Torrullin listened, lying against the pillows and rubbing gritty eyes into wakefulness as his mind grew ever sharper. Tanos paced up and down, talking, explaining, describing. It was the first time he’d been in his son’s private chambers, but he saw nothing, not even the continuing evidence of Saska’s life there. Seeing that blindness and the single intensity, Torrullin knew his father wasn’t being fanciful. Although Tanos would never scoff at another’s dreams, he tended to come down hard on his own…but not this time.
It required deciphering. Torrullin interrupted mid-flow. ‘Tanos.’
Tanos ceased pacing and rounded on him. ‘You don’t believe me!’
‘On the contrary. And we need clarity on it quickly.’ Torrullin rose from the bed, naked, to dress- the black, as ever, as Quilla would snort. He muttered darkly as his long hair caught in the studs of his sword belt, causing Tanos to grin. Torrullin’s one vanity now was his hair, but how it could irritate him also. It was the reason he, Tanos, kept his own locks to a manageable shoulder length.
Torrullin vanished into the bathroom and when he came out again his frown had deepened. He stood in the doorway.
‘What?’ Tanos asked worriedly. In the interim he’d glanced about the bedchamber to see Saska everywhere and now felt the overriding urge to escape.
‘My hair,’ Torrullin muttered. ‘It is time to cut my hair.’
‘What?’ It was an explosion of relief, and then he was slightly peeved. They had more important matters to hand. ‘Now? Torrullin, for pity’s sake, just tie it back.’
Torrullin raised a finger. ‘The Valleur always shave it off before battle…’
‘Dear gods, you aim to take it all off?’ Tanos was aghast.
Amusement came. ‘No, I’d not go that far. It is, however, a vanity out of place at present and I probably won’t have the time to coddle it anymore…and truthfully it irritates the hell out of me.’
No comments:
Post a Comment