The Memory of Darkness (on hold until October)

29 - Wicked Game

This was not love. Arianna refused to believe that love could ever make her feel so uncomfortable with herself. He was a man with merits, she couldn't deny that, but he was a murderer. He had stalked her like a hunter tracks a deer in the forest. He had saved her life, then refused to let her go. A monster with a beautiful face.

What did she feel for him? He had barely been gone for an hour and she missed him. Feeling his arm around her earlier had been far too comfortable. The look of astonishment on the old Priest's face had spoken volumes. She wasn't supposed to be so at ease. Who could possibly find contentment here? How could the very thought of him make her heart race?

This was not love, but whatever it was, she was losing herself to it entirely.

XXXXX

Night had fallen, and the town guards were preparing to ring the curfew bell by the time Coren and Felix reached Estenfold. They had spent the journey in a state of apprehension; Coren worried about leaving Father Dominic alone, Felix afraid that he had been recognised.

"I've made a mistake," said the old man. "I thought I was ready to face up to all of this, turns out I'm a complete coward. If he realised who I am... I'm done for. You might as well run me through with your sword now. It'll be quicker."

"How could he recognise you?" asked Coren. "It's been over forty years and you've masked your signal."

Felix shrugged. "Am I being paranoid?"

"Yes," said Coren, though a more honest answer would have been "hopefully."

"I thought I was getting tired of life," said Felix. "Perhaps this is showing me that I'm not."

"You shouldn't be," said Coren. "You've a lot to live for and seem to be in remarkably good health. I know men twenty years your junior who would be jealous of that." He thought for a moment, remembering something that had struck him as odd. "If I might ask, what did you mean when you said your eyes weren't exactly natural?"

"You might ask," said Felix, shifting awkwardly on the front seat of the cart. "I was probably a few years older than you are now, and it became obvious that my eyesight was going downhill faster than a nice Ingerdale Blue at the Kyrvell Cheese Rolling Festival. Lorcan and I combined our knowledge of enchantments and parts of the human anatomy, and to cut a long and rather squeamish story short, my eyesight has been superb ever since."

Coren struggled to process all of this. "Enchantments, yes, but anatomy?"

"That part was mainly him," said Felix. "Though don't ask how he acquired most of his knowledge. It wasn't from books, I'll say that much."

"You let him mutilate your eyes?" asked Coren, aghast.

"Enhanced, my good man, enhanced." Felix gave a wry smile. "Though I probably would say mutilated if it hadn't worked. I did let him do it, but I had to drink myself into a stupor before it was possible."

"You'll have to pardon me if that all sounds insane," said Coren. "It does make me wonder what experiment caused the two of you to fall out."

Felix's smile vanished. "Experiment... is that what I told you? Not true, I'm afraid. Some would say I'd deserve to be on the receiving end of some vengeance. I got into a... disagreement with a mutual friend, and it resulted in her death. Lorcan swore that he'd kill me for it."

Coren gave a low whistle. "Was it an accident?"

"Not as such," replied Felix. "Though don't take this as a murder confession. Besides, it happened in Nelmeid, so our laws don't apply."