Free Schism: Part One of Triad by Catherine Asaro Page B

Kurj’s heirs. It didn’t help to know they were right.
     
    That night Soz left the home, the place where she had known so much joy and love—and that was now forbidden to her.
    Shannon sat in a curtained alcove on the third floor of the house. He pushed into a corner where the stone bench met the wall, pulled his knees to his chest, and laid his forehead on his knees. The roar of die departing Jag had long since faded. Nothing could fix this wound. Father had sent Almor away.
    Forever.
     
    It was his fault
    Shannon knew the truth. He hurt people and they left. He gave nothing. He had nothing. Loneliness was breaking him apart.
    The door of the outer room scraped open, glasswood on stone. Shannon raised his head. He looked through the crack where the curtain didn’t quite meet the wall and saw his fattier shut the door. Eldrinson walked heavily to a table in the center of the room and sat in one of its high-backed chairs. Resting his elbows on its surface, he put his forehead in his hands.
    His shoulders were shaking. He was crying. Shannon had known many moods from his father, but never this heart-deep anguish. It was his fault. He had seen his father’s anger, heard him banish Althor. Because of him, Shannon. He never meant to cause pain. He had simply gone to Althor. It had done so much damage.
    He couldn’t bear to be the cause of this. Nor could he bear more rejection, more anger, more pain.
    The door opened again. Roca came inside, but Eldrinson didn’t look up as she closed the door. She went to the table and sat in a chair near him.
    He lifted his head. “Are they gone?” Tears streaked his face.
    Her face was wet as well. “Yes. They left.”
    His voice cracked. “They are dead to me.”
    “Eldri, don’t do this.” Roca reached for his hand.
    He pushed her away. “You could have helped me. You didn’t.”
    “It is wrong to make her stay.”
    Eldrinson stared at her. “But it isn’t wrong for her to go? To show so little respect for her parents?”
    “She is no longer a child, no matter how we may feel. We must respect her wishes.”
    “Kurj will destroy us. He will tear apart our family. Gods know, I’ve never done anything to him. But it will never change his antipathy toward me.”
    She exhaled. “It is true, he will probably never accept you as his stepfather.
    But he no longer tries to destroy you.”
    “No, now he does it through our children.”
     
    “He didn’t want to name any heirs. The Assembly forced him.”
    “I was so happy today.” Eldrinson’s voice caught. “So proud of Althor, so overjoyed to have the family together.”
    “Eldri, give this time. It will heal.”
    “That woman, Colonel Tahota—why did Kurj send her?”
    ‘To answer our questions.” Relief at his quieter tone showed on Roca’s face.
    “She has much status within ISC. They did honor by sending her.”
    His anger sparked. “Your son couldn’t come himself?”
    “Would you have wanted him to?”
    “No.” Eldrinson grimaced. “When he comes here, I feel his aversion every moment. He loathes Lyshriol. He judges everything I do and say.”
    Shannon strained to understand their currents of emotion. He felt how much they hurt, but he couldn’t interpret their complicated moods. He hardly knew Kurj; it had been over six years since his half brother had visited Lyshriol.
    Shannon’s life had been even more an ocean of moods then. He remembered Kurj as huge and taciturn. Imposing. But not hostile. Shannon had liked him.
    “I talked to Tahota this afternoon,” Roca was saying. “Kurj intends honor by Althor and Soz.”
    Eldrinson shook his head, his face drawn. “My children have—” He stiffened, the rest of his sentence lost.
    “Eldri?” Roca leaned forward. “What—ah, gods, no.”
    A strange static crackled in Shannon’s mind. His father’s gaze turned vacant, a frightening lack of person. Roca stood up suddenly, grabbing her husband as he went rigid and sagged to the side. She caught his