The Tower of Bones by Frank P. Ryan Read Free Book Online Page A

Should we assist him in this seemingly foolish enterprise – or should we refuse? The question is now open to debate.’
    Several voices called out at once: ‘Then let him speak.’
    With a face like stone, Sister Aon waved Alan to the floor in front of her rostrum. ‘Face the assembly, if you will. No doubt you will speak as frankly to them as you already have to me.’
    Alan stood erect, forcing himself to relax the fists that had been clenched by his sides. ‘Sisters – if that is what I’m supposed to call you – you can see I’m no kind of diplomat. I speak my mind. I know what some of you think about the last High Architect, Ussha De Danaan. I understand why you might hate her. She did nothing to save Ossierel. Through the powers of the Mage of DreamsI was taken back to Ossierel and I spoke to Ussha De Danaan as she was dying.’
    Alan paused to allow the shock of his words to run its course among them. ‘You must be wondering, just as I did, why she brought me and my friends there to meet her. From what I gathered she didn’t do it through madness, despair, or through cowardice or anything like that. She had some kind of a plan.’
    The chamber was filled with murmuring.
    ‘In the name of the Most Holy— why you?’
    ‘As far as I can see, her bringing us here to your world was part of that plan. Don’t expect me to explain because, frankly, I don’t understand it myself. All I can tell you is that she called us “chosen”. Why, or how, we happened to be chosen, I have no idea. But she gave us a clue. The ultimate cause of it all, the evil that’s wrecking your world, involves the Fáil. Your enemy, the Tyrant of the Wastelands, has captured a portal and he is actively corrupting its influence.’
    A stunned silence filled the chamber.
    Alan spoke again, his words invading the silence. ‘I know you doubt her integrity. But I really believe that her heart, and purpose, were true.’
    A hiss of shock filled the chamber.
    ‘Why then’, demanded Aon, ‘should we believe a stranger when the wisest minds in the land have failed to understand these terrible portents?’
    ‘Ma’am, I don’t rightly know why. As an old womanonce said to me, although she used different words, there are times when you have to trust to your heart and instinct. I must ask you also to trust your hearts and instincts.’
    ‘You speak eloquently, for all your lack of years, but eloquence is no persuasion. Too much is at stake here.’
    ‘Then will you allow the Ambassador to speak?’
    Sister Aon tapped the sceptre on the bench surface. ‘Should the Xhosa be allowed to address this meeting? On such a matter of high principle, I would suggest we take the opinion of the oldest and most experienced among us. Sister Hocht will decide.’
    All eyes turned to the old woman sitting on the rostrum beside Sister Aon, watching in silence as she took to her feet, leaning on an ancient staff of power. Her face, lifting with difficulty on her bent and withered neck, was as dry as parchment, stretched over the angular bones of her skull. Her eyes, deeply set within their shadowed orbits, were grey-ringed with age, yet they clearly held the respect of the entire chamber. The old woman gazed first at Alan and then at Milish. She lifted the staff of power and struck it sharply against the wooden floor of the rostrum. Then in a reedy voice she said: ‘Let the Princess of Laása speak.’
    Milish joined Alan on the floor before the rostrum. She hesitated, as if to gather her thoughts, before speaking.
    ‘I thank you, Holy Sisters, for this opportunity to address the High Council. There is much I might say to you, but time is pressing and I will keep it brief. I have had plenty of opportunity to observe this brave youngman, witnessing how differently he sees our world. And I cannot help but conclude that, at least in part, we brought downfall upon ourselves. We enjoyed spiritual glory at Ossierel with little thought or care for the peoples of