The Fallen Fortress - By R. A. Salvatore Page 0,59

sinister.

"I grabbed his will in my hand, and I crushed it," Cadderly admitted. "I stole from him the very essence of his ego. If Thobicus recalls the incident, then his pride will never, ever recover from the shock."

Then why did you do it?" Danica demanded softly.

"Because my course was determined by powers greater than me," Cadderiy said. "And greater than Thobicus."

"How many tyrants have made such a claim?" Danica asked, trying hard not to sound sarcastic.

Cadderly smiled helplessly and nodded, "That is my fear.

"Yet I knew what I must do," he continued. "The Ghearufu had to be destroyed - to study such a sentient, evil artifact would bring only disaster - and the war with Castle Trinity, if it comes to pass, will prove a travesty that cannot be tolerated, whatever side is victorious.

"I went after Thobicus in a way that left a foul taste in my mouth," Cadderly admitted. "But I would do it again, and I may have to if my fears prove true." He quieted for a moment and considered the many wrongs he had witnessed, the many things within the Edificant Library that had long ago veered from the path of Deneir, searching for some solid example he might offer to Danica. "If a young cleric in the library has an inspiration," he said at last, "divine though he believes it to be, he cannot act upon it without first receiving the approval of the dean and the permission to take time away from meaningless duties."

"Thobicus must oversee..." Danica began to argue, playing the pragmatic point of view.

"That process often takes as long as a year," Cadderly interrupted, no longer interested in hearing logical arguments for a course he knew in his heart to be wrong. Cadderly had heard those arguments from Headmaster Avery for all of his life, and they had fostered in him an indifference that swelled to so great a level that he had nearly deserted the order of Deneir. "You have seen how Thobicus works," he said firmly. "A wasted year will pass, and though the thoughts of the story the young cleric wished to pen, or the painting he wished to frame, might remain, the sense, the aura, that something divine might be guiding his hand will have long since flown."

"You speak from personal experience," Danica reasoned.

"Many times," Cadderly replied without hesitation. "And I know that many of the things I have become comfortable with in my life, many of the things I now know I must change, I do not want to change, for I am afraid."

He brought his finger up to Danica's lips to stem her forthcoming response. "You are not among those things," he assured her, and then he grew very quiet, and all the world, even the dwarven snoring, seemed to hush in anticipation.

"I do believe that our relationship must change, though," Cadderly went on. "What began in Carradoon must grow, or it must die."

Danica grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand away from her face, eyeing him unblinkingly, not sure of what would come next from this surprising young man.

"Marry me," Cadderly said suddenly. "Formally."

Now Danica did blink, and she closed her eyes, hearing the echoes from those words a thousand times in the next second. She had waited so long for this moment, had longed for it and feared it all at the same time. For while she loved Cadderly with all her heart, being a wife in Faerun carried expectations of servitude. And Danica, proud and capable, served no one.

"You agree with the changes," Cadderly said. "You agree with the course my life will take. I cannot do it alone, my love." He paused and nearly faltered. "I do not want to do it alone! When I have completed what Deneir has asked, when I look upon the work, there will be no satisfaction unless you are there beside me."

"When I have completed?" Danica echoed and asked, emphasizing Cadderly's use of the personal pronoun and trying to get some sense of what role Cadderly meant for her to play in it all

Cadderly thought about the emphasis of her response and then nodded. "I am a disciple of Deneir," he explained. "Many of the battles he guides me to, I must fight alone. I think of it as you think of your studies. I know that, as each goal is attained, richer by far will be my satisfaction if..."

"What of my studies?" Danica interrupted.

Cadderly was ready for the question and understood Danica's concern. "When you