Then the moment shifts as moments will in a dream:
Darkness presses down on her. Starkey is suddenly aware that all has changed beyond the tower walls. An invading army swarms the city. The cry of cleaved men rides the clang of battle-axes and the scream of dying horses. Demons are coming. Starkey can't see any of this, but, hell, it's a dream - she knows it's happening just out of view.
The fencing master stands alone in the round fortress room. The princess peers from her door, frightened. He tells her to escape down the back stairs. She flees -
Starkey, trapped in her hiding place, silently screams, "CHICKEN-SHIT BITCH!"
Something heavy booms at the far door. The fencing master turns.
Starkey screams silently -
"FUCK THE STUPID BITCH! SAVE YOURSELF! RUN!"
But, like Starkey, he is trapped in the dream, too.
The heavy door shatters. Monstrous warriors spill forward, giants with heavy muscles and broadswords, each bigger than the last.
"RUN, YOU STUPID NOBLE MORON!! RUN!!!!"
Starkey cannot know that he wants to run. She cannot know that he is scared. But he is all that stands between them and the princess, so he calmly raises his foil. Like Starkey, he has no choice. It is his place in the dream, to give his life for the princess.
"RUN!"
He glances in slow motion over his shoulder at the empty doorway where once the princess stood. A tear fills his eye. His lips move. Starkey sees the words.
I love you.
He once more faces the enemy, and his blade flicks like lightning. He dodges, weaves, and darts among them. Their bodies mount before his skill and rage. He is the fencing master, the King's Hero, known for his bravery and valor.
But finally they are too many.
Their steel finds him.
His body parts.
Starkey is his witness.
His tear-filled eyes.
His glance toward the princess.
His undying love.
His inevitable death.
PART FIVE
PART FOUR
His Inevitable Death Chapter 37
T he morning broke clean and bright, filling the glass peak of my A-frame with an amber glow. I opened the doors to my deck, hoping for a breeze. The scent of the garlic and tomatoes Lucy and I cooked were still sweet. I liked it, even when I realized Lucy had not told me where she was staying. If I didn't know, I couldn't call. Maybe that was best. I scrambled three eggs, drank the Community coffee, then got ready for Diaz and Pardy. I jotted a list of the people I interviewed in Anson and San Diego, then made copies of the newspaper clips and articles about the Reinnikes. When I finished with the copying, I called Diaz at her office.
She said, "So, World's Greatest, have you solved the case yet?"
"I have something that might help. Did you get a hit on the BOLO?"
"C'mon, nothing is ever that easy."