Read Online Drenai Series 09 - Hero In The Shadows by David Gemmell - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: David Gemmell
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musical.
'I did not at first know they had taken a hostage,' he admitted.
'Even so. She now has a life - and a destiny - that would otherwise have been robbed from her. Who knows what she may achieve, Waylander?'
'Not a name I use now,' he told her. 'And not one by which I am known by any in Kydor.'
'No one shall hear it from me,' she told him. 'So, tell me, why did you ride after the bandits?'
'They attacked my lands and my people. What other reason did I need?'
'Perhaps you needed to prove to yourself that you are still the man you were. Perhaps, beneath the hard, worldly exterior, you felt for the pain and the loss of the villagers, and were determined that those evil men would never again cause such distress. Or perhaps you were thinking of your first wife, Tanya, and how you were not present when the raiders came to kill her and murder your children.'
His voice hardened. 'You asked to see me, Lady. Your messenger said it was a matter of some importance.'
She sighed, then looked once more into his eyes. When she spoke her voice was softer, the tone regretful. 'It distresses me to have caused you pain, Grey Man. Forgive me.'
'Let us understand one another,' he said coldly. 'I try to hold my pain in a private place. Not entirely successfully.
You opened a window to it. I would consider it a courtesy if you did not open it again.'
'You have my word upon it.' She sat silently for a moment, her golden eyes holding to his gaze. 'It is sometimes difficult for me, Grey Man. You see, nothing is hidden from me. When I meet someone for the first time I see all.
Their lives, their memories, their angers and pains are all laid bare to me. I try to close myself to myriad images and emotions, but that is painful and exhausting. So, in the main, I absorb them. It is why I avoid crowds, for it is like being trapped under an avalanche of roaring emotion. So let me say again that I am sorry to have offended you. You have been most kind to me and my followers.'
Waylander spread his hands. 'It is forgotten,' he said.
'That is most generous of you.'
'And the matter you wished to speak of?'
She averted her eyes. 'This is not easy for me,' she said, 'for I need to ask your forgiveness a second time.'
'I have already said-'
'No, not for my earlier words. In coming here I may have placed you in some . . . danger. My followers and I are being hunted. It is possible - though I hope unlikely -that we will be found. I felt obliged to inform you of this, and to offer, with genuine intent, to leave immediately, should you desire it.'
'You have broken some Chiatze law?' he asked.
'No, we are not law-breakers. We are seekers of knowledge.'
'Then who hunts you, and why?'
Now her eyes met his. 'Bear with me, Grey Man, while I explain why I cannot yet tell you. As I have already shown, your thoughts and memories are known to me. They blaze from you like the rays of the sun, and like those rays they radiate out over the land. All human thoughts do this. The world is awash with them. Far beyond this palace there are minds attuned to such thoughts, seeking out a resonance that will lead them to me. If I told you the names of those hunting me they would form part of your thinking. And merely by thinking them you might alert those who seek to kill me.'
Waylander smiled. 'Since I do not understand the ways of magickers let us move on,' he said. 'Why did you come here?'
'Partly because you are here,' she said simply, then fell silent.
'And the other part?'
'That is even more complicated.'
Waylander laughed. 'More complicated than magical enemies who can read thoughts over great distances? It is a bright morning, with a fresh breeze and a blue sky. I am fresh from a cooling swim. My mind is clear. Speak on, Lady.'
'This is not the only world, Grey Man.'
'I know. There are many lands.'
'That is not what I meant. We dwell at this time in Kydor. But there are other Kydors, an infinite number of them.
Just as there are an infinite number
'I did not at first know they had taken a hostage,' he admitted.
'Even so. She now has a life - and a destiny - that would otherwise have been robbed from her. Who knows what she may achieve, Waylander?'
'Not a name I use now,' he told her. 'And not one by which I am known by any in Kydor.'
'No one shall hear it from me,' she told him. 'So, tell me, why did you ride after the bandits?'
'They attacked my lands and my people. What other reason did I need?'
'Perhaps you needed to prove to yourself that you are still the man you were. Perhaps, beneath the hard, worldly exterior, you felt for the pain and the loss of the villagers, and were determined that those evil men would never again cause such distress. Or perhaps you were thinking of your first wife, Tanya, and how you were not present when the raiders came to kill her and murder your children.'
His voice hardened. 'You asked to see me, Lady. Your messenger said it was a matter of some importance.'
She sighed, then looked once more into his eyes. When she spoke her voice was softer, the tone regretful. 'It distresses me to have caused you pain, Grey Man. Forgive me.'
'Let us understand one another,' he said coldly. 'I try to hold my pain in a private place. Not entirely successfully.
You opened a window to it. I would consider it a courtesy if you did not open it again.'
'You have my word upon it.' She sat silently for a moment, her golden eyes holding to his gaze. 'It is sometimes difficult for me, Grey Man. You see, nothing is hidden from me. When I meet someone for the first time I see all.
Their lives, their memories, their angers and pains are all laid bare to me. I try to close myself to myriad images and emotions, but that is painful and exhausting. So, in the main, I absorb them. It is why I avoid crowds, for it is like being trapped under an avalanche of roaring emotion. So let me say again that I am sorry to have offended you. You have been most kind to me and my followers.'
Waylander spread his hands. 'It is forgotten,' he said.
'That is most generous of you.'
'And the matter you wished to speak of?'
She averted her eyes. 'This is not easy for me,' she said, 'for I need to ask your forgiveness a second time.'
'I have already said-'
'No, not for my earlier words. In coming here I may have placed you in some . . . danger. My followers and I are being hunted. It is possible - though I hope unlikely -that we will be found. I felt obliged to inform you of this, and to offer, with genuine intent, to leave immediately, should you desire it.'
'You have broken some Chiatze law?' he asked.
'No, we are not law-breakers. We are seekers of knowledge.'
'Then who hunts you, and why?'
Now her eyes met his. 'Bear with me, Grey Man, while I explain why I cannot yet tell you. As I have already shown, your thoughts and memories are known to me. They blaze from you like the rays of the sun, and like those rays they radiate out over the land. All human thoughts do this. The world is awash with them. Far beyond this palace there are minds attuned to such thoughts, seeking out a resonance that will lead them to me. If I told you the names of those hunting me they would form part of your thinking. And merely by thinking them you might alert those who seek to kill me.'
Waylander smiled. 'Since I do not understand the ways of magickers let us move on,' he said. 'Why did you come here?'
'Partly because you are here,' she said simply, then fell silent.
'And the other part?'
'That is even more complicated.'
Waylander laughed. 'More complicated than magical enemies who can read thoughts over great distances? It is a bright morning, with a fresh breeze and a blue sky. I am fresh from a cooling swim. My mind is clear. Speak on, Lady.'
'This is not the only world, Grey Man.'
'I know. There are many lands.'
'That is not what I meant. We dwell at this time in Kydor. But there are other Kydors, an infinite number of them.
Just as there are an infinite number
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