Worlds Without End Read Online Free PDF

the doorway, stood the girl. For a moment her image blurred with one from my memory. I knew then I would help them, regardless of the risk.
    Again, I took the woman’s wrist. Tapping into what little reserves I’d tucked away, I focused all my concentration into bringing back the weave of her life. The heat flew through me then, sliding into her body, burning out her fever and pain. Hot ribbons of health wove themselves into her body.
    I released her wrist then, exhausted by this minor act. I smiled a bit at this, I who had brought armies to their knees with a flick of my wrist, swooning at this child’s play.
    And what did my generosity get me?
    A private room in the bloody Tower.
    The people I helped weren’t to blame. They couldn’t have been expected to keep quiet about their miraculous healings, I suppose. Though I suspect the tale was embellished by the time it reached the ears of the clergy.
    The Protestants and the Catholics had been going at it ever since Mary came to the throne, but the one thing they agreed on was that anything smacking of witchcraft was to be dealt with severely.
    For some reason the local priest, who was the first person to see me after I was captured, didn’t want to kill me right off. Perhaps it was my skin, or maybe he hoped to gain points with bishop. At any rate, I was taken to London and then sent to the Tower.
    Where I remained for months.
    I’d heard that there were prisoners here who’d been forgotten for years. But I tried not to dwell on that.
    Spring passed, then summer.
    All Hallows Eve.
    Dark came early. Through my slit of a window, I could see the fine mist ushering a heavy fog. The flickering torches looked unreal and ghostly. A perfect night for the devil’s work. If you believed in that sort of thing.
    I’d been sitting in the dark for several hours. The worst thing about imprisonment was boredom. But this wasn’t the first time I’d been in such a situation. Then I heard it. A faint sound from down in the base of the tower.
    Then footsteps on the stone steps. They were coming to kill me, I knew it. After all this time, they had remembered and were dispatching me at last. The least I could do was go to my death on my feet. But somehow I couldn’t force myself to move from the cold stone floor where I sat.
    The sound of voices. I thought they might be arguing. Then more footsteps. The lock was opened and the door swung in.
    I put my hand up against the sudden brightness of a lamp. A rustle of fabric. Any moment now I would feel the burn of the blade.
    “You may leave us now.” a voice said.
    A voice I knew.
    I dropped my hand and blinked. It couldn’t be, yet it was.
    Standing across from me, robed in heavy velvet and fur, was Alachia.
    “What are you doing here?” I asked.
    She frowned. “You never have learned any manners.” she said. “Do you not know that you are to rise in the presence of a queen?”
    I snorted. “Blood Wood is long gone.” I said. “Its ashes have been forgotten more times than either of us can remember. You’re no more a queen than I.”
    “You never were ambitious.” she said.
    “No, just not foolish and vain.”
    Her frown deepened. Even with such a withering expression on her face, she was still beautiful. The skin was as pale, the hair as fiery red, and the eyes as blue. Not as stunning as she’d been, but part of that was due to the changes in the magic. Now her beauty was more human.
    “You are an annoyance.” she said. “But you are my cross to bear. Isn’t that an amusing expression? Tell me, aren't you curious as to why I am visiting you?”
    I didn’t answer. I knew it would annoy her. How odd that even after all this time we fell back into our old patterns.
    “Well, I’ll tell you.” she said. Her voice was gleeful and fairly danced with excitement. “In a fortnight, I am again to gain a throne. Admittedly, not as impressive as those I’ve left behind me, but it will do in the meantime.”
    “What are you