Free The Towers of the Sunset by L. E. Modesitt Jr. Page B

have to keep Creslin alive to save myself, but that doesn't mean I have to turn my body over to a mere man as if I were . . . a bond slave."
    "That's not what I meant. Besides, you'll repay me, in oh-so-many ways."
    Megaera raises her hands, and the Tyrant steps back involuntarily.
    "Yes, my sister dear," the redhead responds, "you are right to fear me, but I pay my debts, and I'll pay this one."
    "Don't try to repay me until you have left the western lands. There are three watches upon you."
    "I scarcely expected less." Megaera has dropped her hands. "And in a strange way, I do owe you." She pauses. "Unlike you, I have never forgotten that we are sisters." She walks toward the stone stairs that lead to the stables. Unseen bands of fire still encircle her wrists, and her breath rasps in her throat. She swallows, but her head is held high.
     
     
    XVIII
     
    TERWUT . . .
    The echo of the unknown bird vibrates through the near dark as Creslin peers into the gloom before him, seeing only empty road and bare-limbed trees between the thin evergreens.
    The sun has dropped behind the still-looming shadows of the mid-ranges of the Westhorns far earlier, not long after Creslin had set foot upon the scarce-traveled trade road to Gallos. In the lingering light, he has walked perhaps another four kays along the gently turning road.
    Real evening descends, and no inn appears out of the gloom. Despite his sturdy boots, his feet feel the hardness of the frozen road clay with each step. For all his tiredness, Creslin keeps his tracks well within the hard clay patches upon the road rather than in the snow, determined not to leave a betraying trace for the guards should they have . pushed this far eastward.
    Has it been that far? How many kays has he covered in the more than eight days since he threw himself off the Roof of the World?
    His thoughts drift back to his lessons, back to the Legend. Why did the angels come to the Roof of the World? Were men really so blind? How could anyone believe that either men or women had the right to rule by their sex?
    He continues to put one foot before the other, looking all the while for a sheltered place in which to spend the night. Somehow, beyond his flickering vision, he can sense a structure. Not an inn, for there is no warmth to surround it, but ... something.
    Through three long turns of the road he trudges, feeling the strength of the mental image increase, until his eyes confirm his senses. The way station, half-buried in snow, has a solid roof and a squared arrangement of timbers and planks that can be tugged to cover the entrance.
    Creslin approaches and steps over the drift in the stone-framed opening and peers inside. A small stack of dust-covered logs rests by the narrow hearth under the blackened chimney stones.
    "Good enough ..."
    Setting his pack on the cold stones, he begins to peel slivers of wood from the thinnest log until he has a pile at the back of the hearth. He steps back outside, breaks off several green fir branches and carries them within. His efforts with the striker are successful, and soon a small fire warms the hut. Later, he enjoys hot tea and nearly the last of his field rations. In time, he sleeps, his body relaxing in the comparative warmth.
    Before dawn, he awakes with a shudder. Has something been searching for him: a white bird flying in a blue sky? Or a mirror filled with swirling white? For those are what he remembers, and the memories are stronger than a mere dream.
    "A white bird ..." Still within the winter quilt, he shakes his head. First a shadowy woman, and now a white , bird? Guilt? Is that what he feels? For leaving his sister? For thwarting his mother the Marshall? Or is he suffering from exposure and hunger so that his mind is creating such illusions? And the mirror? What does the mirror mean?
    Creslin takes a deep breath. The image of the woman he saw, long before exposure or hunger could have affected him. But the bird, the white bird, and the