Tanis the Shadow Years by Barbara Siegel

Author:Barbara Siegel [Siegel, Barbara]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
ISBN: 978-0-7869-6335-5
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Published: 2012-06-05T04:00:00+00:00

“I can’t just leave without saying good-bye,” Brandella said mournfully, staring out into the glimmering sea. She and Tanis had been sitting so quietly that a small flock of gulls had come to rest on the sand at their feet, obviously hoping the two had brought food to share.

Tanis knew there might be little time left, but he also knew how hard it was to part from those you love without saying farewell. He thought about Kitiara’s abrupt departure. The gulls’ hard, black eyes reminded him of the angry gleam in Kit’s eyes as she’d stormed away.

Brandella saw the sadness in his face and seemed to know him for a kindred spirit. “Is it the leaving that hurts the worst, or is it the lack of a good-bye?” she asked plaintively.

“Both.” He laughed harshly, thinking of the good-bye slap he’d received from Kit. “But it’s better, in the end,” he added thoughtfully, “to tell someone how you feel and to be told the same. Without those words to hold onto—for good or ill—you’re just adrift.”

Brandella pulled her shawl tighter against the twilight chill. “Are you adrift?” she asked.

His silence appeared to be answer enough. Brandella made a sudden move to take his hand, then seemed to rethink the movement and merely sat quietly.

The weaver was like no woman he had ever known, Tanis thought, but she could not be his. It was driving him mad.

She broke the awkward silence, asking, “What should I do?”

Swallowing hard, he suggested, “Leave Kishpa a note. That way he’ll always have your words. He’ll have something to hold on to.”

She thought about it for a moment and then slowly, sadly, said, “Yes, that may be best. Otherwise, I might not be able to part with him at all.”

At that moment, Tanis remembered the enchanted writing instrument that Kishpa had given him. A band of sligs had been after it, the mage had said. He was right: they wouldn’t find it here. He fished it out of the inside pocket of his tunic and handed it to her. “This was once Kishpa’s,” he said with feeling. “He gave it to me so that I might leave it in this time and place. From his hand to my hand to yours, I give it to you to write him his farewell.”

She took it lovingly. It was wooden and plain, but that didn’t seem to matter to Brandella. Her Kishpa once had possessed it.

“Thank you,” she said, fighting her emotions.

Embarrassed, the half-elf said, “I ask but one thing. When you finish your note, leave the writing instrument behind. Don’t take it with you.”

“I will do as you ask,” she said, throwing her arms around the half-elf in gratitude, the movement scaring off the half-dozen seagulls at their feet.

The smell of her hair, and the touch of her hands on his back, made Tanis light-headed.

A moment later she pulled away awkwardly. “Are you all right?” he asked in a whisper.

She nodded her head but did not meet his eyes. “I will go and write the note now.

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