Sentinelspire - Mark Sehestedt [123]
"Master!" Lewan called out. He ran to Berun and embraced him with his free arm. "I could not get away," he whispered. "Forgive me. I tried."
Berun returned the embrace, then pushed Lewan away gently. "There is someone you must meet."
Lewan stepped back from his master and turned to the other man. Closer now, he saw that it was not an old man at all. The sharper features, the slight cant to the eyes amidst the high cheekbones, and the points of the ears protruding from the tufts of white hair showed Lewan that he was a half-elf-a very, very old one.
The half-elf smiled and bowed. "We have met, have we not, Lewan?"
"Uh, I…" No mistaking it. It was the same voice. But this half-elf looked nothing like the man Lewan had met that day on the mountainside.
"You must forgive our young disciple, Berun," said the half-elf, "though I fear the fault for his confusion must be laid at my feet. Observe."
The half-elf closed his eyes and murmured. He drew in a deep breath and… flickered. The light and shadow of the floating orbs played over him, and his image seemed to blur and shift. When it steadied, an altogether different man stood before them. A human, still past middle-age, but taller, darker, and possessing an aristocratic bearing. It was the man Lewan had met that day on the mountain.
Berun's eyes went wide with shock and something like horror.
The man laughed, and his image flickered again. When it steadied, the old half-elf stood before them again.
"A small joke on my part," said the half-elf. "I came and spoke to your disciple several days ago while he was undergoing a vigil on the mountainside. I knew that the half-orc was watching, and I knew that the sight of Alaodin emerging from the woods to talk to Lewan here would… rattle Talieth's little conspiracy."
"Conspiracy?" said Lewan. "I'm sorry, masters. I'm… I'm confused." He looked at the half-elf. "You aren't the Old Man of the Mountain?"
The half-elf chuckled. "Oh, but I am! And I am not. The Old Man of the Mountain-Alaodin, master of assassins, feared the world over… well, I fear he met his just and deserved end many years ago. At my hand. But the Oak Father smiled upon me, and rather than fight his remaining subjects, they swore loyalty to me. And so I became a 'new' Old Man."
The half-elf sighed. "But alas, the oaths of assassins are not to be trusted. Seeing my vision, the beauty of what I would bring to the world, some of the blades of Sentinelspire joined me. But some want only to sate their own appetites, to horde power for themselves no matter the cost to the world. And these… these found a willing leader in the Lady Talieth. Almost from the beginning, she has conspired against me." "You killed her father…" said Berun. "I did," said Chereth, "though it was no grief to her. I don't suppose you two had time to speak much tonight, have you? 1 killed Alaodin, true. But it is also true that the last rebellion the Old Man put down before my arrival-the one that almost succeeded-was led by Talieth. Even she recognized what a blight Alaodin had become to the world. The day I killed her father, Talieth was locked in a dungeon beneath the Fortress, waiting for her father to decide what to do with her. I had hoped she might treat me with some gratitude. I succeeded where she failed, and I freed her. Still… Talieth will never serve" -he cast a quick glance at Berun-"or love anyone but Talieth." "Then why-"
The sharp look from the half-elf stopped Lewan. Master Berun had always permitted-even encouraged-Lewan to question him.
"Why did I allow her to live?" said the half-elf. "Her and Sauk and the rest?"
Lewan nodded. Berun did nothing. His eyes held a hollowness that Lewan had never seen before.
"I am no murderer, Lewan," said the half-elf. "I kill only when left with no other choice. I had no desire to kill Talieth, despite her plot to kill me. But…" Something like mischievousness crossed the half-elf’s features, not unlike a little boy hiding a secret. "In truth, I spared her out of my love for you, Berun. Once my plan reaches its fruition,