Cauldron Anthology - Whore | Page 17

she opened her body , humming with pleasure , to the people ’ s elected she was united
with all of them , equal , indivisible , adored . Hephaestus laughed against her . He shook
with the force of her magic .
“ It is lovely ,” he whispered in her ear . “ But it burns too bright to last .”
He kissed Pauline gently on each of her delicate eyelids , then held her close in a
dancer ’ s embrace . The band struck up an impromptu performance of “ Ça Ira ” and
Hephaestus swept her up in the tide of ebullient song . They had to go slow , with his
injured leg . She had plenty of time to see the candles lining the cathedral go out , one by
one .
Reason lost her pretty head , though her body went on clapping gaily . The flash of
the blade was too quick to be seen , but the evidence in the bloody basket showed that
Pauline ’ s sometime lover wouldn ’ t need to cover up her gap-toothed grin again . Brave
Marianne wondered why she couldn ’ t keep up with the quick tempo , unaware of the
weight of the chains that would strangle her next year in a cell in the Salpêtrière . The
leader of the students was destined to die on a far-off battlefield , torn in two by a
cannonball (“ Excellent shot ,” he choked out with admiration in his last moment of
consciousness ). The dryad would give up the revolutionary cause , only to be bayoneted
through the heart in her own apartment in the rue Transonain , forty years hence : a case