CHAPTER FIVE - “And a voice shall speak from legend.”

CHAPTER FIVE

“And a voice shall speak from legend.”

AS the vesper chimes finished their pealing in the distance, Morgan awoke with a start, simultaneously aware of the place, the time—much later than he had planned—and the fact that he was cold. The fire before him had burned down to nothing but embers, and a glance to the left confirmed his suspicion both that the balcony doors were still open and that a storm was brewing. No wonder the room was freezing.

With a low grunt, he heaved himself out of the overstuffed chair that had been his bed for the past three hours and half staggered to the balcony doors.

It was very quiet outside, and quite dark for so early in the evening, the air heavy, oppressive, charged with the energy of the coming storm. It would undoubtedly rain and possibly snow before midnight—which was just about what one might expect of a night in which he obviously had so much to do. Wearily, Morgan closed the glass-paned doors, paused for a moment with his hands on the latch, his forehead against the doors, eyes closed.

He was still tired—God, how tired he was! The bone-weariness of a week’s hard ride, the afternoon’s tension, had hardly been dented by the few hours’ sleep he’d had. And there was still so much to be done, so little time. Even now, he should be downstairs in Brion’s library, searching for some clue that might make tonight’s task a little more bearable.

It wasn’t really that he expected to find anything. Brion had been much too cautious to leave anything of major import lying around where just anyone might stumble onto it. But there might be some small, telltale sign. He had to look. And before he could do anything, he must see to Kelson’s safety while he was gone.

Straightening with an effort, he stared for a moment at the closed doors before him, gathering his focus, then rubbed his left hand lightly across his eyes, willing the weariness to vanish. The ploy worked, as usual, though Morgan realized he couldn’t keep it up indefinitely. Sooner or later, he would have to get some proper sleep, or he’d be no good to anyone. Perhaps tonight, after they were finished.

He pulled heavy damask drapes across the double doors, then crossed briskly back to the fireplace and added wood to the fire. After a few minutes, when it was blazing strongly again, he scanned the room in the dim firelight, finally spotting what he searched for.