Mageborn The Line of Illeniel by Michael Manning (interesting novels to read .txt) 📕

“Maybe,” he said. “Some of them definitely had families; by their gear and clothing I could tell a few of them were guardsmen from the city.”

Guilt shot through me, thinking of their wives and children, but I fought it down. “They should have picked a better way to make extra money.” He grunted but didn’t say anything else.

We rode in silence after that. Marc tried to start up a conversation a few times but even he couldn’t overcome the dark cloud that hung over us. Penelope refused to even acknowledge his questions. Cyhan was less reticent but he wouldn’t respond with anything more than one syllable answers. Marc didn’t bother trying to engage me.

That evening we made camp without having encountered any more people on the road. Penny sparred with her teacher and even I could see she was starting to improve. She had a serious intensity about her now. After we had eaten Cyhan suggested she take watch with me. In his own way I suppose he was trying to give us an opportunity to make up.

“I’d rather not,” she said simply, and that was that.

Once my turn at watch was done I slept restlessly. I woke often, dreaming of the men I had slain. At one point I even dreamt of the stone lady. She was looking down on the bodies of the men I had killed. Slowly she moved from one to the next, leaning down to put her hand on their chests. As she touched each one the earth drew them down, until they were no longer visible. When she finished she looked at me and I could see tears in her eyes, glimmering crystals that fell endlessly to the still earth. She opened her mouth to speak to me but I couldn’t hear her words. She was at once both beautiful and sorrowful. Though I couldn’t hear her it seemed she was pleading with me, asking for something, but whatever it was I knew it was no longer in my power to give.

I woke suddenly, sweating. Glancing around the camp I saw Penny sitting next to Cyhan. They were talking softly, and he had his arm around her shoulder. He was probably trying to make her feel better but the sight kindled a dark fire in my belly. I closed my eyes to shut out the sight. It wasn’t my concern anymore anyway. She would need someone after I was gone. Assuming I could manage to find a way to get rid of our accursed bond.

Dawn came early, as it usually did. We broke camp quickly and set off down the road. Birds were singing and there was a mild breeze, which carried the pleasant smells of flowers and growing things to my nose. In short it was a miserable day. I’ve never understood why Mother Nature was so clueless with regard to my moods. Women were supposed to have excellent intuition after all. Then again I had long suspected Mother Nature was a bitch by choice.

Penny seemed to have recovered from our fight the day before. She was chatting amiably with Marc, a relief for him I’m sure. It had never been easy for him to be silent. Even Cyhan seemed more sociable, today he had increased the length of his responses from one syllable to several words. Sometimes he even put forth the effort to use whole sentences.

All in all, the lively atmosphere served to highlight my antisocial behavior. At one point Marc rose closer and after a moment I realized he was speaking to me.

“What?” I asked. I hadn’t been paying attention.

He sighed dramatically, “I was asking if you’re looking forward to getting back home.”

“Not particularly,” I replied. The thought of home just reminded me that I had broken things off with Penny. My bed would seem extremely empty after more than a year of sharing it with her.

“So what are you brooding about?” he inquired.

The question irritated me. He knew bloody well why I was out of sorts. He would also know that a public conversation was unlikely to improve things. “I was considering various methods for killing people. If war is coming to our lands I’ll need plenty of fresh ideas. I’m certain I can’t use stones to kill them all one by one, so I was thinking of ways to kill men in large groups.”

“That’s a really damned morbid way to spend your morning,” he commented sarcastically.

“I prefer to think of it as pragmatic.”

“It would be more practical if you spent your time trying to figure out how to make up to Penny,” he shot back.

I noticed the others were watching us. The last thing I wanted was to discuss my situation with Penny in front of them. “Go on ahead,” I waved at them. “I need to iron some things out with my friend here.”

“Sure,” Cyhan said. Penny pretended she hadn’t heard any of it. The two of them kept riding while I stopped my horse and faced Marc.

“You presume that I want to make up with Penny,” I told him once they were out of earshot.

He stared at me carefully, “Don’t give me that bullshit Mordecai. I’m the king of bullshit and I’ve known you far too long.”

“Is your goddess worried that if I don’t make up with Penny it will spoil her plans?” It was nonsense but I wanted to throw him off balance.

“The man I grew up with would never have acted like you did yesterday, not without a reason. Whatever you’re planning you need to talk to someone. How else will you know whether you’re being reasonable or deluding yourself?” he said, ignoring my insult.

“Why should I trust a god-ridden cast off?”

“Because I’m your goddamned friend!”

Something gave way inside me, “Alright, if you want my thoughts you’ll have to promise this stays between us.”

“That’s the first real insult you’ve given me today,” he answered coolly. There had never been any reservations between us before, nor had he ever betrayed my confidence.

“I’m going to die