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“ Uncle!” Regis protested in shock. “What kind of ni
He said, “Commander, he would not accept refusal. He persecuted him day and night, invaded his mind, used laranagainst him … ”
Ke
Regis stood up with a surge of violent anger that matched Ke
Ke
“From Danilo’s own lips, and from rapport with his mind,” Regis said quietly. “You of all men know there is no way to lie to the mind.”
Ke
Regis held out his hand to Ke
He saw dawning respect in the older man’s gaunt, feverish face in the instant before he felt, with a thrill of fear, the touch on his mind. He heard Lew saying in Ke
The blur of memories and impressions was gone. Ke
He looked shattered, dazed. “Aldones, Son of Light! I trusted him with my cadets! And Lew tried to warn me and I would not hear. I sent my own son from me in wrath because he tried to make me hear … Hastur, what shall we do?”
Hastur looked grieved. “All the Ardais are unstable,” he said. “ DomKyril has been mad these twenty years. But you know the law as well as I do. You forced us to name Lew your heir with that same law. There must be one in the direct line, male and healthy, to represent every Domain, and Dyan has appointed no heir. We ca
Regis felt angry and bruised. They seemed to care only about Dyan. Dani was nothing to them, no more than he was to Dyan. He said aggressively, “What of Danilo? What of his disgrace and his suffering? He has the rarest of the Comyn gifts, and the way he has been treated dishonors us all!”
Both men turned to look at him as if they had forgotten him. He felt like a noisy rude child intruding on the counsels of his elders, but he stood his ground, watching the torchlight make flickering patterns on the antique swords over the fire, saw Dyan, the sharp foil in hand, plunging it into his breast …
“Amends shall be made,” Hastur said quietly, “but you must leave it to us.”
“I’ll leave Dyan to you. But Dani is my responsibility! I pledged him my sworn word. I am a Hastur, and the heir to a Domain, and I demand—”
“You demand, do you?” said his grandfather, swinging around to face him. “I deny your right to demand anything! You have told me you wish to renounce that right, to go off-world. It took all I had even to extract your promise to give the minimum duty to the cadets! You have refused, even as Dyan refused, to give an heir to your Domain. By what right do you dare criticize him? You have renounced your heirship to Hastur; by what right do you stand here in front of us and make demands? Sit down and behave yourself or go back to your room and leave these things to your betters!”
“Don’t you treat me like a child!”
“You are a child,” said Hastur, his lips pressed tightly together, “a sick, silly child.”
The room was flickering in and out of focus with the firelight. Regis clenched his fists, fighting for words. “An injury to anyone with laran… dishonors us all.” He turned to Ke
Ke
It forced him physically to his knees with the weight of it. Past, present, future spun together, whirling, he saw Dani’s hand meet his on the hilt of a gleaming sword, felt it rip his mind open, overshadowing him. Son of Hastur who is the Son of Light!He was crying like a child. He whispered, “To the House of Hastur … I swear … ”
Ke
Gradually the seething flood of emotion, foreknowledge, memory, receded. He heard Ke
“Regis … ”
Regis struggled, whispered, “Grandfather, Lord Hastur … I swear, I will swear … ”
His grandfather’s arms enfolded him gently. “Regis, Regis, I know. But I ca
He tried again to fight his way upright … kneeling on cold stones, crystal lights around him. Words came slowly, painfully, yet he could not escape them: I pledge my life and honor … to Hastur, forever … and terrible pain, knowing he spoke into a closing door, he gave away his life and his freedom. He could not get a word out, not a syllable, and he felt his body and brain would explode with the words bursting in him. He whispered and knew no one could hear him, as his senses slipped away, “ … swear … honor … ”