Tangled webs - Elaine Cunningham [173]
"i'i have seen what power can do, and i want no part of it," Liriel said at once, snuggling into his arms like a contented cat. "i'i am content to be a wizard and to seek adventure. I have no ambition-and no desire-to rule anywhere. And i will not!" she vowed fervently.
But Fyodor believed otherwise. He had long suspected the girl was destined for a role of great power-he considered his brief, magical servitude as evidence of this. But, being wise beyond his years, he kept his opinions on th~ matter to himself. And holding Liriel's needs above his own dreams, he hid his deep disappointment at her answer. "i'And after Waterdeep, what then? Will you return to Skullport and take a place among the chosen of Eilistraee?" he asked.
The drow recoiled as if he had struck her. "i had thought to go with you to Rashemen," she said with quiet dignity. "i'Or is there another who awaits you there?"
Joy flooded the young man's heart. He quickly claimed Liriel's hand and raised her fingers to his lips. "i'Of course i want you with me! But i know what faces you in the world and would not ask you to walk this path unless you came to it yourself. But no matter where you might have chosen to go, for so long as i live, there would be no other for me," he swore.
"i'Nor for me," the drow repeated. As the implication of this sunk in, her face took on an almost comic look of dismay. "i'One male," she muttered distractedly. "By all the gods-it isn't natural. It just isn't done!"
Fyodor burst out laughing; he simply couldn't help it. "i'i will do my best to stave off boredom," he promised her in a droll tone. "i'And it may comfort you to know that humans do not live so very long."
"i'How long is that?"
He shrugged. "i'Sixty, perhaps seventy years."
"That's all? Well, at least that's some consolation," Liriel said tartly, sending him an arch, sidelong glance. "i'it's well to know there's a reasonable end in sight!"
Fyodor chuckled, reading the truth of the matter in her golden eyes and deft hands. Apparently Liriel had come to terms with her sentence of monogamy. At the very least, she seemed determined to make the best of matters.
Much later he held the sleeping drow in his arms and thought of the journey that lay ahead. A struggle awaited them both, for dark elves were known-and hated-in his rugged homeland. His hard-pressed kinsmen would be appalled by the elf woman whom Fyodor's destiny, and his heart, had chosen for him. The hazards that lay before him and Liriel were many and real, the joys only those that they could find together, or in each other.
And yet Fyodor did not doubt that these would be enough to content them both. As to Liriel's prospects, he chided himself for dismissing them so soon. The elven girl was resilient, resourceful, and possessed of a quirky charm that spoke to hearts other than his.
"i'How long will it be," he murmured in jest, "i'before you rule among Rashemen's Witches?"
As If In response, Liriel's lips curved In a knowing smile. For a moment, Fyodor thought his words had awakened the ever-alert. Yet as he studied her repose, the truth of the matter came to him slowly, and filled him with a contentment beyond words.
What thoughts sweetened her sleep, Fyodor could not say, but this much he knew: the drow had learned at last what It was to dream.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26