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at him right along with Triana.
He had gone to Valyn then, but it hadn't done a bit of good except to
worry him more. Valyn was helpless where his cousin was concerned.
And Shana was angry. Very angry. He could tell by the way she avoided
everyone and everything and kept herself locked away in the library. He
surmised that Shadow had said or done something to her that made her angry,
but he couldn't imagine what it was.
And when he asked her what was wrong, she acted as if she didn't
care. Which left him unable to think of any solutions to what was obviously at
least, to him a problem.
He looked up in startlement from his pacing, as someone walked
through the door without even tapping on the frame, then closed it behind
himself and stood in the shadows where the light from Keman's single glow
didn't quite reach. There was no mistaking who it was, though. Keman was
surprised to see that his visitor was Mero.
"Keman have you got some time to spare?" the halfblood asked
hesitantly, shifting his weight from foot to foot uncertainly as if he wasn't
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sure he was welcome, and giving the dragon a slow, sheepish smile. "I seem to
have gotten myself into a bit of a mess."
Keman looked from him to the door, Mero nodded, and turned to lock it
behind himself. "That should be sufficient to keep us from being disturbed,"
Mero told him. As he turned back, Keman finally noticed the bruises on his
face, and instantly surmised from the way he was walking that there were more
like them under his clothing.
What Fire and Rain! Someone had been beating him!
"What happened to you?" the dragon blurted, frozen with shock. Mero
limped over to him and looked around for somewhere to sit.
"One of Triana's old harem decided he didn't like being put away,"
the young man said casually, and eased himself down into one of Keman's
armchairs. "He decided that if I wasn't around anymore, Triana would come back
to her old ways. The Lady disagreed with his approach and he is even now being
shoveled into a very small sack for disposal."
The young man's face and hands betrayed the casual tone of his words;
his hands were shaking, his face was white, and his expression was set in a
patently forced smile.
He looked up at Keman, who was slowly lowering himself into the chair
opposite him, and his eyes were dark, and full of something Keman couldn't
read. Pain. And something else. "I never saw an elven lord actuallykill
someone before," he said forlornly. "I've seen them hurt plenty of people, but
I never saw onekill someone. And she did it the way you or I might squash a
bug."
Keman didn't know quite what to say, so he waited for Shadow to
continue. Finally the halfblood's shoulders relaxed and he sighed as he sat
back into the armchair.
"Elven lords the fullbloods they're really funny that way. They can
convince you that they're feeling something when they're not, but theycan't
convince you they're feeling something when theyare ."
Keman tried to follow the logic of that sentence. "I don't
understand," he replied, shaking his head in confusion.
"They can't show their feelings; they're trained out of it," Mero
replied, running his hand through his hair. "I should have known, I really
should have known, that when Triana was acting like I was the only man in the
universe she was faking it. Valyn, he's that way, and I've lived with him all
my life, so I should haveknown . The stronger an elven lord feels about
something, the colder he gets on the outside."
Suddenly that explained a great deal to Keman. "Shana's the
opposite but she was raised by us," he pointed out.
Mero smiled. "Doesn't hideanything , does she? No, Valyn has been
getting more and more like a statue, and that should have told me something.
And it didn't."
Keman didn't reply, just looked attentive.
"I doubt he meant it that way, but that fellow who tried to beat me
into oblivion did me a good turn. He broke what I think was a half-formed
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glamorie on me, Keman. I'm sorry I've been such an idiot over Triana. Now I
see what you were trying to tell me. Do you know, I actually had myself
convinced that if I could somehow make myself into a really good imitation
elven lord that she'd have me?"
Keman tilted his head to one side. "I had guessed something like that
was going on. But I am not the one you should be apologizing to. You made
Shana very angry with you, though I don't know why. And Valyn is not happy
either."
Mero rubbed his temples with his fingertips. "I don't know what
Shana's problem is, honestly. I'm not sure it has anything to do with Triana,
or if it does, that's only part of it."
"I don't always understand her either," Keman replied ruefully, when
Mero looked up at him.
Mero sighed. "I've been ignoring all of you, actually. Triana's been
taking me everywhere, as if I was a lover or a mate. We've hunted or ridden
over every thumb-length of this estate, she did some magic tricks for me she
built a mountain and flew us both up to the top for a picnic."
"I remember that. Afterwards she slept for two days," Keman said [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]