The Silver Mage - Katharine Kerr [213]
“Well and good, then. Self-knowledge is always the beginning of wisdom.”
Salamander opened his mouth to reply, then shut it again. Valandario had the exquisite pleasure of seeing him speechless.
At some distance from the camp, Grallezar and Arzosah were waiting for her. As she walked out to join them, Valandario looked around her but saw no sign of Rori.
“He had one thing to do before we leave,” Arzosah said. “We’ve already explained everything to the girls, but he’s gone to speak with our son.”
After the hatchlings had eaten, Rori told Devar to follow him to the stream beyond the camp. As they took turns drinking, watching his young son stretch his wings to the sunlight wrung Rori’s heart. He would miss Devar more than he’d ever missed any of his human sons, more even than Cullyn Maelwaedd, his favorite out of the lot.
“I have some evil news to tell you,” Rori said.
Devar slewed around to face his father, his eyes wide with fear.
“I have to leave you,” Rori went on. “It aches my heart, lad, to tell you this, but now that the prince and his people are safe, I have to leave the clutch forever.”
“No!” Devar wailed out the word. “No, Da, don’t go!”
“I have to. I’m sorry. It’s my wyrd. What have I told you about wyrd?”
“That no dragon can turn his aside, but—”
“There’s no but or if or mayhap about this, lad. From now on, you’re going to be the male in this clutch. You’ll have to be brave, very brave in fact, but you won’t have to face it all alone. Soon your uncle will come to live in the tower below our lair, and he’ll teach you what you need to know.”
“I like Uncle Ebañy, but he’s not you.”
“I know, and I’m sorry, but wyrd is wyrd, and it can’t be denied. Can you be brave?”
“I’ll try.” Devar hung his head. “I’ll try very hard.”
“That’s all you or anyone can do. You’re growing daily, and soon you’ll be able to protect your sisters while your mother’s off somewhere, rather than them protecting you.”
Devar nodded, looked away, and spoke in a choked wet voice. “Can’t you even come back to visit?”
“No. I’m sorry. If I could I would, but I won’t be able to. Here’s the worst news of all. I probably won’t live very long, not as dragons measure our lives, a few years perhaps.”
“You’re ill?”
“Very ill.” It wasn’t precisely a lie, Rori decided, and might make the parting a little easier for Devar. “You know the dragonish way. When our time comes, we go off alone to await our end.”
“I do know that.” His voice began to tremble. “I don’t want you to die.”
“No one wants to die, but when their time comes, what can they do against it?”
“Naught.” Devar sounded one small step away from weeping. “I know that, too.”
“Still, one day we may well meet again. I’ll be in a different body then, a human one. I’ll hope and pray that we do meet. But while you’ll recognize me, I’ll not be able to recognize you, not at first, anyway. Don’t feel slighted. It’s merely the way things are. Do you understand? If I have a new body, I’ll not be able to recognize you.”
“I’ll remember.” Devar looked up, and his eyes, that strangely elven mix of dragon and human, glistened with tears. “If I tell you, will you remember?”
“I don’t know. You may have to be patient and explain things.”
“Da, I wish you didn’t have to die.”
“But I do. Your mother will explain more when you’re older. Now, I need you to be brave, but your sisters need you even more. You need to be strong for their sake.”
“I will, then.” His young clear voice strengthened. “I promise.”
Rori knew that if he stayed a moment longer, he would weep and shame them both. He turned and walked a safe distance away, then leaped, wings beating hard, and soared the brief distance to the gathering place in the grass where the others waited for him. Once Grallezar and Valandario had secured themselves, Val on Rori, and Grallezar on Arzosah, the two wyrms took flight, wheeled once over the sprawling camp, and headed south and east for the Lake of the Leaping Trout.
“Mara?” Dallandra said.“ I need to speak with you.”
Mara, who’d been studying one of