Whimpering Wind

"The Sharing of Flesh."

Evalyth waits for Captain Jonafer to bring the prisoner, Moru, whom she intends to kill because he had killed her husband. Needless to say, in an Andersonian text, Evalyth's surroundings reflect her situation:

"Where Evalyth waited, outside her door, she saw the compound reach bare to the saw-topped stockade and a crane stand above like a gibbet." (p. 706)

The compound is bare and the crane resembles an instrument of execution. The text continues:

"The air was growing cold - the planet spinning toward an autumn - and a small wind had arisen to whimper behind the dust devils that stirred across the earth. Jonafer's footfalls rang loud." (ibid.)

Everything is appropriate:

cold (of death);

autumn (an ending);

whimpering wind;

devils;

loud footsteps, making it impossible for Evalyth to evade what she is about to do.

But there is a twist in the tale.