Secret Sacrament (32 page)
Authors: Sherryl Jordan
“You've got plague,” the envoy announced. “You have a day left, I'd say; not much longer.”
Gabriel said nothing, but his eyes shone with an unearthly fire, and the envoy looked away, afraid and swearing. “There's no point in delivering you now,” he said. “Lord Jaganath wouldn't thank me for taking plague into his palace. Have you anything I can give him, some token, by which he'll know you were indeed my prisoner?”
Gabriel removed the small leather bag from about his neck. Jaganath had seen the bag that fateful night at the Empress's feast, when he had publicly accused Gabriel of wearing the Shinali amulet; now he would see what else it
containedâthe small symbol in the shape of a figure eight, made of grass from Shinali lands, intricate and endless and strong: the sign of Shinali dreams.
Taking it, the envoy mounted his horse again and rode away, galloping fast, dust rising about him like powdered gold.
Darkness melted into light, and light to dark. Somewhere Gabriel lost the road and found himself on cliffs overlooking the sea. There was grass here, sweet and warm under his bare feet. He lay on it and watched the gulls wheeling overhead, crying. There was an eagle, gliding close, its eyes like fire. And flames in a Shinali hearth, and Ashila watching over him, smiling while she wept.
Then the sun again, and heat, and thirst.
And an evening. Or was it dawn? The skies soft, the color of pearl. Oysters, rotting on a beach, and a knife flicking out the precious part, the eternal part, the beauty formed out of pain. The rest discarded like old clothes.
Heat. Stumbling in it, weary, thirsting, tearing off the garments that hampered and held back; the last relinquishment, terrible, sublime.
The earth, the sky, the sun and moon gone. Dimness, and silence. The great valley, shadowy
and full of peace; and the wind, the holy wind, powerful and awesome and joyous. He raised his eyes and faced the vastness before him, not alone.
Elated, he lifted his arms to the glowing wind, and began to run.
The beginning
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Photo credit Tulloch Photography, Tauranga, New Zealand
SHERRYL JORDAN
is the author of several critically acclaimed and award-winning books, including
THE HUNTING OF THE LAST DRAGON
, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults;
THE RAGING QUIET
, a
School Library Journal
Best Book and an ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults;
WOLF-WOMAN
, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults;
WINTER OF FIRE
, an ALA/YALSA Recommended Book for the Reluctant Reader and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults; and
THE JUNIPER GAME
, a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. She is also the author of
SECRET SACRAMENT
, the prequel to
TIME OF THE EAGLE
and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. She lives in Tauranga, New Zealand.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at
hc.com
.
Cover art © 2001 by Lee and Diane Dillon
Cover design by Hilary Zarycky
Cover © 2003 by HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
SECRET SACRAMENT.
Copyright © 1996 by Sherryl Jordan. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jordan, Sherryl.
  Â
Secret sacrament / Sherryl Jordan.
p.  cm.
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Summary: A disturbing incident when he is only seven years old foreshadows the role Gabriel will play in the relations between his Navoran people and the Shinali, a role that is solidified when he becomes an Elected One and trains to be a Healer.
  Â
ISBN 0-06-028904-XâISBN 0-06-028905-8 (lib. bdg.)
  Â
ISBN 0-06-447230-2 (pbk.)
  Â
EPub Edition © July 2016 ISBN 9780062459787
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[1. Fantasy.] I. Title.
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First Harper edition, 2003
Originally published in New Zealand in 1996 by Puffin Books.
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