The Cost of Betrayal (34 page)

“Each of you holds the love of the other in your heart. Keep it sacred, and keep it close. May Ashhur forever bless and protect these two lovers before us all. Aurelia, you now are a member of the Tun family. Harruq, you may kiss your wife.”

To a round of applause, Harruq took the elf in his arms, dipped her to one side, and kissed her.

T
he feast was beyond anything the wizard had ever prepared. Roast quail, venison, boar, and mutton covered a single table, all seasoned with basil, sage, and rosemary. Another table was piled high with cheese, fish, ale-flavored bread, wild fruits, and assorted beers, meads, and wines. Covering all was a blended array of spices, some rare, some common. Each bite contained a hint of cloves, cinnamon, pepper, ginger, or nutmeg.

When the feast was done, and the toasts were over, the guests said their goodbyes.

“Come visit me some time,” Felewen said, hugging both. “Make sure you let me know when the babies are coming.”

“Ha, ha, ha,” Harruq said, grinning at her. Dieredon left with her, bowing to Aurelia and offering only a quick word to Harruq.

“Break her heart, I break you,” he said.

“Will remember,” the half-orc replied. The two mounted Sonowin and soared off into the southern sky.

Qurrah was last, his mood strangely quiet and somber.

“You will come and visit again, won’t you?” Aurelia asked, offering him a curtsey. The half-orc bowed.

“I will do my very best. To both of you, I offer my most sincere congratulations.”

“You stay safe, brother,” Harruq said, hugging him. Qurrah chuckled.

“Of course. You as well.”

Another bow, and then he ventured into the forest, vanishing amid the trees. Harruq resumed eating a bit more, worried by that last troubled look on his brother’s face.

“What are your plans for tonight?” Tarlak asked, sliding beside Harruq while Delysia distracted Aurelia.

“What you mean?”

“You know what I mean,” the wizard said, winking. “You do know what I mean, right?”

Harruq flushed. “Of course I do. Just figured, you know, upstairs in my room and all.”

Tarlak laughed and clapped his hands.

“As a personal favor, I am paying for all of us to stay in a nice inn in Veldaren. The tower is yours for the night. Enjoy.”

Harruq beamed at the wizard. “I owe you a lot, Tar.”

“And you’ll pay me back one day. I have faith in you. But for now, the night is yours. It is time for us to go!”

He clapped three times, and the rest of the Eschaton heard the signal and obeyed. They politely bowed and wished them well, entered the tower, returned with travel packs of clothes, and gathered at the door. Before they left, Haern trudged over to Harruq and removed his hood.

“Just so you know, I am still expecting a sparring match tomorrow morning,” he told him. “Don’t overdo it.”

“I’ll hold him in check,” Aurelia said, kissing the man on the cheek. “Now run off. Time for us to have a little quiet time, right Harruq?”

“Right, Aurelia Tun,” he said, a dumb grin on his face. “Aurelia Tun. Sounds so funny.”

The gang bounded off southeast. Harruq and Aurelia waved, standing in front of the door with arms intertwined.

“Come on upstairs, love,” Aurelia said when they were gone. She kissed his cheek. Hand in hand, they hurried upstairs. When they arrived, they found flowers piled across their beds, a dizzying array of roses, tulips, and daisies, somehow alive even though winter was fast approaching.

“I feel Tarlak’s hand in this,” Aurelia said, picking up one and gently pressing it against her lips.

“Silly wizard, why would I…”

He stopped as he watched Aurelia slowly drift the soft petals down her neck, lower, lower, lower.

“Gods bless you, Tar,” Harruq said.

T
he moon was a curved sliver of light illuminating a cold forest when Qurrah returned home. Tessanna sat before a fire she had built in the clearing before the front door.

“How was it?” she asked, the red flame flickering off the black orbs that were her eyes.

“Bearable,” he said, sitting opposite of her. “They love each other so very much.”

“Some people are lucky enough to find and marry their love.” She grabbed a long stick and tossed it upon the fire. “And others never do. And then there is me.”

“You’re no different,” Qurrah said. His voice was vile water spewing from his heart. “Are you incapable of love?”

Tears ran down the sides of her face. Even so, her words carried no hint of the emotion she clearly felt.

“I am capable of loving a man,” she said. “And men are capable of loving me. But death comes for all I love and claims them like a bitter thief.”

Qurrah cast down his eyes, ashamed of his outburst. “Ignore my words. I have lost my brother.”

Tessanna curled her legs against her chest and peered at him over her knees.

“Do you wish to have me? It might help.”

“No,” Qurrah said. “Let my brother do the taking tonight.” She stood to return to the house, but the half-orc stopped her. “Do not go,” he said. “Stay with me.”

The girl smiled, beautiful amid the dreary night. Whether the smile was honest or false, Qurrah was too tired to care.

“I will be inside my home,” she said. “Our home. Do not worry about what your brother does this night.”

She entered the cabin, shutting the door softly behind her. He stared after her, the flickering fire popping and cracking. His mind ravaged itself. How dare he fall prey to weakness. His brother’s actions and choices were of no concern to him. If he found happiness in forsaking his blood and marrying an elf, then so be it. Philosophy was for the rich and the bored. Feeling was all that mattered. His brother felt happiness with her. He would feel happiness with Tessanna.

He stood and kicked out the fire. Silent as a thief, he opened the door to their home. Upon the bed she waited, her clothes cast aside, as if she had known all along.

“It is what we both want,” she said. “I care of nothing else.”

“I know,” he said. He went to her.

T
hat night, both brothers slept with fire. One was bright and roaring, a controllable inferno that surrounded and engulfed. One was cold, a blue flame, burning without heat, turning to ash without the warmth of consumption. Blanketed by stars and separated by a great distance, both found peace in the fire.

Of the two, only one created life.

17

Q
urrah nestled in the old chair, a fire roaring at his side. In his lap was the book of Pelarak. Three times he had read it, analyzing every word. He was halfway through his fourth read, and still he marveled at the knowledge the cleric of Karak possessed. Outside, a heavy rain fell. Tessanna looked up from the bed, her small head poking out from a multi-blanket cocoon.

“Shouldn’t you go?” she asked.

The half-orc flipped a page, pretending not to hear.

“You’ve been quiet,” she continued. “Impatient. Terrible in bed, even.”

He flipped another page.

“I will visit their child in time.”

She shrunk her head further into the blankets.

“Will you start taking people again?” she asked. “Try making them like me?”

Qurrah chuckled. He had decided over the winter that he preferred the child-like mentality of Tessanna best. The sarcastic, cynical form was next. Her angry side, her fearful side, and her apathetic side, well…

He planned to get rid of those.

“Yes. We have let enough time pass to safely take another. I have not forgotten my promise. In time, your mind will be healed.”

“What about until then?”

He glanced over. “Until then, we will make do with what we have.”

They did not speak the rest of the day. Silence was not a thing either feared, nor did it imply anger or frustration. They could each dwell within the confines of their minds. Silence. It was a blessed thing.

H
er shrieking wail was horrible to hear. Harruq couldn’t imagine the pain causing it. Inside their room, Delysia attended to Aurelia, doing things he preferred to stay in the dark about. He crossed his arms, uncrossed them, paced back and forth, and muttered incoherently. Childbirth. Such a stressful thing.