Читать книгу King’s Wrath - Fiona McIntosh, Fiona McIntosh - Страница 6

They fell swiftly, silently.

Any moment they would hit the ground and it would be over. She didn’t know why he had chosen to kill her; she was his only friend. How bizarre then that she had never felt safer, even though death surely beckoned. She knew the drug had dulled her senses but she thought she heard air rushing by in a strange shrieking. And she could feel Reg’s presence: the hardness of his body against hers, his long, strong arms holding her securely. Despite the disorientation, she felt wholly connected to him — down to the soft scratch of his beard against her skin.

Maybe this was right. They were lost souls anyway, neither of them able to get on easily with others. And her work at the hospital drew the wrong sort of interest; people had begun hailing her as having powers above and beyond genuine skill and talent. It was ridiculous, of course, but it was understandable given her uncanny knack for healing.

A healer. That’s how she viewed herself. She was a curer of ills; she’d never said it out loud but it seemed Reg alone had understood it … and understood her.

And because of that she couldn’t hate him for killing them both. Without him her life would be empty. Without his friendship, like a rock jutting out of the ocean that she could cling to, she would be adrift in a sea of meaningless comings and goings — even her work would feel empty, pointless.

Why was it taking so long for them to hit the ground? What was that screaming noise, as though the very air was being torn apart around them?

Had she just heard Reg say something? Maybe here we go, Evie? She felt him hold her tighter still, if that were possible, tucking her head into the warmth of his neck, shielding her face from the whistle and buffet of that wind they were rushing through.

And then suddenly they were tumbling on something solid. Her fall was cushioned though; first her legs, then her back and shoulders touched inanimate objects. She had no idea what but it didn’t hurt. How did that happen? She wanted to open her eyes but they were squeezed shut with fear. It sounded as though branches were snapping! Trees? … How could that be?

With no warning the breath was sucked out of her as Genevieve, the first princess of the Valisars to survive in centuries, blacked out.

And across the empire, various people felt the stirrings of a mighty magic they had never felt before.