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Back The Alcazar Save as PDF
Chapters (51)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Map
  4. Part One
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. Part Two
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. Part Three
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. Part Four
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. Part Five
  33. 25
  34. 26
  35. 27
  36. 28
  37. 29
  38. 30
  39. 31
  40. Part Six
  41. 32
  42. 33
  43. 34
  44. 35
  45. 36
  46. 37
  47. Acknowledgments
  48. About the Author
  49. Books by Amy Ewing
  50. Back Ad
  51. About the Publisher

She looked at the cone of moonstone and the vision came and she welcomed it with joy. The room was small and dark, with a square bed and a single round window, like the one in the chamber of penitence but not so high up. The floor beneath her tilted and swayed gently. Leela saw the shapes of two figures beneath the covers, both sleeping. Suddenly, a girl sat up—it was not the same girl she had seen before, the tall one with curly hair and turquoise eyes. This girl had brown skin and brown hair, disheveled from sleep, and though her face was half in shadow, Leela sensed a keenness in her gaze.

“Sera?” she whispered, but Sera slept on peacefully. Leela saw the glint of gold around her friend’s neck, the pendant clutched tight in one silver hand. The girl was looking at the necklace too, and Leela wondered if she knew about the moonstone, what it was and where it had come from. They were sharing a bed together, so Leela imagined they must be friends at the very least, if not perhaps something more. Leela found herself glad that Sera had found someone who cared for her on the planet. She wanted to get a better look at the girl, she wanted to move, but she did not know how, when suddenly, Elorin was shaking her arm and the vision dissolved and Leela’s heart ached at the loss of Sera’s steady beat.

“What?” she asked.

“Someone’s coming,” Elorin whispered.

12

“HIDE!” LEELA HISSED AS THE UNMISTAKABLE SOUND OF footsteps came closer.

She and Elorin hurried as quickly and quietly as they could, pressing themselves against the cold surface of a column only moments before the High Priestess emerged into the clearing. They crouched low and peered out to watch her as she circled the main pool, muttering to herself, to the tether, to the moonstone. . . . Leela could not be certain which and she could not make out what she was saying.

At last, the High Priestess stopped and Leela saw her mask fall away, the ancientness showing on her face in hard, deep lines around her mouth and eyes, her irises darkening, her shoulders hunching as if she carried the weight of the entire City on her back.

“I have resisted for so long,” she said, and it sounded like a confession. “But I must give in again. They need me. It is not enough. Not enough.”