Mistress of the Night - Don Bassingthwaite [131]
"But you were successful."
He crossed the chamber to stand beside her. The Leaves of One Night rested on a cushion of black silk. The silver characters on the slates shimmered in the dimness. Rivalen examined them closely.
"They look like Netherese," he said, "but I can't read them."
"The script looks like all languages, Father Night," said Variance. "No one can read the text. The Leaves of One Night was cursed by Shar herself."
She opened the black wood doors of a cabinet and removed one of the many drawers within. Inside the drawer was a box of lead and dull gold. She took it out.
Rivalen looked at her and raised his eyebrows. "The Singer after Twilight commands you to speak, vigilant sister. It's time to give up some of your secrets. What do you know of The Leaves of One Night?"
"Only that and two things more," she said. "This is the first: touch the Leaves."
Rivalen extended a hand and rest it on the slates. He frowned and looked at Variance.
, "Speak a prayer to the Mistress of the Night," she told him.
His lips moved-and he gasped. Wonder filled his face.
"The whispers are like the tides of Shadow!" he said.
"No one can understand them either, also the work of Shar's curse. But legend says that the whispers are the words of the text. The Leaves of One Night are alive-alive and bound by the Lady of Loss."
Rivalen lifted his hand away from the Leaves and asked, "And the second thing?"
"Legends also say," Variance said, "that the text records Shar's only moment of weakness. She cursed the Leaves so no one would know it, even if it meant locking away all the other secrets of the Leaves as well-magic of ancient darkness so profound they have yet to be rediscovered."
The high priest breathed in then whispered, "These secrets-?"
Variance looked at him with narrowed eyes and said, "Inaccessible, Father Night. Unless you would work against the Lady of Loss herself."
Rivalen fell silent, then bowed his head. "As vou sav.
vigilant sister." He stepped back and asked, "Is Shar pleased with the return of The Leaves of One Night?"
"Shar is pleased, Father Night."
Opening the box, she picked up the slates and set them carefully inside, then closed the box and placed it back in the drawer. Rivalen's footsteps retreated back across the chamber. She felt his presence fade.
She hesitated, then opened the box once more and laid a hand on the cold slate.
"Praise be to Shar, the Mistress of the Night," she whispered.
The whispers of darkness filled her head. Secrets beyond measure. Incomprehensible. Inaccessible. Except…
Variance looked down at the first page of The Leaves of One Night, at a blank spot on the black slate. A spot that should have been filled with the single silver character that shone on the thumb of Keph Thingoleir.
This file was created with BookDesigner program
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8/17/2009
LRS to LRF parser v.0.9; Mikhail Sharonov, 2006; msh-tools.com/ebook/
Table of Contents
Prologue
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18