Stormed Fortress by Janny Wurts Read Free Book Online Page A

Arithon laughed. ' That is a bit specious, since after all, the whim of the Biedar arranged this encounter. ' Aware Sulfin Evend ' s suspicious regard sought to measure him for concealed weapons, he stood up, then hooked off his sash. His loose robe fell open. The unclothed flesh beneath served his bitter assurance that he was unarmed. ' My half-brother hates me because Desh-thiere wants us dead. Tell me, or better, examine yourself: what rea son do you have to follow him?'
    ' Should I answer? ' Sulfin Evend shot back.
    Not large, though endowed with a neat, feline grace, the creature that four kingdoms raised arms to destroy resettled himself, stripped of humour. The thin glaze of flame-light played over his ironic gaze as he added, ' No just cause exists. No rhetoric can brighten the geas the Mistwraith has dealt, and no redeeming virtue at all can excuse the debacle between us. If this was a lie, you would be cut dead. Not invited to juggle a trying conversation. '
    Such stabbing satire strangled reserve.
    Sulfin Evend rested his forehead on his marked wrists, while his naked unease battled reason. When he found his voice, he dared a cautious truce. ' I have seen enough to allow you that truth. My best efforts have failed. I could not make Avenor ' s crown regent hear sense or abandon pursuit of his blood feud. '
    Green eyes resurveyed him, sharply awake. ' Ath ' s sweet grace! You have tried? ' Through a moment of desperate, excoriating pain, the Teir ' s ' Ffalenn dropped his glance to his unrelaxed hands. ' You could gain a knife through the heart, for that risk. We are cursed, and not trustworthy, though we are both served with the gift of such adamant loyalty. '
    ' I swore oath to the land ' Sulfin Evend admitted, too mazed for the sense to withhold the confidence.
    ' Caithdein, to my half-brother? ' Now, Rathain ' s prince stared, shocked. ' And the Fellowship backed this? You split your loyalty with the Sorcerers at Althain Tower? '
    Sulfin Evend folded his abraded wrists in his lap, too flat tired for subterfuge. ' No way else could I spare the guiding light of the Alliance from falling to usage by necromancy. '
    ' Brave man! Since you have accomplished your victory, you also must know that the aftermath dooms you to failure. ' Neither man courted pretence. The Alliance ' s troops were already marching. Towns in all three of the eastshore kingdoms now girded for war to take down this calm, dark-haired criminal. Given a stubborn lack of response, the Master of Shadow laid open his heart and bored in. ' An end like Jieret ' s could become your lot. You might die on the sword of a vengeance-bent clansman, or worse: Desh-thiere ' s geas can ' t honour your principles. '
    ' So Asandir warned. ' A coal popped in the fire-pot, flurrying sparks that blinked into darkness. Sulfin Evend said carefully, ' My lord ' s fits of madness notwithstanding, I find that I still have to try. '
    ' Who else has the fibre to shoulder the load? I salute you, and grieve, ' stated Arithon Teir ' s ' Ffalenn. ' Before s ' Ilessid , you could break my spirit ' He tightened his sash, perhaps reamed by a chill, though the desert air wafted in through the cleft carried the baked warmth of summer. Then he said, ' I am glad that you ' re with him. His ruler ' s vision has become so dreadfully lost. Lacking the disciplined guidance of training, my half-brother has little chance to resist. Past question, such caring as yours could offer the stance for salvation. As Earl Jieret ' s did, thrice over, for me, not least on the field at Daon Ramon. '
    Sulfin Evend winced, wounded afresh by the genuine absence of anger. Drug-heightened perception made him see too far. Now, the yoke of old enmity haunted, that had led him to cut a courageous man ' s tongue; made him part and party to grotesque hatred, waged upon twisted political viciousness and geas-bent misunderstanding.
    Nor could this unwanted, intimate encounter do aught to ease his raw conscience. '