Storm and Steel by Jon Sprunk

Author:Jon Sprunk
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781633880115
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Published: 2015-05-11T04:00:00+00:00

Horace reached for the amphora as he heard the front door close. Alyra was gone, possibly for good. He could have tried to stop her. There were a thousand things he might have said to change her mind. Yet he'd chosen to sit in his chair and finish his brandy instead. She made her choice. I never should have believed she could love me. We were too different, and both of us too damned stubborn to change. Why should I choose between her and Byleth? I never asked her to choose. No, she runs off whenever she wants to pursue her mission, but I'm stuck here, cleaning up the mess.

He tipped the jar and frowned when only a trickle rolled out into his glass. He sighed, not wanting this drunk to leave him, especially now. In fact, he might just stay here all night and keep at it. What was the point in sobering up? He knew what awaited him when the mystical spell of the liquor left him. A world of pain, a life without love or friendship. He pictured the rest of his days as one long parade of disappointments and failures until, at last, he succumbed to one of his many enemies. There would be no one to remember him fondly, no loving family to visit his grave.

He was considering a call to Harxes for another jar when a light itch nagged at the back of his head. He tried to brush it away, but the feeling only intensified. It's just the brandy. It'll go away.

Frowning at the traitorous tumbler, he set it down on top of an unlit candle beside the door and went out into the atrium. There was no one there except Gurita standing watch. Horace saluted him with a pleasant chuckle and looked around, wondering why he'd come out here. Then the tickle returned at the nape of his neck. It seemed to want something, and that something was above him. Perhaps the Prophet is calling me home. Wouldn't that serve Alyra right? Me up and dying on the night she leaves me. Oh, to see her face when she finds out. She'd know right away what a mistake she made. Or maybe not. The woman is as stubborn as a…as a…

He stumbled up the stairs, following the lure of the itch that refused to leave him alone. The steps were trickier to navigate than he remembered, but holding tight to the bannister he eventually reached the top. He heard someone moving around downstairs. Probably Cook up late. Or Harxes in the larder doing a midnight tally of the house stores. He's a good man. Better than I deserve, like Mezim. Where would I be without them? I should pay them more. Yes! Starting tomorrow they both get double wages! Not just them. All my servants! Because they're more than just servants. They are my family, the only family I've got.

He pushed open the door to the roof. Like many of the homes in Erugash, his had a flat top.

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