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.Her gaze dropped to my left armhanging uselessly at my side and then backto my face. What happened? No one had ever asked me that before.Everyone on Dchas just knew.If she wasn t ready for the reality of the Na FirGhorm, she certainly wasn t ready for thetruth about me. I was born this way. She nodded and started up the pathagain.I let out the breath I d been holding.She had accepted my answer withoutissue, buying me more time with her.TimeI didn t have a lot of.As soon as she knewthe truth, she, like almost everyone else onthis island, would have nothing to do withme.She would mock and fear me but notnearly as much as I feared myself.Still, I had this moment with her.Thisbrief, brilliant moment to cling to whenshe was gone again. We don t need coffee, she said overher shoulder. I know. Why do you think Francine sent it? She paused briefly at the top of a riseand I caught up. I wouldn t even begin totry to decipher Francine s intentions.She s a very deep well. Tilting her head, she crossed her armsover her chest. You are too, aren t you,Liam? I said nothing, as her question wasn tintended to elicit a response.She captured a strand of hair that hadblown across her face and tucked itbehind her ear. Prince Leem was soskilled and brave, he fought off a dragonwith only one arm.I remembered that part,I just didn t remember why. She didn t remember because at the time, it didn t matter.Children look for thegood [ fohy. and are not yet tarnished bythe darkness.To the residents of Dchas,darkness was often realized at a veryyoung age.In my case, it had been a partof me since birth.I attempted a smile. That dragondidn t stand a chance. No, it didn t. She smiled and headedup the trail again.The path turned northeast and cutthrough the woods.Dchas was small buthad rugged and varied terrain.When I wasa child, this was my favorite part of theisland.Like something out of AMidsummer Night s Dream, the woodshad allotted me hours of fantasy andpleasure.More than that, they had offered me a place to hide.Sun flitted across the leaves andboughs as the wind caught the branches,giving the woods life and the magicalquality I d always loved.Flecks of lightbounced off of Anna s long, silky hair,making her appear as ethereal as Titania.A high keening pierced the air.Thewailing was unmistakable.Once you veheard a Bean Sidhe, you can never forgetit.Their mournful wails were singular andI d heard them all my life.It was part ofmy punishment, but I d never heard themduring the daylight hours before.Anna froze and her breathing increasedin pace.She d heard them too. Oh, God, she whispered.Why she would hear them was unknown to me.Only those bound to thewrongfully dead could hear their cries.She bolted up the path withoutwarning, as if she hoped to outrun them.But Bean Sidhes couldn t be outrun.Likeall Otherworlders, their powerstranscended our feeble human abilities.Asexpected, the wails became louder.Annacovered her ears and continued to run.Ihad no choice but to lay chase.If the NaFir Ghorm tried to claim her when shecleared the woods, they would no doubthave an easy time of it as frightened as shewas. Anna, stop! I shouted. They meanno harm. She didn t slow until she burst out ofthe woods and into the brilliant sunshine.Even then, she only reduced her pace slightly.Bag of coffee bouncing on myshoulder, I finally caught up.Shegradually slowed to a walk, but herfeatures remained ashen. Truly, they mean you no harm, I said,catching my breath.Her lips drew to a thin line as shebegan the final ascent to the mansion. Idon t know what you re talking about. They favor dark places, I said. Infact, it s rare to hear them except at night. She slapped a bug away from her facebefore gracefully picking her way over thelow rock wall marking the estate grounds. I didn t hear anything. So be it.If she needed to maintain herdenial a bit longer, I d let her.Acceptanceis never instantaneous.It took me a considerable amount of time to embrace itmyself.Part of me still held out hope itwas all just a terrible dream.The otherpart of me knew better. 6I know not how it was but, withthe first glimpse of the building, asense of insufferable gloompervaded my spirit. Edgar Allan Poe,from The Fall of the House ofUsher, 1839Taibhreamh means to dream inGaelic [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]