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to her? Anvar was lost to her, taken she knew not where, and Miathan had cursed her child. She shuddered, fighting
nausea, wondering what manner of monster she had carried beneath her heart. Trapped in wretchedness, her battered
spirit shrank from facing her bitter defeat. Let them enter, whoever they were! Let Miathan do what he would with
her for he could do little worse than he had already done. How had she ever dared hope to defeat him?
Breaking into her misery, Aurian heard a horrified cry, and a stream of half-articulate curses aimed at the Prince, his
followers, his relations and ancestors. Nereni! It was Nereni, using profanities that normally would have made the little
woman blanch and cover her ears. Aurian felt her lips twitch in a smile, and was suddenly ashamed. If timid Nereni
could summon this much fire and fight, how dared she, Aurian, a Mage and a warrior, give way to despair?
Aurian felt cold steel against her wrists as Nereni cut the thongs that bound her, and stifled a curse as the blood
returned to her hands in a scalding rush. With an effort, she opened swollen eyes.
Nereni's face was ravaged with weeping, but her eyes burned with indignant rage as she gathered the Mage into her
arms. "Aurian! What have they done to you? And you with child!" Enraged beyond thought of her own plight, Nereni
turned on the soldiers who had accompanied her. "You fetch some water! Bring wood for a fire! And get someone up
here to mend that trapdoor! We may be prisoners, but we need not freeze to death or starve, either! You, you son of
a pig! Find some food for this poor lady!"
One of the soldiers laughed. "We don't take orders from a fat old hag!" he jeered.
Nereni drew herself up to her full, insignificant height. To Aurian's utter astonishment, she advanced on the soldier,
bristling. "But you take orders from the Prince, who told you that this lady was to be cared for. Now get your lazy
backside through that door and fetch me what I need, before I inform His Highness of your disobedience!"
The soldier turned suddenly white, and scurried off to do her bidding. "And while you're at it," Nereni bawled after
him, "get someone up here to clean this pigsty!"
After that, things happened quickly. The corpses of the Winged Folk were dragged away, and soldiers came to wash
the worn stone floor. Someone brought wood, and soon the air was filled with cheerful crackling as the growing blaze
in the hearth began to take the chill from the room. One of the men brought a sack of provisions and utensils, which
was snatched from his hands by Nereni.
When their guards had gone, Aurian stripped off her torn robe with a shiver of revulsion, wrapping herself in blankets
from the packs that had been returned to them. Nereni gave her a cloth soaked in cold water to hold against her
battered face, then began to busy herself at the fire. Under the kindly fussing of her friend, Aurian felt the dreadful
tension of her despair beginning to dissolve. As icy water numbed the ache of her bruises, she searched within for the
shreds of her courage, weaving them together into a cloak of adamantine will. Never again would she come so close to
giving in! Had it not been for Nereni ...
Aurian's chin came up in the old stubborn gesture. She would not give in to despair. She wanted her wits about her,
ready to exploit any weakness in Miathan's plans. There must be a way to save herself and Anvar. Ah Gods, and her
child! As if to remind her of its presence and its plight, Forral's son moved within her, and Aurian felt her heart go out
to him in a flood of love and sorrow. After all he had gone through . . . "Don't worry," she whispered fiercely. "No
matter what form Miathan put upon you, you're mine and I love you! I won't let that bastard kill you!"
At the sound of her voice, Nereni turned from the fire and handed the Mage a steaming cup of liafa. ' 'You look better
now," she said softly. "Aurian did he ... When I saw you lying there, I thought ..." She bit her lip.
"No," Aurian said wearily, "I'm all right so far. He won't risk bringing the babe early. But afterward ..." She sipped the
stimulating drink, wincing as its heat stung her bruised mouth. Her hands trembled so that it took both of them to
steady the cup. As a distraction from the memory of Miathan's unclean touch, she asked for news of the others.
Nereni scowled. "Your so-called friend the cat fought her way out and ran, and that coward Yazour took the
opportunity to follow her." Her voice was edged with anger.
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