Gravity's Revenge by A.E. Marling

Author:A.E. Marling [Marling, A.E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-12-28T08:00:00+00:00

23

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The woman’s scream came after Hiresha had already ascended to the Owl’s Hall. Hiresha cringed as she peered down the arch to the lower level, expecting to see that one of the enchantresses had let go of the ropes and fallen. There had not been enough amulets for all.

Below, an enchantress in a jade and chartreuse dress was standing stock still, held in the grip of Inannis. The thief had a needle of a dagger against her throat. Nearby, the golden-eyed novice ran away down the hall.

Inannis’s voice made a wet cracking noise as he shouted. “Encha—Enchantress Hiresha, I’ll forgive you for not introducing me to your friend here….”

The enchantress in his grasp shuddered and made a kittenish sound. Hiresha recognized her as Enchantress Laygan, a woman with particular ideas about how the empire should be run. She seemed to delight in taking the side of the ferocious Dominion of the Sun in debates, and Hiresha had even considered her a possible accomplice to the Bright Palms, though at that moment the bulging eyes of her fright looked genuine. In short, Hiresha would not have called her a friend.

“…But I must insist you stop your procession. Everyone must return to the comforts of the ground floor.”

Enchantress Laygan’s snootiness had often annoyed Hiresha, but she discovered she had no wish to see the woman poisoned by the thief’s dagger and die with foam-speckled mouth and back snapped by her own contorting muscles. That seems rather much even for someone with a contrarian attitude and a poor taste in clothing.

The Rector of Rarified Armament clutched her own daggers and turned away. “I can’t witness this. There’s nothing more hideous than using a perfectly good weapon.”

“Please,” Dean Wysteras said, fluttering her hands in Inannis’s direction, “there’s no need for violence.”

“There is every need.” Hiresha held a jewel directly above the thief and his captive. “This beryl will crush their bones together into powder.”

The red stone dropped. The thief let go of his hostage and sprang away, retreating down the hall. The beryl clicked against the stone at Enchantress Laygan’s feet but did nothing.

The dean swatted Hiresha’s shoulder. “Your enchantment almost killed Laygan.”

“It was only a Lightening, after all.” Hiresha felt doubly smug for outsmarting the thief again.

“So you condone lying to get your way.” The dean lifted an armful of her skirts and slung them around to leave Hiresha.

“Perhaps you should ask Enchantress Laygan if she thought it right,” Hiresha said.

The dean did not ask, even after Laygan climbed the rope. The novice who had run never reappeared, but they had to go on without her.

“My enchantments must have worn off by now. The Bright Palms could be pursuing us up the tower.” Hiresha forced her drooping eyes to glance behind them and below. Her fatigue had increased with each floor they climbed, along with her worry. The pit of her stomach seemed to smolder with a grease fire.

Hiresha regretted being right when she saw five figures, their limbs glowing through their clothes, vaulting over a railing to run below the enchantresses.

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