Read Online The Wild Road by Jennifer Roberson - Free Book Online Page B

in a clipped voice. “How dare you? How dare you? Have you no compassion whatsoever?”
    â€œCompassion,” Brodhi said, his tone bland, “is a useless emotion. I avoid it.” As he avoided all others. Except for that flash of annoyance. He would have to consider that. He would have to consider why Bethid’s contempt meant anything to him.
    And it had.
    â€œYes,” she said. “Yes, I can see that. However—and I may only be able to count the occurrences on the fingers of one hand—you have proved helpful now and again. Why not help a man desperate to locate his family?”
    â€œI told him the truth,” Brodhi answered. “Is that not helpful? I understand humans esteem truth.”
    â€œBut there are ways of telling—”
    He overrode her. “Yes, Bethid; yes, I am all too aware that humans also esteem emotions, having a raft of them to use as needed. His family is in Alisanos, Bethid. I merely told him so.”
    â€œBrutally.”
    He ignored that. “Now he knows. He will come to terms with it.”
    â€œBut why did you have to be so cruel? Why say what you said the way you said it?”
    A brief flicker of amusement at her convoluted question died out. “What did I say?”
    She gestured frustration by lifting upturned arms away from her body, then let them slap down against her thighs. “I can’t quote you . . . but it was something to the effect that they were no longer living the way he would recognize living. Mother of Moons, that’s harsh, Brodhi. Is he supposed to accept that with no questions? With no pain?”
    â€œHe wanted to know. He knows.” Brodhi lifted his hand in a sharp motion to cut her off as she opened her mouth. “I have learned, among humans, that false hopes can be every bit as painful as hard truths. The truth requires less time and less effort.” He raised his eyebrows. “Would you rather be struck to death by a Hecari warclub all at once, or have your flesh flayed bit by bit over a handful of your days?”
    Bethid scowled at him, offering no answer.
    â€œWhat would you do,” he began, “if this family were to come out of Alisanos?
    â€œRejoice,” Bethid snapped. “What would you expect me to do? I’d welcome them. Of course!”
    â€œYou would mourn them,” Brodhi told her, “once you were over your shock and disgust. No doubt you would send up prayers to your Mother of Moons. Alive the family may be but no longer human. Not anymore.”
    â€œOf course they are still—”
    â€œ No , Bethid. Here is the truth of it: Alisanos transforms humans. The wild magic seeps into flesh, into bones, into blood. I have seen what humans do when one of their own returns. There is no ‘compassion,’ Bethid. There is no kindness. There is no welcome. I have seen humans vomit, so upset by the horror of what their kin have become. I have seen rocks thrown. I have seen backs turned. I have seen a woman screaming at what once was her husband, telling him to go away and never come back. Would you have this Davyn do the same to his wife? To his children?” He shook his head. “My compassion is truer. It saves him from the grief, his family from excoriation and abandonment.”
    Her prickly frustration faded into shock. “ How transformed?”
    â€œHow is it done? Or what is done?”
    â€œSweet Mother, Brodhi— How will they be changed?”
    â€œThe mechanism is the will of Alisanos. As for the change itself?” He shrugged. “It depends on how long a human is in Alisanos and where. The wild magic is inconsistent.”
    â€œâ€˜Inconsistent,’” she echoed with explicit clarity, glaring at him. “How in convenient.”
    â€œWhat would you have me say? Should I lie to him? Mislead him? Is that not cruel?” He saw color rise in her face. It was the edge of anger, born of a depth of