Page 121 - DivineSparkRising II-TheMirrorofSilenceFinal

Nicholas Boothman
Chapter 13: Aleph Reborn
1. Crossing Back
They returned to Lisbon as the sea pretended to
be glass.
The overnight ferry cleaved a path through a
windless dawn; gulls drifted like torn paper. Henry
stood on deck watching the horizon thin into a
blade. Carolina slept in a chair with her hood up,
the way she slept when survival outranked
comfort. Sera sat cross-legged by the rail, palms on
metal, listening to the ship’s slow heart.
When the Tagus opened, the city rose from pale
fog: bridges like red lines on a white page, the
fortress walls yawning, the tiled roofs holding
yesterday’s heat. Henry felt the familiar ache, a
tenderness that always surprised him. Home was a
word that didn’t fit in his mouth anymore, but
Lisbon kept offering it.
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