Flight Into Darkness (68 page)
Until then, he had decided to concentrate on composing and conducting.
Suddenly he felt nervous and unsure. Suppose he made a mistake and gave the wrong cue to the singers or players? Worse still, suppose the king hated his composition?
He turned nervously to the king, who smiled encouragingly and nodded.
Why am I in such a state? I've faced far worse than this…
The Maistre de Chapelle tapped his baton on the edge of his music stand and gazed warningly at the singers, gesturing to them to rise. The organist softly depressed a key to give the soloist her first pitch. The courtiers’ chatter faded away as she moved forward. It was a long time since she had performed in Lutèce, and there had been rumors circulating that her voice had lost its magical purity and that her singing career might be over.
A look passed between her and the Maistre de Chapelle—a long, meaningful look. And then she began to sing.
“Blessed Azilia…” One long, yearning phrase issued from her lips after another, “let your light shine out…”
The Maistre brought in the choir—first the trebles, then the altos, until all were quietly singing the ancient vesper chant he had first heard sung by the monks in the Cathedral of Saint Simeon in Mirom. And from that solemn hymn, slow-moving like a funeral procession, the soloist's voice gradually emerged, soaring upward, her bright, glorious tone rising to the heavens like an angel's flight.
The last, aethyrial notes lingered on in the reverberant at mo sphere. Jagu quietly laid down his baton. Celestine was looking at him, he knew, her eyes warm with encouragement. For a moment there was utter stillness.
And then the applause began.
“Bravo!”
Jagu had been so involved in the music that the applause took him by surprise. He turned, astonished, to see King Enguerrand beaming his approval. He turned back, automatically, to gesture to Celestine. She came forward and took his right hand. They looked at each other and smiled, happy to be repeating the old, familiar ritual. Jagu raised Celestine's hand to his lips and kissed it, to the audience's delight.
“I think they like your Vesper Prayer,” she whispered to him.
“I think they love your singing,” he replied. Then they turned once more to acknowledge the rapturous applause together, before returning to their places to continue with the concert.
Epilogue
“So what is this surprise?” Rieuk, blindfolded, let Oranir guide him downward through the darkness.
“It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you,” came back Oranir's voice teasingly. “Not much farther now.”
Rieuk stumbled but Oranir caught him, righting him again.
“Why am I fool enough to trust you, Ran?”
“It's worth it, believe me,” Oranir whispered, his lips softly grazing Rieuk's ear. “We're here.”
Rieuk raised his hand to pull off the blindfold. A soft green-hued radiance shimmered over the ragged trees of the Forest of the Emerald Moon. High above them, the emerald moon shone down once more, bathing them in its calm light. The healing of the Rift had begun.
“It's… beautiful,” he said, finding his voice.
A distant thread of melody echoed through the forest.
“But look. Look over there!” Oranir pointed.
As the moonlight grew more intense, Rieuk saw that a sapling had sprung up in the clearing since he had last visited the Rift. And as they set out toward it, he felt Ormas wake within him, fluttering up to perch on his shoulder. New leaves were unfurling on the slender branches of the young tree. They were shaped like lotus flowers, and they gave off a strange, yet irresistible perfume—with something of the spiciness of cloves mingling with a bittersweet honeyed scent.
“
I know what this is, Master.”
Ormas took to the air, circling above the young tree.
“It's a haoma tree.
”
“A young haoma tree.” Rieuk gazed gratefully at Oranir.
“They're coming,”
Ormas cried excitedly, taking off into the sky. “
My brothers are coming back!”
And as the two magi followed him, they saw other hawks winging in, dark as smoke against the delicate green of the moonlit sky. They circled high overhead at first, then suddenly swooped down to skim above their heads.
As Rieuk lifted his head to watch them, he saw one that darted closer than all the others, almost as if it recognized him. As it passed by him in graceful flight, he caught sight of its brilliant eyes gazing at him. Brown eyes, flecked with dark gold, like tortoiseshell.
Rieuk stood, his mouth a little open, an unspoken question hanging on his lips.
“Imri?” he whispered.
The tips of its wing feathers brushed the top of his head softly, almost like a caress. And then it was gone, darting away to join the others in their ecstatic, eternal winged dance.
Author's Note
The full story of the events that culminated in the battle at the Serpent Gate is explored in much greater detail in my trilogy The Tears of Artamon. The first book,
Lord of Snow and Shadows,
introduces Gavril Nagarian, unwilling heir to the throne of Azhkendir and its cursed heritage, who soon finds himself locked in battle with ruthless Prince Eugene and his dreams of empire. In the second,
Prisoner of the Iron Tower,
we first meet Celestine de Joyeuse and her accompanist, Jagu de Rustéphan, as Francia is drawn into the conflict. The third book,
Children of the Serpent Gate,
sees the disastrous repercussions as Eugene's ambitions threaten not just to bring down his empire but to bring the world itself to an end.
FLIGHT INTO DARKNESS
A Bantam Spectra Book / February 2009
All rights reserved
Copyright © 2009 by Sarah Ash
Map copyright © 2005 by Neil Gower
Bantam Books and the rooster colophon are registered trademarks and Spectra and
the portrayal of a boxed “s” are trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ash, Sarah.
Flight into darkness / Sarah Ash.
p. cm.—(The alchymist's legacy; bk. 2)
“A Bantam Spectra book.”
eISBN: 978-0-553-90598-4
I. Title.
PS3601.S523T23 2009
813′.6—dc22 2008047671
v3.0
Table of Contents
Prologue: Seven, They were Seven, The Dark Angels of Destruction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16