himself, uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking.
Haley turned away, but her voice continued, “Listening
to them while I was growing up, I often imagined you as an older brother. I
knew you were my father, but they were my true parents. Hearing them talk, I
couldn’t help but feel like we were siblings, except I never got to know you.”
“You were lucky…” he replied hoarsely, “…on both
counts.” The voice of the wind was whispering in his ear now, as it often
seemed to do when his emotions grew stronger than he could bear. Beneath his
feet the earth pounded like a distant drum.
“I am lucky,” she said defiantly. “Despite everything
else, they loved me, just like they loved you. Not everyone is given that
much. Now that I have met you, I have one less regret.”
“Here you will discover that no one even understands
the word ‘love’,” he told her. “Don’t think about the past, or the pain will
undermine your will to survive.”
“I don’t intend to survive,” she said in a quiet
voice.
“What?”
Calmly she turned and looked him fully in the face, “I
have been taken from my family, terrified, and abused. Until you arrived, I
had no hope at all. I appreciate what you’ve tried to do, but I can’t be like
you. I can’t kill. I would rather die remembering the life I had, than live
by becoming a beast.”
Tyrion’s eyes turned hard, but he knew he had no more
time. Beyond the walls of the hut he could sense Lyralliantha’s approach. She
would be at the door in a few minutes. You stupid girl, he thought, but
his mouth found a better response, “Keep your defense up. Don’t let them kill
you easily. You’ll find your will to live before it’s over.”
“You’re wrong.”
He suppressed an urge to slap the impudent girl.
Curbing the violent impulse only served to remind him further that he was no
longer anything like the kind boy his parents had raised. He was a beast, just
as Haley had implied. He survived, but violence had become ingrained at the
center of his being. He stood without answering, his fist clenching. Despite
his anger, he didn’t want her to die.
A minute passed without a reply from him, so she asked
another question, “What’s your reason for surviving? Why do you keep living
like this?”
Tyrion gave her a long stare before finally answering,
“There is no reason to life.”
She shook her head, “You have one, or you wouldn’t
still be alive after all these years.”
The door opened behind him, and Lyralliantha’s voice
called to him, “Your time is done. We must leave.”
He turned and moved toward the door, “Remember what I
have shown you.” Beneath the surface he was seething with anger, but he had no
answer for Haley’s question.
“What is your purpose?” said Haley, repeating
her question as he walked out. She wanted to follow him, a sudden desperate
urge filling her as the door began to close between them. She saw his eyes
watching her as the gap closed. Then he was gone.
She was alone.
Her calm vanished, and a wave of anguish and loss
rolled over her. She was alone. Sitting down on the bed, she picked up the
blanket he had left her and wrapped it around herself, balling the extra
material up in front of her and hugging it closely.
Haley fought against the urge to cry, but the tears
came anyway. The walls closed in and the air in the room seemed to suffocate
her.
She was alone.
Chapter
6
Tyrion and Lyralliantha rode back atop a large dormon,
but they didn’t attempt to talk. The wind made conversation difficult, and he
was in no mood to talk anyway. The world seemed to crawl by slowly beneath
them as they drew ever closer to home. Thillmarius hadn’t bothered to come for
this trip, a fact that didn’t make much of an impression on Tyrion until they
had reached the Illeniel Grove.
“It seems Thillmarius wasn’t interested in seeing if I
made any impression on her,” he noted as they descended the god-tree
Haley turned away, but her voice continued, “Listening
to them while I was growing up, I often imagined you as an older brother. I
knew you were my father, but they were my true parents. Hearing them talk, I
couldn’t help but feel like we were siblings, except I never got to know you.”
“You were lucky…” he replied hoarsely, “…on both
counts.” The voice of the wind was whispering in his ear now, as it often
seemed to do when his emotions grew stronger than he could bear. Beneath his
feet the earth pounded like a distant drum.
“I am lucky,” she said defiantly. “Despite everything
else, they loved me, just like they loved you. Not everyone is given that
much. Now that I have met you, I have one less regret.”
“Here you will discover that no one even understands
the word ‘love’,” he told her. “Don’t think about the past, or the pain will
undermine your will to survive.”
“I don’t intend to survive,” she said in a quiet
voice.
“What?”
Calmly she turned and looked him fully in the face, “I
have been taken from my family, terrified, and abused. Until you arrived, I
had no hope at all. I appreciate what you’ve tried to do, but I can’t be like
you. I can’t kill. I would rather die remembering the life I had, than live
by becoming a beast.”
Tyrion’s eyes turned hard, but he knew he had no more
time. Beyond the walls of the hut he could sense Lyralliantha’s approach. She
would be at the door in a few minutes. You stupid girl, he thought, but
his mouth found a better response, “Keep your defense up. Don’t let them kill
you easily. You’ll find your will to live before it’s over.”
“You’re wrong.”
He suppressed an urge to slap the impudent girl.
Curbing the violent impulse only served to remind him further that he was no
longer anything like the kind boy his parents had raised. He was a beast, just
as Haley had implied. He survived, but violence had become ingrained at the
center of his being. He stood without answering, his fist clenching. Despite
his anger, he didn’t want her to die.
A minute passed without a reply from him, so she asked
another question, “What’s your reason for surviving? Why do you keep living
like this?”
Tyrion gave her a long stare before finally answering,
“There is no reason to life.”
She shook her head, “You have one, or you wouldn’t
still be alive after all these years.”
The door opened behind him, and Lyralliantha’s voice
called to him, “Your time is done. We must leave.”
He turned and moved toward the door, “Remember what I
have shown you.” Beneath the surface he was seething with anger, but he had no
answer for Haley’s question.
“What is your purpose?” said Haley, repeating
her question as he walked out. She wanted to follow him, a sudden desperate
urge filling her as the door began to close between them. She saw his eyes
watching her as the gap closed. Then he was gone.
She was alone.
Her calm vanished, and a wave of anguish and loss
rolled over her. She was alone. Sitting down on the bed, she picked up the
blanket he had left her and wrapped it around herself, balling the extra
material up in front of her and hugging it closely.
Haley fought against the urge to cry, but the tears
came anyway. The walls closed in and the air in the room seemed to suffocate
her.
She was alone.
Chapter
6
Tyrion and Lyralliantha rode back atop a large dormon,
but they didn’t attempt to talk. The wind made conversation difficult, and he
was in no mood to talk anyway. The world seemed to crawl by slowly beneath
them as they drew ever closer to home. Thillmarius hadn’t bothered to come for
this trip, a fact that didn’t make much of an impression on Tyrion until they
had reached the Illeniel Grove.
“It seems Thillmarius wasn’t interested in seeing if I
made any impression on her,” he noted as they descended the god-tree
Similar Books
