Gemmell, David – Dark Moon

‘That is good news.’

‘Where are you from, Duvo? Where is this land where my leg could be straightened?’

‘It is in a far place,’ he said softly, sitting up. ‘A place we can no longer journey to. It exists only in here,’ he said, tapping his temple. ‘But I remember the joy of it. I will always treasure those memories.’

‘Where was it?’

‘It is better not to speak of it.’

She leaned in close to him, so close he could smell the perfume of her hair. The effect was disconcertingly pleasant. ‘You lived with the Eldarin, didn’t you?’

He sighed. ‘Yes. With the gentle Eldarin.’

‘They were going to destroy us all – that’s what our schoolteacher told us.’

He shook his head. ‘The Eldarin were peaceful; they had no wish to dominate others. But truth counts for nothing against the evil lies of men like Sirano. What I will never understand is the reason behind it all. What did Sirano and the others hope to achieve by destroying the Eldarin? The world has been at war ever since. Thousands have died. And for what? Did they envy the Eldarin their civilization, their knowledge? Was it just greed? I don’t know. Hate seems so much stronger than love. A sculptor can spend years fashioning a statue from a single piece of marble. Another man can wreck it in a heartbeat with a heavy hammer. Love and hate.’

‘I am sorry,’ she said. ‘Now I have saddened you.’

‘You must not mention the Eldarin to anyone. I like my life as it is. Quiet.’

‘Your secret is safe with me. All your secrets are safe with me.’

Leaning in he kissed her cheek. ‘So chaste, Song-man,’ she whispered. ‘Is that all you wish for?’

‘I wish for many things,’ he told her, drawing her close. ‘Most of them I cannot have.’

‘You could have me,’ she told him. He looked into her eyes and saw the fear of rejection there.

‘Please do not fall in love with me, Shira,’ he said. ‘Soon I will be moving on.’

‘Why must you go? Are you not happy here?’

‘It is not a question of happiness.’

She pulled away from him, but as she did so she raised her hand and ran her fingers through his long blond hair. ‘You cannot ask someone not to love you,’ she said. ‘It lessens love if you believe it can be controlled by mere

will. I have loved you from the moment I saw you. You remember when you came into the tavern? Father said he had no need of a singer, and you told him that you would double his takings in the first week?’

‘I do. I didn’t know you were there.’

‘I was in the kitchen doorway. When you came in the sun was at your back, and your hair shone like gold. I’ll never forget that day.’

Drawing her down to the grass, he kissed her gently on the lips. Then he sat up. ‘There is no deceit in me, Shira. I love you as I have loved no other. That is the truth. But there is another truth.’

‘You have a wife?’

‘No! That is something I cannot have. What I mean is that it will not be long before someone – as you have – begins to question my music and the spells it weaves. Then I will be forced to flee into the night.’

‘I would go with you.’

Tenderly he took her hand. ‘What kind of life could I offer you? I am a wanderer with no home and no people.’

She sat in silence for a moment. ‘Would you have taken me with you had I been able to run across these hills?’ she asked.

‘No, never that. I love you, Shira. I love you for everything you are; for your sweetness and your love of life, for your caring and your courage.’

‘You speak of courage, Duvo. Where is yours? I know how hard life can be. Two of my brothers have died in this senseless war, and I have spent my life in constant pain. From the day the wagon wheel crushed my leg -until you played for me – I have rarely known a moment when I could not feel the scraping of bone as I moved. But I go on, Duvo. We all go on. Life is harsh, life is cruel, life

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