Anne Rice - Servant of the Bones

He seemed to peer directly through the lens at me.

The newscaster spoke of a city and a country weeping for its murdered leader. The world wept for the man who had wanted peace with the Arabs, and was now dead.

Azriel stared at the camera, and the camera lingered. Azriel was silent—thoughtful—looking right at me. He was dressed in plain black clothes.

The camera and the news moved on.

The third time was merely a glimpse. But I knew that it was Azriel. It was in New York. I was in a cab speeding downtown, navigating wildly through the early afternoon traffic, and off to the side I saw Azriel walking on the street.

He was handsomely dressed, with his hair untamed, and looked magnificent, striding along, carefree and full of wonder. He turned suddenly as if he had felt me see him; he looked around puzzled. But the cab shot on. Trucks blocked my view. We traveled blocks, weaving in and out of other cars. I couldn’t have told where it was even, the place where I saw him.

Maybe it wasn’t Azriel, I wasn’t sure, or so I told myself. And then, of course, I knew that he could reach me if he wanted me. I did not go back to look for him.

It’s taken twelve months to prepare this book for publication, and then to publish it effectively under the cloak of anonymity so that my own colleagues won’t laugh me out of the university, and those who need to hear this tale won’t be hampered by knowing my identity.

There you have it. The Tale of the Servant of the Bones. And the story of what really happened with the cult of the Temple of the Mind. Or you have one story of one soul and its agonies and its refusal to give up, and its ultimate victory.

Azriel, if you read this, if you are pleased, let me know. A call; a small written note; your presence. Anything. My life has never been as it was.

But I am confident that wherever you are, you are both happy and good. And that is what matters to you most, I am sure of it.

Altashheth.

11:50 p.m.

July 11, 1995

BY ANNE RICE

Interview with the Vampire

The Feast of All Saints

Cry to Heaven

The Vampire Lestat

The Queen of the Damned

The Mummy

The Witching Hour

The Tale of the Body Thief

Lasher

Taltos

Memnoch the Devil

Servant of the Bones

Violin

Pandora

The Vampire Armand

Vittorio, The Vampire

Merrick

Blood and Gold

Blackwood Farm

Blood Canticle

Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt

Christ the Lord: Road to Cana

Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession

Angel Time

A Ballantine Book

Published by The Random House Publishing Group

Copyright © 1996 by Anne O’Brien Rice

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

Ballantine and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

“The Bones of Woe,” “Aesthetic Theory,” “How Keep Dark and Pattern Off,” and “Lament” used by permission of Stan Rice originally appeared in Some Lamb , copyright © 1975 by Stan Rice. The first three poems listed were subsequently reprinted by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., in Singing Yet , copyright © 1992 by Stan Rice.

www.ballantinebooks.com

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 98-96409

eISBN: 978-0-307-57590-6

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