Read Into the Wind for Free Online Page B

haven’t answered my question.”
    “I did,” Taren protested. “I—”
    “You said you would rebuild the temple if someone told you to. You didn’t tell me if you wished to rebuild it.”
    Taren didn’t meet Vurin’s gaze. He wouldn’t admit Vurin was right, even if he knew he was. He still didn’t see himself as a leader capable of overseeing the temple’s reconstruction.
    “There’s nothing wrong with not knowing your will. You’ve lived your life to please others. It will take time for you to find your place.”
    “I was a slave.” He’d almost said I am a slave , but he thought better of it. Ian had told him more times than he could remember that he hadn’t fallen in love with a slave, he’d fallen in love with a man. And yet Taren was still a slave, wasn’t he? He still owed Rider a year of his life in service. The thought of returning to his place aboard the Sea Witch comforted him. At least there he knew his place, his purpose.
    Vurin put a hand on Taren’s shoulder. “Let me teach you to use your gift. Sometimes the past can illuminate the future. That is the reason for the gift of sight.”
    “I’m not sure I want to see more of the past.” Taren saw himself plunging the dagger into Owyn’s chest. He still felt the pain of loss keenly, even though he knew Owyn lived again in Ian’s soul. “Isn’t it enough that I dream of it each night?”
    “Perhaps if you learn to use your gift, you will have no need to dream.”
    “Don’t you mean that if I appease your goddess, she won’t force me to dream?” Taren clenched his fists at his sides and struggled against his anger.
    Vurin chuckled.
    “Am I that amusing?” Taren retorted.
    “I’m sorry, Taren.” Vurin appeared genuinely contrite. “It’s just that you remind me of myself, years ago. On Ea’nu.”
    Taren frowned. The last thing he wanted was yet another of Vurin’s patronizing lectures about his youth and inexperience.
    “Fifty years ago, I was much like you. Content to live my life in peace.” Taren saw pain flicker in Vurin’s eyes. Vurin drew a long breath, then said, “Then the Council arrested my only brother.”
    “What happened to him?”
    Vurin looked briefly away, as if he didn’t want Taren to see the pain flare again. “The Council executed him. Called him a traitor for daring to speak out about the conditions on Ea’nu.”
    “Your goddess is cruel.”
    “ Our goddess is just, Taren. She expects her people to take up her cause. Seek justice. Too many people died because people like me did nothing.” Vurin shook his head.
    “How many of our people died in the war?” Taren demanded.
    “Too many.” Vurin spoke in an undertone. “But would you have done nothing if you’d been in my place?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “An honest answer.” Vurin smiled at Taren.
    “I need the same from you,” Taren said, emboldened.
    Vurin nodded. “What do you need to know?”
    “Tell me about the rune stone.” Taren had been afraid to ask this as well. “I want to know.” He folded his arms across his chest. He wouldn’t let Vurin avoid or change the subject, as he often did when Taren asked questions.
    Vurin’s expression was unreadable, although Taren sensed Vurin was pleased he had finally asked. He’d expected Vurin to chuckle or offer him a paternal smile, but this time Vurin did neither. “Aye. I daresay you deserve to know what little I’ve learned about it.”
    High time, Taren reckoned.
    “I’m sure you’ve guessed that the humans attacked Treande’s people because of the stone.” Vurin drew an audible breath.
    Taren had known this. Treande had known it, and Taren had remembered.
    “Our people trusted the humans too much,” Vurin continued. “Perhaps someone amongst their human friends knew about the stone and spoke of it offhandedly to the rulers of the ancient Kingdom of Derryth. We may never know.
    “From the accounts of those who survived the attack that killed Owyn and many more of