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"Thelian!" Melost cried as he saw his kinsman running to set the guard after the outlaws, after the people who had harboured him...
Clear...it was all clear now, as clear and hard and sharp as a cut crystal shard. He was the cause of the pain, the anxiety, the torment of everyone who had remotely cared for him. Because Melost hadn't been in his right mind when he met Vlad, he and his people were now going to be hunted down...because he had run from the pain of betrayal rather than confronting it...because his sense of duty had made his beloved Anwenelme seek the arms of another...because he could never refuse his king. All of this was his fault.
With a cry, he flung the dagger away and covered his face. How was he even able to stand in Arthain's presence? He had tried to kill the man whom he had saved many times over and who had saved him as well. Why? Because he was in pain, because he was suffering! What of Arthain? Had he sufffered as well? As though in answer, strong arms went around him and held him close. "Melost...mellon...I thought you were...that you had died." He held Melost away from him and looked directly at him. "Are you here, at the end of things? Have you come to die with me?"
Melost pulled him close, crushing him to his chest, trying to make him seem real. He couldn't speak, he could only weep at the truth in Arthain's words. He had indeed returned, not to rejoice in their reunion, but to slay him...now both objectives were impossible. Now they could only hope to survive the horror that awaited them. Arthain stroked Melost's hair, trying to quiet him. As he did so...he told him how the main body of the army had already been dispatched to the south and east. Only a few small companies had been left behind in the rear guard. Arthain told him how he had hoped against all odds to see his friend again, and he was very careful to steer clear of Anwenelme and the child. He cringed even as the thought entered his mind and he drew away from Melost as his breathing calmed at last. "Forgive..." "Melost, no...no apologies. It is I who owes you one...more than one!"
Dorlas stood to one side, both amazed and embarrassed as he witnessed two friends when all hope had vanished. Was there actually a chance? Was this an omen?
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