[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

faith, the light expanded and the dark retreated before it, the vile smell and the aura of personified evil
also receding.
The unholy chant faded, giving place to sounds of distant combat. The battle din mounted amid the
thunder of hooves and the clash of arms. The screams of dying men mingled with an exultant clamor of
victory as Arnault and Wallace found themselves enfolded in radiance like a golden ray of sunlight.
Banners waved on every side-the flags and ensigns of Scotland-and the clamor became discernible as the
acclamation of a king. A throne took shape amid the glow, and seated upon it was a crowned figure
whose face they could not make out.
Then the cheers subsided, and the golden light faded, and the chamber sank once more into a darkness
that was only faintly illuminated by the point of light at the Stone's heart. It was smaller than a candle's
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
flame, yet it held the sole hope of fulfillment of the vision of the new king.
Beside Arnault, Wallace's hand had closed around the keekstane, and he was slowly shaking his head,
eyes still tightly closed.
"I cannot see," he whispered. "I must see further. I must See!"
Gently Arnault set his fingers back on Wallace's, willing calm, searching his mind for a way to extend the
vision- and remembered a way, learned on Iona.
"I can help you see further," he murmured. "Keep your eyes closed. First, give me the keekstane." He
watched the other's trembling eyelids as he plucked the stone from Wallace's bloodied hand.
"Now close your fist. and relax it slightly, so that your fingers form a tube in your left hand. good. Now
blow three times through that tube while you invoke the Trinity- but say it in the Gaelic."
Wallace's brow furrowed and his lips parted as if to question; but then he drew a deep breath and let it
out, lifted his fist to his lips and blew three times.
"In ainm an Athar. agus an Mhic. agus an Spioraid Naoimh."
"Now. turn your face to the east," Arnault said softly, "and lift the tube to your left eye, and look through
it at the sun. and let yourself See."
Trembling, Wallace obeyed, squinting at the light-and as Arnault again closed his eyes, he was back in
that other place before the Stone. Wallace was still there as well, but kneeling now before the Stone to
set his bloody hand upon it.
At that touch, new light spilled forth from the billow of gauzy curtains within a narrow doorway. Its
invitation was for Wallace only, its cool breeze fresh and sweet with the scent of lilies, and Arnault
watched with wonder as Wallace turned toward that doorway and slowly rose, clearly reluctant yet
acquiescing, and began to walk toward it. A part of him longed to warn Wallace; but another part knew
it was for this purpose that he had brought Scotland's Guardian to this place between the worlds-for only
here might he learn what was asked of him, and either accept or reject what had been ordained for him.
Wallace disappeared through the doorway into light, and utter silence enfolded Arnault, overlaying the
growing bustle of domestic sound in the campsite not far away. His own sense of isolation became so
intense that he was half minded to attempt going after Wallace, to confront whatever had taken him, even
if, in doing so, he violated his own sworn duty. But before he could make any such decision, the light at
the heart of the Stone of Destiny flared up like a bonfire igniting, and the dark chamber dissolved before
it like mud being washed from a windowpane by a torrent of cleansing rain.
Abruptly Arnault found himself back on the edge of the field, with Wallace still beside him. The morning
sun shone fully upon them, and the light showed up the pallor of Wallace's face. Arnault hardly knew
whether to ask him what he had seen.
Wallace licked his lips and flexed his hand, the blood in it now mostly dried, and took a deep breath to
steady himself back into the world of the Seen.
"God's will can ask much of us, truly," he said at last, with a slow, distant nod. "I will do what I see now
that I must, but I do not know if I can bear it as I ought."
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
But Arnault, too, had glimpsed at least some inkling of what he, too, must bear, and met Wallace's
haunted eyes with a compassion that was as deep as it was blind.
"Whatever awaits you," he vowed, "I swear that you shall not bear it alone, while I live."
Wallace only looked down at his bloody hand, flexing it again before bending briefly to wipe it clean on a
patch of dewy grass.
"I do not think you know what you are promising, my friend," he whispered as he straightened. "I do not
think you know at all."
Part IV
Chapter Thirty
THE SIX YEARS FOLLOWING FALKIRK WERE HARSH ONES FOR Scotland. Wallace himself
spent much of that time attempting to drum up support on the Continent, but to little avail, and eventually
returned. Though Scottish patriots under a succession of Guardians and combinations of Guardians after
Wallace made periodic attempts to reassert the kingdom's independence, Edward of England continued
his relentless campaign to impose English sovereignty on the land, so that by mid-June of 1304, nearly
every Scottish leader of note had reluctantly done homage to the English king.
Apart from a few scattered pockets of resistance, only Wallace himself, Sir John de Soules, the most
recent Guardian, now sheltering in France, and the garrison at Stirling Castle, under command of the
young Sir William Oliphant, had refused to capitulate. And Wallace was in hiding in the north, Stirling [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

  • zanotowane.pl
  • doc.pisz.pl
  • pdf.pisz.pl
  • moje-waterloo.xlx.pl

    •