It had been hours. A doctor had been summoned, Grandfather was rushed into one of the rooms of the estate, and the party was disbanded. Ettore had waited long enough outside the room in which the doctor was with Grandfather. He sat at the bedside and he observed how sick the man who raised him was. The doctor said his heart had stopped, but somehow, Ettore’s thoughtless reasoning kept him alive a little longer.
The room was silent and dark.
This chapter has no definite name. Since this novel is structured for later publication, I'd prefer a chapter name. If any of you have suggestions after reading it I'd love that!
Sun sets so low.
Fire lights the sky.
I asked you to come home.
I asked you not to die.
My brave soldier boy,
Fighting for so long.
My little soldier boy,
Please do come home.
When you cried your first
To when you hugged me last,
You’re gone forever and I thirst
So much for the blissful past.
My son, you promised me so firmly
When you were shipped away,
While, so tightly, you hugged me,
That on enemy soil you would not lay.
Florence (Firenze), region of Tuscany, Italy
December, 1490
Neither am I worthy
To go as He didst go
For I in faith to lose myself
Would be not such a woe
And so now I am waking up
As I am put to sleep
Mine eyes are op'ed and lifted up
As physic'lly are my feet
So mercy rains upon my head
And Love looks down on me
While hands are pierced as His once were
And peace makes fear to flee
For me to die is such a gain
I dared not hope to have
While death's sharp sting is cancelled out
In light of His pure blood
Sioned was growing tired of the life she had chosen.
I never knew you, never will
Till I walk on gilded shores
But I'm descended from your line
Your oldest granddaughter.
Your life was broken, marred by sin
Rev’ling, adultery, drugs
You yielded daily to the pull
Of Satan’s darkest night.
Was there a sin left uncommitted?
In your life on earth
Is left unanswered; your brokenness
Was evident to all.
Yes, I’ll never know you here on earth
But in bright eternity
Face to face I’ll see you there
Where sin can reign no more.
Four years had passed.
He had seen the trees change from white to green to red to black and all over again four times. He couldn’t believe how long it had been since the day the Yīnyǐng had separated them all. He had seen the change of what parts of the world they had travelled together, thoroughly worried by it all. Things changed so drastically wherever they turned that he was sure he woke up in a different world every morning.
Aloysius, Cahir, and Iolo stood under the shade of the grape arbors in the garden, having not much more use. Boniface and Ignatius took the north side of the keep, and so far, the captain was just waiting for the mission to be over. He had something pressing left in Baric-Tref, one of those things that you couldn't take your eye off for very long. It was that important.
“The sun’s going to sleep,” yawned Cahir. “Captain? May we request retirement?”
Aloysius scoffed. “Never been on night duty, aye, Cahir?”
The boy indignantly shrugged. “Jist, tired, y’know.”
The leader of the Dusks knew it would be easy to cause havoc in the paradisal scene, and that finding the Al-Izz boy would take no effort. Ten thousand rubies for a job well done.
The Yīnyǐng did nothing else better than an attack.
“Toula,” the leader said, his voice a maelstrom. “Over here.”
The Yīnyǐng turned and approached and pulled back her hood. Toula’s wavy black hair tumbled down her back and she stood at attention before Tai. “Yes, Father?” she said.