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in such pain and be denied the release of crying out? Nonetheless, she forced herself to be thorough. By the time she
had finished, and was bandaging the lacerated wrists as best she could beneath the manacles, both she and Bohan
were shaking.
Nereni looked coldly at Jharav, who had been standing on guard by the door all this time, watching without saying a
word. "You are cruel, to fetter him See this," she snapped. "How will he ever heal, with these iron bands that chafe and
infect his hurts?"
Harihn's captain could not meet her eyes. "Lady, take your anger to the Prince, for this was not my doing," he said
abruptly. He bit his lip, and glanced uneasily at Eliizar. "For my part, I agree with you," he murmured, "But if I value my
life, there is nothing I can do, and you must not expect it of me."
"Come, Nereni, he is right," Eliizar put in harshly. "You cannot blame the man for following orders or if you do, you
must also take the blame with me, for all the atrocities that were committed in the Arena, to those poor wretches under
our care."
Nereni shuddered, and turned away.
While Nereni was visiting Eliizar and Bohan down in the cramped little dungeon that was carved into the foundations
of the tower, Aurian was making the most of her absence to take some welcome air on the roof. Usually, the little
woman's protests about the state of the ladder was enough to deter the Mage from climbing up here, but she had
reached the point, she felt, where one more day spent looking at the walls of that dingy, cramped little chamber would
send her right over the into raving insanity,
Aurian sat, wrapped in cloak and blanket, beside the parapet of the tower, letting the crumbling wall shield her from the
worst of the wind. Every once in a while, when she was tired of her thoughts, she would peer through a dip in the
crenellations at the uninspiring vista below. Though no sunset had been visible through the heavy clouds, the light
was fading rapidly, flattening the sweeping slopes and shadowed crags until it looked as though a gigantic sheet of
dirty gray linen had been draped over the world.
It had been many days since the Mage's capture fifteen, sixteen, more, she thought, she could no longer be sure.
Aurian had never felt so desperate and helpless  not even when she had been recovering from the wounds she had
received in the Arena, and had been unable to go in search of Anvar. Even then, though she had been constrained by
her wounds, at least Harihn had been searching!
The thought of the Prince fueled Aurian's anger. That treacherous bastard! she thought. That monumental fool! I
should have stuck a knife in him back then, when I had the opportunity, and taken my chances! The Mage fought
against an overwhelming wave of despair. Why did he do it? she thought. Why did he betray us? I saved his life when
his father would have killed him! What did I do to make him turn against me like this?
Yet deep in Aurian's heart, buried amid her raging resentment, there lurked a shred of pity for Harihn. He had made his
choice, had succumbed to Miathan's blandishments and now, in a way, he was as much a prisoner as she. Had it not
been for her own desperate situation, and that of Anvar and her child, Aurian might almost have pitied him. As it was,
however, she wanted to tear out his beating heart with her bare hands, and stuff it down his throat.
The Mage wished that she knew what had happened to those of her companions who were missing; to Shia on her
long and lonely journey oh Gods, how Aurian's heart had turned over when she had seen those accursed pelts! The
thought that one of them might have belonged to her friend . . , But that was nonsense, she told herself firmly. If Shia
had been slain, Harihn would never have been able to resist bragging about it! She thought of Yazour. Was he even
still alive? And Anvar, imprisoned in the Citadel of Aerillia . . . The Mage crammed her knuckles into her mouth, and bit
hard to keep back tears. Oh Anvar, she thought. How I miss you! And to make matters worse, though she had
cudgeled her brains through every sleepless night since she'd been taken prisoner, she had been unable to come up
with a suitable plan to save Anvar, her child, or herself.
The Mage froze, as the thoughts of her child intruded into her mind. Even after all this time, it still startled her, and she
was both alarmed and dismayed to find that her despairing thoughts were causing him distress.
Aurian sighed. "Dearest, I'm all right& " She sent out thoughts of love and reassurance, but at the same time, her mind [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]