Cursed by the Light for Loving the Dark novel · Chapter 11 of 24
Chapter 11: The Archon
By sunrise the whole town stood on the north shore of Tamarack Lake.
Nobody had told them to come.
The bell had rung in every house with a window facing the water.
They had come down in their coats and slippers to look.
Cassian held my arm on the old boathouse dock.
I had put on my own jeans and Mom's flannel shirt, the sleeves rolled down over my wrists.
The Abyss court stood in a dark crescent on the beach, and Odile stood at the front of it in a gray dress, with a veil of black lace folded over her arm.
The bell stopped.
The lake went still, and then it went gold.
A column of light rose out of the water a hundred yards from shore.
A white shape walked down it onto the surface.
It was an old man in pale robes, with white hair and a kind, tired face.
He had two winged guards behind him.
The light poured off all three so hard that half the neighbors dropped to their knees.
"Linnet Ashgrove," the old man said.
His voice was gentle, and it carried over the whole lake.
I went cold all over.
"That's him," I said under my breath.
"I know," said Cassian. "The Archon. Anselm Rook."
He had been there at the Hall, in a white chair at the center, with a golden pen in his hand.
He walked across the water to the foot of the dock and stopped.
"My child," he said. "Look at you."
I said nothing.
"Seven years in the dark places," Rook said sadly. "And so little of you left. I could weep."
"You can save the tears," Cassian said.
"Prince." Rook turned his mild eyes on him. "I come in peace, on a day of grace. You have a wedding to keep, and I would not stand in its way."
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