“Aye.” Meara nodded sharply.
Cerelinde shook her head. “He is a Shaper. He is beyond my ken.”
“There was a … what do you call it? A great branching.” Studying the floor, Meara plucked at the carpet, then sniffed at the sweet odor of heart-grass on her fingertips. “When he refused, three times, to withdraw his Gift from Arahila’s Children.” Her sharp chin pointed upward, eyes glancing. “What might have been, had he not? You could see that for him.”
A chill ran the length of Cerelinde’s spine. “I do not think,” she said gently,“his Lordship would consent to seek this knowledge.”
“You could ask.” Meara straightened abruptly, tossing back her hair. “It would be interesting to know, since some of Arahila’s Children disdain it. His Lordship’s Gift, that is. Which is odd, since it is all they have that you do not; and all I do, too. I do, you know.” Placing her hands on her hips, she fixed the Lady of the Ellylon with a disconcerting stare. “I will go now. Thank you, for what you did. It meant very much to some people. I am sorry to have placed you in danger, but I do not think Lord Vorax will kill you. Not yet, anyway”
“Good,” Cerelinde said simply, staring back.
When the madling had gone, Cerelinde buried her face in her hands and took a deep, shuddering breath. When all was said and done, there was too much here beyond her comprehension. She had been grateful for Meara’s request. She had hoped, in sharing this small gift, to bring a measure of compassion to the stark halls of Darkhaven, to the meager lives of those who dwelled within its walls. It had seemed a kindness, a simple kindness, to offer comfort in lieu of the healing she could not effect.
Now, she was not so sure.
Seeking comfort of her own, she thought of Aracus, and tried to imagine his understanding. There was nothing there, only the memory of his gaze, wide-set and demanding, stirring her blood in unaccustomed ways, filling her with hope and pride and the dream of the Prophecy fulfilled.
In this place, it seemed very far away.
She thought of Tanaros instead, and remembered the old madling woman Sharit they had met in the halls of Darkhaven, and how gently he had taken her hand; how proudly she had stood, gripping it tight. Whatever had passed here this day, Tanaros would understand it.
He was not what she would have expected him to be, at once both less and more. Less terrifying; a Man, not a monster. And yet he was more than a Man. Immortal, as Aracus was not. Like the Ellylon, he understood the scope of ages.
Cerelinde wondered what he had been like, so long ago, as a mortal Man. Not so different, perhaps, from Aracus. After all, Tanaros was related by ties of distant kinship and fosterage to the House of Altorus. He must have been as close to his liege-lord as Blaise Caveros was to Aracus. Had he been as fiercely loyal? Yes, she thought, he must have been. The betrayal would not have wounded him so deeply if he were not.
He must have loved his wife, too. What manner of passion had led her to commit such a grievous betrayal? She thought about Aracus, and the quick, hot drive that blazed within him. And she thought about Tanaros, steady and calm, despite the ancient, aching grief that lay behind his dark gaze. Though he was her enemy, he treated her with unfailing courtesy. She did not know the answer.
He was coming.
They were all coming. Vorax the Glutton’s words had confirmed it. Somewhere, in the world beyond Darkhaven’s walls, the tides of fate had shifted. Beshtanag had fallen. Tanaros Kingslayer and Ushahin the Misbegotten were on their way, soon to reunite the Three. And on their heels would be Aracus Altorus, the Borderguard and her kinsmen in his train, intent on storming Darkhaven.
She was the Lady of the Ellylon and his betrothed, the key to fulfilling Haomane’s Prophecy. They would not relent until she was freed or the plains of Curonan were churned to red mud with the last of their dying blood.
And Lord Satoris in his immortal pride and folly would revel in it.
Death was the only certainty. Whatever else transpired, the ravens of Darkhaven would feast on the flesh of foes and allies alike. The thought of it made her shudder to the bone. The hand of Haomane’s Prophecy hovered over her, a bright and terrible shadow, filled with the twinned promise of hope and bloodshed. Although she wished it otherwise, she could see, now, how they were intertwined.
All things were as they must be. Light and dark, bound together in an inextricable battle. The paths that led them here were beginning to narrow. Soon, it would not matter what might have been. Only what was.
She was afraid, and weary of being alone with her fear.
Hurry, Cerelinde prayed. Oh, hurry!
And she was no longer sure, in that moment, to whom or for what she prayed.
Of all the things that had befallen her in Darkhaven, this was surely the most fearful.