CHAPTER 24 : THE TWO FACES OF DESTINY
PART I : THE SLEEP OF PREMONITIONS
The infirmary of the Quartz Palace was bathed in a bluish gloom, disturbed only by the muffled crackling of whale blubber torches. On the central bed, Elowen looked tiny, swaddled in Arctic fox furs. Her face, of porcelain paleness, was peaceful, yet her eyelids flickered violently, betraying intense cerebral activity.
A few steps away, seated on wooden stools, Beta Karl and Gamma Anton savored their resurrection. Their wounds, which should have kept them bedridden for hours, were now nothing more than invisible silver scars. Sacha and Vera watched them with a mixture of joy and tenderness.
— “Look at her,” Karl whispered, his voice still hoarse. “She swept away our injuries as if they were mere dust on a coat. Th
