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thoughts clear.  Fine. You re sorry. The end.
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 Oh, nay. His hand slid down her arm until he wrapped it around her hand, his
big palm swallowing her hand easily. Walking past her, he started for the platform
lift at the end of the corridor.  We need to talk.
She tried to yank her hand free, only to find herself tugged along behind him. It
was either keep up or fall to her knees and get dragged along. She had no doubt
that would result in him picking her up. She could scream but the bloody men in
the dining cabin wouldn t come to her rescue, that was an instinctive knowledge.
Somehow, she just knew this was between her and Heddam.
Oh joy. Oh boy. Oh no.
~ * ~
It reached out, sliding through the night, barely discernable. It touched, probed.
It slipped through the palace, hovered over the High Emperor where he slept in his
bed, flowed past the guards and twined around the glass cabinet containing
eighteen topaz kyrats that flared briefly before returning their previous the dull
glow. The multi-coloured kyrat stayed dull.
Slipping from the palace, it flowed around the people in their homes. It curved
through the street and it saw all, the plotters, the planners, the double-crosses, and
those who followed the New Way and the Old Way and the Third Way.
It hovered over the gates, sweeping across the skulls that were a dull white blur
atop spikes.
It would have wept if it could feel anything.
It twined through the trees, rolling through the flowers and skimming the
ground. It spiralled high into the sky and followed its pathway back to its refuge.
~ * ~
The Aora Military Sergeant read the information that came scrolling across the
screen.
 What is it, AMS? Aora Military Corporal Mendon queried.
 Sightings, AMC. She leaned back in the chair.  But which Way are they?
 We can capture them and find out.
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 Prisoners.
 How else are we to know?
 We have to be careful, AMC. She tapped the console.  One wrong move and
we ll be on the High Emperor s bad side. That s not a side I want to be on.
~*~
She stood in the entrance and breathed deeply. There was a disturbance in the
air.
 Not yet, she whispered.  It s not time.
The disturbance was there for a long time, and she knew what it searched for,
and she watched until dawn chased the stars away and light replaced the darkness.
And emptiness replaced the promise.
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Six
Heddam was thankful that they were in space because he had no doubt if the
ship had still been on a planet, Tasi would have been out of the door and down the
ramp. This way he didn t have to try and make her stay, because that would have
just made things worse.
As if he hadn t made things worse anyway. To be truthful, he d been a little
shocked at his own terse behaviour. He glanced sideways at Tasi standing by his
side, her mouth set grimly and a frown marring her smooth brow. One booted foot
was tapping irritably on the floor of the platform lift. No doubt her arms would
have been folded, too, but he kept a tight grip on her hand and after the first few
angry tugs she d given up. Wise wench. Now if he could only make her see sense.
If only he could see sense. Heddam sighed silently. He d botched it all up and now
he had to fix it. Before she walked out on him. Because, truthfully, he couldn t
force her to stay. Damn it. If she d been an outlaw, it would have all so simple.
Claim her and keep her and nothing she could do about it.
The platform lift rattled to a halt at the top floor and he drew Tasi after him as he
strode down the corridor and turned into the solitude cabin. Immediately the
soothing dimness enveloped them. Most of the wall ahead of them was a space
shield. Stars shimmered in the blackness beyond, the different colours of nearby
planets passing like colourful balls thrown by children.
In the centre of the room was a big chair which could be swivelled to face either
the cool dimness of the cabin or the beauty of space beyond. It was the place the
traders came to for peace and quiet, for solitude. Music played softly in the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]