An Autumn War

Ile knew that. Instead he watched the subtle rise and fall of her

breath, listened to the small sounds the tu

the soft flow of air. Ile thought of crawling in beside her, still in

his robes, pressing his eyes closed until forgetfulness took him as

well. But he needed to perform one last errand. He rose quietly and left

by the hack passage, down deeper into the earth.

The physician rose when he caught sight of Utah, taking a welcoming pose

so quietly that the rustle of cloth in his robes seemed loud. Utah

replied with one that asked a question.

"I le's well," the physician said. "The poppy milk makes him sleepy, but

it stops the cough."

"May I?" Utah asked.

"I think he'll never rest unless you do. But it would be best if he

didn't speak overmuch."

1)anat's room was warm and close. The night candle fluttered and glowed

in its glass case. Great iron statues of hunting cats and a hear risen

on his hack feet radiated heat from the fires in which they'd been kept

all through the day. His boy sat up unsteadily, smiling. Utah went to

his side.

"You should be asleep," Otah said, smoothing the hair from Uanat's brow.

"You were supposed to read to me," the boy said. His voice was scratchy

and thick, but not as had as it had been. Otah felt tears in his eyes

again. He could not bring himself to say that the hooks were all gone,

the stories all made ash. "Lie back," he said. "I'll do what I can."

Gri

breath and closed his eyes.

"In the sixteenth year of the reign of the Emperor Adani Bch," Otah

murmured, "there came to court a boy whose blood was half Bakta, his

skin the color of soot, and his mind as clever as any man who has ever

lived . . ." I)anat made a small sound of pleasure and closed his eyes,

his hand seeking out Otah's fingers.

Otah went on as long as he could before his memory failed him, and then

he began to invent.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

An Autumn War is the third novel of the Long Price Quartet by Daniel

Abraham. The first two are A Shador" in Summer and A Betrayal in Winter.

He has published stories in the Ianishing Acts, Bones of the IW'oorld,

and The Dark anthologies, and has been included in Gardner Dozois's

Years Bert Science Fiction anthology and The Years Best Fantasy &

Horror, edited by Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin J. Grant, as well.

His story "Flat Diane" won the International Horror Guild Award for best

short story and was nominated for the Nebula. He is also the coauthor of

Hunter'r Run with Gardner I)ozois and George R. R. Martin.

He is currently working on The Price of ,Spring, the final volume of the

long Price Quartet. He lives in New Mexico with his wife and daughter.