Tangled webs - Elaine Cunningham [140]
Liriel waited for him to continue, but his eyes were distant, fixed upon the old tales and legends that were so much a part of him.
"in ancient times," he began, "there were warriors who gave pledged service as berserker knights, becoming personal champion to a powerful wychlaran. When this magic was granted, it was taken as a sign that the Witch was destined for a great task. You did not fail, little raven," he said earnestly. "The control of my battle frenzies has indeed been gained-but it is in your hands."
Liriel gazed at him in utter horror. "But i don't want it! i never wanted that!"
"You sought power," he reminded her. "Now that it is yours, you may not always be able to choose how and when to wield it. I think," he concluded thoughtfully, "that this is ever the way of power."
The drow brushed aside these philosophical musings. "But where is my choice in all of this?"
"Where was Wedigar's?" Fyodor countered. "Remember how he was after you freed him from the nereid's charm? He wished to atone for his acts at once, but when convinced this would not best serve his people, Wedigar gave up his warrior-bred sense of honor for the greater good. You, too, seem to be destined to lead," he told her. "You will have to learn to consider things beyond your own desires."
Liriel was in no mood for all this talk of nobility and service. All she'd wanted was her innate drow powers back. She did not seek to rule, or to lead, or to do any of these troublesome things, and she did not see why such might be required of her. Nothing in her training had prepared her for this, and she said so.
"Do you wish to leave Ruathym?" he asked her. "Do you wish to be free of me and this burden you did not seek?"
As she considered this, Liriel discovered she did not. "it seems we have both found a place here, and together. When i tried to cast the rune that first time, i got the feeling we have some sort of entwined destiny." She shrugged. "Don't ask me to explain that."
"There is no need," Fyodor responded. "i have sensed that myself, almost from the beginning. Whatever your fate,1 accept it, and my part in it."
He spoke these words with an awe that exasperated the drow. She had struggled so hard to accept Fyodor first as a friend, and now as a lover. After all she had endured, she did not want to lose him to her own success!
"Let's get back to the village," she said abruptly.
"At first light," he agreed.
Liriel's heart quickened, but it rapidly became clear Fyodor was concerned only with ensuring them a safe journey. The brief, shining oneness they had shared was gone. She had never thought respect could be a barrier, but she felt the force of Fyodor's new regard for her forcing distance between them. To him, she was no longer just Liriel, but wychlaran. Not a female to be cherished, but a power to be revered.
in utter frustration, she turned away. She curled up into a tight ball and wrapped herself in her piwafwi, taking little comfort in the renewed sheen of the magical drow cloak. At least, she thought as she drifted toward slumber, Fyodor would no longer be tormented by his dreams. Those ghosts had been exorcised by the power of the rune she'd cast for them both.
But that small freedom seemed pale indeed, when the drow contemplated the servitude to which she had unwittingly condemned her friend. She did not know why this did not bother the freedom-loving Rashemi more than it did. She strongly suspected, however, that a time would come when it would.
Chapter 20
The coming storm
News of the battle of Holgerstead reached Ascarle with uncanny swiftness, carried as it was by a relay of merrow that moved with brief bursts of incredible speed. One of these merrow-who had drawn the short bone when it and its fellows had cast lots for the task-now stood in the marble council chamber of Ascarle handing over the grim details to the illithid who ruled as Regent and to the black-bearded man who prowled the room like a caged bear.
Vestress received the news with mixed feelings. Some of the berserker warriors had died in battle,