The Alton Gift Read Online Free PDF Page B

him much-needed self-discipline as well as a sword fighter's muscular shoulders and supple strength.
    Food arrived from the Castle kitchens. Marguerida had ordered a light meal of late winter fare, Thendara-style, buns stuffed with meat and onions, a bowl of dried apples and another of toasted nuts, a beaker of watered cider, and a pitcher of the ubiquitous jaco Domenic found himself surprisingly hungry.
    While they were eating, Mikhail came in, trailing a gust of air that smelled of leather and rain. "There you are, Domenic! Come here, for a proper greeting!"
    After embracing Domenic once more, Mikhail bent to kiss Marguerida. Domenic felt the steady pulse of love between them. A ring sparkled on Mikhail's right hand, the mysterious and extraordinary matrix given to him on a desperate journey through time by the legendary Varzil the Good.
    Over the years, Mikhail had learned to harness the immensely powerful psychoactive gem for healing, as well as less peaceful purposes. With his Tower training, Domenic sensed how the ring crystal had become attuned to his father's personal matrix. One of the first things Domenic had learned at Neskaya was never to let anyone else touch his matrix. Only a trained Keeper could handle another's starstone without agonizing, even fatal, shock to the owner. Since Mikhail was able to wear the ring unshielded, open to casual touch, the stone of the ring must not have the same limitations.
    The servants finished laying the meal on the table, and they sat
    down. One chair remained vacant, and a moment later, Alanna entered and slipped into it. She wore the same gown as before, but her hair had been tidied, plaited flame against the cream of her skin. Domenic noticed that she offered no excuse for her lateness. Instead, she kept her eyes on her plate.
    "Alanna dear, will you not welcome Domenic back among us?" Mar-guerida said.
    "She has already done so," Domenic said, accepting the bowl of amber-nuts Rory passed to him. "We ran into each other when I first came in."
    Alanna's smile flashed like the sun after a storm. The air in the room brightened.
    "Now we are all here together as a family," Mikhail said, "even if it is for a sorrowful occasion. Domenic, you did well in your kindness to my mother during her last days and in bringing her body back for burial. For all the unhappiness in her life, she was Comynara."
    Domenic heard the heavy resonance in his father's voice, like the distant throbbing of a knell.
    How would I feel if it were my mother lying in that casket, waiting to be laid in an unmarked grave ? Domenic shuddered, unable to imagine a world without Marguerida.
    "—do you?" Mikhail was asking.
    Domenic had missed a beat of the conversation. He covered it quickly, excusing the lapse as fatigue from the journey.
    "Of course," Marguerida said, giving him a tender smile.
    The conversation shifted to Javanne's funeral. The ceremony itself required Lite preparation, for the ancient tradition was simple, but arrangements must be made for those relatives and dignitaries who were able to make the journey to Thendara at this season and on short notice. Lew Alton, Marguerida's father, had sent word that he would arrive from Armida, where he had retired at the invitation of the younger Gabriel, who would attend as well. The Elhalyn estates were close enough so that Dani Hastur, the son of Regis, and his wife and family could also be present.
    "I wish some of the Aldaran folk could be here," Marguerida said. Katherine, the wife of Hermes Aldaran, was one of her closest women friends.
    "Not even a weather worker could make the roads through the Hellers passable at this season," Rory commented.
    "You're not afraid of a little snowstorm?" Yllana's eyes glinted with affectionate teasing.
    Rory shrugged, refusing to be drawn in. "With a decent horse and proper gear, of course not. A caravan of wagons and pack animals is another matter."
    "Our friends will be here soon enough," Mikhail said, "and then we