Free storm by Unknown Page B

candle hissed in its own wax on the altar and Pellaz opened his eyes.
     
                Now you begin to see...
     
                "Speak to me."
     
                A pearl of light, the star of all stars... unexpected.
     
                Pellaz held his breath.  Dare he believe the words he heard in his mind came from anywhere but his own dreams and desires?
     
                Do what is not expected of you...
     
                "How can I find you?"
     
                In the star...
     
     
     
    On his terrace in Phaonica, Caeru's behaviour was cool but cordial.  He clearly made a point of not sitting too close to Cal, and asked Pellaz for news of Galhea.  Pellaz found it fairly easy to play the game and offer up the gossip, but he did not tell his companions anything about the things that concerned him.  He felt slighted outsider, but strangely, this did not distress him.  He could see plainly how disoriented Cal felt being in Immanion and how Caeru could ground him in a way that Pellaz could not.  There was really only one Tigron.  Pellaz smiled, drank a little wine, and heard himself chatting amicably, but inside he was saying to himself:  we were mad to think we could ever have it back, Cal.  I died, and what we had died with me.  What we have now is a revenant; lurching, damaged and undead.  How could we have been so stupid to cling to a dream for so long?
     
                He realized he loved Cal more than he ever had, but it was not the consuming passion of youth that had sustained his dreams over the years.  It was not as hot and urgent; it was deeper, more real.
     
                The time came when Pellaz knew he could leave without giving offence  They had gone indoors because the air on the terrace had cooled.  He could leave, because it was expected of him.  He had made a concession in visiting the Tigrina's apartment and this would be regarded as a first step.  He would return to his own rooms, either with Cal were alone, and he would become resentful of being manipulated.  He would remember everything that made him angry, and the cycle would begin again.  He could see himself walking out of the door, inclining his head in a formal farewell.  It would be so easy, and he yearned for it.
     
                "I could do with another drink," he said.  "Have we exhausted your stocks, Rue?"
     
                "No...  I'll see to it." Caeru left the room in a hurry, clearly surprised.
     
                Pellaz sat down in a chair.  He felt light-headed, as if he'd summoned up strong and capricious energy.
     
                "What are you up to?" Cal asked.
     
                "I'm tired," Pellaz said, "very tired.  I love you and I want what's best for you."
     
                "Was the matter?" Cal squatted beside Pell's chair.  "You look... odd, and what you just said sounded worryingly final."
     
                "I'm not going anywhere," Pellaz said.  He reached out and stroked Cal's face.  It was still difficult to believe Cal was here in Immanion.  It didn't feel real, after so many years of longing in fantasy.  But it was one of only two possible conclusions to their passion: reunion or death.  Who or what had decided upon the happier resolution?
     
                Stop thinking this way, Pellaz told himself.
     
                Caeru came back into the room with wine and paused when he caught sight of Cal by Pell's chair.
     
                "Something's not right with Pell," Cal said, standing up.
     
                Pellaz said nothing.  It was pointless to lie.
     
                "It's me," Caeru said.  "Isn't it?"
     
                Pellaz closed his eyes briefly.  "No, it isn't.  Come here.  Stand before me."
     
                Caeru put down the wine on a table and