Blood and Gold Read Online Free PDF Page A

prayer of thanks, something old and small which he had learnt as a child to say when something purely good happens.
    Marius put his hand into the bowl of dried flowers and herbs, and gathering up quite a bit of this mixture he let it loose into the hot water.
    It was a deep good perfume of the outdoors in summer.
    Thorne closed his eyes. That he had risen, that he had come this far, that he had found this pure and luxurious bath seemed almost impossible to him. He would wake soon, a victim of the Mind Gift, back in his hopeless cave, prisoner of his own exile, only dreaming of others.
    Slowly he bowed his head and lifted a double handful of the cleansing hot water to his face. He lifted more and more of the water, and then finally as if it required courage, he dipped his head into the tub completely.
    When he rose again he was warm as if he’d never been cold, and the sight of the lights beyond the glass amazed him. Even through the steam, he could see the snow falling beyond, and he was deliciously conscious that he was so near and yet so far from it.
    Suddenly he wished that he had not risen for such a dark purpose.
    Why could he not serve only what was good? Why could he not live for what was pleasurable? But that had never been his way.
    No matter, it was important to keep that secret to himself for now. Why trouble his friend with dark thoughts? Why trouble himself with guilty confessions?
    He looked at his companion.
    Marius sat back against the side of the wooden tub with his arms out resting upon the edge. His hair was wet and clinging to his neck and shoulders. He didn’t stare at Thorne, but he was obviously conscious of him.
    Thorne dipped his head again; he moved forward and lay down in the water, rising suddenly and turning over, letting the water run off him. He gave a little laugh of delight. He ran his fingers through the hair on his own chest. He dipped his head back until the water lapped at his face. He rolled over again and again to wash his full head of hair before he rose and sat back contented.
    He took the same posture as Marius and the two looked at each other.
    “And you live this way,” said Thorne, “in the very midst of mortals, and you are safe from them?”
    “They don’t believe in us now,” said Marius. “No matter what they see they don’t believe. And wealth buys anything.” His blue eyes seemed earnest and his face was calm as if he had no evil secrets inside, as though he had no hatred for anyone. But he did.
    “Mortals clean this house,” said Marius. “Mortals take the money I give them for all that’s needed here. Do you understand enough of the modern world to grasp how such a place is heated and cooled and kept safe from intruders?”
    “I understand,” said Thorne. “But we’re never safe as we dream, are we?”
    A bitter smile came over Marius’s face. “I have never been harmed by mortals,” he said.
    “You speak of the Evil Queen and all those she’s slain, don’t you?”
    “Yes, I speak of that and other horrors,” Marius answered.
    Slowly without words Marius used the Mind Gift to let Thorne know that he himself hunted only the Evil Doer.
    “That is my peace with the world,” he said. “That is how I manage to go on. I use the Mind Gift to hunt those mortals who kill. In the big cities I can always find them.”
    “And mine is the Little Drink,” said Thorne. “Be assured. I need no greedy feast. I take from many so that no one dies. For centuries I’ve lived this way among the Snow People. When I was first made I hadn’t the skill. I would drink too fast and too recklessly. But then I learned. No one soul belongs to me. And I could go like the bee goes from flower to flower. It was my habit to enter into taverns where many are close together, and to take from one after another.”
    Marius nodded. “That’s a good style,” he said with a little smile. “For a child of Thor, you’re merciful.” His smile broadened. “That’s merciful