She was hurt and he knew it, stung by what she thought to be his reluctance to take her into his confidence. And yet what more could he tell? Luck had saved him from the storm as it had saved him from the trap laid by the Cyclan. Luck which had enabled him to break free of planned intent. Luck-how long would it last?
'Earl?'
'I had help,' he said. 'Without it I would have been lost.'
The truth but not in the way she took it. 'The guide,' she said. 'That poor man. And your other companions. What are they going to do now, my darling?'
'Kemmer may stay. He's an entrepreneur and, with money, can see a way to use the system to his advantage. Santis will remain with him for a while-both need medical attention.' The mercenary more than the trader; old, he had strained himself to the limit and beyond.
'And you, Earl?'
'I'm here, Ellain. With you.'
The answer she had wanted to hear and she smiled her pleasure as she crossed the room to pour them both wine.
'Remember when you first visited me, darling? How cautious you were? Did you really think I might want to poison you?'
'Such things have been known.' He added dryly, 'As Yunus should know.'
'You think I killed him?'
'No.'
'At first the Guard thought I had. I wanted to but I lacked the courage. When it happened it was horrible. I was with him and, suddenly, he groaned and fell. He was dead when I tried to lift him.'
Killed by the cyber because he had failed-Dumarest was certain of it. Yunus had paid for his hospital treatment and it was easy to guess why. He must have been acting on orders relayed by Frome or some earlier communication but he had been careless. Besotted with Ellain he had failed to safeguard his charge and for that, together with other reasons, he had been disposed of.
Luck again-if he had kept his mind on the job, if Tosya had arrived before the
'Earl?' She mistook his introspection. 'Are you jealous?'
'Of Yunus? Should I be?'
'It would be nice if you were.'
'It would be nice if we could all be born again,' he said. 'To know all that we know now so as never to make the same mistakes. How can I be jealous of things which happened before I met you?'
'And since?' Her eyes held his own. 'Do you blame me?'
'For doing what you had to do?' His shrug was impatient. 'The past is dead-forget it. Only the present is important.'
'And the future?'
'That has yet to come. It may never come. All we can be sure of is the present moment.'
The fact that he was free and safe and able to travel as he wished. The fact that he was alive. That he was with a woman with hair a scarlet glory and eyes of limpid emerald. One with the voice of an angel and a body made for passion. One with her own fears.
'A ship may land after the storm,' whispered Ellain. 'Within a day or a week. When it leaves?'
'I'll be on it.'
'And me?'
She might be on it too, traveling with him, loving him, wanting him as now he wanted her. But not for long. A journey, maybe two, and her art would draw her as his quest drew him. They would drift apart, she to the stage and he to other worlds. Moving, always moving in his endless search for the planet of his birth. But, for now, they had each other.
And, for now, that was enough.
