Read Online Anilyia by John H. Carroll - Free Book Online

Danth asked
innocently.
    They burst into laughter again. The knight
pounded on the table, causing it to jump with each hit. It was a
few minutes before anyone was able to talk with any clarity.
    Tathan came back to the table, sitting on
the edge. “It sounds like you handled it really well, Cousin,” he
told her with a smile. It made her feel better and she smiled back.
“Did the bird really say the world would go ‘poof’?” he asked.
    She nodded. “Yes, she cast a ball of light
like Vevin’s and made it go ‘poof’ too. I remembered what you said
about people alleging the world would end if a quest wasn’t taken.
I wasn’t willing to make any promises.”
    “That was a good decision,” Tathan said with
a nod.
    Liselle became very serious. “I asked if the
fate of the world really hung in the balance if I didn’t rescue the
princess. Yebisu insisted that it did. She seemed so desperate for
me to rescue the princess. I worry that maybe the fate of the world
really is in danger.”
    Tathan shrugged. “It might be. I don’t know
for certain.”
    That was an admission she didn’t expect.
“But you told me things like that were always lies to get
adventurers to accept a quest.”
    “Well, that’s true in my experience,” he
said. “I can’t say the fate of the world isn’t in the
balance, but I have a hard time believing any one person, or group
of people, is responsible for the entire world and all life.”
    Liselle nodded. “It all sounds so sensible
when you say it like that. Yet when I refused to make the promise,
Yebisu made it seem as though I hated the world.” Liselle was mad
again. Mad at being made to feel guilty and mad at being told that
the world would end if she didn’t do something. Vevin put an arm
around her shoulders in comfort.
    “You are not responsible for the fate of the
world, Lady Liselle,” Sir Danth assured her. “I have been alive for
a long time and seen centuries pass. No one person is responsible
for the world. I believe that with all of my heart,” he said,
reaching out to gently put a gauntlet on her arm.
    “But what if I am?” she asked. “What if the
world does go ‘poof’ if I don’t save the princess? How am I
supposed to feel about that?”
    “Then the world goes ‘poof’,” Tathan said.
He made another ball of light go ‘poof’, causing Vevin to giggle.
Tathan smiled tenderly. “You do the best you can, Cousin. Maybe you
save the world, maybe you don’t.”
    “But that seems too casual,” Liselle
protested. “If I’m supposed to save the world then I should do
everything possible to succeed!”
    “That is very noble,” Sir Danth told her. “I
have even more respect for you than before, and I have never
respected an individual more than you, Milady.”
    “It is noble, cousin,” Tathan agreed,
taking a bite out of another piece of fruit. “But if you’re the
only one who can save the world out of an infinite number of people
throughout an infinite number of years, then the blame falls upon
the shoulders of the gods for coming up with such a stupid
concept.”
    Liselle blushed while Vevin and Sir Danth
nodded in agreement. “Well said, Master Tathan. Well said,” the
knight told him, attempting another pat on the back, which Tathan
managed to avoid.
    “The point is, you shouldn’t feel bad if you
aren’t able to save the princess,” Tathan told her.
    “That is the princess the merchant was
talking about, Master Tathan,” the knight pointed out. “He said the
Princess of Mayncal had been kidnapped.” Sir Danth turned to
Liselle. “You did say the Princess of Mayncal, yes?”
    “Yes. Princess Anilyia of Mayncal,” she
answered with a nod.
    “Well then. It certainly sounds like a noble
cause regardless of whether or not the world goes ‘poof’. Let’s
rescue her, Tathan,” The knight said eagerly. “Rescuing princesses
is knightly and I have an urge to do something truly knightly.”
    Tathan looked at Sir Danth and