Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy #1) - Robert Jackson Bennett Page 0,155

and then, what, I cut their throats?>

said Valeria.

Sancia looked at the box—and looked closely at the golden lock set in its center.

she said.

A soft series of clicks echoed through her mind—and they sounded somewhat skittish to Sancia, like a cave of bats fleeing a beam of light.

said Valeria.

Sancia watched the box. She couldn’t stop herself from thinking of it as a sarcophagus. The idea of opening up this ancient casket deeply unsettled her.

Should I believe this voice in my head? This thing that was wrought by the Occidentals themselves?

asked Sancia.

said Valeria.

Sancia listened to this carefully. This matched with what she and Clef and Orso had determined—but she still found it difficult to trust this voice in her mind. she asked.

Many clicks. <…very little. As a clerk, I was a…> Click. <…functionary.>

Sancia said nothing.

said Valeria. Click. <…world behind the world. The vast machinery that makes creation run.>

Sancia remembered the engraving in Orso’s workshop—the chamber at the center of the world.

Valeria was silent.

asked Sancia.

said Valeria quietly.

Another long silence.

Sancia shuddered, remembering her vision of the man in the desert, turning out the stars.

said Valeria.

Sancia’s heart jumped.

said Valeria.

There was a long silence.

asked Sancia.

said Valeria.

Sancia sat there, stupefied.

Sancia realized what she meant. Her insides turned to jelly, and she was so overcome with emotion she could hardly respond.

Sancia swallowed.

said Valeria.

Sancia closed her eyes, and tears ran down her face.

said Valeria.