be coming soon, he said, but I can run no more.
I nodded. I pulled him close to me. His skin was hot to the touch; he smelled of
wolves and the forest. We should find a place to hide.
He shook his head. There is nowhere we can hide.
We have to try.
He looked at me, a long look, and reached a hand to stroke my hair. I almost cried
out as he touched me; I grabbed his hand and kissed it. Yes, he said at last, his voice
almost dreamy. Yes, we have to try.
We rooted through the trees, searching every space between the roots, every
shadowed copse. In the distance I heard the call of the hunting horn when they caught
us now, it would not be for kisses.
Here. Ash pulled at my arm; he had found a place: a sort of cave, draped in
vines and lined with leaves, hidden between two massive roots. If we pushed the vines
aside, just so, and made our way under the roots, it might hide us from view, at least for
a while.
Come, then, I said and pulled him inside.
150 John Tristan
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The Last Song
Outside our leafy den I heard the wind, and in the distance the shouts and pound-
pound of hoofbeats. A horn call went up, far and clarion. Our pursuers were in the
forest, no doubt, but not close. I let out a soft breath, a kind of relief.
Ash turned his head from side to side, as if trying to get a fix on the direction of
each sound. They ll find us eventually.
I put a finger to his lips. Eventually. But not now.
He held my gaze. His eyes were the brightest thing in the gloom, gleaming like
wolf s eyes. We shouldn t have run.
It was the only thing we could have
I am glad, he whispered and kissed me. I am glad we did.
I blinked at him, silenced and stupid. He pulled me closer to him. There was just
enough room in our little den for me to straddle him. I felt his heart beating beneath me.
It seemed almost to echo.
Leith? he whispered, making a question of my name.
I silenced him with another kiss. We had to wring the little time we had dry, and I
was through with talking.
With swift fingers I undressed him, unlacing every thong that kept his skin from
my greedy touch. It was all that I could do. The horns called out in the distance, but I
could no more stop myself from wanting him than I could stop myself from wanting
breath. From wanting life. He was life, there in that dark place, and I would not let
myself die without tasting his skin once more.
Forest of Glass 151
I kissed his broad belly, his chest, his neck. When I touched my lips to his scar, he
did not push me away. I mouthed it softly, and a kind of sigh left my lips, a quiet breath
of surprise. The scar was still there, of course fire put to skin is not so easily erased
but somehow the collar that Beleth had laid on him was gone. This belonged to him,
every beautiful imperfect inch of it.
I let my hands slide down his chest. His nipples stiffened under my exploring [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]