Balestone by Toby Neighbors Page B

them all alive. But the two men who had died had screamed so horribly. Tiberius didn’t think he would ever forget their cries of agony as they burned. He regretted killing them. Perhaps they deserved it, perhaps not — the morality of the act wasn’t the issue, it was the decision.
    Tiberius knew that his father could order a man killed or exiled from Avondale, which was essentially a death sentence. His father wasn’t a wizard, but the power they both wielded was the same. Tiberius’ power came from knowledge and self-control; his father’s had been passed down generation after generation. The earls’ power was granted by the people of Avondale, and it was a sacred power, the highest honor a man could receive. Tiberius’ power was magical, but it had very real effects. People could see what Tiberius was capable of. They could witness his strength, and if they tested him, his power was real enough to stop them.
    But was it right to use that power to take another person’s life? Tiberius had already done that. He had killed the sentient trees the Hoskali called the Hosscum. He had slain the huge beast the Hoskali called a Draccon , or at least rendered it unconscious so that Rafe could kill it. Tiberius hadn’t killed Moswanee, but he had taken the man’s place as chief of the tribe and cast him out alone. Tiberius began to wonder if he was really any better than his father. He could argue that he was doing it to protect his friends and even the tribe, but that didn’t assuage the guilt he felt over killing the raiders.
    “You look like a man with a lot on his mind,” Lexi said as she settled beside him.
    Dancer was digging through her pack for the last crumbs of the mealy bread she had eaten on the trip back from the river.
    “I’m thinking about your question,” he said.
    “What question?”
    “Could I really kill the raiders? I still don’t have an answer.”
    “Maybe you don’t need one,” Lexi said. “I admit seeing your magic sometimes bothers me. I’m afraid of it, but I’m not afraid of you.”
    “I was taught as a child that, if a person is good, he will use his strength for good,” Tiberius said. “We were encouraged to be strong, but I never really was. At least not the way my brothers were. My father thought we should all be warriors.”
    “You’re stronger than a whole tribe of warriors, Tiberius.”
    “But I had to break the most sacred law of Valana to have that strength.”
    “Sometimes doing what you believe to be right — even if you’re the only person that believes it — takes incredible courage and strength. The law about magic is wrong. I see that now. I’ve seen you do wondrous things, Ti. And I know you’re a good person. Probably the best person I’ve ever met.”
    “It seems like a good person could find a way to do the right thing without hurting others,” Tiberius said.
    “There is nothing wrong with protecting yourself or the people you love,” Lexi said. “From my experience, a person who isn’t willing to fight for what they want won’t get it and will probably have someone else take what they have.”
    “I was a little naive, I guess,” Tiberius confessed. “I expected us to fight animals like graypees or worse, but I didn’t think I’d be forced to kill people.”
    “What do you think will happen when you confront the princess?”
    Tiberius remembered how easily she had snapped his leg. He had gone to her quarters, and she had levitated him, then broken his leg without even uttering a word. It had seemed so easy for her. And she had no qualms whatsoever about inflicting pain. She had broken his leg just to see if he could really heal himself. The thought of it made him shudder, even though it was a hot day.
    “I don’t know,” Tiberius said.
    “Well, you better be ready to do whatever it takes to stop her,” Lexi said. “Maybe that’s why you have to wrestle with this now, so that you can do what has to be done when the time