Eve of Snows by L. James Rice

Author:L. James Rice [Rice, L. James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-06-24T22:00:00+00:00

28

Fortress Over Maze

Rain falls from the clouds of her stormy wings,

Riding bands of lightning through turbulent winds,

Soaking boiling stone.

Hiss and Pop, a calamitous roar of combative Elements

Preparing the skein of a thousand Worlds

To receive the Eggs of her children to be.

She never asks why the universe created a nest so perfect.

—Tomes of the Touched

Six Days to the Eve of Snows

Turned out Lelishen told the truth: She could be quiet. Whether she sat staring into the distance marveling over the scenery, or pondering whatever her pilgrim’s mind bothered to think on, she remained a pleasant traveling companion. But gods forbid you ask what she was looking at or thinking, because once her lips flapped open it damned near took the next meal to shut them. If it weren’t for the fact his body distracted him with aches and pains in places he never knew could hurt, he might’ve let himself fall off the wagon to follow from a quieter distance.

Still, she was an attractive gal. Solineus assumed it was her looks which kept her alive when folks wanted her to shut up.

The day had been peaceful, nary a word over breakfast and only a few stray thoughts flung from her lips until Ilpen broke the pleasant knocking and creaking rhythms of the wagon.

“Only a couple candles out from Istinjoln, now.”

“Do you fine gentlemen know much about the monastery?”

Was she looking to impart a candle’s worth of knowledge or did she fish for information? The answer that kept her quiet was what he shot for. “Nothing much.”

“My mama’s cousin’s great-aunt Firde studied in Istinjoln years ago, pride of the family. Well, until Daddy made his fortune on the silver mine, anyhow. Still, pride of that side of the family.”

Solineus groaned; another wrong choice in a fifty-fifty game. Of course, the game could be fixed and unwinnable.

“A fortress like none other, she always said… Etinbin, guard her soul from the Vainglorious Hell, which she probably deserves mind you, yet, all people deserve peace eventually, don’t they? Anyhow, she was always saying how the fortress sat above ground, but the tunnels are the true redoubt of the holy.”

Maybe this woman’s mouth wasn’t worthless. Solineus rolled over, propped on his elbows. “Tunnels?”

“Oh, yes! A maze like you ain’t never seen, so she always said. Filled with shrines to all the gods. Priests walk miles on their devotionals, but I’ll be lucky to see one or two, I suspect. And of course the great halls.”

A maze, perfect. “So the Eve of Snows, what should we expect?”

Ilpen chimed in. “Food, booze, and hangovers a-plenty. Older I get, more I try to stick with the food. Not you can’t tell.” He patted his belly.

“Prayer services?”

“Oh, I hear those are just lovely,” Lelishen said. “Inspirational.”

Ilpen glanced to Solineus. “You don’t seem the praying kind.”

Solineus grinned. Pray for a shot at a lord priest’s life. “A man can have a bout of religion if he likes.”

“Praise Sol, yes, of course he can! Any man, even the most heathen.”

Ilpen grunted at both of them.

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