THE PATH OF RENUNCIATION

34

The maid Liramel had sent to fetch her brother an hour ago hadn't returned. It was already getting dark outside the window, and long bluish shadows lay on the white carpet, stretching all the way to the fireplace.

June came into its own smoothly, but early spring has long fluffed the grass and covered the apple orchard with fragrant clover. Now the cats were almost invisible: during the day they dispersed in search of shade, and at night only a sharp-sighted owl could see them.

It had been a month and a half since their return from Lausens, and exactly a month since Liramel had last seen Karl. He was dissatisfied with her decision to send Yakir to Varut and began defiantly avoiding any meetings and explanations. At first she also endured her temper, but then she became melancholy and even sank to the point that she sent Linnie to watch her brother, and for the last three days she herself climbed the secret staircase to his chambers and knocked until her hands went numb. But Karl