The Dwarf Kingdoms (Book 5) Read Online Free PDF Page B

fool as ever I see,” replied Anthea, her playful mood dissolving into impatience, for she had hoped that, stung by her teasing, Elerian might urge her to finally join him. “Where are you now?” she asked. “I see forest around you instead of the dark stone walls of Ennodius.”
    “Ascilius and I have left Ennodius,” replied Elerian. “We are in the hills to the north of the city.”
    “How does he fare?” asked Anthea in a concerned voice.
    “He has lost his family, his friends, and his city to the dragon,” replied Elerian gravely, “but his courage is unabated. He is determined to take his people to Galenus despite the Goblin army that has besieged it.”
    “Poor fellow,” said Anthea sadly. “You must not treat him harshly, Elerian,” she said, her voice suddenly stern.
    “I treat him like my own brother,” replied Elerian virtuously.
    “That is what I am most afraid of,” replied Anthea severely. “Would that I was here with you to keep an eye on him and share in your adventures,” she said sadly. “Each day it seems you travel farther from my side into worse danger while I grow ever wearier of my suitors’ attentions and my inactivity. If you do not return soon, I have decided that I will travel to Iulius over the northern plains. I will wait for you there until your business with Ascilius is done.”
    “That is a dangerous plan, Anthea,” warned Elerian gravely. “It will only serve to place you in needless peril while turning your father against us. You promised to wait for me as long as need be when we parted. Try to be patient for a little longer,” he pleaded.
    “I should never have made that promise,” said Anthea ruefully. “If I had listened to my heart and not my head, I would never have agreed to remain behind. Tell me Elerian, would you wait quietly for me in a place of safety if our situation was reversed?” Anthea asked quietly.
    A long moment of silence followed her question.
    “Your silence tells me better than words that you would not,” said Anthea shrewdly. “Since you counseled me to a course of action that you would never follow yourself, I consider myself absolved of my own promise.”
    “I ask you to remain in Tarsius to keep you safe and because of my own uncertain future, Anthea, not because I do not want you by my side,” said Elerian gravely in a last attempt to dissuade her from leaving Niveaus. “I must still pass through many dangers even before I reach Galenus, and there may be even worse perils ahead of me that I cannot foresee.” The image of the dark plain that he had seen in his crystal orb when he had looked into it in Ascilius’s workshop suddenly appeared in Elerian’s mind, a reminder of how perilous his future might become. “I may never return to Tarsius alive, Anthea,” he said somberly. “It was my unspoken thought that if I fell, you could more easily forget me if you remained in your own country surrounded by friends and family.”
    “Laralerian had the right of it,” said Anthea in an exasperated voice. “You are a half-wit! You should realize by now that I can never forget you. If you do not return, I will find some way to follow you. You will not leave me to linger alone on this earthly plane.”
    “I should have expected no less from her,” thought Elerian resignedly to himself. “She is like Ascilius and myself. We do not give our loyalty lightly, but once given only death can reverse it.”
    “I cannot stop you from joining me if that is what you wish, Anthea,” replied Elerian reluctantly giving in. “I ask only that you give me a few more days before you set out from Niveaus. There is always the hope that I may return to Tarsius with your bride price if Ascilius and I succeed in entering Galenus. I would still have you remain on good terms with your father.”
    “From time out of mind women have left home and family to follow their men, but I will wait a bit longer even though my heart urges me to leave Tarsius as