Half Discovered Wings Read Online Free PDF Page A

surrounded by them.
    She had packed few clothes – enough to last – and tied her
brown hair loosely back into a ponytail, which hung ragged and
knotted down her back. Thin hung in streamers over her eyes, which
were ringed with darkness. A warmer outfit was rolled up and added
to Gabel’s pack; it looked heavy, but he seemed to have no problem
carrying it.
    Silently
through the leaves, the magus walked beside him.
    Rowan didn’t know where they were going, or which route they
were going to take. She didn’t know why she was with them, only
that Father had spoken to Joseph quietly in the church the day
before.
    She remembered Bethany’s funeral, when she had last seen
Gabel. There had been no words spoken in that quiet hour. Only the
three of them had been present. She had stood beside a tree, and
once in a while she would steady herself by resting a hand on the
gnarled bark. Tears hesitated beneath her brown eyes.
    Father had closed the incunabulum and nodded at Gabel, who
had been standing a few metres back from the grave under a great
birch, shadowed from the moonlight. He had his hat pulled low over
his eyes; Father hadn’t seen the tears, but Rowan had.
    The night before the departure, Gabel had stayed under the
tree by the grave. Rowan had seen him re-enter the church and speak
with Father. They’d argued briefly before Father questioned him
about the magus’ job offer, and where it might take him. When Gabel
had replied Shianti Father blew up.
    ‘ Joseph, you’ve never considered this place your home, even
after Rebekah, and William, and … and Bethany. But is that any
reason to abandon the allegiances you have here?’
    ‘ I’ve mourned for Bethany today.’ Gabel had replied. ‘Tomorrow
I work. I don’t have any allegiances here.’
    ‘ Fine, then. If you leave, then you must take Rowan with you.
She’s desperately ill, Joseph. You know that the best doctors live
in Shianti. Don’t let Rowan die because you wouldn’t take
her.’
    ‘ Hermeticia will take months to reach,’ the hunter replied,
using the city’s unofficial name. ‘Even if that is where I am going.’
    ‘ That is why you must take her with you. Otherwise, by the time
you get back, she’ll already be dead. We don’t know what her
illness is. Whatever this mysterious job is that you’ve accepted
from this so-called magus, ignore it as you go. Rowan is your true
quest. Save her, Joseph.’
    ~
    In the forest, Rowan turned back toward Niu Correntia, but
already the trees had swallowed them up and the straight spire of
the church could no longer be seen.
    ‘ There’s a footpath just to our right,’ Gabel said
suddenly.
    They followed him through the forest, and after a few minutes
Rowan felt a gravel path crunch under her feet and looked down. It
was worn by rainwater, not boots, and she doubted anybody ever used
this path. People from the town always walked around the forest.
    A thought occurred to her. ‘Aren’t there dangerous animals in
the forest?’
    Gabel looked
around as the magus carried on walking.
    ‘ I’ll keep us safe,’ he promised. ‘You know I do this thing
often.’
    ‘ I’ll try to trust you, Joseph,’ she murmured.
    She realised then just how little she knew of the hunter. All
she learned of him had been glimpsed through the iron latticework
of the church windows: he was a character coloured by their stained
glass; an image built up both from his reputation as a factotum and
from the Father’s unbreakable trust of the man. Rowan had yet to
see Gabel’s true colours. Bethany used to speak of him often,
usually in an uncertain tone of voice halfway between admiration
and despair. ‘He isn’t even distant ,’ she had told Rowan once,
‘he’s just not always there.’ They’d both seen him praised for
killing whatever beast was harassing the town, but they’d also
witnessed the hunter half naked by the lamplight, singing
melancholy songs as he staggered from the inn to that dusty little
hovel of