Bearers of the Black Staff - Terry Brooks [79]
He smiled and shrugged. “I made my choice.” He looked at her anew, taking in the details of her face. Older now, but the girl he remembered was still there. “And you? How is your life?”
She laughed softly. “Not what I had expected it to be. I am married to a good man who looks after me, but I am not his passion as I was yours. Nor is he mine. We live together, childless and estranged in many ways, sharing space but little more. He governs the people of Glensk Wood; he heads the council. It gives him purpose, and I think that is enough for him.”
“But there’s not much of anything for you, is there?”
“I have my work in the community, helping where I can, trying to make things easier for people who don’t have a voice of their own. Being married to the leader of the village doesn’t hurt my efforts. Though Skeal Eile detests me.”
“More so now, if he knows what you’ve done.”
“He suspects but doesn’t know. Not for certain. In any case, Pogue protects me from him.”
The Gray Man wondered if that were so, but he let the matter drop. There was no point in voicing his doubts; Aislinne would do what she felt she must, and any words of caution from him would be wasted. “Tell me of the boy and girl. I met them; they seem capable enough, reliable and honorable. Am I right to think so?”
“You are. They will do what they say and attempt to convince the Elves of the danger. But they can only do so much. Word must still be gotten to the other villages, to the other communities, to all the Races. Everyone needs to come together and decide what to do.”
He nodded. “Can you help me with that? Do you have friends whom you can trust and can send as messengers, warning of the danger? I know I ask a lot …”
She placed her fingers quickly to his lips. “You ask little enough, Sider. I will do what I can. But you must promise to go after our young friends and see to it that they are protected. They escaped once, but I am not sure they are safe yet. Skeal Eile is not one to forget. He knows the danger they represent, and he may try to do something to put an end to it—and to them—even as far away as they are. He is a ruthless man.”
Sider nodded, and they were silent for a moment, looking at each other in the darkness. “I don’t like leaving you here,” he said finally. “I think you should come with me. To Arborlon or somewhere else. But away.”
She shook her head. “You don’t have the right to ask that of me anymore, Sider.” Her smile was wan and tight. “You gave it up when you chose that staff over me.”
He glanced down at the talisman, tightly gripped in one hand, and then he looked back at her. “I know what I gave up. A day doesn’t pass that I don’t think of it. Not a day that I don’t regret it and wish it could have been otherwise. That I don’t …”
He trailed off. “I just don’t want anything to happen to you.”
She gave him a perplexed look. “How strange to hear you say so. I’ve had that same worry about you every single day since you left me. You might want to consider that after you’re gone.”
He stared at her, his words all drained away.
Then she rose. “I think we’ve said all there is to say, Sider. Thank you for coming to let me know what’s happened to the wall. And for promising to look after Panterra and Prue.” She stepped back. “I should leave now. I can go back alone.”
But she stood where she was, looking at him, as if undecided. “Please be careful,” he said.
She nodded, but still said nothing and still did not move.
Without looking away, he laid the staff against the makeshift bench and reached for her, enfolding her in his arms, pressing her against him. He felt the softness and warmth of her, and for just an instant it was twenty years ago. “I never stopped loving you,” he whispered. “I never will.”
“I know,” she whispered back, her head buried in his