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in deference to the Gyru-nalle custom of neverrevealing a true name. The
custom came from the Gyru belief thatknowledge of anyone s true name made the
knower responsiblefor the named s soul. Kait, whose full name was
Kait-ayarenneNoellaurelai Taghdottar Aire an Galweigh, never burdened
anyonewith the full stretch anyway. That name, loaded with the memoriesof
long-dead ancestors and the qualities of heroes her parents hadadmired, was
more than she wanted to carry around. So toAlarista, Kait was comfortable
still being just Kait.
 My band has a camp two days hard ride fromhere, Alarista told them once the
formalities were done. We can resupply you there if you wish to keep going. Or
youcan stay with us. This last she said specifically to Hasmal,and Kait saw
hope in her eyes.
Dùghall shrugged.  Doesn t matter where we go. Wecan t get far enough away to
escape the disaster that scoming.
The woman nodded. She turned to Dùghall and said,  Katarre kaithe gombrey; hai
allu neesh?
They were Falcon words, Kait knew, though she didn t knowthe ancient tongue in
which they were spoken. Hasmal had taught herthat they were the formal Falcon
greeting, and meant,  TheFalcon offers his wings; will you fly?
But Dùghall didn t give the formal response. Instead,he said,  The Falcons are
dead. Or didn t youknow?
* * *
When they made camp that night, Alarista soughtout Kait and took her aside.
 The Falcons believe the futurehas died; that the world is coming to an end;
that we are beyondhope, have already lost to the Dragons, and are
destroyed.Destroyed. I would believe the same thing. I
would. Kaitwatched the Gyru woman s lower lip tremble, and saw her
starefixedly into the jungle and take a deep breath, lift her head, andpull
her shoulders back. Every curve of her body spoke of fiercedetermination held
together by the thinnest of hopes.  I livedfor the Falcons, for
the prophecies. I rejoiced when I felt theReborn touch me for the first time,
and I nearly died when he. . . when he . . . She shook her head.Took another
steadying breath.  But I ve doneauguries, she said.  My Speakers tell me that
you arethe one who can save the Falcons; that you will give us hope.I ve come
all this way to find you. Is what they saytrue?
Kait sat on a fallen tree, peering in her turn out into thelayered tangles of
darkness before her.  I
have hope, she said cautiously.  I haven t yet managedto convince anyone else
that there s a reason forit.
 But you have hope. Alarista managed atremulous smile, and sat beside her on
the log. She said,  Youare the only one. Of all of us, you are the only one
who has notalready seen the morrow to its grave. I ve looked, I swear.Since .
. . then, I ve tried to contact any Falconwho could answer.
Only a few will. So many killed themselves in thefew days after the Reborn s
death . . .
Sheshook her head and shivered.  And most of those who still livewon t
respond. I traced your uncle by blood offering weeksago, but couldn t get
through his shields. The same withHasmal.
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And you didn t answer, either, though I didn tget the feeling you were
ignoring me. With you, it was more thatyou couldn t hear me.
 I couldn t. Kait was surprised.  You weretrying to reach me?
 Yes. Then they haven t taught you Falcon far-speechyet.
 No.
Alarista nodded.  I thought it might be that way. But Icouldn t help thinking
that perhaps the
Secret Textsweren t wrong, that perhaps this disaster was something otherthan
it appeared to be. I
know you aren t fully a Falcon yet,but when I summoned Speakers through the
Veil, each said you werethe key. That you could give the Falcons reason to
hope again. Thatif you chose, you could see how the Falcons could yet break
theDragons. That you . . . She sighed.  That youhold the secret of our hope.
When I couldn t reach you byfar-speech, I came after you. I don t know what
you know,Kait. I don t know how you are our key. Tell me, please. Ilost
everything when
. . . I lost everything I believedin, and everything I loved. I lost who I
was, and who I
wassupposed to become. Please tell me what can change allthat.
Kait rested her hands on her thighs and leaned forward, eager.This was
validation that what she had thought must be true. Thespirits from beyond the
Veil said she had the key. So theFalcons must be missing something. Kait had
believed fromthe first moment when Dùghall told her of the disaster that hehad
to be mistaken, that a thousand years of waiting would not endwith the birth
and almost immediate death of the one who was tohave led the world to Paranne,
Vincalis s promised land. Noteven Brethwan and Lodan, the most ill-starred of
the god-pairs,could be so cruel.  I almost gave up, she said.  Ofthe Falcons,
I only knew Dùghall and Hasmal, and you can seethem. They ve given up. They
see themselves as dead men whohave not yet fallen on their pyres. I couldn t
reach them.They wouldn t let me talk to them. They ve lockedthemselves into
their shields, and they . . . Sheshrugged.  You ve seen them. You ve seen
others likethem, from what you say.
Alarista nodded.
Kait continued.  But they can t be right. Shedared a smile.  A thousand years
of true prophecy cannot endwith a falsehood. I ve read the Secret Texts.
I vetracked the Seven Great Signs, the
Hundred Small Signs, the ThreeConfusions. All of them came to pass. Vincalis
spoke true inparticulars as well as generalities. She narrowed her eyes. Even [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]