Oberon's Dreams - By Aaron Pogue Page 0,92
don’t bury yourself in an early grave. It profits you nothing and costs you everything.”
“But isn’t that what you’re about to do?”
“My hands are tied by history. Yours are not. Live free.”
Corin nodded, numb. “Very well. Send me home.”
“It isn’t such an easy thing as that,” Oberon said. “Not with the feeble power I have left, to cast you safely over so much time and space.”
“Then what do you intend?”
“I’ll move the city first, and then we’ll have a sympathy. Once we reach the cavern, I will send you home.”
“And until then?”
“Get some rest,” Oberon said. “Find sustenance. And enjoy one last reunion with an old friend.”
“What friend?” Corin asked.
Oberon nodded past the pirate’s shoulder. “You will leave this memory behind, undone, but here and now you are close friends with a hero you’ve admired since you were a child. I take pride in that. It was the one kind thing I did for you in this whole dream.”
Corin craned around in time to see Avery step out onto the landing. The gentleman thief looked weary and bedraggled, but even so, Corin was surprised how slowly he approached down the path toward the king.
“I enjoyed meeting Kellen,” Corin said while they awaited Avery. “Where is Kellen?”
Oberon did not meet Corin’s eyes. His gaze was fixed on Avery. “We will ask the Violet.”
Corin nodded. “And then there was Maurelle. And Ogden Strunk. And you. I have learned so much from you.”
“And I from you,” Oberon said. “Every child of this world brings me some joy, some sense of pride, but it has been an honor seeing you in action. Now, here is Avery, and I see he brings a gift.”
The sword was unconcealed. Avery carried it in an ill-fitting scabbard. The ruby burned bloodred in the strange light beneath the throne room’s canopy, and that same fire seemed to burn in Avery’s eyes.
“Welcome,” Corin said. “I’d begun to fear for Kellen’s health in spite of things I’d heard.” He flashed a smile over to Oberon, but the king kept his eyes still on Avery. Corin’s smile slipped. “Ahem. I…anyway, the king has news for you.”
“Avery of House Violet,” the king intoned, “for the service you have given on this day, I name you mayor of Gesoelig.”
Avery nodded, eyes downcast. “You are kind, Your Majesty.”
Corin cleared his throat. “What ails you? Where…where is Kellen? You have the sword. Ogden said he wouldn’t release it unless Kellen gave his word.”
Avery nodded again. “It wasn’t long after you left. Kellen woke enough to hear what had come to pass. He swore unequivocally that we were good and honorable men.”
Corin smiled. “He doesn’t know us very well.”
Avery didn’t look up. He didn’t smile. “Having said those words, Kellen died. We buried him beneath the earth, and I brought you your sword.”
He raised his head, eyes flashing with tears, and shoved the bundled weapon violently into Corin’s arms. Corin took it with a grunt, then turned to Oberon. “You said he lived. You said he trained the refugees—”
“That is how I remember history.”
“But you said this is your memory! You said your hands were bound and you could not make changes.”
“You changed things,” Oberon said, solemn.
“He might have been the only honest man I’ve ever met! They called him coward, but he fought for you. He was a true hero!”
“And it was a villain who gunned him down,” Oberon answered. “The three of you interrupted a plot that would have seen a hundred thousand dead. I suspect the noble yeoman would have paid his life to save so many.”
“But you paid his life!” Corin said. “You knew this was happening, and you did nothing.”
Oberon sighed. “There is so little I can do. Everything within my power I spent on bringing you to this place, to this understanding, so you can now take it home.”
“Do not lay Kellen’s death on me!” Corin snapped.
“I don’t. I lay it on Ephitel. He is the one responsible, and he will pay in time.”
“He won’t! I have seen it. He gains power and glory without end. A thousand years or more he’ll rule. You call that justice?”
“The world is mad, at times. Even this one of my making. I can only do as much as my resources will allow. I’ll do what little good I can, and you must do the same.”
“You said the things I do here don’t matter—it’s just a dying dream—but I knew him. He was a good man.”
Oberon hung his head, but he offered no apology. “Good