Legacy of the Darksword - Margaret Weis [97]
He would have bowed and kissed Eliza’s hand, but she forestalled him by flinging her arms around his neck and kissing him heartily on the cheek. He hugged her and held her close, all the while keeping firm hold of my hand, and we had a most joyous family reunion there in the glade in the Zoo of Zith-el.
“It has been so long since I’ve seen both of you,” he said, releasing us to look at us fondly.
“We do think the Emperor might let you come to visit us in Merilon,” said Eliza, a tiny furrow creasing her forehead.
“No, no, Emperor Garald is right,” Saryon said, sighing. “The ways are dangerous, very dangerous.”
“The Conduits are safe.”
“The Thon-li refuse to guarantee it these days. Menju the Sorcerer has many allies on Thimhallan. Not that I care for any danger for myself, mind you,” he added with a touch of spirit. “I am more than ready to go to my rest, to be reunited with your father and your mother.” He patted Eliza’s hand. “But I cannot put down the great burden I bear. Not yet. Not yet.”
I blinked my eyes free of the glad tears, and now that I could see Father Saryon more clearly, I was shocked at his appearance. He had aged far beyond his years, was gray and stooped, as if the burden of which he spoke was a physical one. He was not frail or fragile in spirit, only in body.
Scylla and Mosiah had held back at the edge of the glade, to give us a moment’s privacy for our reunion and also to make certain no one and nothing was lying in wait. Now they walked forward, both making respectful bows to Father Saryon. He greeted Mosiah with pleasure, mentioning that he had heard Mosiah was now in Queen Eliza’s service. Mosiah stood with hands folded before him, silent and observant.
Scylla was not known to Saryon, apparently, for Eliza introduced her as her knight and captain of her guard. Scylla was polite, but her manner was brisk. She was obviously ill at ease.
“We should stay here no longer than is necessary, Your Majesty. With your gracious permission, I would suggest that we leave immediately.”
“Is that well with you, Father Saryon?” Eliza asked him, regarding him anxiously. She, too, was concerned and dismayed at his wan appearance. “You look tired. Did you walk all this way? The journey must have been a strenuous one for you. Do you need to rest?”
“There can be no rest for me until I have completed my task. Yet,” he added, looking earnestly and searchingly at Eliza, “yet I would go to my grave bearing this secret if you are the least bit unsure, Daughter. Will you take on this heavy responsibility? Have you considered well the perils you will face?”
Eliza gripped him by both hands. “Yes, Father, dear Father, the only father I have ever known. Yes, I have considered the perils. They’ve been shown to me in vivid detail,” she added with a glance and a smile for me, before she turned back to Saryon. “I am prepared to take the responsibility; to finish, if need be, what my father began.”
“He would have been proud of you, Eliza,” Saryon said gently. “So proud.”
“Your Majesty—”
“Yes, Scylla, we are leaving. Father, you must guide us, for you are the only one who knows the way.”
Saryon shook his head and I guessed that the way of which he was thinking was not the sun-dappled path through the forest, but the path forever cloaked with darkness which leads into the future.
Eliza walked at his side, holding on to his arm in a close and confiding manner which pleased him immensely. The trail not being wide enough for three of us to walk side by side, I fell a pace or two behind, which put me between Saryon and Eliza in front and Scylla and Mosiah in back.
“Perhaps I am still suffering from the effects of my injury,” Mosiah said, “but what is there to fear, besides the usual fears which always attend anyone insane enough to walk through the Zoo of Zith-el? You said yourself that the centaurs would not attack us.”
Scylla made a disparaging sound in her throat. “Short work to them if they did. No, it is not the centaurs I fear, nor darkrovers,