From Darkness Won - Jill Williamson [94]
Achan started to run, then remembered he wasn’t in his body, so he materialized at her side instead.
She screamed. “Do not do that.”
Over a head shorter than him, dressed in a scraggly brown peasant dress, one frizzy braid still intact, the other side, tangled and loose… she looked lovelier than ever.
But the expression on her face was more suited to Jaira Hamartano. Hard eyes, as if everything behind them mistrusted him. Lips drawn into a thin line. Cheeks flushed with accusation.
Achan gripped Sparrow’s arms, and though touching her did not feel the same as flesh on flesh, energy raced through him. “Step back from the gate, Sparrow. It’s dangerous.”
Her eyes widened at his touch, but, amazingly, she did not pull away. “How do you…? I have touched nothing for days. Yet this gate is solid. I am tired, Master Cham. This is not natural, is it, to be out of my body? Am I dead?”
“No. If it were your time, the gates would open.”
Her eyes flickered to meet his, so much greener in this place. “Really?”
He didn’t know. But it had sounded wise, so he nodded.
She scowled and tugged on Lady Averella’s sleeve that was still tied to his arm. “Where did you get this token?”
Heat filled his face. “Sparrow, I can explain.”
“Who gave it to you?”
He sighed. “Duchess Amal presented it to me in a missive offering her eldest daughter, Lady Averella, to be my bride. Sir Caleb and the others thought it was the best match.”
Sparrow shook her head. “That is impossible.”
“I’ll give it back. Sparrow, it’s you I want.”
She coughed out a dry laugh. “Nothing makes sense here. It must be a dream.” She turned back to the gate, gripped the bars, and shook them. “Arman! Open the gate. I beg You. I want to come home. Or wake up.” Sparrow stepped up onto the lowest hinge and heaved her body up. Grinning, she raised her foot to the next hinge.
Achan gazed up at her profile, at her lips set in a determined twist. “This is not your home, Sparrow. Not yet, anyway.”
“How do you know?”
“I feel it. We have much to do, you and I. We must help Arman push back Darkness. We must bring His light to all people, or at least to those who will believe.”
Sparrow’s brow furrowed. “You believe?”
“I do. I pledged my heart to Arman and accepted His Son’s sacrifice.” He sifted through his memories, seeking something she might find familiar. “Remember how we used to wrestle? When I thought you were a boy?”
Sparrow’s head turned, her eyes so wide that every bit of white showed. “I never!”
He breathed a silent laugh at her expression. How proper she was without her memory. “Remember the first time you knocked me down with a leg sweep? I loved you in that moment, though I didn’t understand it until later.”
Now her eyebrows sank. “You love me yet you wear that without my knowledge or consent?” She gestured toward the sleeve, then lost her balance and gripped the bars again, pulling her body tight against the gate.
“You left. You would not even speak to me. I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Best wishes to you, Master Cham. Now if you will excuse me.” She heaved herself up another step. Then another. She was halfway up the gate. If she fell, would she float? Come to think of it, why didn’t she simply float up over the gate? Had she tried? Achan kept that thought to himself in fear she might attempt it and be lost forever.
But what else could he do? Something familiar, Sir Eagan had suggested. A smell or sound. An idea seized him that warmed his cheeks. He never considered himself a strong singer, but he could think of nothing else. At least no one but Sparrow was here to witness it. He cleared his throat and squinted up at her.
View not my face, I’m undone beside you.
The beating of my heart won’t cease.
While I’m near you, while I’m near you.
She stopped climbing and looked down. “What is that? What you are singing?”
He sounded like a fool, but if it would bring Sparrow back… He took a deep breath.
Pity on my heart from the day I first saw you.
Your pleasing face burns my memories.
Whenever we’re apart—
She shook her hand