Of Fire and Night - Kevin J. Anderson [155]
"You are alive," he said tenderly, disbelieving. "Alive." She pressed her face into the ornate fabrics covering his chest and felt his heartbeat, listened to the warmth of his voice as he continued. "Udru'h told me--more than once--that you had been killed. Then he said you were alive. I did not know if I could believe him, but it is true."
"Yes, it's true." She looked up at his face. "It's one of the few things I know is true." So much had come between them, so many storms and nightmares, such vast emptiness. "How much can I really trust, Jora'h? What can I believe anymore?"
The people of Dobro--Ildiran and human alike--waited for the Mage-Imperator to speak, fearing his reaction. Jora'h looked ready to collapse under the weight of impossible burdens, and Nira's heart longed to comfort him in spite of her doubts.
He seemed to struggle for a long moment, searching for words before giving them voice. "I will show you what to believe. There will be no secrets between us . . . but it may take some time."
92
MAGE-IMPERATOR JORA'H
Jora'h looked past Nira to see the scars where everything had burned to the ground. With a heavy conscience, he tried to imagine all the lives that had been consumed here in unwilling service to an unexplained distant goal.
Still holding her, he knew that Nira was one of those sacrifices. She had aged, her body worn by a harsh life and the torments she had endured. Jora'h's heart ached from seeing the changes, knowing that he was partly to blame.
She looked at him with anticipation in her eyes. Her face, so lined with bad memories and experiences, brightened as if the dead sun of Durris-B had reignited to shine upon her features. But she was guarded. And no wonder, after all those years of suffering. What must she think of him?
Ever since ascending the throne, Jora'h had been torn by the schemes his father had set in motion, the plans he was forced to follow. Even as Mage-Imperator, he had not been able to escape those entanglements. He looked into the clear, empty sky, glad at least that the hydrogues had sent no watchdog warglobes to Dobro as they had to Hyrillka, Dzelluria, and at least eleven other splinter colonies as threats to ensure Ildiran cooperation.
How many Designates lived in fear because hydrogues loomed over their planets, while most of the Solar Navy gathered at Ildira to follow hydrogue orders? Adar Zan'nh had already departed for Earth with his supposedly benevolent offer. The deep-core aliens would be watching his every move.
But the fury of this riot had cut through the other distractions like a sharp crystal knife. From the thism, he knew that something terrible had occurred on Dobro. He mentally corrected his thought. Something terrible has been occurring on Dobro for a long time. He had raced here as swiftly as possible.
Now Designate Daro'h walked toward him, eyes cast down, as if he had failed. A contrite Osira'h accompanied him, both of them soot-stained, her small hand in her brother's. Daro'h stopped in front of his father and completed the ritual salute. "We have established a truce, Liege. Both groups agree to put aside their anger and work side by side."
The Mage-Imperator squared his shoulders. "Explain what happened here."
"Do explanations change anything?" Osira'h asked, her voice sharp. "Do you care?" When the girl raised her small chin, Jora'h felt a shudder go down his back. He feared what she might say. In her face he saw a reflection of Nira, but with a harder edge. She came closer to take her mother's hand. Jora'h looked at Nira, who was trembling.
Osira'h said, "I have always wanted to believe that you were a good man, Father. I wanted to be convinced that my mother's love for you was not wasted. Do you know how many years she waited for you to rescue her? I know Designate Udru'h deceived us, but I am not sure about my own father."
Again, Jora'h's heart ached. "I have tried to be a good man."
Now the girl flashed with the fire of anger. "You lie, just like my uncle!"
"Osira'h!" her mother cried.
The girl ignored her. "You have already