Viperhand - Douglas Niles [36]
She looked out in the courtyard, where the gay splashing of the fountain seemed to mock her. Storm raised his head, as if the horse sensed her eyes upon it. Then the mare ambled to the fresh pile of clover and grass that the slaves had brought that morning.
Suddenly the horse, the whole scene, fell into darkness, as if something huge blotted out the sun. Again that terrible sense of a doom-filled destiny seized her. Involuntarily she clapped her hands to her eyes and moaned, willing the shadow away.
"What is it? Erix, what's the matter?" She felt the touch of strong hands on her shoulders and spun to grasp Halloran in a fearful embrace. He held her, soothing her gently, until finally she risked another look at the courtyard. Once again the slanting rays of the low sun cast bright illumination on the dancing fountain and its framework of blossoms.
She saw Hal looking around in alarm. "It was… nothing," she explained quickly. "Just a sudden chill."
He sensed that she wasn't telling him everything, but he didn't press the issue. He had noticed her sudden, brief distractions before, on their journey to Nexal, but she had never offered him any explanation.
Let Poshtli worry about it, he thought, almost savagely. Abruptly he dropped his arms to his sides and turned away.
Erix, surprised by his sudden shift, spoke tentatively. "What happened? I-I was worried about you."
He turned to her and she drew back, frightened by the took of anger on his face. "I went for a walk. Through the market, to the floating gardens. I wanted to see the city."
"But we were going to do that together when you had time!" Erix's objection came more from surprise than annoyance.
"Together? I hardly think that would be appropriate, anymore, do you?" The picture of Poshtli wrapping this woman in his arms flashed again through Hal's mind, and he winced at the painful memory.
"But…" Erix couldn't understand his anger. "Why are you talking like this? What's the matter?"
Halloran whirled away, pacing across the garden. Words of anger and jealousy surged through him. Only with the greatest effort could he hold them back. In his heart, he knew that Poshtli had been too true a friend to deserve the vitriol that Hal wanted to spew.
Finally he turned back, speaking to her from several paces away. "Nahecona has offered me a house. I can no longer stay here, for obvious reasons. I will move there as soon as it can be arranged. Until then, I will try to leave you your privacy."
"What do you mean?" Erix felt a brief flash of panic.
But then her own anger took over. How could he treat her like this? She had been worried about him, relieved to see him. Suddenly the mere sight of him inflamed her. She had to get away from him or her anger would not be contained. In that moment, she knew that she would take the journey she had thus far delayed, to the one place in the world she could go.
"Never mind! I don't need this place either! I'm going home-home to Palul, to my father and brother! Take your house and live like a great, wise man!"
For a moment, Halloran stared at her, dumb with shock. He thought of Poshtli, wondering if the noble warrior knew his betrothed planned to suddenly depart Nexal. "Home? But what about-"
"You can stay in Nexal-see the city all you want!" she shot at him, cutting him off. Suddenly she shivered as that shadowy presence crept into the room, against the walls and floor, muffling her sight. Darkness welled around her, casting the shadows across the garden, even blocking out the sun. Only Halloran stood out before her, in the light.
But she turned her back on that light, and then she was out the door.
"The cult of the Viperhand spreads quickly," hissed the drow, his hood thrown back so that the crimson blush of the Darkfyre washed over his black face and white hair. "But we control it well, for it lies under the thumb of the priests."
The drow spoke