Jaran 4 - The Law of Becoming by Kate Elliott

Author:Kate Elliott [Elliott, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
Published: 2011-07-22T20:13:32+00:00

She blinked. The movement was doubled: first a thin lid like hazy glass followed by a thicker, opaque lid. An instant later he realized that it wasn't a reflex. It was a command.

The hall of monumental time melted around him and reformed into the plaza that anchored the map room.

"My brother will attend you in the Garden of the Thousand Petals of Gold," her voice said, but she did not appear.

"When?" he asked into the air, amazed and startled.

"When you reach there, he will attend you, as is fitting."

"But how will I get there? I can't get through—"

"For a prince of the blood, the doors in a duke's palace are always open."

A wall of air hit him like a blow, and he reeled and found himself kneeling, hands clutching spasmodically at the latticework. Stunned, he lifted his head to a thousand echoing gasps, the ringing of his ears, and looked straight into Ilyana Arkhanov's face.

"Where were you?" she demanded, then looked up over his shoulder. "Valentin! Go get David, you idiot!"

Anatoly put his hands down on the cool tile of the gazebo floor. Its solidity reassured him.

"I don't know. Gods, and I've got a headache. Have you ever heard of the Garden of the Thousand Petals of Gold?"

"Anatoly!"

He turned. The movement sent spears of pain through his eyes.

"Anatoly!" Diana knelt beside him and put her arms around him. "Do you know how long you were in there?"

He knew better than to attempt to shake his head. "No."

"Hours. Just hours. It's evening. What happened? Where were you? Goddess, I was so worried."

That she was worried pleased him, and caused the headache to recede slightly. "I'm not sure," he said, and then smiled at her, and her beauty worked to soothe away more of the pain. "But I'm to meet with Duke Naroshi."

"But no one meets with Duke Naroshi," said David, above him. "No one but Charles."

"Nevertheless," said Anatoly, "I am to meet with him. I am a Sakhalin, after all."

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