Armageddon's Children - Terry Brooks [146]
“Maybe.”
“You said you took your Chosen oath seriously. If that’s so, don’t you have to find out what you’re risking if you try to help the Ellcrys?” He paused.
“She asked you for help first, Erisha. Not me. She didn’t ask me until it must have seemed that you had abandoned her. But you were the one she wanted.”
Erisha looked miserable. “I know who she asked, Kirisin. What are you suggesting I do?”
“Have a look at the histories. That way you can make up your own mind.
I’ll help you. I don’t expect you to do this alone. Maybe we’ll find the answer faster if there are two of us searching.”
She was silent again, thinking. “I don’t know.”
“Remember when we were kids?” he asked impulsively. He reached out and touched her lightly on the shoulder. “We’d chase all through the woods outside your house and pretend we were on an adventure. Sometimes we would do it at night, when the woods were dark and scary. We pretended we were looking for secret treasure. We were friends, then. I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but I think we still are. I don’t know why your father is so worried about what might happen to you, but I want to help you find out. Why don’t you give me a chance? Don’t you want to know the reason?”
She stared fixedly at him, as if not certain who he was. Then she said,
“We would have to sneak into the room where the histories are stored. Old Culph is poking around in there all the time. We would have to get in when he was sleeping or he would want to know what we’re doing and would probably tell my father.” She paused, thinking. “But I know how to get into the room, even after it’s locked.”
She was getting caught up in the idea of doing something, of shedding the burden of guilt she had been carrying for obeying her father’s wishes and ignoring her duty as a Chosen.
“Are you willing to do that?” he pressed, wanting to make sure she wouldn’t change her mind. “If you decide to disobey him, he will probably be pretty angry.”
“He will be furious/’ she agreed, looking doubtful again.
“But you can’t worry about that right now,” he insisted. He watched her face, measuring her resolve. “Not until we find out what he knows that we don’t.”
She shook her head. “I suppose not.” Her eyes lifted to meet his. “No, not until we find out.”
The doubt he had seen a moment earlier was gone. He exhaled sharply in relief. “Can we do it tonight?” he asked.
She nodded, determination mirrored on her face. “We can do it tonight.”
* * *
THE REMAINDER OF the day passed slowly for Kirisin. He kept as busy as he could in the gardens, his thoughts drifting constantly to what Erisha had revealed to him. His emotions were mixed. On the one hand, he could understand her father’s reluctance to place his only child in danger. On the other, she was leader of the Chosen and the one the Ellcrys had asked for help. It seemed to him that both her father’s and her own duties were clear, but he didn’t know how he would act if he were King and Erisha were his daughter, so he tried not to judge them—even as he found himself doing so. Kirisin had always looked up to and admired Arissen Belloruus, but he didn’t think he would ever feel that way again. How he would feel about Erisha remained to be seen. It would depend on what happened this night. It would depend on how she reacted to whatever they learned from the Elven histories.
One thing was certain. His parents would be furious if they were to learn that their cousin was willing to endanger the entire Elven nation to protect his daughter. Which is why Kirisin would have to keep it from them, since he knew that they would take the matter right to the King and how that was likely to end for all of them.
Sunset was a long time coming, and he had more than sufficient time to mull things over. By then, he was sick of thinking about it and anxious to act.
But first there was dinner with his parents, talk of Simralin and her anticipated arrival home and household chores he was