Ash: The Lost History Novel Chapters
List of most recent chapters published for the Ash: The Lost History novel. A total of 172 chapters have been translated and the release date of the last chapter is Apr 02, 2024
Latest Release: Chapter 1 : Ash: The Lost History.By Mary Gentle.Introduction.I make no apology for presenting a new
Ash: The Lost History.By Mary Gentle.Introduction.I make no apology for presenting a new translation of these doc.u.ments which are our only contact with the life of that extraordinary woman, Ash (b.l457[?]~ d.1477). One has long been needed.Charles Mallo
- 101 Being wartime, the police investigations were a bit scanty.- Now it's sixty years later, the trail's cold.William says he always a.s.sumed his brother was caught in the Blitz, killed in the bombing, his body blown up or burned so as to be facial
- 102 The roof and beams cramped her. Ash stuck the shaft of her poleaxe forward past Euen as he recovered his balance. She hooked the curved back edge of the blade behind the second man's knee. Bracing both feet, she yanked.The razor edge of the axe hooke
- 103 "I must have pa.s.sed six of the Duke's messengers on up to the walls since Nones6," he added, reading the rough charcoal lines and dots that represented enemy dispositions outside the walls, and not her face. "Did any of them happen t
- 104 "What . . . what do they say?"- They say to me: we study you . . .In G.o.dfrey's voice, repeating it, she hears an echo of the voices that blasted her mind wide open."Maybe they want to know what people are like," she said, and ad
- 105 -I cannot tell, child. Time is nothing where I am. I read once in Aquinas that the duration of the soul in h.e.l.l may be only a heartbeat, but to the d.a.m.ned it is eternity.Momentarily, she lets herself feel his desolation. Then, harshly: "You hea
- 106 "Burgundy isn't an objective," Ash said. "Burgundy is an obstacle."Robert Anselm growled, "What the f.u.c.k, girl?"She stayed resting against Faversham's solidness because she doubted her ability to sit up on her ow
- 107 The voice of G.o.dfrey, in her head, is not weary - has, in fact, the tireless ability that the machina rei militaris has always had, to speak when any human soul would be dropping from exhaustion.Her own voice is rasping, after bellowing on the walls of
- 108 "Cold everywhere, now . . .""Yeah. f.u.c.king rag-'ead c.u.n.t. Why'd she have to bring her lousy weather with her?"Ash let the discussion ramble, apparently studying the map; studying instead the maps of faces, chiaroscuro i
- 109 Ash waved up at Floria del Guiz, tiny face almost invisible on the high walls. There was a cl.u.s.ter of lion livery jackets with her; they made up a sizeable proportion of the crowd."You can't keep anything a secret overnight." Ash turned
- 110 "Yes.""Well, you're right," Ash said, and when the woman looked back at her, went on: "Your own men are in danger. The Wild Machines don't care how they win this war. For one thing, they're telling you to a.s.sault
- 111 "The Duke," Ash said. "Charles the Bold has begun to die."The Faris's hand, still clasped in her own, tightened. "If it is true, if I have no choice, now-!"Ash winced at the strength of her grip, grinding the small bones
- 112 - Anna * * *Message: #192 (Pierce Ratcliff) Subject: Ash Date: 14/12/00 at 10.31 p.m.From: [email protected] Pierce - Where the h.e.l.l are you?Well, I did it. I drove out to the old people's home this evening, and I saw William Davies and his brothe
- 113 She expected a protest, along the lines of let Geraint Morgan do it! Anselm only glanced at the city gates, and nodded acknowledgement."I'll put a watch up on the walls," he grunted. "Soon as I see you attack the camp, we'll shoot
- 114 The man-at-arms nodded, turning his mount awkwardly among wilted banks of briar and dead goldenrod; and spurred back into the company cavalry. She watched the few seconds necessary to see him approach the lance-leaders."Florian." She checked pos
- 115 The quality of the light changed again.We're too late. He's dying; the last breaths- Now, the wind blowing cold between the trees, all the high bare branches swayed, rubbing bark against bark, creaking and surging like the sea. The face of the c
- 116 Simultaneously, as she spoke, white flicked in her peripheral vision, the greyhounds bayed and darted forward, one of the huntsmen sounded the call on his horn to let the Master of Game know his couple were released; and Floria del Guiz stood up in her st
- 117 Floria del Guiz looked down at her red-brown hands. She said, "What did you see? What were you hunting?""A hart." Ash stared at the albino body on the mud. "A white hart, crowned with gold. Sometimes Hubert's Hart.6 Not this,
- 118 Perhaps it's because I'm a historian: despite the fact that we experience only the present, I retain a superst.i.tious conviction that the past exists - that it has been _real_. And yet we know nothing but this single present moment . . . What I
- 119 His hands slammed into the wall either side of her, pinning her into the window embrasure. She glanced down at the steel of his arms; then up into his face.Spittle sprayed from his mouth, dotting the front of her livery tabard. "I wanted to come to A
- 120 Back at the city wall, she had to stand aside for a procession of her men coming down, two Greek Fire casualties with them; and Father Faversham treading the wet stone steps carefully in their wake.He put his hood back from his bearded pale face, gazing d
- 121 "He was not interrogated," Angelotti called. "Only killed, madonna. Spear wound to the belly.""Ride on!" she called. "Get over in cover!"Angelotti spurred his horse. Anselm leaned from the saddle, said something to
- 122 "That's ... I couldn't tell!" She shook her head, aware that men surrounded her, her own and others; and that Florian was giving loud, clear instructions. She did not know what the woman said.- Now, you hear me . . . And you fear, too,
- 123 "Maybe. But I wouldn't count on it. I heard them after the hart was dead."Robert Anselm grunted. "If we're very, very lucky, they were damaged . . ."Picking up his words, Angelotti completed: "... if what happened when t
- 124 Olivier de la Marche, coming up to the d.u.c.h.ess, bowed stiffly to her. He kept his gaze on Ash. "How could they not?"It took her a moment to realise that it was a rhetorical question spoken with transparent honesty. She looked questioningly a
- 125 The bishop - a round-faced, dark man with some of the Valois look -appeared startled. "Now that is rank superst.i.tion.""Is it?" Ash came immediately to Angelotti's defence. She ignored de la Marche's thunderous frown. "
- 126 The first smile tugged at her mouth.I'd like to see de la Marche copy my command-style.And then, her eyes on Lacombe and Romont and the others: If I get this wrong - if I'm not up to this job - all of you will be lying dead in the streets. And s
- 127 Angelotti gave him a filthy look.De la Marche said, "We have scouts enough in towers and on the walls to give us warning of where an attack will come. If every man attends to the trumpets and standards, we can deploy our companies well enough to cove
- 128 "Ah, b.u.g.g.e.r off, rosbif!"He gave a happy, rumbling chuckle."Christ, you do need sleep!" Ash elbowed him. "Florian-""Don't go anywhere yet," the surgeon said bluntly, over the noise of men rising, bowing, a
- 129 "Just to see her Grace does stay in there, all night." The woman jerked her thumb at the further side of the anteroom, where a curtain masked another doorway. Woven in green and gold thread, it s.h.i.+mmered heavily in the dull light."We�
- 130 "She had a baby-?" Ash stopped and blushed."Just some man she f.u.c.ked one night," the surgeon said contemptuously. "He wasn't her lover. We had fights about that. We had more fights about Joseph - the baby. I was jealous, I
- 131 "Except that she can't. Because of me.""First Charles, then you." Ash couldn't stop a smile. "Jeez, I thought I was good at finding trouble and jumping into the middle of it!""I didn't ask for this!"H
- 132 "That was me," Ash said. "I'm not going to make thirty; I don't want to f.u.c.k you; I love you as much as I can love anybody; I don't want you hurt. But right now I need to know what you're going to do, because I have t
- 133 The man squatted down, cut and filthy fingers plucking at the tied necks of the sacks. De la Marche reached over him, dagger out, and cut the twine with his blade. The man took two corner edges of one sack and lifted. A large heavy object rolled out on to
- 134 Unmelted frost crunched under her boots, coming into an open square. Wind brought tears leaking from her eyes. The frozen fountain in the middle of the square bulged with ice."We'll go up to the mills," she announced. "I want to check
- 135 "For-" Ash's silver brows went up. She put her unbandaged hand palm-flat on Baldina's belly, feeling the heat of the woman's body though kirtle and s.h.i.+rt and gauntlet-glove.In Ash's memory, a woman-physician of the Cartha
- 136 Ash stripped off her gauntlet and clasped his hand, moved almost to tears of her own. "If it comes to that, I guess you have the distinction of being the only Englishman ever to employ the reigning prince of Burgundy - since she's still on my bo
- 137 "Are you sure she hasn't?""Frankly? No." Ash turned to the Earl of Oxford. "This is speculation. What do you know?""I know," the Earl said, "that my men and I are a week in front of two Visigoth legions tr
- 138 Glancing around the chamber, Ash noted Richard Faversham among her own men; the English deacon's face shrunken, under his black beard. His eyes burned. He was nodding.Floria said, "But Gelimer specifies, if I'm not present, there's to
- 139 Disturbed, she contented herself with another nod; which the Faris again ignored. The Visigoth woman, armoured and in black livery, had a dagger at her belt; Ash could not see a sword-hilt, in among the crush of bodies.Why is Gelimer watching me? He shoul
- 140 Gelimer ignored Ash. He spoke to Floria, his gaze s.h.i.+fting between her and the other Burgundians. "You can see beyond your walls, you are not blind. I have three full legions outside Dijon. It is obvious you cannot hold out. Surrender Dijon. By t
- 141 "Christ up a Tree, I need a drink!" Ash turned and began to pace the floorboards, beating her hands together for circulation. "And where the h.e.l.l is de la Marche? Let's get this 'envoy' c.r.a.p over with!"There were n
- 142 "Look at that." Ash pointed. "They couldn't resist it, could they!"Out in the centre of the hall, Robert Anselm and Euen Huw had abandoned their exaggerated and pantomime blows and were circling each other, on the rushes. As she s
- 143 A wave of heat went through her. She flattened her hands against the stone wall behind her, keeping her balance. Her cheeks flushed bright red. Searing embarra.s.sment wiped out everything, even the stabbing pain under her breastbone. Her muscles tensed t
- 144 Or, is Pierce under a lot of stress?- Anna * * *Message: #385 (Anna Longman) Subject: Ash Date: 16/12/00 at 11.03 a.m.From: [email protected] Anna, From a cursory glance at the files, I do not disagree substantially with anything that Pierce has written t
- 145 "Well, G.o.d's grace grant that we do it now!" De Vere was already turning, giving orders to the Janissaries, when Floria interrupted: "Wait.""Christ, Florian!" Ash shouted, appalled. "What do you mean, 'wait&#
- 146 "'This'?"The Visigoth woman switched to the language of southern Burgundy, speaking with a perceptible accent. "Refuge. Sanctuary. I gave the orders, I held my commanders back so that you could ride out into the wildwood."The
- 147 "How many incapacitated?""You know men," Blanche snapped. "All of them say they'll fight tomorrow. I'd say six of them will still be in bed next week. If the walls are standing!"The woman's asperity, Ash saw, w
- 148 Another of the rats - patched fur dim in this light, but she was almost sure it was lickfinger - ran up Adelize's arm to her shoulder. The woman c.o.c.ked her head, chuckling as the rat's whiskers tickled her face. She paid no attention to Ash.&
- 149 "G.o.dfrey, you'll have me believing you were suckled like Our Lord, by a boar!"Without taking his hand away from the boarlet, G.o.dfrey Maximillian looked back towards her. "Bless you, child, I have been rescuing G.o.d's wild bea
- 150 "Call down the lightning," she said. "Do it now."Her voice sounded flat, in the still, bitter air. She had a second to smear her eyes clear, to think, b.l.o.o.d.y idiots he and I are going to look if this is all for nothing- In the cen
- 151 '-AH, WITH YOU!''---WE HAVE KNOWN SINCE YOU CAME TO US.'.'SPOKE TO THE MACHINA, WHEN YOU WERE IN MIDST OF US.'.'CALLED OUT, IN THE DESERT SOUTH, ALMOST WITHIN TOUCH OF US-!''-ESTABLISHED THE DIRECT LINK WITH US
- 152 Ninety per cent of it is VITRIFIED silicon. Gla.s.s.At the front, which is what we've been seeing on the image-enhancers, the shape of the head and the front of the torso are clear. Most of the rest of it, including the plinth, is melted. Silt and sa
- 153 26 December AD 1476-5 January ad 1477.Lost Burgundy1.Chapter One."And now," Ash said, "you need to order my execution."Light leaked through the unshuttered windows into the ducal chambers - the feast of Stephen dawning late, to a blistering cold. Free
- 154 "Shall I send another man for my lord de la Marche?" Anselm gritted."Not yet. He'll be on his way."The Turkish commander pointed over the walls and said something. Ash looked as they pa.s.sed between two brattices; saw no particular movement in the e
- 155 "Because you're going to be training the men and women of Dijon. You may not have noticed, soldier, but they don't like soldiers. They think we're drunken, licentious, aggressive louts." Ash grinned at Ludmilla's expression of angelic innocence. "S
- 156 Olivier de la Marche nodded. "And Fernando del Guiz himself?"Ash stopped pacing. Her head came up. "Put him with the prisoners. Put him in with Violante and Adelize and the Faris. The Faris could do with a confessor - he's the only Arian priest we've
- 157 Ash made to protest, and then grinned. "You might as well. If you can find anything in it other than spiders, you're welcome to it!""What?""It's my war-chest," Ash said. She watched the sitting woman; the light on the iron chains. "Not that money
- 158 "He's got fifteen thousand troops out there, he doesn't have to!""But - you could put me on the field: not as a commander, as your battle double-""I don't need your help. We've already wrung you dry. You're missing the point, Faris.""The point
- 159 She c.o.c.ked her head, short bright hair flying, eyes alight; and deliberately surveyed them."You s.h.i.+t-faced b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, you don't need me to tell you what to do! Kill Gelimer!"It echoes off the walls as they scream it back at her.In full armo
- 160 Anselm's helmet-m.u.f.fled voice bellowed, "Come on, girl!"She made to move off. One half-pace, and she stopped again, the noise of screaming men beating at her ears through the helmet-lining. She felt her arms too heavy to lift, her legs too heavy to
- 161 The ad hoc leader of Carracci's and Price's billmen shouldered hastily in beside her, as escort."Vitteleschi," he panted. "In charge of these guys if you say so, boss.""For now." Another spreading grin, that she can't resist: we did it, we did it
- 162 "And another hundred wounded: about two-thirds of them walking wounded. The Lion's come out of this with less than two hundred of us, and that only if we're lucky."The bright wind blew cold. Awkwardly, she picked open the buckle of her right gauntlet
- 163 "Do you need to take so many of the fit men to ride out and bring d.u.c.h.ess Floria back?" Olivier de la Marche questioned.Ash, on a borrowed Visigoth mare, grinned down at him from her war saddle. "Yup," she said cheerfully."You
- 164 Vitteleschi came at the run: billmen forming up in front of her, arrows rattling off war-hats. One man grunted and reached down to snap off a shaft stuck out of his calf. Rickard reached for her reins, fumbling the mare and the Lion banner. She rattled a
- 165 'MAKE HUManITY AS IF IT HAD NEVER BEEN.'It sears into her: knowledge she does not want, would rather not know."I just thought you wanted to wipe us out because you wanted to be the only ones!"'IF YOUR SPECIES SURVIVES, THEN EVERYT
- 166 "A Lion!" Anselm's rallying voice: "A Lion!"The heat of breath touched her. She did not turn her head.In the corner of her vision, she sees a great needle-clawed paw set down upon the stone.Under her hand, there is no detectable h
- 167 VAUGHAN DAVIES: Will you let me finish? Thank you. Whatever it is, whether a sub-atomic phenomenon of some kind, or an energy, I was most certainly exposed to it. I believe it to be stronger the more recently the artefact has become real. The exposure in
- 168 I intend the publication of these papers to act as a call to arms to the scientific community. We must investigate. We must act. We must prevent, somehow, the failing of Lost Burgundy; or create something we can put in its place. Or else, as Ash herself w
- 169 "I don't understand."A fair-haired woman in a white overall walked towards us down the track. The wind made her slit her eyes, but I could see that they were green. She had had her head shaven and st.i.tched at some time in the recent past:
- 170 30 - [ A term used in this text for Northern Europeans in general.]31 - [ As with the nave, this was in fact left unfinished until the nineteenth century.]Part Two: 1 - [ "For under the axis ['Axle' of Rota Fortuna] is written, 'Queen
- 171 The exact site of the Byrsa or walled hill during the 15c is conjectural, based on textual evidence.- Pierce ]3 - [ 'G.o.d protect you'.]4 - [ 'Green Christ, Christ Emperor'.]5 - [ More properly, Ego te absolvo: the priest's absolution of one's sins
- 172 21 - [ Margaret of Anjou, wife of the English King Henry VI; funded in some of her attempts to regain the crown for her husband or her son by Louis XI of France. In 14763 Margaret is reported as just having been ransomed from England, and present in the F