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hrjAfter weeks of being watched and shadowed, Antuniet expected the worst. But when it came, she hadn't expected just how bad it would be.
* * *
She should go to Monterrez and tell him…tell him what? She didn’t even know. Cowardice burned like acid in her belly and she shook in a sudden spasm. She should have been cold but she only felt numb. At some point in her flight the rain had soaked her coat clear through and the stones where she huddled were icy, but the narrow alley gave some protection from the wind. Was the sky growing darker? How slowly time passed!
Where should she go? Where would be safe? To Jeanne? Jeanne had said, Anything you ask. Antuniet could almost hear her light laughter and feel the way her presence banished all that was dark and uncertain. But Jeanne had also said that her name couldn’t bear the weight of being tied to an alchemist. And how much more of a danger would it be with this new trouble? No, she couldn’t bring all this down on the head of the one person in Rotenek who had been kind to her, the closest she’d ever had to a true friend. Was it time at last to go crawling to Barbara and beg her protection on the slender thread of kinship? Her body spasmed again, as if to reject the very thought. And yet…
* * *
She should go to Monterrez and tell him…tell him what? She didn’t even know. Cowardice burned like acid in her belly and she shook in a sudden spasm. She should have been cold but she only felt numb. At some point in her flight the rain had soaked her coat clear through and the stones where she huddled were icy, but the narrow alley gave some protection from the wind. Was the sky growing darker? How slowly time passed!
Where should she go? Where would be safe? To Jeanne? Jeanne had said, Anything you ask. Antuniet could almost hear her light laughter and feel the way her presence banished all that was dark and uncertain. But Jeanne had also said that her name couldn’t bear the weight of being tied to an alchemist. And how much more of a danger would it be with this new trouble? No, she couldn’t bring all this down on the head of the one person in Rotenek who had been kind to her, the closest she’d ever had to a true friend. Was it time at last to go crawling to Barbara and beg her protection on the slender thread of kinship? Her body spasmed again, as if to reject the very thought. And yet…
