Crown of Dragonfire Read Online Free PDF Page B

the
floor began to rise. Meliora spun toward him and drove her spear down, impaling
the seraph. He gave a last gasp, then fell limp.
    "Bloody stars," Tash
whispered, staring at Meliora. Where was the innocent, soft-cheeked princess
she had known? Before her she saw a killer, the blood of her enemies staining
her arms.
    "Come," Meliora said. "We
must hurry."
    "Wait." Tears filled
Tash's eyes to remember the poor creature she had seen in the cell. "One more
minute."
    Tash raced along the corridor,
opening cell by cell, revealing the poor wretches within. Some cowered in the
corner, blinded by the torchlight. Others squealed, hissed, screamed. A few
wept and begged. Only one began to crawl out of the cell, a pathetic being,
thinned down to bones.
    "We need to help them,"
Meliora whispered, staring at the miserable creatures. She shuddered. "I . . .
I almost became one of them."
    Tash lowered her head. "We'll
never make it out alive dragging them with us. We opened a door to their
freedom. That's all we can do now, unless we choose to kill them. Their fate is
in the hands of the gods now. Perhaps they still remember what they once were,
and they will make their own way to freedom through the dark labyrinth that
awaits us and them." She knelt, took a dagger from a dead guard, placed it into
her belt, then took Meliora's hand. "Come, my lady. Now we will flee. Quickly
now."
    They ran out of the
dungeon, entering the long, coiling burrows that snaked beneath the ziggurat.
As they passed by a shadowy corner, Tash reached down, pulled loose a brick
near the floor, and retrieved a cloak from within. The underground was full of
such hidden alcoves and passages, the secrets known only to the pleasurers,
those who made it their trade to please men . . . and to know everything that
transpired in the palace. Tash handed the garment to Meliora.
    "Here, my lady. A cloak
and hood."
    Meliora donned the
garment and pulled the hood low over her head. The wool seemed to douse her
crackling halo; smoke draped across Meliora's brow as the fires extinguished.
To the world, she now appeared as nothing but another slave. She snapped the
spear in two across her knee, discarded the bottom half, and hid the business
end under her cloak.
    The two kept walking
together—a tall woman hidden in a cloak, and a slender young pleasurer all in
silk and jewels. They made their way through the darkness, seeking the light.

 
 
MELIORA

    They climbed the stairs,
leaving the underground, and stepped back into the light of the world.
    They stood in a small,
cobbled courtyard in the shadow of the ziggurat. A path led to a narrow road
into the city. In the distance, Meliora could see the obelisks, temples, and
palm trees of Shayeen. She paused for just a few heartbeats, breathing deeply,
savoring the touch of air on her skin, the sunlight upon her face. She had not
thought she would ever feel fresh air and sunlight again.
    She turned toward Tash.
The young slave stood nearly a foot shorter, her jewels gleaming in the
sunlight. She looked like the kind of slave Meliora would have once wrinkled
her nose at—a piece of meat for the pleasures of men. Yet now Tash seemed to
her a woman wiser and braver than all the soldiers in Saraph's army.
    "Thank you, Tash," she
whispered. "Will you return to the pleasure pits now? If you want, I'll take
you with me."
    "Where do you go?" Tash
asked.
    "To the land of Tofet.
To the house of my father." She squared her shoulders. "To rebellion. Perhaps
to death. To a fight I perhaps cannot win but one I will fight nonetheless."
    Tash raised an eyebrow.
"A life of pampered languor, surrounded by jewels, spice, endless love and
friends . . . or a life of blood that will end too soon. Perhaps we both have
the same choice. And we choose the same path." Tash nodded. "I go with you, to
whatever end. For Requiem."
    Meliora's eyes
dampened, and for an instant, she envied Tash, envied that the girl was pure
Vir Requis, a whole daughter of