The Nemesis Blade Read Online Free PDF

heard about your mother. I am sorry.”
    Tristan
swallowed. “Thank you.”
    “She was
mother to all three of us,” Teroux said.
    “We miss her,”
Tianoman added.
    “Yes, Curin
was a special lady,” Torrullin murmured. “How is Samuel taking
it?”
    “Badly,”
Tristan said.
    A break in
Torrullin’s stride and then, “I didn’t know, Tris, not until
after.”
    “The Elders
should’ve told you,” Teroux muttered.
    Tristan shook
his head. “Father asked them to say nothing.”
    His cousins
craned forward to look at him. “He did?” Teroux asked. “Why?”
    “Something
about the lure of Valaris.”
    Torrullin came
to a halt and the others did, too.
    “My Lord?”
Tianoman enquired.
    “Your father
knows me well, Tris. I fight the lure of Valaris every day. Had I
returned to pay my respects to a woman I thought the world of,
grief would have held me there longer than necessary, and seeing
you would bind me further. Seeing Saska could undo my resolve. Your
father is a selfless man, bless him.”
    “It wouldn’t
be bad to have you back,” Teroux whispered.
    “Thank you for
that, but we know different. Even Saska would agree with Samuel.”
Torrullin began walking again. “Did you speak to her?”
    “Just
condolences,” Tianoman murmured.
    Teroux shook
his head.
    Tristan
cleared his throat and said, “Not to me.”
    A brief
silence and then Torrullin asked, “What did you overhear?”
    “She was
talking to my father and she mentioned Caballa and asked about …
Lowen.”
    A humourless
grunt. “And how did Samuel reply?”
    “There’s no
sign of Caballa and he heard Lowen left you,” Tristan muttered.
    Because he
drove Lowen away, and now he paid for it. “Anything else?”
    “Not that I
heard.”
    “Did Lowen
leave you?” Tianoman asked with the impetuosity of youth. His
cousins gaped at him.
    “Lowen left
me, yes, about ten years ago.”
    Heads jerked
to Torrullin. “Ten years?” Teroux said.
    A grim smile.
“We were apart most of the time anyway. A lie was uncovered, and
that is as much as I will say.”
    “Crikey,”
Teroux muttered.
    “Why did you
not … well, never mind.” Tianoman managed to shut his mouth before
he put his foot in it.
    “Saska?”
Torrullin chose to answer the unfinished question. “Why did I not
let her know? Why did I not repair the rift in my marriage? There
is no easy answer, except to say the rift between us stretches
beyond the presence of Lowen.”
    The villa lay
ahead, set atop a rise. There was no garden other than what nature
gifted the region between mountains and lake. Spruce, elder, oak
and fir forests surrounded the house, with the deciduous trees
leafless now in winter, and lichens and mosses adorned the rocks
along the way. A patchy lawn gave evidence to what summer green
would be and was the only addition to nature set before the wide
expanse of the villa. The house was beautiful, a combination of
wood and stone, more windows than walls and at least ten chimneys
protruded from the steep roof. It was also massive, far larger than
the Keep on Valaris, and the view was breathtaking.
    “Fantastic,”
Teroux said as they levelled off before the house, turning round
and around.
    “I have my
vanities,” Torrullin smiled, pleased.
    “Did you build
it?” Tianoman asked. “It’s wonderful.”
    “I built it
with Lowen. She spent perhaps a full month in it, if you add
together small increments.”
    Tristan paced
towards the lake. “The view is incredible. Is that huge lake in the
distance the one that holds First Sanctuary?”
    “Yes. Mariner
Island is First Sanctuary. You cannot see it from here, but there
are bridges from the island to the mainland to Second
Sanctuary.”
    “Valleur
built, we hear.”
    “Indeed. The
Valleur put in effort here,” Torrullin said.
    Tristan
nodded. “That would aid the rumours,” he said to Teroux.
    “Absolutely,”
Teroux muttered.
    “Sanctuary
herself could be a target,” Tianoman added.
    Tristan
sighed.