The Priestess and Her Boy Ch. 26
Chapter 26 - Reunion The beggar rested his back against the base of the gibbet and stared up at the sky. The clouds were parting and, after a few moments, the sun was exposed and he felt warmed by it. But, nevertheless, he kept his cloak tightly wrapped around his body against the early spring breeze. As he stared up, the raven Midnight arrived, perching on the gibbet's horizontal arm above. "I have nothing for you Midnight," said the beggar. "Not a single traveller has passed by, these last few hours." The beggar fancied that Midnight's parents - or perhaps his grandparents - might have feasted on caged bodies hung at the crossroads by the Old Queen. Failed ministers, priests of Wodh who refused to recant, spurned lovers, traitors - both real and imagined - their cadavers had been displayed from the gibbet as a warning to others. But no poor souls had been hung there in recent summers, which made the beggar wonder why Midnight continued to visit. Perhaps ...