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. She had the idea,
and it seemed she had the will. I did not think that she really needed me
now. I was certain that I had nothing left to offer, that the outcome was
entirely in her own hands.
So I shut up and watched, irritated with but unable to prevent my own
leaning and turning, shifting and pressing, as if I were out there myself,
anticipating, compensating.
When she came to the Grand Curve she was a living flame: Her progress
was very slow, but there was a relentless quality to it. Whatever the
outcome, I knew that she was being changed, had been changed already, that
the Pattern was inscribing itself upon her, and that she was very near to
the end of its statement. I almost cried out as she seemed to stop for a
moment, but the words died in my throat as she shuddered once, then
continued. I wiped my brow on my sleeve as she approached the Final Veil.
Whatever the outcome, she had proved her suspicions. Only a child of Amber
could have survived as she had.
I do not know how long it took her to pierce the last Veil. Her effort
became timeless, and I was caught up in that protracted moment. She was a
burning study in extreme slow motion, the nimbus that enshrouded her
lighting up the entire chamber like a great blue candle.
And then she was through and onto that final short arc, the last three
steps of which may well be the most difficult part of the entire Pattern
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