Ghostwalker - Erik Scott De Bie [109]
Talthaliel nodded.
"One thing only," he said.
Walker inclined his head to hear.
"Your voice was beautiful," the seer said. "For that of a human."
Walker almost smiled.
* * * * *
Greyt thrust at his son, but Meris stood with a flourish, brought the shatterspike from right to left, and cut the golden blade neatly in two.
Greyt watched, stunned, as Meris continued into a spin and brought the blade snaking around, only to plunge the point between the Lord Singer's ribs.
When Greyt looked at his son in shock, the wild scout spat out a chicken heart and a small flow of blood trickled down his chin. That was why his voice had seemed odd. Greyt's bracer knife had merely pierced flesh-no vital organs.
"I have learned many habits from you," said Meris. "Gloating is not one of them."
Fighting the agony, Greyt tried to stab at Meris with the blade in his gauntlet, but the scout slapped it aside with his axe. Then he twisted the sword, wrenching a gasp from the Lord Singer. The shatterspike burst from Greyt's back.
Greyt slumped to his knees, the blade through his body, and fiery pain spread through him. Words came from his lips, along with a trickle of blood.
"Meris, please," he croaked. "Lyetha… tell her I… I am sorry. I killed Tarm and little Rhyn… all those years ago. I alone! Tell her-I'm sorry."
Meris laughed at him.
"Lies to the last, eh, Father?" he asked. "I suppose it's close enough to true-true enough to keep me Quaervarr's hero." He smiled.
Greyt choked. Then he tried to speak again. "Talthaliel… you lied to me… you said you would fight… and defeat… my son… you lied…" With one shaking hand, he clutched the amber amulet that hung around his throat.
Then a boot fell upon his hand and Meris held him down.
The dusky youth grinned hideously. It was time for the final act of revenge.
"No, no he didn't, Father," he laughed. "He kept his promise. He has fought and defeated your son." Then he pushed with his foot, pulling the sword out, and the Lord Singer fell over.
Awash in a sea of pain, Greyt's face was wracked with both agony and confusion. Then, understanding came upon him, and his eyes softened.
"Lyetha… why didn't… didn't you tell me?" He gasped one last time. "Beloved… forgive me… for… what I did not see…"
As the room faded to black, he imagined that he saw a laughing face before his eyes. It was a young Rhyn-his Rhyn-and his dazzling blue eyes, so like those of his beautiful Lyetha, gleamed in the lamplight.
He heard Rhyn running toward him, but from so far away. He would never arrive in time, Greyt knew. Rhyn and Lyetha had never been his, and he had hurt them so much, he was almost glad they would never be his now.
"We will meet again," he whispered, almost fondly. "In a world free… of hate and pain."
For the first and last time in his life, Greyt felt regret.
Then he felt nothing at all.
* * * * *
Talthaliel's mouth curled up at the edges. "Ah," was all he said. Then he vanished.
As he went, the shimmering sphere around Walker disappeared. Tarm, his father, was at his side, silent as always, urging him to stand.
And stand Walker did.
Walker ran for Greyt's manor. Lightning crashed overhead, threatening fierce rain as before, but nothing came down.
In the courtyard, the cherry trees-imported from far south-were just beginning to blossom, showing white and pink all around him. The cobblestone path running from the gate to the front door seemed impossibly long and Walker ran for all he was worth, his cape billowing behind him black against a sea of beauty.
Once through the front portal he slowed, watching every shadow for hidden attackers. He stalked through halls he did not know but remembered, somehow, as though he had walked them before-a memory washed away with his own blood that night fifteen years ago.
After his meeting with Lyetha, he found his memories creeping back, as though his shattered mind had pulled itself back together. Now he regretted turning her away, refusing to hear what she might tell him. His anger had blinded him, and now he wondered.
There were, after all, the mysterious