Page 182 of Keeper of the Word

“There was a time when we were close. You may not believe this, but I do not enjoy watching you suffer.”

If Tolvar had the strength to laugh, he would have.

“We may not see eye to eye, but you are my brother.”

“Eye to eye? Crevan, we see so differently, we are in different worlds. If Father were alive, he would disown you, so ashamed of you he would be.”

Crevan kicked Tolvar in the kidney. Tolvar grunted.

“Father never understood me. He never favored me. He never paid the least attention to me. I always lived in the shadow of my great brother.”

“Is that what this is all about? Stars, Crevan. You killed him. Is that not enough for you?”

“Jordain has scried all the possible outcomes. The Capella Realm is going to fall into my hands. I shall be sovereign over these lands. Would that I could bring Father from the grave to witness it.”

Tolvar glanced at his brother’s hideous, torn face. “The Capella Realm is going to fall. But not into your hands.”

“I have Adrienne.” Tolvar flinched at the word. “I now have the Edan Stone. And soon, I shall have the Five. At first, I meant to simply do away with them. But Jordain showed me greater plans. With the Curse unburied and with the coven of witches’ powers,the StarSeers, too, shall be mine. They shall See under my servitude. Their gift of fortune shall be mine to control.”

Tolvar did laugh at that. “That is, without a doubt, the most idiotic sentiment I have e’er heard. There is no controlling the stars!”

“Oh Tolvar. My Brones gave me tidbits of your conversations last year. The foolish, brave hero on a quest of faith, only to be the most faithless person alive. You lie there and hope your friends will come to save you. Is that not faith? How can you have faith in that but not believe my words? This is exactly what you did last year in your search for the Unsung. If you believed in more than your own brute strength, you would understand the gravity of my words.

“But no matter. In the end, the Fox will break the Wolf. The StarSeers will be mine, and their Sight will make me the most invincible sovereign the continent has e’er known.”

“You left out ugly, crazed, and craven. Anyone who needs that much force, that much darkness surrounding them, will ne’er control anything. Because you have no control over yourself.”

Forbearance.

Tolvar waited for Crevan’s retort, but all that came was a kick to the face. Tolvar heard as much as felt his nose break.

“Rest up. I shall return with Jordain.”

Chapter

Sixty-Six

TOLVAR

Eventually, the door opened again. Tolvar waited for Jordain to thrust him into renewed suffering.

A tray of bread and broth was placed on the floor next to Tolvar’s feet. He did not turn from his side. He’d already attempted to befriend, bribe, bully, and beg the servants who brought the trays and emptied the chamber pot.

“Fact o’matter, it reeks in here somethin’ fierce.”

Tolvar breathed. It couldn’t be.

He dared turn and gaze behind him. Standing there, dressed in servants’ garb—although ’twas not so different than what he normally wore—was Alvie.

“Hiya,” Alvie said more quietly. “Right, then. You ready to leave?”

Tolvar sat. “I’m uncertain if I can stand. ’Tis been awhile.”

Alvie unlocked Tolvar’s chains and assisted him to his feet. “Wait ’til this story hits the pubs. Alvie the August saving the Wolf.”

“Alvie the August?”

“’Tis a long story. I’ll tell it later.”