Read Online Avalyne Series 02: The Easterling by Linda Thackeray - Free Book Online Page A

prefer it without you but since that is obviously not meant to be, I will accept that I must have your assistance!’
    ‘ You are welcome,’ Aeron retorted sarcastically. ‘You make it such a pleasure to be your guide.’
    ‘ You are impossible!’ She groaned in exasperation before storming out of the room. 
    “I assure you,” he countered, following her out, “I am not the only one.”

Chapter Four:
Departures
     
    Since becoming the High King of Carleon, the most difficult thing Dare had to face was the realisation that as time passed, he would be saying goodbye to more and more of his friends.
    The most recent of these farewells was not a farewell at all but the loss of Tully Furnsby in the Frozen Mountains and to a lesser extent, his wife Keira. Although Keira was lost long before the Frozen Mountains, only they did not know it. Dare still carried the guilt of their tragic ends, having reason to more than one occasion, wished he never found that small house in the Green. The disaster that he brought upon them both weighed heavily on him.
    He would eventually face departure of Kyou, once the fortifications were to Sandrine were complete and while Celene spent three months of the year at the Keep with Ronen, there would be a time when children would keep her home in Gislaine. Tamsyn was already gone, wandering the Western Sphere in search of acolytes to rebuild his Order and today, he was saying goodbye to Aeron, who parting was the hardest of all to bear.
    While he took comfort in what he and the elf had discussed earlier that morning, he knew that even when Aeron returned to Sandrine, it would not the same as before. The days when the Aeron was a constant at his side was ending and though Dare was glad he had found his purpose, the King was also sad at what this meant for their future.
    ‘ This departure is far sooner then I would have liked,’ Dare said to Aeron as he stood on the dock with the party that was seeing the Prince and Melia off on their journey down the Yantra.
    ‘ The sooner I begin, the sooner I will be able to return,’ Aeron reminded but it was little consolation and they both knew it. He could feel the sand shifting beneath them and knew their lives were finally at a fork.
    ‘ Not in the same way,’ Dare said quietly, emotion welling up inside of him. Aeron was his oldest and dearest friend. Aeron had been present for the most tumultuous period in his life and now that Aeron was embarking a new adventure to find his own destiny, Dare was saddened by an important chapter in both their lives was closing.
    ‘ No,’ Aeron agreed with the same sadness. ‘Not in the same way.’
    The two men embraced warmly as brothers might do but knew that their friendship was closer than blood. When they parted, both tried to dismiss the emotions churning behind their eyes and Aeron was grateful to turn away from the King to make his farewell to the others present. He could not endure the heartache of any more tearful goodbyes.
    Fortunately, Aeron knew what to expect when confronted with the abrasive Kyou of Iridia. Kyou stood beside Dare and did not show his upset at seeing Aeron leave. They had said their goodbyes on numerous occasions before this and were accustomed to it by now. Both had responsibilities to their own people and knew that sometimes they had to go their separate ways to tend to other matters.
    ‘ I wish that you could come with me on this journey, Kyou,’ Aeron replied as he looked upon his friends. They had travelled together constantly during the years following the Shadow War and it would be odd to look over his shoulder and not see the dwarf there. Still he had no doubt that they would always find time to go off on some foolish crusade together. Nevertheless, he would miss Kyou on this trip since the dwarf was an effective intermediary between himself and Melia
    ‘ Surely you jest,’ Kyou retorted, raising a brow as he gazed past the elf at Melia who was speaking with Arianne.