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amassing witnesses who would recount ?strange rumours about Fiorinda going
back to when she was fourteen; denouncing the Few as traitors who had been
getting rich off the Reich (helped by Fiorinda s evil magic); setting himself up as
the defender of Ax s honour.
A few brave media folk were holding out, but this rewriting of history was
published and broadcast widely. Worst of all, no one had talked about it, for
obvious reasons, but most of her closest friends had suspected for a while that
Fiorinda was ?a witch . She must go on denying it, they must all deny it, there
was no question of coming clean now: but it wasn t a good start. Some of the Few
would be in real problems if they were questioned under oath.
They tried to give her a hopeful spin. You re the nation s sweetheart, he s just
pissing around, he won t dare to hurt you. Fuck, there s an army of staybehinds
and drop-outs who d die before they d let anything happen
Fiorinda paced her share of the room, arms folded over her breast, head bent.
She came up to the bars, and her eyes flashed in that strange Fiorinda way,
pupils flared wide and then down to pinpoints.
?George. Did Sage trust Alain?
?He s not dead, Fiorinda, said George. ?You got no reason to say he s dead
?Did Sage, who is dead or he would be here, trust Alain de Corlay? I think
Alain s okay, but I know I m losing track, so help me with this. He gave up. ?The boss trusts Alain.
They got their differences, but it s surface,
playfighting, er, more or less. Alain s solid.
?Good. I want you three to take Marlon and Mary to Brittany.
?Fio, I think we should stay in England, protested Bill.
?You think wrong. Think mediaeval, idiots. I have no child. Ax has no child. One
of the three has a son. Listen to what you ve been telling me. Suddenly Benny is
Ax s champion. Legitimate succession. Get it? Now convince Mary however you
like, but get Marlon out of the fucking way, before he s a deadlegitimate heir.
She wiped her eyes. ?Oh, and the Chosen can t stay in Scotland, I m afraid
Benny could reach them there. Get them to Brittany too, and Sunny (Sunny
Preston was Ax s mum). I wish I could send all the Prestons to the US, but that s
a r-remote possibility. Anddon t fucking arguewith me.
George accepted defeat, heartsick. ?Okay, Fio. Anything you say.
?Clearing the decks, said Peter, nodding gravely. ?In case things get dodgy.
?Yeah, Cack, said Fiorinda, with a very loving look, Peter s old nickname
bringing back the ghost of their happy days. ?Just in case.
She tried to think, she tried to plan, but it was like trying to jump back onto a
racing, spinning fairground ride. She d been able to think of getting the Heads
out of the way, and Mary and Marlon, the Chosen and Sunny, because those
tasks had been on her agenda. She could not form new ideas. She spent her hours
staring at the opposite bed in her cell; which didn t have an occupant. She could not believe that this
body was her own again. It didn t feel like her own. What
am I supposed to be doing now? Refuse to admit I m a witch. Ax s girlfriend
can t be a witch. That would be a real fuck-up.
What else?
Nah. Don t think there s anything else.
She recalled the long evenings at Rivermead, and Benny Preminder s secret
little smiles. How he d enjoyed seeing Fiorinda humiliated, how unfair that
grass-cuts like that can still hurt when you re in far, far worse trouble. Ax was
always nice to Benny, and we didn t understand but Ax knew it was the only
answer. If you have to deal with people who hate you, make nice unless you re
going to flat-out assassinate them. But I was rude to him whenever I got the
chance, and probably that s why he turned against us and let Rufus in. All my
life, every time I could do something wicked, or stupid, that s what I did.
Every time I had a choice, I chose wrong.
She wanted to think about Ax and Sage, but the memories wouldn t come:
that part of her was dead already. All she could do was wait for Rufus. Every
day, every hour, she waited for him, the way she had waited at Rivermead. The
cell door would open and Benny Preminder or a screw, or someone she loved;
whoever magician chose to ride would walk in. A smoke would fall from
Benny s mouth and Rufus O Niall s living ghost would be there.
He didn t come that way, he came to her mind instead. She could see him: the
big lordly man with the chestnut skin and shining black curls. She could hear his voice, rich and strong [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl wyciskamy.pev.pl
amassing witnesses who would recount ?strange rumours about Fiorinda going
back to when she was fourteen; denouncing the Few as traitors who had been
getting rich off the Reich (helped by Fiorinda s evil magic); setting himself up as
the defender of Ax s honour.
A few brave media folk were holding out, but this rewriting of history was
published and broadcast widely. Worst of all, no one had talked about it, for
obvious reasons, but most of her closest friends had suspected for a while that
Fiorinda was ?a witch . She must go on denying it, they must all deny it, there
was no question of coming clean now: but it wasn t a good start. Some of the Few
would be in real problems if they were questioned under oath.
They tried to give her a hopeful spin. You re the nation s sweetheart, he s just
pissing around, he won t dare to hurt you. Fuck, there s an army of staybehinds
and drop-outs who d die before they d let anything happen
Fiorinda paced her share of the room, arms folded over her breast, head bent.
She came up to the bars, and her eyes flashed in that strange Fiorinda way,
pupils flared wide and then down to pinpoints.
?George. Did Sage trust Alain?
?He s not dead, Fiorinda, said George. ?You got no reason to say he s dead
?Did Sage, who is dead or he would be here, trust Alain de Corlay? I think
Alain s okay, but I know I m losing track, so help me with this. He gave up. ?The boss trusts Alain.
They got their differences, but it s surface,
playfighting, er, more or less. Alain s solid.
?Good. I want you three to take Marlon and Mary to Brittany.
?Fio, I think we should stay in England, protested Bill.
?You think wrong. Think mediaeval, idiots. I have no child. Ax has no child. One
of the three has a son. Listen to what you ve been telling me. Suddenly Benny is
Ax s champion. Legitimate succession. Get it? Now convince Mary however you
like, but get Marlon out of the fucking way, before he s a deadlegitimate heir.
She wiped her eyes. ?Oh, and the Chosen can t stay in Scotland, I m afraid
Benny could reach them there. Get them to Brittany too, and Sunny (Sunny
Preston was Ax s mum). I wish I could send all the Prestons to the US, but that s
a r-remote possibility. Anddon t fucking arguewith me.
George accepted defeat, heartsick. ?Okay, Fio. Anything you say.
?Clearing the decks, said Peter, nodding gravely. ?In case things get dodgy.
?Yeah, Cack, said Fiorinda, with a very loving look, Peter s old nickname
bringing back the ghost of their happy days. ?Just in case.
She tried to think, she tried to plan, but it was like trying to jump back onto a
racing, spinning fairground ride. She d been able to think of getting the Heads
out of the way, and Mary and Marlon, the Chosen and Sunny, because those
tasks had been on her agenda. She could not form new ideas. She spent her hours
staring at the opposite bed in her cell; which didn t have an occupant. She could not believe that this
body was her own again. It didn t feel like her own. What
am I supposed to be doing now? Refuse to admit I m a witch. Ax s girlfriend
can t be a witch. That would be a real fuck-up.
What else?
Nah. Don t think there s anything else.
She recalled the long evenings at Rivermead, and Benny Preminder s secret
little smiles. How he d enjoyed seeing Fiorinda humiliated, how unfair that
grass-cuts like that can still hurt when you re in far, far worse trouble. Ax was
always nice to Benny, and we didn t understand but Ax knew it was the only
answer. If you have to deal with people who hate you, make nice unless you re
going to flat-out assassinate them. But I was rude to him whenever I got the
chance, and probably that s why he turned against us and let Rufus in. All my
life, every time I could do something wicked, or stupid, that s what I did.
Every time I had a choice, I chose wrong.
She wanted to think about Ax and Sage, but the memories wouldn t come:
that part of her was dead already. All she could do was wait for Rufus. Every
day, every hour, she waited for him, the way she had waited at Rivermead. The
cell door would open and Benny Preminder or a screw, or someone she loved;
whoever magician chose to ride would walk in. A smoke would fall from
Benny s mouth and Rufus O Niall s living ghost would be there.
He didn t come that way, he came to her mind instead. She could see him: the
big lordly man with the chestnut skin and shining black curls. She could hear his voice, rich and strong [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]