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The stairs ended abruptly at a heavy wood door, and Roland shoved it open
He stepped into the weapons rooe, circular tomb, without s It was black as pitch, but he could see clearly
Suits of armor stood like dust-coated specters, the darkness within the him hat felt to hiht Broadswords hung upon the stone walls, tarnished with neglect and time Their finely detailed scabbards were barely discernible through the filth Crossbows lined the floor in one section, likely inoperable by now
Bolts stood in a short, wooden box Hundreds of theether like a porcupine&039;s quills Shields leaned against the wall, the faded remnants of the Courtemanche family crest upon their faces
Roland felt bitter irony when he glanced at the black, rampant lion, teeth bared, upon a field of red
The beast and the blood How appropriate
He tore his gaze frorim reminders of his past, of his family, and strode toward the ladder at the far end of the room As he neared the top, he shoved at the trapdoor above hi, wooden matches upon the table where he&039;d left theh stone wall
Then he lit the candles until the entire roolow
Like the chamber below, this one was circular The walls had been lined with slits, from which the archers of old could shoot at intruders if the castle cae Roland had sealed the slits only recently There were tieons beneath the earth
He wouldn&039;t do so again The dungeons were fitting enough for a man such as he
For a moment, he stood in the roos stood all around hiing hands of tihts and heroic dreams Then there were the portraits, which had comeeyes of his brothers
Upon an easel, the unfinished portrait of Rhiannon drew him nearer
He&039;d come to this room to destroy it, to destroy all of them He intended to slice them to shreds He was no painter, no artist He had not the heart of a poet, but the heart of a villain What right did he have to hold to these memories of a human&039; with a soul? They were false Utter lies, all of theer from a sheath at his hip, and lifted it He strode up to the portrait
But so stopped hier than his anger He gazed at the iue shapes and outlines In it, he saw Rhiannon, her alht With a strangled sob, he dropped the dagger to the stone floor
He turned his back to the painting and faced instead a small table where his paints and pallets and brushes stood at the ready Beside it, stood another ladder He looked slowly upward, to the trapdoor at the top Above was the top of the castle
He used to go up there as a boy, and look out over the woods to the spot where the two rivers joined Narrow, rapid Tordu, laughing as it bounded into the broad, calm waters of the Loire As one, the two rivers continued their unending journey southward in a glistening, glittering strand
Beyond the trapdoor was daylight by now The war overhead to prevent its touch He started forward, placed his hands on the rungs
Then he paused, and looked again toward the painting He rabbed up the brushes, and a pallet
Her head throbbed, and her stomach seemed alive, the way it twisted and writhed within her She felt slightly stronger now than she had when she&039;d first stirred, to find Taradually, her strength had begun to filter back into her
"Where is he?"She saw Tahten when she asked the question
"I don&039;t know Eric said he&039;d holed himself up in the tower room all day
Then at dusk, he went outside He hasn&039;t co one searched Rhiannon&039;s eyes
"You were hoping he&039;d be here when you woke"
Rhiannon shrugged, hoping to hide her disappointment"I was only curious"
Tamara touched her hand
"Don&039;t be too disappointed in hiht over what happened"She frowned, her pretty face puckering"Not that he doesn&039;t deserve to be"
"Oh, posh, Tamara, I&039;m fine And don&039;t tell me you don&039;t enjoy a small sip or two in the throes of passion"Tamara blushed
"Well, yesbut"-- "I like to think he was so overwhelmed with desire for me that he took leave of his senses It&039;s rather flattering, actually"
Ta was to blame He feels terrible about it"
Rhiannon tilted her head to one side
"I know little of cheenius about those things"She glanced at Rhiannon, then lowered her lashes
"Was itvery nice?"
Rhiannon al pain lodged in the center of her chest, for which she had no explanation She&039;d never encountered a vampiress so embarrassed to discuss sex
"My body nearly exploded at his touch,"she said frankly
"I&039;ve wanted hi time, you know"
Tamara faced her fully then
"So, why do I see such sadness in your eyes?"
Rhiannon blinked and turned away
"Co to talk to aze oncefrohed
"It was aled himself into me Alely
"You wanted tenderness, so I understand"
Rhiannon lifted her brows
"Cuddling? Where do you co? Do I honestly look to you like the type of worinned
"He&039;ll co woot to her feet She didn&039;tof Ta so bashful with another wo to be eed out a pair of designer denims and slipped them on At the wardrobe, she re electric blue, and poked her arms into the sleeves As she fastened the onyx buttons, Ta out, aren&039;t you?"
Rhiannon nodded
"Yes, and it will be useless for you to tell me to stay here and rest I&039;m immortal Granted, I feel like a brisk wind could blow ht now, but it will pass"She knelt near the closet and searched for a suitable pair of walking shoes
"Eric said Roland headed for the woods, just beyond the wall"
Rhiannon turned
"Reading my mind, are you?"
"I don&039;t have to I&039;, Rhiannon told herself as she crossed the grassythe hem of her jeans Cool, moist breezes bathed her face, and the full moon lit her way She wouldn&039;t try to su her senses to his She had a feeling he would only go out of his way to avoid her if he knew she sought hie she leaped the wall, and stepped into the darkness of the woods Twisted, dark-skinned trees and thorny bushes surrounded her, but she pushed steadily onward, determined to find him She had no idea what she wanted to say to hi Taht about the talking She needed, desperately, to talk to Roland More important, she needed hier as she neared the lie It sank with her every step
She took her ti deeply to experience every aro in her head eased a bit with each passing moment, and eventually she ca the trees She followed it, stepping in and out of the abstract patterns the ust caused the elonyor in ecstasy Their deep tenor har over the sate, with an elaborate C twined around its bars It creaked as she pushed it open
The wind stiffened Huge lilow Markers stood in uneven rows, e and elaborate
Roland stood with one hand braced against an obelisk taller than he
On the face was carved a crest, with two crossed swords above it
Without turning, he&039; spoke
"So, you&039;ve found me"
"So I have"She stepped nearer The crest on the stone was one she kneell She&039;d seen the same rampant lion on Roland&039;s shield when she&039;d found hi near death on a field of battle
"A relative? "she asked softly
"My father"He straightened and waved a hand to the man-size crucifix beside him
"And my mother"
Rhiannon came forward until she stood very close to hilanced at the stone, at the likeness of the Savior painstakingly chiseled into it, every detail of his face clear in the swirling white "
"In deference to her devotion"He shook his head
"I shudder to think what she would say, could she see what I&039; we becoue, but sensed it would best be put off for another time
She moved to the three nearly identical stones in the next row
Tall blocks, arched at the tops and made of obsidian They differed only in the scenes etched into their faces
Roland ca depicted on the first
"Albert, the hunter,"he said softly
She could feel the pain e from hiht, seated upon a rearing destrier
"Eustace, the warrior,"he told her He then glanced toward the third, with the warship at full sail upon a choppy sea
"Pierre, the sailor My brothers Meet Rhiannon, the latest victim of my cruelty"
"Roland, no"-- "Ah, but you wish to hear the rest of the story, do you not?"
He faced her with bitter hurt in his eyes
"I believe I left off after the first appearance of the beast that lives in my soul You remember, how I butchered the men who&039;d murdered Sir Gareth?"
"You were little rief"
He nodded
"So you said before No doubt, after a firsthand encounter with my violent side, you&039;ve refor the puffy circles beneath his eyes, the haggard features, the tight jaw
"Eric believes it was a side effect of the drug"
"Eric would rather believe anything than the truth"He turned away from her
"Can you stomach the rest of the tale, Rhiannon, or would you prefer to leave now? I&039;ve no idea why, but some demon drives me to tell it to you All of it Perhaps I need to see your face when you finally realize what I am"
"I knohat you are If you want to tell me, I want to hear it"
His eyes narrowed, and one hand shot out to grip her upper arin, you will hear it all, whether you wish to or not"
She stared up into his face, aching for the pain he felt"Are you trying to frighten me, Roland? To drive rile away so you won&039;t have to release this pain or exorcise these de these dehtened of me after what I did, then you are a fool"She jerked her arht
"Then I am a fool"She walked past i hiiant of a tree She sat down there, leaning her back against the rough bark
"Tell me"