Manipulating-Minds

Chapter Eight The Names Beneath the Throne The ninth bell rang thirteen times. Caelan counted every stroke. He counted because counting was something a man could do when the world had ceased to make sense. He counted because the sound seemed to reach into the softest parts of his mind, searching for something that had been hidden there. He counted because he was afraid that if he stopped, he might hear his daughter's voice again. The first stroke made the walls tremble. The second loosened dust from the ceiling. By the fourth, the black flame inside Halven's lantern had gone out completely. The old priest stood in the darkness with one hand gripping the lantern handle and the other pressed against the wall, whispering a prayer that Caelan had heard soldiers recite before executions. At the seventh stroke, Sera began to cry. She made no sound. Tears simply gathered beneath her eyes and ran down her face while she stared at the sealed stone door. The name of Caelan's wife had vanished