Chapter 55
497 Words
may. He said in a whisper, "Zandru's hells, Dynf Regis could feel the knifing anguish in the words. Kennard sank down on the bench again and Regis knew that he would have fallen if he had not, but for the first time Regis felt the iron strength and control with which a tower trained telepath can control himself when he must. He had a frighten ing flash of agony, as if Kennard were holding his hand steadily in a fire, but Kennard only drew a deep breath and said, "So Dani has chosen. Lno did not tell me, nor did he tell me Dani had awakened you A long silence. "That is a crime, and a terrible one-to use chosen to force the will. I trusted Cyan; I never thought to question him. We were bredin. It is my responsibility and I will bear the guilt." 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 Darkovr, what shall we do?" cause he tried to make me hear... Dover looked grieved. "All the Hardais are unstable," he said. "Don Kyril has been mad these twenty years. But you know the law as well a I do. You forced us to name Lno your heir with that same law. There must be one in the direct line, male and healthy, to represent every De main, and Cyan has appointed no heir. We cannot even dismiss him from Dover Council, as we did with Kyril when he began to rave. I do not know how we can send him from Council even long enough to heal his mind, if he is truly mad. Is he sane enough even to choose an heir Regis felt angry and bruised. They seemed to care only about Dan Dani was nothing to them, no more than he was to Cyan. He said a gressively, "What of Danilo? What of his disgrace and his suffering He has the rarest of the Dover 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 like a noisy rude child intruding on the counsels of his elders, but be stood his ground, watching the torchlight make flickering patterns an the antique swords over the fire, saw Cyan, the sharp foil in hand plunging it into his breast.... "Amends shall be made," Darkovr said quietly, "but you must leave it to us." "I'll leave Cyan to you. But Dani is my responsibility! I pledged hi my sworn word. I am a Darkov, and the heir to a Domain, and I demand "You demand, do you?" said his grandfather, swinging around to far him. "I deny your right to demand anything! You have told me wish to renounce that right, to go off-world. It took all I had even to
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