The Magic of Unkindness by Kevan Dale

Author:Kevan Dale [Dale, Kevan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780983688730
Publisher: Kevan Dale Fiction

18

Lies of a Most Manipulative Nature

Well I’d of course done more unnecessary magic than my master could imagine, the knowledge of which haunted me without respite. I jumped at every shadow. Corpses, demons, the strange defect that hung in the sky over old Salem—those barely registered. Would I return to the site of my mistake to find a smoldering hole in the sky? Ghostly fires that couldn’t be smothered? Constables? Whitelocke regulars? Swaine himself, furious at discovering my lie?

Making matters worse, my master wanted me to ride to Andover in the morning, hoping for the arrival of another shipment from Mr. Winslow containing items pertinent to his efforts at identifying what had gone wrong with the resonance clock. I would have no choice but to go.

As dusk approached, a little voice inside treated me to an unhelpful commentary: This is the final dinner before you're apprehended, it said as I rushed through a bowl of soup and a crust of bread for dinner; This is the last time you'll sleep outside of a jail, it whispered as I lay in bed, quite unable to sleep.

It was a long night.

In the hour before the dawn, I crawled out of bed, dressed, and went to the stable. As I readied the horse and wagon, my fingers seemed dullards, slipping on the tack, refusing to buckle the bridle properly. My nerves did no better once I’d followed the lane through the forest. Three times in the growing twilight, I stopped the horse, ready to turn around and throw myself at Swaine's mercy. It was only when I decided that his anger and disappointment, in any imaginable proportion, would be worse than being placed under arrest that I resigned myself to my fate.

So on I rode, feeling weaker with each mile. My heart filled my mouth as I led the horse into Andover, each clap of his hooves, each creak of the wheels, each jingle of the harnesses seeming to break the early morning silence like the tolling of a bell. Each window stared out at me, the shadows implying furious townsfolk watching my guilty progress. The lanes were obviously empty because the Governor's Own had ordered it so in order to apprehend me. The ring of a hammer ceased because someone had spotted me: There she is, the one with the spells. It was almost as though I were observing myself from half a dozen paces away, the hapless heroine in a puppet show, riding into folly.

I pulled the wagon to a halt. No citizens stepped from the doorways, muskets raised. No scarlet-clad regulars thundered down the lane on their stallions, shouting for me to freeze. Only a goat bleated from the field behind the stable of Knox’s Inn & Tavern.

No point waiting: my mistake would either catch me, or it wouldn't. A fresh fall of snow made muffled crunches beneath my boots as I went to the door. I paused. This is your last moment before they catch you. I ignored the voice and pulled open the door.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.