Stormed Fortress by Janny Wurts Read Free Book Online Page B

How can you sit there and not break my neck? '
    The creature that Lysaer named Spinner of Darkness did not take offence at the outburst. ' Within Kewar, ' he said gently, ' I accepted the gift offered up by a centaur guardian. '
    Sulfin Evend hauled in a shuddering breath. Fists jammed to shut lips, he stamped down the sudden upsurge of past vision: of a presence and majesty beyond the bounds of his mortal mind to encompass. He had witnessed such wonder: been overawed and crushed to his knees. Every day since, he survived by the sword, and the force of his abject denial.
    This moment, as well, he could not match the grace of an enemy ' s sorrowful understanding. The drug ' s effect heightened their entwined emotions. Set under such stress, Sulfin Evend could not bear the tearing weight of remorse. Not without smashing the foundation that saw him oathsworn to command the Light ' s armies.
    ' Death can ' t restore what ' s already been lost, ' the Master of Shadow declared. ' Does vengeance or blame ease the sorrow of heart-ache? We all make mistakes. Life can ' t be lived without harm to others. Worst of all, I have seen Jieret ' s path was self-chosen. That sting was the hardest trial to bear. We can ' t buy self-forgiveness. Can ' t pay for redress through our sorry penchant for guilt-fed lament and self-punishment. I would have you set free, ' said Arithon Teir ' s ' Ffalenn, ' since the man you support with such steadfast care is none else but birth kin, and my brother. '
    The tears welled too fast, for that tender release. Sulfin Evend masked his wet face, while the soft voice resumed, and pierced his remorse with compassion. ' Some gifts of friendship cannot be earned. They exist, beyond price, and we cannot hope to match up to them. '
    Never so clearly exposed to the debt he might leave to his liege, as survivor, the Alliance Lord Commander crumpled and wept. Did this adversary not know? Sulfin Evend lost the frank speech to inform that he held the sealed order to raise all of the southcoast to arms, a duty now made insupportable by the perverse strait of his quarry ' s free-will absolution.
    The initiate master whose work had undone the Kralovir ' s deadly incursion, in cold fact, was no prejudiced town ' s mortal enemy. A bard of such gifted stature would have loved peace, before the pointless strife of Desh-thiere ' s cursed war had upset his natural destiny.
    ' What brought you here? ' Sulfin Evend snatched dignity, and blotted damp cheeks. ' Why do the nomad tribes hold you in reverence? '
    That woke wry humour, mixed with vexed irritation. "Though frost should freeze water, I can ' t warn them off. ' Arithon tucked lean fingers under his sleeves, discomfited and defensive. "Their seers claim a prophecy. There, our interests collide, since I won ' t endorse the bizarre obligation. '
    Grey eyes matched green, across open flame, while the well of earth ' s silence extended. No man to retreat, Sulfin Evend chose challenge. "They say your fate ' s written into the flint knife I returned, that Enithen Tuer loaned on my behalf to spare my liege from the Kralovir ' s depredation. '
    ' Did they so? ' stated Arithon s ' Ffalenn with soft venom. ' Perhaps you don ' t want to hear this. But the knowledge that founded all three cults of necromancy originated with the Biedar. '
    ' Three cults! ' Sulfin Evend still refused to back down. ' With the Kralovir gone, that leaves two more. Carry on. '
    ' I see why you were set in charge of the troops, ' Rathain ' s prince said in nettled rejoinder. Nonetheless, he had the fibre not to recoil. ' The seals that stay death were once part of a sacred rite, used to commune with the ancestry. The Biedar don ' t write. Their tradition is inherited. They waken their talent through a trial of privation that opens initiate memory. Long before mankind settled Athera, Koriathain used arcane channels and disclosed the content. They catalogued everything. By rights, they claimed, since the dedicate