"Sara Douglass - Redemption 3 - Crusader" - читать интересную книгу автора (Douglass Sara)

being greeted? As a drinking companion? Comrade-in-arms?" He paused very slightly. "Long-lost son?"
Another, slightly longer pause, and the ghost of a grin about his lips. "If the prodigal son, then should
I expect poison in the beer? A knife thrown from a darkened corner by a faithful lieutenant?"
Axis stared at DragonStar for a heartbeat or two, his face expressionless, then he leaned forward,
poured out the two mugs of beer, and slid one down the table. "There is no poison in the beer, nor knife
waiting in the corner."
"Ah." DragonStar caught the mug just before it slid off the edge of the table, and raised it to
his mouth, swallowing a mouthful of the beer. "Then I am not here as long-lost son."
"I am here only because both Azhure and Caelum asked it of me."
DragonStar's face lost its humorous edge. "I have no reason to stay here, Axis," he snapped. "I
could just take that," he nodded at the parcel, "and leave. I have no use for faded stars!"
To his absolute surprise, Axis burst into laughter. "And nothing could have convinced me
more of your fathering than that speech, Drago! Ah, sorry, I should call you by your birth name, should I
not?"
"I should always have been called by my birth name," DragonStar said. "As was my right."
"My, my," Axis said softly, "you have my humour and you have my pride." His voice
tightened. "I have also heard it rumoured about this fabulous crystal place they call Sanctuary that
you have Faraday as well."
With a jolt of surprise DragonStar realised that, if nothing else, Axis was treating him as an equal.
This was man to man, and it was not about Caelum or who was or who was not StarSon, but
about the passing over of the baton of legend.
And Axis didn't want to let it go.
DragonStar took a deep breath. Axis had never felt threatened by fumble-fingered
Caelum, but he now felt intimidated by DragonStar's surety of grip. The baton was slipping
away from Axis' grasp ... had slipped.
What if DragonStar had always been the point and the meaning of the high adventure of
Axis' battle with Borneheld and Gorgrael? What if Axis had only ever been the pawn, and DragonStar
the true champion?
If Axis had not been the true champion, then nothing would demonstrate this more in his eyes than
the fact that Faraday had gravitated to DragonStar. Faraday's preferences in love would demonstrate
who was the pawn, and who the king,
"Faraday chooses to walk alone," DragonStar said, and, just as Axis visibly relaxed, continued,
"although I have let her know well enough that I would enjoy her warmth and company by my side."
Axis paused in the act of drinking some beer, stared coldly at DragonStar over the rim of his mug,
then set it back on the table.
"Caelum is dead," he said. "I have lost my son and I am in mourning. Forgive me if I do not fawn at
your feet." He stared at DragonStar. You sent my beloved son to bis death, and now you say you
want to take the woman who was my lover.
DragonStar half-grimaced, then turned it into a small smile. "I do not think you want another son, do
you, Axis? But it would be better for you and I, and for Azhure, and for every one of the living creatures
left in Sanctuary, if we could be friends."
Axis dropped his eyes, and turned his half-empty mug around slowly between his hands.
Surprisingly, his overwhelming emotion was one of relief. DragonStar had just presented them both with
the perfect solution. Axis knew he could never think of this man across the table as his son — too much
love had been denied, and too much hatred had been passed between them for it ever to be possible for
them to embrace as father and son. But "friend"? Axis suddenly realised how much he had missed having
a friend ... how much he had missing relying on and loving Belial.
Axis knew he would be catastrophically jealous if a son proved more powerful than he,
but, strangely, he knew he could accept it if a friend was.
An aeon seemed to pass as Axis thought. A friend. DragonStar a friend?