The Nemisin Star Read Online Free PDF

Your responsibility is to
remain objective in the viewing of it, while being emotionally
involved also. Not easy, friend.
    ~Awl
     
     
    The Keep
    The day
before
     
    S kye
and Tristamil’s reunion was tense.
    She saw him
climb to the battlements and followed the shadowy form. World
hopping changed Tristamil and he swung around with irritation, so
much like his father that she was frightened of him, and for
him.
    Months of
waiting to hear about him, see him, left no doubt about how much
she cared, and she stared mutely, willing him to see her and not
the intrusion. He crossed the divide between them and took her into
his arms. Whatever else had happened and whatever would rule his
life now, his feelings for her had not changed. It had not been
time to talk; he was weary and unlike his usual self. It was not
time for unsaid words to transform into the intimacy of a kiss.
    After a while
she gently disengaged and put her fingers to his lips, to stop
words and more, taking him by the hand to lead him to his suite.
There she fussed over him, drawing a bath, laying out toiletries,
and while he bathed she found fresh clothes, had food and drink
brought up, and aired his bedroom.
    He came out,
wrapped in a towel. “Skye.”
    She blushed
seeing him like that, droplets of moisture on golden skin, eyes
intent. “Eat, rest. We’ll talk later.”
    He nodded,
tracking her jerky movements.
    “I’ll leave
now,” she said, heading for the door.
    He was there
when she reached it, and she lifted her hands, eyes and mouth to
his, to sink into his kiss as if he was the only solid ground
anywhere. He held her and she pressed her face against his warm
skin, smelled him, wanted to taste, and pushed herself away.
    “Later,
please.”
    Again he
nodded and stood aside. She fled.
     
     
    It grew dark
when he emerged.
    She was on the
balcony watching Torrullin finally leave the Throne-room, heart
going out to the troubled man. Tristamil joined her at the rail
with tousled hair, and saw his father. He led her onto the
battlements again and this time he was withdrawn.
    Then the words
came, unstoppable, as he let it out, months of world to world, of
horrors, of Margus and his deeds in their name, of their terrible
reputation, of the distance between him and his father, of his
growing closeness to Saska, of Taranis and Vannis bickering, and
more. She understood he purged before he could reach for her, and
she listened without interrupting, fixated on his face. She saw
anger, disappointment, sadness, fury, and much else, and watched it
drain away until he was spent, exhausted anew.
    When she took
him back to his suite, he surrendered to oblivion.
     
     
    Torrke
    Earlier
     
    In the morning
Tristamil greeted her with an open smile and joined her at
breakfast below.
    They chatted
about things between, the normal stuff, and she was relieved. When
people began trickling in, both realised a gathering was in
progress, and they left the Keep to walk beyond.
    He
passionately desired to avoid people for as long as he could
orchestrate it and Skye always preferred being alone. They
discussed many subjects, skirting anything serious, but often found
the other glancing over.
    Eventually he
stopped. “We need to talk about –”
    She stopped
also, interrupting him. “After the meeting, Tris. I think we should
hear what will be revealed there. I think it will have bearing on
how we go forward.”
    “Nothing will
change how I feel.”
    “But it could
change how you react to how you feel.”
    He muttered a
curse.
    “You know I’m
right.” She slid her hand into his and tugged him towards the
swelling courtyard. “After, I promise.” Gods, she wished there were
less demands on his time. She wished he was someone other than a
Valla.
    In the
Throne-room Torrullin nailed the coffin shut.
    Tristamil was
the heir and any relationship between them was doomed.
     
     
    The Keep
    The
Present
     
    The courtyard
was not the best place to have this conversation, but