It was his final word – at least for now. He settled back in the coracle, plainly exhausted but thoroughly pleased with himself. Abren sat beside him, and the last bridge loomed far over their heads. They had reached it without noticing. Its veil of copper cables shimmered in the fading light, and the coracle slipped under them as if under soft, green angels’ wings.
This was the moment when the river ended and the sea began. The moment which Abren had waited for. She threw away her paddle and took Phaze II’s hands. Moved out into the sea, and its waves leapt under her like wild white horses. The air was clear and heady, like vintage sea wine, and Abren could hear ‘her’ tune again. Hear it playing for the dance.
She sang along with it, word for word. Tapped her toes and beat time. The sun went down and the moon rose in the sky. The waves began to race, and she felt the pull of a new horizon drawing her across the sea. A new adventure steering her beneath the stars.
Phaze II glanced at her as if to say that he could feel it too.
Also by Pauline Fisk for Bloomsbury
THE RED JUDGE
Coming Soon
Bloomsbury Publishing, London, New Delhi, New York and Sydney
First published in Great Britain in 2001
This edition published in 2005
This electronic edition published in December 2013 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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Copyright © 2001 Pauline Fisk
The moral right of the author has been asserted
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