The High Druid's Blade (The Defenders of Shannara, #1)(99)

“He said it would make Chrys forget all the bad things that happened to her, and that she would come back to herself.” He hesitated. “You’re going to tell me he was lying, aren’t you?”

Leofur shrugged, then shook her head. “He probably wasn’t. Even though he has dozens of other unpleasant characteristics, he tends to be truthful. He doesn’t see any reason not to be. Besides, I don’t think he wants to come up against you again right away, and you’d hunt him down if he lied.”

“I’ll hunt him down anyway.”

She nodded. “You made the right choice.”

“I hope so. I hope he didn’t deceive me. But you know him better than I do.”

“I know him better than anyone.”

He felt a surge of renewed disappointment and unhappiness.

“Because you were his …” He couldn’t finish. He couldn’t make himself say it.

“Because I was his what?” she asked, frowning.

“His …” He stopped again. “His lover.”

She almost laughed, a grin spreading over her features. “Is that what you think? Well, think again, Paxon Leah. I was as special as anyone could be to a man like him.” She reached out and gripped his shoulder hard. “Because I’m his daughter.”





[page]TWENTY-SEVEN




SHE TOLD THIS TO NO ONE IN THE YEARS FOLLOWING HER DEPARTURE from her father and Dark House and the beginning of her life as caregiver for Grehling. Few who lived outside the walls of the building had ever seen her; fewer still knew who she was. During her early years, she was kept tucked away in rooms of her own and not allowed outside the building without an escort. She was fed, clothed, and educated in the manner of girls who were fortunate enough to enjoy a better social standing in the city, but she was denied their companionship. Dark House was her home, but it was also her prison.

She never knew her mother; she never even found out what happened to her. Her mother was simply never there, and no one would talk about her. She was raised by the women who worked for her father, raised in a home where strange men came and went by the hour, raised in dark and oppressive and carefully guarded surroundings that, by the end of things, she came to hate. She might have grown up there, but by the time she left to help look after and raise Grehling, she had come to realize the truth about her father.

“So that’s how you got us into Dark House so easily,” Paxon said. “They knew who you were because that’s where you grew up.”

They were walking back to the airfield, Paxon getting ready to leave for Paranor and the Druids.

“Some of them did. I feel badly about deceiving Fentrick. He used to play with me as a child. He and I were great friends at a time when I had no other friends. Now that’s gone.”

“You did it for me,” the Highlander acknowledged. “I am very grateful.”

“Don’t think you’re so special, Paxon,” she said quickly. “I did it because it was the right thing to do. I knew when Grehling brought Chrysallin to my front door that if I let them inside, I was crossing a line. Everything would change, and the past—maybe all of it—would be wiped away. I made that choice. That’s all.”

“Was it your father who gave you the flash rip?” he asked

“He thought I needed better protection living away from Dark House. He made me promise never to tell anyone I had it. That’s all I really want to say about it just now. I would appreciate it if you didn’t say anything to Grehling. He thinks a lot of me, and he might have a hard time understanding. I already told him I had nothing to do with Arcannen.”

Paxon nodded. “I won’t say anything to him or anyone else. There’s no need. I’m just glad you’re all right. I was worried when I saw you slammed into that wall. By your own father.”

“My own father regards me as a failed experiment. I am an embarrassment to him. He wants me to be his daughter, and he can’t understand why that is so difficult for me.”

“But he attacked you!”

“In his eyes, I attacked him first. I allied myself with you, his enemy. I severed whatever ties remained between us. He had taken pains to do special favors for me in the past, even after I left, even though I never asked for them. I think after this, maybe that part of my life is over.”

They were nearing the airfield now, the first of the masts and light sheaths of the moored vessels rising up ahead of them. “Don’t misunderstand me,” she added quickly. “I’ve wanted it to be over for a long time. There’s really nothing between us now but our blood ties. I’m glad he’s gone. And not likely to be back anytime soon.”

Paxon gave her a rueful look. “You’ll probably think the same thing about me once I’ve left, knowing what I was thinking about you.”

She nodded. “I might. You don’t seem to have a very high opinion of me.”

“I made an assumption about what you were doing in Dark House that I shouldn’t have made. I apologize. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“I’ve never had a problem with what people think about me. You included.”

“After what you did for me, how you helped me with your father, the way you stood by me when I was in danger? I will never forget that. And I don’t want you to be angry with me. I like you a lot. I want us to stay friends.”