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Chapter 320: The day of vengeance:
They stood together beneath the old oak, the three of them, while the wind rustled the dry leaves and the long shadows crept across the grave. Then Maximus straightened and drew a deep breath.“I need to speak to Williams.”He found the old master in the garden, standing alone beside the broken wall with his hands behind his back, looking out over the river. Williams did not turn when he approached, but he said, quietly, “I wondered when you would come.”“You knew.”“I knew when I saw your face at the funeral. You have your brother’s look when you have decided something.”“What look?”“Like a man who has stopped asking permission.”Maximus almost smiled. He came to stand beside the old master, and for a moment, they both gazed across the steaming water, where the morning sun made rainbows in the mist.“I want to stay,” he said. “I want to join the fight. I want to be taught.”“I know.”“You are not going to say no?”“I would be a hypocrite.” Williams’s voice was dry. “I took a boy of
Chapter 319: Maximus and the Grave of Kester:
A faint, broken whisper ran through the mourners. Sabrina had begun to cry silently.“You told me a guard keeps his post,” Maximus said. “I thought it meant standing still. I understand now. It means standing in the place where you are needed, whatever it costs.” He drew a shuddering breath. “I will keep mine. I do not yet know where it is. But I will find it.”He knelt, laid his hand on the lid, and bowed his head.“Thank you for the gloves.”It was a very small sentence. It broke every heart in the circle.They lowered the coffin into the earth. The ropes creaked. A handful of frozen soil, scattered by Williams, rattled on the lid. Then Maximus took the shovel, and began, with slow, careful strokes, to fill the grave. The others joined in. By the time the mound was full, the sun had cleared the eastern clouds, and a long bar of gold lay across the grass.Williams stepped forward with the silver gauntlet in his hands. He held it out to Maximus.“It was his,” he said. “Ysolde’s gift.
Chapter 316: The brother's name:
“He said it was a good day for it.”A shaky, helpless laugh broke from Maximus, and then the laugh turned to weeping, and he folded forward over the table, his shoulders heaving. Sabrina put an arm around him. Elliot, on the other side, reached over and gripped his hand. Around the table, nobody moved. Cael Dross turned his face away. Breck wiped his eyes with the heel of his hand.When the storm had passed, Maximus lifted his head, dazed, and looked around the table at the faces watching him.“Thank you,” he said. “For telling me. For keeping him safe.”“It was the least we could do,” said Corwin.“It was a great deal.”“We will bury him tomorrow,” Williams said. “At dawn. Under the old oak, if you are willing. He liked it there.”“I know. He told me about it.” A faint breath of a smile. “In his letters. He said the wine tasted better under that tree.”“It does,” said Adrian gruffly.“Then that is where he should be.”They buried him at first light.The morning was cold and clear, wi
Chapter 315: The Burning rings:
“Everything.”“Even the golden light?”“All of it.”Maximus drew a long breath. His eyes were bright with tears, and his lips trembled. “I wanted to hate you,” he said, hoarsely. “All the way here. I rehearsed it. What I would say. How I would look at you.”“You may.”“I cannot.”“Why not?”“Because you look the way I feel.” His voice broke. “You look like someone who would trade places with him if you could.”Thorne’s eyes filled. He did not answer. But his throat worked, and a single tear slid down his cheek and fell into the dirt.“Maximus,” Williams said gently. “Come. He is waiting.”They went down into the vault together, the old master and the boy, and the others stayed above. It was a long time before anyone saw them again.When they emerged, the sun was high. Maximus walked out of the stairwell like a sleepwalker, with Williams’s hand under his elbow. His face was blotched and swollen. His hair was wet. His eyes, when they met Thorne’s, were red and raw and strangely calm.“H
Chapter 314: Thorne, the flaming leader:
“It is.” Torvin dismounted. “It belonged to Sorceress Melissa. We took it this morning, after the battle. It carries no malice now. It only floats.”Elliot and Sabrina exchanged glances. “We are going to cross a boiling river in a dead sorceress’s boat,” Elliot said, faintly.“She is not dead.”“That does not make it better.”“It does not.” Torvin held out a hand. “Come. We are expected.”They climbed in. The hull dipped slightly beneath their weight, then steadied, and Torvin pushed off with a long pole. The little vessel glided out into the current. Steam curled around it in thick white wreaths. The water hissed on all sides, black and bubbling, and Maximus gripped the rail and stared at the churning surface, his heart pounding.For a long minute, nothing happened. Then, as they drew near the middle of the river, the steam thinned. The bubbles stilled. The current slackened, and the black water grew smooth and clear, as if the whole river had drawn a breath and held it. A faint, war
Chapter 313: The walking Corpses:
“How close?”“A day. Perhaps less.”“I want to ride through the night.”“You are exhausted.”“I do not care.”“You will fall from the saddle.” Torvin’s voice was gentle. “Rest. Tomorrow, you will see the river. It is better to arrive with a clear head.”“I cannot sleep.”“Then lie still. It is nearly the same.”Maximus did not answer. But he did not argue, either, and when they camped that night in a hollow beneath a spur of black rock, he lay on his blanket staring up at the stars, and for a long time nobody spoke. Sabrina sat nearby, keeping watch. Elliot snored softly.“You are awake,” Sabrina said.“Yes.”“Are you afraid?”“Of what?”“Of seeing him.”Maximus closed his eyes. “I do not know what I am afraid of,” he said. “I think I am afraid that he will look the same.”“That would be a mercy.”“It would be a lie. He should not look the same.” His voice shook. “He should look like a man who has been taken from the world. Instead he will look like himself, and I will keep waiting fo
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