bought him this one indulgence, removing him from the common wards and the prison yard to this place of comparative safety, procuring him this meal which he had not tasted.
As the first pale light of dawn crept through the window, there came a fluttering of wings in the air outside. Wilrowan glanced up, just in time to see a large black bird land on the window ledge between the iron bars.
. Will extended an arm and the raven hopped from the ledge to his wrist. The silver intaglio ring on Wilrowanâs hand had come to life, glowing in that dreary little chamber with an uncanny blue light. To Willâs heightened vision, a spark of similar light appeared deep within the ravenâs brain.
The raven folded its wings.
The ring was ancient, as Blaise had suspected, though not so harmless an article as he supposed. It allowed Will to communicate with the great black birds that came and went almost unnoticed throughout the city. How it had first come into the possession of his relations, the mysterious Rowan family, Will did not know, but it had passed to him from his grandmother, Lady Krogan, on the day he was appointed Captain of the Queenâs Guard. â It may prove useful ,â the former Odilia Rowan had said as she bestowed the gift, and useful it had certainly proved to be. The Hawkesbridge ravens made an effective and utterly unsuspected network of spies.
Will asked.
The bird stepped daintily up his arm.
Will ground his teeth.
Wilrowan considered. A twig or a blade of grass was the usual signal when the ravens had any information to give him, but this was important and the sign should be a clear one. He reached into one pocket and drew out a small brass coin.
The raven lowered its glossy head, took the coin in its beak.
Will created a vivid mental picture of each manâs face, so there could be no mistake.
Crwcrwyl gave the images back as confirmation.
Will hesitated. Not that he doubted Blaise for a moment, but perhaps he should ask the ravens to watch as a measure of protection?
Before he had time to decide, a clatter of footsteps in the corridor outside his door, the grate of an iron key in the lock, shattered his delicate communion with the bird. Startled, the raven fluttered up from his wrist, then flew out the window.
O nce upon a time, in the bad old times, when Men were weak and timorous and an evil race of Goblins ruled the earth, a certain small village grew into a great city of brick and marble, slate, and cobblestone .
Men lived there, of course, as they lived elsewhere: ragged and humble, dirty and ignorant, which was just as the Maglore wished to keep them, and therefore fit only for the most grinding, laborious tasks, like working and maintaining the pumps and other underground machineryâfor Tarnburgh was located in a volcanic region far to the north, and the machines brought heated air and boiling subterranean waters up through a series of pipes and radiators to heat the metropolis during the long arctic winter .
She was just such a city as the Goblins loved: vast and intricate, startling, beautiful, and perilous. In the great maze of her winding streets and small hidden courts were many neat little shops where the tireless Goblin craftsmen (Ouphs and Padfoots, mostly) worked long hours
As the first pale light of dawn crept through the window, there came a fluttering of wings in the air outside. Wilrowan glanced up, just in time to see a large black bird land on the window ledge between the iron bars.
The raven folded its wings.
The ring was ancient, as Blaise had suspected, though not so harmless an article as he supposed. It allowed Will to communicate with the great black birds that came and went almost unnoticed throughout the city. How it had first come into the possession of his relations, the mysterious Rowan family, Will did not know, but it had passed to him from his grandmother, Lady Krogan, on the day he was appointed Captain of the Queenâs Guard. â It may prove useful ,â the former Odilia Rowan had said as she bestowed the gift, and useful it had certainly proved to be. The Hawkesbridge ravens made an effective and utterly unsuspected network of spies.
The bird stepped daintily up his arm.
Will ground his teeth.
Wilrowan considered. A twig or a blade of grass was the usual signal when the ravens had any information to give him, but this was important and the sign should be a clear one. He reached into one pocket and drew out a small brass coin.
The raven lowered its glossy head, took the coin in its beak.
Will hesitated. Not that he doubted Blaise for a moment, but perhaps he should ask the ravens to watch as a measure of protection?
Before he had time to decide, a clatter of footsteps in the corridor outside his door, the grate of an iron key in the lock, shattered his delicate communion with the bird. Startled, the raven fluttered up from his wrist, then flew out the window.
O nce upon a time, in the bad old times, when Men were weak and timorous and an evil race of Goblins ruled the earth, a certain small village grew into a great city of brick and marble, slate, and cobblestone .
Men lived there, of course, as they lived elsewhere: ragged and humble, dirty and ignorant, which was just as the Maglore wished to keep them, and therefore fit only for the most grinding, laborious tasks, like working and maintaining the pumps and other underground machineryâfor Tarnburgh was located in a volcanic region far to the north, and the machines brought heated air and boiling subterranean waters up through a series of pipes and radiators to heat the metropolis during the long arctic winter .
She was just such a city as the Goblins loved: vast and intricate, startling, beautiful, and perilous. In the great maze of her winding streets and small hidden courts were many neat little shops where the tireless Goblin craftsmen (Ouphs and Padfoots, mostly) worked long hours
Similar Books
