Sanctuary - Lynn Abbey [164]
“Reversed,” Cauvin observed.
She smiled with her teeth. “The path beneath the Archway can no longer be walked. Your beloved has done more than make a choice. She has chosen to make it irrevocable.”
“No,” Cauvin said softly, retreating to the farthest, darkest corner. “No. No, I don’t believe that. You don’t understand—What Leorin did, she did years ago. She did it to survive. There’s a world of difference between surviving and … and what you’re saying.”
“There is darkness woven around your beloved, Dyareela’s darkness. Sight cannot penetrate that darkness. I See because I See you. Your love for her reaches into that darkness. She loves you—”
“Then there’s a chance. I can set Leorin free. If I can get her away from Sanctuary. I know Leorin. I love her. I—” Cauvin hesitated, then finished his statement: “I trust her.”
Elemi collected the cards, swirled the sheer silk about them, and stuffed them into the wooden box. “Of course you trust her,” she said as she squeezed the lid into place. “She doesn’t change, Cauvin; she’s constant. You can always trust someone who’s constant; they’re predictable. You know what Leorin will do.”
“She’ll leave Sanctuary with me. She is trapped here. I’ve heard her say so. I’m the one who hasn’t wanted to leave …” Cauvin thought of Bec. Saying farewell to Bee—never seeing the boy again—that would leave deep and lasting scars. “I can do it. I will.”
“Choose carefully, suvesh. Yes, for you, many choices are possible—You may choose to pull your beloved from the darkness, but she may choose to pull you in. The one clear path does not always lead to safety.”
“I have to try.”
The S’danzo took a deep breath, as if to lecture him, then made her own choice against it. She held out the wooden box instead. “Take these with you.”
“The Torch told me to give them to you.”
“And I don’t want them. They shine too brightly. I would rather not See what they reveal. Take them with you.”
“They’re no use to me.”
“All the more reason for you to keep them.”
Cauvin was in a hurry now, bursting with plans and eager to visit the Maze and the Unicorn. The door beckoned. He put his hand on the latch—“No.”
“I’ll burn them if you leave them here!”
“No, you won’t,” Cauvin decided. “You’re right … about the path. Once you know it’s there, you’ve got to take it. You’ve shown me a path, but you’ve seen one for yourself, too. You want Illyra’s cards.”
The box crashed against the door as Cauvin closed it behind him.
Chapter Fourteen
Cauvin’s thoughts were behind him on the Paddling Duck’s rickety stairs, expecting the S’danzo to burst out her door and hurl the box at his back. He’d forgotten about the watchdog until it lunged up the stairway, teeth bared and snarling.
“Down,” he commanded it, and, “Go away!”
The second was a sheep-shite stupid mistake. He’d been the one to teach the stoneyard dog to attack when it heard those words. Cauvin found himself trapped on the stairs long enough to conjure up another handful of questions for the S’danzo. But she’d been right about answers: The more answers he had, the less freedom, too. He made his choices based on the answers he had and, as the dog went back to its shaded den beneath the stairs, Cauvin resolved to get Leorin out of Sanctuary, even if it meant confronting the Hand, or the Bloody Mother of Chaos Herself.
Stinking Street marked the west-side border between the Shambles and the Maze, and though Cauvin knew his way to the Unicorn best from the east, midmorning was a fairly safe time of day for wanderers, even in the Maze.
He was tempted to revisit the Torch’s atrium armory. If he and Leorin were leaving Sanctuary, they’d need money, particularly if they followed another decision he’d made while waiting out the watchdog. Rather than walk out of the city—which committed them to a long, footsore journey and left open the possibility that they could always turn around, and walk back—they would buy passage on the next ship to Ilsig. There’d be no turning around once a ship left the harbor and, from what Cauvin