Schism: Part One of Triad by Catherine Asaro Read Free Book Online

made you worry.
    Soz wished her life were that simple.
     
    It was dark in the entrance foyer to Althor’s suite. Shannon walked through shadows up to the gold glasswood door. He laid his palm against its surface and closed his eyes while he searched for his brother. Althor’s mind glowed like a star. And he was alone. Reassured, Shannon opened the door.
    Althor was standing with his back to the door, pulling off one of his boots.
    He dropped it on the ground, then sat on the bed and tugged at the other boot Shannon watched, uncertain. For so long he and Althor had shared kinship, so close in their youth. Althor had been a hero to him, the older brother he idolized. He had let his mind blend with his brother and never realized it.
    But in the days before his brother left home, Althor had become distant withdrawing as he focused on the upcoming changes in his life. It had bewildered Shannon, who could never imagine leaving this world.
     
    Then Althor had gone away.
    Shannon had been three years younger when Althor rejected them. Yes, he had known his brother was going to school, not discarding his family. But Shannon had felt ripped in two as if he had lost half of himself.
    “Can I come in?” Shannon asked.
    Althor jerked, looking up. Seeing Shannon, he inhaled sharply as recognition flooded his mind. Astonishment Joy. The emotions burst from him, overwhelming in their intensity.
    “Chad?” Althor stood up, a brilliant smile on his face. “Good gods, Chad, how did you—”
    Then he stopped, his surge of pleasure fading into confusion and no sign of recognition at all.
    Suddenly a different smile wanned Althor’s face, this one relaxed and familiar. “Shani, is that you?”
    Relief washed through Shannon. He came inside and closed the door. “Didn’t you recognize me?” He heard how musical his voice sounded next to Althor’s rumble.
    He was a tenor: Althor was a bass. Shannon knew many people wondered if he felt lacking next to his powerful brothers. With Althor, the opposite was true. Shannon felt safe with him. Protected.
    “You’ve grown,” Althor said. “A lot.”
    “Some.” Shannon went over to him. Althor had to be more than a head taller and at least twice his weight. “You have, too.”
    Althor grimaced good-naturedly. “Sometimes I feel my legs getting longer at night.” He hesitated. “Shani, I’m not sure you should be here.”
    Of all the responses Shannon had thought possible, this was the one he had feared. He understood; Althor was angry because Shannon had never answered his letters, either by holo or the web. “It never bothered you before.”
    “Father is troubled because you didn’t come to dinner. You should go talk to him.”
    “Do you hate me now?”
     
    “Good gods, no.” Althor seemed bewildered. “Why would you say such a thing?”
    “I should have written you.”
    His brother’s posture eased, though he still seemed as tight as a wire. “It’s all right. I know reading and writing don’t come easily for you. Mother and Father keep me in touch.”
    Shannon didn’t know what to make of that. Did Althor really believe him illiterate or only offer it as an excuse? Although some of their siblings struggled to write, it had never bothered Shannon. Althor knew that. And he felt his brother’s strain now. Something had jolted Althor when Shannon first entered the room.
    It was his fault. After Althor had left home, Shannon had grieved. He couldn’t accept that his brother wanted to go. Wrestling with that rejection, he had estranged himself from Althor while he came to terms with the knowledge that the brother he loved didn’t want to stay, that for some inexplicable reason Althor wanted to fly Jag fighters. Shannon would never understand but he didn’t want to be estranged anymore. If Althor hated him, better to find out now than to agonize for three more years. Or longer. Since he never intended to leave Lyshriol, he would rarely see Althor. He meant to stay here,