The sense of those duties was a heavy weight to bear. And he would never be free
of them, so long as he drew breath. That made it even worse. He was trapped and
alone, a prisoner of his heritage . . . and his peculiar laran, which no one
seemed to be able to understand, and which made quite a number of people
uncomfortable, made it all much worse. Even Lew Faltron, whom Nico, adored, could
not help him. Besides, how could someone as old as his grandfather even begin to
understand what troubled him? He could not really explain his feelings to
himself, so how could he explain them to someone else?
By the time the shift was over, Nico, was deep in the doldrums. He yanked the
thong out of his hair, left his post and returned to the Castle, climbing the
long stairs from the entry to t
