The Invisible Chains - Part 1: Bonds of Hate (49 page)

BOOK: The Invisible Chains - Part 1: Bonds of Hate

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“I know, Mandigaill, who they call the Hunter, this was not the story you expected, was it? This was not how it was supposed to go...”

...

“What about Anaxantis the Merciful, you ask? Anaxantis the Wise? Anaxantis, Shield of Amiratha? Anaxantis the Conqueror? Anaxantis the Lion and Anaxantis the Great? We'll come to those too. But you can't have them without this one and a few others, Friend of Wolves.”

...

“And who are you to say? Have you ever been raped? It certainly was not among the secrets with which you paid me. No? So, how do you know? How do you know that the damage stops with the vile act itself? How do you know that it isn't a contamination, a festering disease that eats at your mind and soul? Do you revile the cripple for not being able to walk and pity the brute who broke his legs? Do you reproach him to cruelly flaunt his deformity in the face of the one who caused his condition, thus tormenting him? You know not of what you speak so inconsiderately, yet with such unfounded assurance.”

...

“Don't forget I could see you, Hunter. You may wish to deny it, but some part of you was enticed by the power for power's sake. By the thrill of having absolute control over another human being. I could see the effect it had on you. You felt the allurement. So spare me your overbearing, but pointless protestations.”

...

“Complete? Yes, I can see how you would think that. Yes, it would seem that his victory was complete. Hadn't he arrived in the north, a scrawny, friendless, powerless boy, adorned with an empty title, at the mercy of his older brother? At best a pawn in the cruel game that was the struggle for the Devil's Crown?”

...

“Yes, yes he did. In fact, he turned the tables on all of them, but indeed, first and foremost on his brother, his aggressor and his lover.”

...

“No, because he knew all too well how temporary his triumph was, how limited its scope. And after all, what had he gained? The privilege of standing in the first ranks against a wild horde of savages. The attention of his older brothers, who now saw a clear and present danger in his continued existence. The weary distrust of the old lion, his father, the high king. The wrath of the conniving crones of the Order of the Great Goddess.”

...

“Sure, he had friends he could count on, but he realized all the same how narrow his power base was. How scant his resources, compared to that of the kingdom of Ximerion. How precarious his authority, resting as it did on the goodwill and trust of relatively few people, the wavering loyalty of an army not completely under his control, and the fickle support of the people.”

...

“That, the future would reveal. As for how and why? Not by force alone, that's for sure, but by cunning, by his wits. By calculation. By thinking three, four, five and more steps ahead. By considering all possible permutations. And also by knowing when to use force, and precisely how much of it, ruthlessly and decisively. But mainly by being Anaxantis.”

...

“You ask what can not be answered, Mandigaill. Not easily, anyway. There is that undefinable quality in leaders. It reveals itself when the hour calls upon them. For some that may be late in life, when everybody thinks their life has already been lived. Others have to cheat nature and grow up faster than she intended. Tenaxos was right in that respect, though he didn't foresee just how right.”

...

“Oh yes, his triumph was resounding. It made waves in the whole kingdom and far beyond its borders. It had drawn attention to him. Where before he had been just another princeling, now not a few began to see him as dangerous. And they all started moving against him at the same time. To complicate matters, he knew that even his immediate circle was not impermeable. Also, he was aware of his own weaknesses. It made him doubt. Sometimes it made him waver. Even despair was no stranger to him, as we shall see. Finally, there was his love, who was also his hate. It made him confused and afraid. Afraid he would lose his sanity. Afraid that eventually he would fall prey to what he called his monsters. But all that, Wolves' Friend, is for another day, another evening.”

...

“Yes. Come back in two weeks. Since you are out of secrets, that should give you time to make new ones. For now, I've grown tired of you, and I want to be alone, with my memories and my ghosts.”