Curse of the Shadowmage - Mark Anthony [33]
"I know," she said sadly. "I know."
Within the glowing sphere. Thantarth shook a fist at her, his face crimson. "Stop this foolishness now, Al'maren. Stop it, or I swear you will-"
Mari did not wait to hear what awful fate he intended for her. In one swift motion, she picked up the chair and hurled it at the shimmering sphere. There was a brilliant flash and a sound like shattering glass as the orb burst into a thousand azure shards. Mari shut her eyes against the blinding glare. When she dared open them again, the magical sphere was gone. All that was left of the chair were a few charred sticks of wood scattered on the floor. They looked like nothing so much as burnt bones.
I never believed it would come to this, Mari thought with a mixture of apprehension and peculiar exultation. I never believed that I, Mari Al'maren, would become a renegade Harper.
Yet that was exactly what she was now. A renegade, a fugitive, and an outlaw. The full realization of what she had done crashed down upon her, and she slumped down into a chair. She had just given up everything she had ever fought for, everything she had ever believed in. But she could not destroy Caledan, and she would not let anyone else destroy him. There had to be a way to stop Caledan's dark metamorphosis. I promised you, Kera. I told him good-bye, but I will be damned to the Abyss if I'll turn my back on him.
"Are they going to kill my father. Mari?"
She had forgotten Kellen. He stood beside her chair, his green eyes overly large in his pale face. He had overheard everything.
"No, Kellen," she said quietly. "No one will hurt your father. We won't let that happen."
He nodded gravely, then threw his arms around her neck. She returned his hug fiercely. At last she pushed him gently away and stood up. There was no time to waste.
When Morhion arrived at the Dreaming Dragon an hour later, he found her packing her saddlebags. He raised a single golden eyebrow. "Going somewhere, Mari?"
She firmly buckled the last leather strap and dusted off her hands. "You might say that."
"Haven't you forgotten something?" He eyed the small rip on the collar of her green jacket meaningfully.
"No," she replied crisply. "I haven't."
Interest flickered in Morhion's icy eyes. "I see."
They sat at one of the common room's long trestle tables. Estah brought hot tea, brown bread, and honey for their breakfast. The halfling innkeeper eyed Mari curiously. She had heard the commotion in the common room this morning, but Mari had not yet had the courage to tell Estah about her disturbing conversation with Belhuar Thantarth. There was no more putting it off. By the time she finished, Estah's usually gentle expression had been replaced by one of flinty outrage.
"They have no right," the halfling said harshly. "Caledan has devoted the best part of his life to serving the Harpers, and in his darkest hour of need they turn against him. How dare they!"
Mari sighed. "The Harpers always work for the greater good, Estah. If sacrificing one man can save a hundred, then in their minds it's a fair bargain."
"Yet sometimes," Morhion countered, "when one stone is taken out, an entire wall can come tumbling down. That is something the Harpers have never understood- if you'll forgive me, Mari."
She shot him an ironic look. "Believe me, Morhion, no apology is necessary."
"What do you intend to do?" he asked.
"Follow him," she said fiercely. "And find him."
"And then?"
"I don't know," she said impatiently. "I'll think of something."
"I can see you've really thought this out," he noted dryly.
"Well, do you have any better ideas?"
"As a matter of fact, I do."
Mari groaned. Why would mages never come out and say what they were thinking? "All right, Morhion. What's on your mind?"
A faintly smug smile touched his lips. "I thought you'd never ask."
As a brilliant square of morning sunlight crept across the wooden floor, Mari and Estah listened with growing fascination-and growing dread-to the