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However, I was not alone for long. A cloak fell softly across my shoulders and I turned to see the kindly blue eyes of Bast. He knelt beside me, his feline features accented lightly by the setting sun, "You brood too much, Katja."I sighed, "I cannot help it, Bright One. I have much to think upon."
"Not as much as you would make it, for your thoughts are centered only upon one thing, I would think."
I looked up at him. There was no lying to one such as He, for he could know all in but a moment if he wished it. "I worry for him, Bright One."
"For him? Is that only what concerns you?"
I nodded.
"You do not care for yourself?"
I shrugged, "I have known that my death would come eventually. And I knew that I would someday be forced to fight Shard. That was ordained by the Twinstars long ago."
He rose, looking down at me with those piercing blue eyes, "So you have resigned yourself to death already?"
I rose also, withdrawing the Dagger from the land at my feet, "Not resigned, but accepted the fact that it is a possibility."
"And what of the elf? Does he know of any of this?"
I looked away to the distant horizon, my usually bright eyes darkening, "No, he knows nothing of this. He knows nothing of my doubts."
Bast began pacing slowly down the garden path, "What do you think will become of him, should you fail?"
I looked up at Bast, suddenly concerned, "He will be allowed to return to his homeland, will he not?"
The cat-god turned, looking at me with intense eyes, "Do you really think Sharidia will allow him to leave? With you defeated, the elf will be open game to her."
I sheathed the Dagger quickly, "She would not dare, the Queen..."
"Do you think the Queen will stop her? Do you think the Queen would openly show that she is an advocate for Outsider sympathy? To do so would be detrimental to her rule!" Bast looked at me, his eyes full of fervor.
I walked after the cat-god, "Do you think I can win?"
He turned from me, crossing his arms before his chest, "Does it matter what I think? It should not. For the only one who can create your destiny is you. It is not preordained, it is not pre-written by some God. Your life is your own to do with as you please. If you wish to give it up to Sharidia, then so be it. That is your choice to make. And yours alone."
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© 1999 E. Angeli Mansfield