“Taran? Are you all right?” asked Bili. “You went quiet for a long time and seemed sort of lost.”
“Fine, fine. I was remembering everything. I’ll explain it as best I can…”
Taran relayed the memories to the best of his ability
“Llacheu showed me around, we ate. Gods, Bee, it was one of the best meals I’ve ever had, a cream soup with beef and sweet, soft bread like you’ve never tasted.
“I sparred with Llacheu, and he was good with a sword for a seventeen-year-old, though I managed to disarm him twice,” Taran said with a grin.
“Ha! I knew it. What next?”
“We talked. Their language is difficult for me, so I fumbled a lot, but Llacheu and I spent the evening together, and he told me about his woman-problems, how he loved a girl but didn’t know how to …show more content…
“I said to him: ‘If I can manage to not slit my throat, I think you can summon the courage to tell a woman you love her.’”
Bili let out a roar of laughter. “How in the gods did he reply to that?”
“At first he blanched, then he laughed.”
“And you left the next day?”
“I did. After breakfast with the Llacheu, the king, and his knights. The men admitted they’d been wary of me, and some said they hadn’t wanted me there at all, but Llacheu said they now all believed I was an honorable man and our new alliance stood strong.”
Taran left out the part about how just before Taran left, Llacheu embraced him; the two had forged a strong bond. Llacheu offered for Taran to come back any time, for a visit to Camelot or to settle for good.
“I suppose that’s it,” said Taran. “I’m alive and Father lied.”
“What do you mean?”
“Camelot wasn’t a place filled with evil and cruelty, and the king wasn’t unreasonable and brutal, as Kahl insisted. In truth, Camelot was a golden city, a place of prosperity that housed noble knights, talented craftspeople, and gracious, humble citizens. Maybe Father was scared of them, or felt he could never measure up to the great King of
“Fine, fine. I was remembering everything. I’ll explain it as best I can…”
Taran relayed the memories to the best of his ability
“Llacheu showed me around, we ate. Gods, Bee, it was one of the best meals I’ve ever had, a cream soup with beef and sweet, soft bread like you’ve never tasted.
“I sparred with Llacheu, and he was good with a sword for a seventeen-year-old, though I managed to disarm him twice,” Taran said with a grin.
“Ha! I knew it. What next?”
“We talked. Their language is difficult for me, so I fumbled a lot, but Llacheu and I spent the evening together, and he told me about his woman-problems, how he loved a girl but didn’t know how to …show more content…
“I said to him: ‘If I can manage to not slit my throat, I think you can summon the courage to tell a woman you love her.’”
Bili let out a roar of laughter. “How in the gods did he reply to that?”
“At first he blanched, then he laughed.”
“And you left the next day?”
“I did. After breakfast with the Llacheu, the king, and his knights. The men admitted they’d been wary of me, and some said they hadn’t wanted me there at all, but Llacheu said they now all believed I was an honorable man and our new alliance stood strong.”
Taran left out the part about how just before Taran left, Llacheu embraced him; the two had forged a strong bond. Llacheu offered for Taran to come back any time, for a visit to Camelot or to settle for good.
“I suppose that’s it,” said Taran. “I’m alive and Father lied.”
“What do you mean?”
“Camelot wasn’t a place filled with evil and cruelty, and the king wasn’t unreasonable and brutal, as Kahl insisted. In truth, Camelot was a golden city, a place of prosperity that housed noble knights, talented craftspeople, and gracious, humble citizens. Maybe Father was scared of them, or felt he could never measure up to the great King of