Lord of the Dark by Lord of the Dark

Author:Lord of the Dark [Dark, Lord of the]
Format: epub, pdf
Published: 2010-03-18T11:33:41.509000+00:00

15

“Y ou are sure your lady won’t go prowling about on her own?” Vane queried of Gideon. They had repaired to the Fire Lord’s sanctum sanctorum in the base of the volcano. From there, Vane could monitor the pulse—the very heart of the fiery mountain, which was vital not only to the Isle of Fire, but to all the isles in the Arcan Archipelago, as Gideon knew well from past catastrophes. For it was an eruption eons ago that had turned the Dark Isle into a virtual slag heap.

“She will not venture forth,” said Gideon, who remained standing, his wings being prohibitive. “She did that in Marius’s keeping, and I had to enlist the aid of the rune caster to have her back from the astral realm when the jealous sprites crossed her over.”

“I wish I had your confidence,” Vane returned. He had dressed as appropriately as one could dress in such a steamy climate. He was stripped to the waist, over tight-fitting raw silk leggings and high-top buckskin boots of the same type Marius wore. Gideon could see he was uncomfortable in his finery. But for company, the Lord of the Flames would be going about quite contentedly in the altogether.

“I needed to have this conversation with you in private,” Gideon said. “We are in far more danger than Rhiannon imagines, and I do not want to frighten her any more than she is already.”

“Umm,” Vane gargled around a swallow of grog from his goblet.

“How can you drink this stuff?” Gideon wondered, eyeing the contents of his cup dubiously.

Vane lifted the ruby glass goblet to the rushlight flame as in salute. “Liquid sanity, my friend,” he said, twirling it to and fro between his thumb and forefinger. “’Tis what makes life bearable here in the bowels of hell.” He dipped his finger into the glass and stirred the brew. Steam rose from the goblet and the grog began to bubble. “Tastes better warmed,” he said, raising his finger. “Allow me?” he offered.

Gideon’s eyebrow shot up. “Thank you, no,” he declined. “Mine is…fine as it is.” He hadn’t visited the Fire Lord in some time, and the sight of him thus was painful to view. He couldn’t imagine the loneliness of Vane’s existence, but neither could he have imagined his own, if it were happening to someone else, and he lived that on a daily basis.

“There isn’t much chance for socializing here on my isle,” Vane drawled, “but then, I’m sure you know all about that.”

“At least you have an isle,” Gideon chortled. “This last escapade of mine left me homeless. Are there no others here with you now?”

Vane shook his head that there were not and took another rough swallow from his goblet.

“I ask,” Gideon resumed, “because Rhiannon thought she heard something moving about in the pool area of our chamber. I know it couldn’t have been you, you’d just left us…”

“No, it wasn’t me. I wanted to give you two some privacy. The gods only know when you’ll get another opportunity as things stand.

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