Page 93 of Crossroads Magic
I’d merely told Ghaliya that she might be a little surprised by what she saw, but I would answer all her questions afterward.
For now I had to ignore her and concentrate on the words and speaking them correctly.
Juda stood watching us, his hands down by his sides. He didn’t seem to be upset or angry. Merely interested.
We paused for the three breaths between the stanzas, then began the second.
Juda seemed to grow bored. He hung his head, waiting for this to be over.
I couldn’t see Trevalyan, for Juda stood between me and him. But I knew what he would say in reaction.Keep going. Don’t break the circle! Don’t break the chant!.
Three breaths, then the third and last stanza.
Then, silence.
It was not the muffled silence of a fresh snowfall. I could feel the air almost throbbing in my ears. My own breath was loud. I could hear everyone else’s breathing, too.
“Speak!” Trevalyan intoned in a voice that commanded. There was power in it that writhed and twisted in the air. “The voice that uses Juda, we command you to speak.” None of the wavering that often touched his voice could be heard now.
Juda coughed, but his head remained hanging.
“Speak!” Benedict commanded. “We who are friends of Juda demand to speak to the voice that uses him.”
“Speak,” Broch called in his deep voice. “The voice that speaks through Juda, come forth.”
“Speak!” I called, trying to make my voice as commanding and forceful as the others. “For I do not believe you exist and would rather laugh at the vacuum that you are.”
Juda lifted his head and turned to face me. He wore no expression. Even his eyes seemed blank. “Oh, I exist, child.” Juda’s voice was flat, with barely any inflection. His accent was gone. The patronizing note was strong.
Ghaliya’s hand squeezed mine, pinching. I barely noticed. “Who are you? What is your name?”
“Names are for ephemerals who must find meaning or go mad.”
I wasn’t sure, but I thought that the voice was very slightly effeminate. A woman’s voice?
“Names are so that we may know each other,” Trevalyan said.
Juda swung to face him. “But youdoknow me, child.”
“I do?” Trevalyan said with a polite tone. “Enlighten me.”
“I am all around you, fool.”
“You speak with Juda’s voice. You might be far from here,” Trevalyan pointed out.
The voice did not speak for a dozen heartbeats. “I am here,” it said shortly.
Did it not understand what “far from here” meant?
I am here. I am all around you. “Are you the town?” I asked. “Haigton Crossing…is you?”
Juda swung to look at me, once more. “What you call the town is not me. I am me. I am here.”
“The will of the Crossing,” Benedict said.
Juda turned to face him. “Will. I will be. I am Will.”
My heart scurried along. “How long have you been aware?” I asked.
