Extraits

1

Return to Par-shon

The massive tower of black stone dwarfed Tannen Minden. Shadows streaked from the stone's base, stretching out like some wispy finger that strained to touch all of the lands. The shadows might not reach him, but the effect the tower had, the soft chill in his heart, managed to reach him.

'I've avoided this long enough,' he said softly.

Amis squeezed his hand. She didn't need for him to say anything more. The shaped bond between them, at once stronger and deeper than any bond he shared with the elementals, allowed her to know exactly what he felt.

'It does not have to be now,' she said.

He glanced over at her. Sunlight reflected off the band of gold at her neck, and her blond hair shimmered. He resisted the urge to run his hand through it.

'That's now what you've implied before,' he said, and she smiled. 'With everything that I've done, I've put it off more than I should. And besides, you said the wedding couldn't take the place until - '

'After,' Amia said with a smile.

After. The bond between them was more than any ceremony could create but was a formality expected of her as First Mother. Not to mention Tan's own mother's expectation.