Rules of Ascension by David B. Coe

Author:David B. Coe
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯), Speculative Fiction
ISBN: 9780812589849
Publisher: Tor
Published: 2002-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Kentigern, Eibithar

He awoke to the distant echo of thunder and the sweet, cool scent of rain. A soft grey light held the room and a bird called from just outside one of the windows, clear and urgent. For what seemed the first time in a turn, Tavis felt no pain. None at all.

For the past few days he had drifted in and out of sleep, usually waking to find Grinsa standing over him, healing his wounds, or soothing the fever that burned in his brow. Once he had opened his eyes to find the prioress sitting beside his bed, her stern expression unable to mask the concern in her dark eyes. This, though, was the first time Tavis could remember waking to an empty room since the dungeon. He should have been able to enjoy such solitude, but instead he felt a sense of dread rising in his chest, as if he expected Aindreas to enter the chamber in the next moment.

“Grinsa?” he called, throwing off his blanket. He stepped to the door, his legs stiff and weak. “Mother Prioress?”

He pulled the door open, expecting to find a corridor or a second room. Instead, he found himself looking out at an open courtyard of painted stone. A small fountain gurgled in its middle, surrounded by a modest bed of flowers. On the far side he saw other buildings like the one he was in, and beyond them, the back of the shrine. A gentle wind blew rain against his face and the thin white robe he was wearing.

“Grinsa?” he called again. “Is anyone here?”

No one answered, though the wind blew harder and another rumble of thunder rolled among the buildings of the sanctuary. Reluctantly, Tavis closed the door and returned to his bed. He was tired still, and could easily have slept more, but he felt restless.

Standing again, he started to search the room for his clothes, only to remember an instant later that they had been matted with filth and blood, and cut to little more than ribbons by Brienne’s father. No doubt they had been discarded or burned, and good riddance. But he saw no new ones to take their place. All that had been left for him was the simple white robe he was wearing, which was not at all appropriate for a duke’s son, much less one who was in line to be king. It was intolerable really. There didn’t appear to be any food either. Grinsa and the prioress had just left him alone in a room, unattended. What if Aindreas’s men had come for him?

There was a knock at the door and before he could respond, one of the clerics poked his head in.

“Did I hear you calling, my lord?” the man asked.

“You certainly did. Where is Grinsa? Where is the prioress?”

The man smiled and stepped fully into the chamber, uninvited. Tavis thought of saying something, but he wanted answers, and there seemed no sense in driving the man away.

“Your friend, Grinsa, has left the sanctuary.

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