Read Online Sorrow's Peak (Serpent of Time Book 2) by Jennifer Melzer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jennifer Melzer
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and though it pained her to admit it, she understood why her mother held her at a distance, rather than embracing and loving her. She’d always thought the queen to be a meek and simple woman, a frightened little mouse of a creature who didn’t dare speak a word against her husband, and maybe that was exactly who Ygritte was, but Lorelei finally knew why. Aelfric killed the father of her child and made her watch. He destroyed her completely, and every time the woman looked upon her daughter’s face it broke her heart. Lorelei must have reminded Ygritte so much of Rognar she was afraid to love her. Afraid Aelfric would destroy the only thing she had left that reminded her of her brief freedom, of the love she knew with Rognar.
It all made sense, but it didn’t make it any easier to endure. If Lorelei were ever taken, forced to marry Trystay, she would take her own life rather than suffer his rule over her, but then that was easy for someone who’d never known the kind of love Ygritte shared with Rognar, for someone who wasn’t doing whatever it took to ensure her child’s survival.
“Why do they expect so much from us?” she muttered, taking a step past her brother. She cut through a space between the curved benches and made her way toward the statue of their god. Like the statue in Drekne, Llorveth’s horns were broken and she found herself reaching out to touch the furrowed brow beneath the nubs of stone where they should have been.
Llorveth was her god, just as Foreln was. In a sense she guessed he always had been, but never more in her life had she felt that bond with the horned god than she did in that moment. Not even during their exiling from the Edgelands, when the essence of the god filled her with all the answers to the universe for the blink of an eye before leaving her body with little more than a trace of his wisdom, had she felt as strongly as she did in that moment about the bond she shared with the god.
There really was a part of him inside her; she felt it just beneath the surface of her skin, warm and tingling like tiny needles against her bones without the pain. That acknowledgment warmed her stomach, settled the uneasy sourness churning there and making her feel for the briefest of moments that so long as she felt the god inside her, everything was going to be all right.
Logren moved behind her, letting her go as he walked from sconce to sconce, lighting the torches as he went and filling the temple with a dull orange glow. As he worked he seemed to be thinking through his answer to her question.
She was just withdrawing to sit down on the bench in front of the statue when he started toward her, speaking as he walked. “I think they expect from us exactly what we are capable of, no more, no less.”
It wasn’t long before he was there, slipping into the seat beside her and lowering his folded hands between his slightly parted thighs. He stared up at the statue, head tilted in awe, his face softening as if simply sitting there had the power to comfort him and make all his troubles fade away. Lorelei longed for that kind of peace, wished it would fill her the way it seemed to fill him, and though she certainly felt lighter in the temple, there was fear inside her the mere presence of a statue could not quell.
“How do they know what we can handle?” she muttered, shaking her head and returning her gaze to where his eyes rested. “And why is it so much harder for some of us, than it is for others?”
“I don’t think it is like that at all,” he confessed. “I think it just seems that way when you’re on the outside looking in on someone else’s problems, Lorelei. What seems like a mountain to one is little more than a molehill to another. In fact, I know I could never do the task you’ve been given by the gods.”
“Sure you could,” she shrugged. “You’re strong,” she went on, “more than capable.”
“Maybe, but I’m also rash,” he pointed out, “impulsive. I
It all made sense, but it didn’t make it any easier to endure. If Lorelei were ever taken, forced to marry Trystay, she would take her own life rather than suffer his rule over her, but then that was easy for someone who’d never known the kind of love Ygritte shared with Rognar, for someone who wasn’t doing whatever it took to ensure her child’s survival.
“Why do they expect so much from us?” she muttered, taking a step past her brother. She cut through a space between the curved benches and made her way toward the statue of their god. Like the statue in Drekne, Llorveth’s horns were broken and she found herself reaching out to touch the furrowed brow beneath the nubs of stone where they should have been.
Llorveth was her god, just as Foreln was. In a sense she guessed he always had been, but never more in her life had she felt that bond with the horned god than she did in that moment. Not even during their exiling from the Edgelands, when the essence of the god filled her with all the answers to the universe for the blink of an eye before leaving her body with little more than a trace of his wisdom, had she felt as strongly as she did in that moment about the bond she shared with the god.
There really was a part of him inside her; she felt it just beneath the surface of her skin, warm and tingling like tiny needles against her bones without the pain. That acknowledgment warmed her stomach, settled the uneasy sourness churning there and making her feel for the briefest of moments that so long as she felt the god inside her, everything was going to be all right.
Logren moved behind her, letting her go as he walked from sconce to sconce, lighting the torches as he went and filling the temple with a dull orange glow. As he worked he seemed to be thinking through his answer to her question.
She was just withdrawing to sit down on the bench in front of the statue when he started toward her, speaking as he walked. “I think they expect from us exactly what we are capable of, no more, no less.”
It wasn’t long before he was there, slipping into the seat beside her and lowering his folded hands between his slightly parted thighs. He stared up at the statue, head tilted in awe, his face softening as if simply sitting there had the power to comfort him and make all his troubles fade away. Lorelei longed for that kind of peace, wished it would fill her the way it seemed to fill him, and though she certainly felt lighter in the temple, there was fear inside her the mere presence of a statue could not quell.
“How do they know what we can handle?” she muttered, shaking her head and returning her gaze to where his eyes rested. “And why is it so much harder for some of us, than it is for others?”
“I don’t think it is like that at all,” he confessed. “I think it just seems that way when you’re on the outside looking in on someone else’s problems, Lorelei. What seems like a mountain to one is little more than a molehill to another. In fact, I know I could never do the task you’ve been given by the gods.”
“Sure you could,” she shrugged. “You’re strong,” she went on, “more than capable.”
“Maybe, but I’m also rash,” he pointed out, “impulsive. I
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