[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
the creatures that live in it. If you so desired, you could live in the ocean and never bother with land again."
"You're forgetting the part where the mermaids would kill me."
"There is that. But what I'm trying to say is this - you're as powerful as Nankyo in your own right. To call yourself just a
sailor is ridiculous. When I first met you, I was impressed by you."
"By my dagger," Kindan muttered.
"That too. But it was your demeanor, your determination, your skill. Then I realized what you really were, and it occurred to
me that perhaps I'd found the next piece in what I needed. You're relatively close to being divine already."
"I am not."
"Oh no? If you were to leave today, too fed up to stay - how long would you live?"
Kindan's angry expression faded and he dropped his head to massage his temples. "A long, long time." He looked up again.
"That hardly puts me close to divine."
"It does, insofar as divinity won't affect you as much as it would affect a normal person."
Kindan frowned, not entirely certain of what Raiden meant.
"I mean, just picking a person off the street and making him a god usually is only going to end one way - badly." Raiden
looked at him almost pleadingly, as if he needed Kin to understand what he was saying. "I needed people that could handle
it, that wouldn't crumble under the burden."
"So were you going to ask me to bear this burden, or just force the issue?"
Raiden looked tired. "I had hoped to ask, but I was prepared to force if it came to that. It took me a century to find you while
I waited for the next sacrifice. I don't have the luxury of being able to wait another hundred years."
"I really have no interest in being a god."
"You and Taka& " Raiden muttered. "Why is Nankyo the only one ready to go along with this?"
"Because he doesn't want to die!" Kindan snapped. "Hardly a fair position to put him in." He turned away, "I've had enough
of this."
"Kin--"
"Leave me alone."
But Raiden persisted, catching Kindan by the arm before he could turn away. "Do you really understand why I do this at all?
"
"No, I don't." Kindan glared angrily at him, though beneath the rage was no small amount of misery. "You were always
ruthless, Shima. But only about business. You never once struck me as someone who would so callously use people this
way."
Raiden didn't back down from his stare. "I'm desperate, Kin. There is no other reason than that. Though I'm only a mortal
now, I can feel the agony of the people in Schatten. Do you know how much it hurts? Not only to feel their pain, but to see
what my brethren have become? Culebra is little more than a sad, blind prince too scared of himself to remove his
bandages - he used to be so proud! Pozhar is a country that lives because they constantly sacrifice. And in the sea, the
mermaids hate their siblings on land. They used to live together - now you are the only evidence that such a thing is even
possible." He pushed on, seeing the indecision in Kindan's face. "And you know what it's like to lose everything. I can't get
back what I lost, but I can start over. That's what I'm doing. When you walked into my office, it seemed as though I'd found
file:///H|/NOVEL/New%20novel/1.htm[9/25/2009 10:22:25 AM]
AmaSour Fiction
one more piece. I never meant to hurt anyone, but there are things I have to do."
"And the next time you're desperate? Will you use us then too?"
The crack of lightning startled them both, and they snapped their heads to see where it had struck - the beach, not too far
from the lighthouse.
"If you're both quite finished," Nankyo said irritably from behind them, standing at the head of the stairs. "Honestly, Kinni -
don't you get sick of bickering all the time?"
Kindan ignored the thrill he felt at hearing the nickname spoken so casually. "I'd stop getting into them if people stopped
giving me good reason."
"Oh, yes. Having a friend trust you enough to make you a god is grounds for biting his head off."
"Stay out of this."
"No," Nankyo replied icily, moving to join them at the railing. "We've enough problems looming over us without your
needless anger over every little thing. Aren't you tired of it?"
Kindan clenched his hands into fists. "I'm tired of suddenly not knowing who to trust."
"Do you trust me?" Nankyo asked softly.
Kindan was silent for a long time. Finally he nodded stiffly. "Yes, though Storms knows I probably shouldn't."
"I probably deserved that," Nankyo said dryly. "But if you trust me, then listen to me when I tell you to shut up, accept the
apologies and resign yourself to being a god."
Another long silence, and Kindan finally threw his hands up in defeat. "I don't want to be a god."
"You'll get used to it," Nankyo said as he stepped closer and tilted his head up expectantly.
Kindan complied, sliding a hand into Nankyo's hair and leaning down to kiss him softly. "You're a brat," he murmured
against Nankyo's mouth. "And this is all a bad idea."
Nankyo sighed. "You were willing to believe he could bring me back to life - you may as well just give up and trust him for
the rest."
"So are we done arguing?" Raiden asked quietly.
"Yes," Kindan said, pulling away from Nankyo. "But I'm still mad."
Raiden half-smiled. "Of course. Shall we go find an early dinner and Takara? The four of us have much to discuss." His
half-smile widened into a happy grin. "And I'm glad you two seemed to have settled matters."
Kindan hesitated, then gave up and smiled back.
Chapter Nineteen
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]