Chapter 10 second quarter

After Wang Qicheng hunted the dragon, Chiyang didn't know what to do. He felt that he was useless and had no reason to stay in the palace to be fed by the king. He would only bring troubles.He couldn't sit in the room all day, so he went to the street, but the magnificence and vitality of the city made him afraid, and because he had no money and no goals, he could only walk until he was tired. Will let it go again.Only in the garden can one barely find peace.He had hoped to meet Roddy again, but the kid never reappeared.Perhaps this is also good, Chi Yang felt that he should not talk to others, lest the hands stretched out to him from the underworld would also reach out to others.

On the third day after Wang left, Alder went downstairs to walk by the garden pond.The weather was hot during the day, and the air was stagnant and stuffy at night. With a small mop, he let the kitten freely track insects under the bushes, while he sat on a bench near the big willow tree and watched the fat carp flashing silver-green in the water.He was lonely and depressed, and his defenses against voices and hands were crumbling.What is the use here?Why not just go into the dream, finish it all, go down to the bottom of the mountain, and call it a day?No one in the world will mourn for him, and his death will spare others from the sickness he brought.The dragons alone must have kept them busy.If he goes there, he may see lilies.

If he died, he and Lily would not be able to touch each other.Wizards say they don't even think about it, the dead forget what it was like to be alive.But Lily held out her hand to him.For those first brief moments, maybe the two will remember enough of their lives to look at each other, to see each other, even if they can't touch. "Alder." Alder looked up slowly at the woman standing beside him, the petite gray-haired Tenar.Seeing the concern on her expression, I don't know why she is worried.Chi Yang thought of her daughter, the burnt girl went with Wang, maybe there was bad news, maybe they were all dead.

"Are you unwell, Alder?" Tenar asked. Alder shook his head.Speaking was difficult, and he now knew how easy it would be to not speak in another land.Don't look into other people's eyes, don't worry. Tenar said, sitting on the bench beside Alder, "You look very preoccupied." Chi Yang casually made hand gestures, expressing that it's all right and doesn't matter. "You were in Gont, with my husband Sparrowhawk? How is he? Taking care of himself?" "Yes." Chi Yang said, and later, tried to answer more politely: "He is the kindest master."

"I'm glad to hear that," Tenar said. "I'm worried about Sparrowhawk. He's as good at housekeeping as I am, but I don't like leaving him alone... Could you please tell me when you were there?" , what does he do?" Alder told Tenar that Sparrowhawk had picked plums to sell, that they mended fences, and that Sparrowhawk had helped him sleep. Tenar listened attentively, as if these trifles were as important as the anecdotes discussed three days earlier, about the dead calling the living, the girl turning into a dragon, and the dragon burning the Isle of the West.

Alder really doesn't know what matters: the great singularity?Or small and mundane? "I wish I could go home," Tenar said. "Me too, but it's just a fantasy. I don't think I'll ever be able to go home again." Chi Yang didn't know why he said that, but he knew it was the truth as soon as he said it. Tenar's still gray eyes stared for a moment without asking. "I wish my daughter could come home with me," Tenar said, "but hope is only hope. I know she must go, but I don't know where." "Can you tell me what kind of talent she has, what kind of woman she is, so that the king can ask her for help and take her to see the dragon?"

"Oh, if I knew what she was, I'd tell you." Tenar's voice was full of sorrow, love, and anguish. "You may have guessed, or already understood, that she is not my own daughter. She is young. Come on." came to me, rescued from the fire, nearly died, but never fully healed. Sparrowhawk returned to me, and she also became Sparrowhawk's daughter, summoning Kairazim, called the Longevity Dragon, save me and Sparrowhawk from being killed, and the dragon calls her daughter. She is the daughter of many, but no one's; suffered so much, but rescued from the flames. I may never know what she is who, but I want her to be here now, safe with me."

Alder tried to comfort Tenar, but his heart was too heavy. "Alder, talk about your wife." "I can't do it." After a long time, Alder confided to the comfortable silence between the two: "Lady Tenar, if I can say it, I will do it. My heart is so heavy tonight, and I have worries and fears about the future, I try to miss Lily, but all I have is that endless stretch of dark desert, where I can't see her. All memories of her, like clear water and air, are important, but they all go into the dry land. I have nothing." "I'm sorry," Tenar whispered.The two continued to sit quietly.The twilight is getting deeper, the air is still, very warm, and the lights in the palace are reflected through the arc-shaped window sashes and the dense weeping willows that are motionless.

"Something has happened," Tenar said. "The world is going through a great change. Maybe everything we know will disappear." Alder looked up at the darkening sky, the palace tower was clearly visible, and the pale marble and alabaster caught the western light.He searched for the sword that rested on the top of the High Tower, and found it glowing faintly with silver. "Look!" Alder shouted.A star shines on the tip of the sword, like a diamond or a drop of water. Under the gaze of the two, the star breaks away from the tip of the sword and rises straight up. There was commotion within or outside the palace walls, horns sounded, and orders were issued in sharp voices.

"They're back," Tenar said, standing up.A wave of excitement crept into the air, and Alder rose to his feet.Tenar walked quickly back to the palace, from which she could see the docks.Alder led Xiao Tuo into the front of the house, and looked up again at the now faintly flickering sword, and the stars shining brightly on it. "Dolphin" sailed into the port on a windless summer night, the hull eagerly leaned forward, and the sails were filled with spell wind.No one in the palace expected the king to return so early, but when the king arrived, everything was in order and ready for battle.The pier was immediately filled with welcoming courtiers, off-duty soldiers, as well as townspeople, songwriters, and luthiers, waiting to hear the king tell how to defeat the Dragon Clan.Good to write new songs.

They were all disappointed.Wang and his party headed straight for the palace. The guards and sailors on the ship only said: "They entered the mountain from Onefa Beach and returned two days later. The wizard sent a messenger bird. We were at the gate of the bay at that time. We were originally expected to go to Nangang to meet them. , and saw them waiting unharmed at the mouth of the river. But we saw the smoke of the South Falien Forest fire." Tenar was huddled among the crowd on the pier, and Tehanu walked straight up, and the two embraced tightly.But walking down the street through the lights and the sounds of joy, Tenar still thought to herself, "It's changed. She's changed, and she's never going home again." Lebannen walked among the soldiers, his whole body was full of tension and energy, he looked dignified, like a soldier, extremely brilliant.The people looked at him and cried: "Eriabah! Son of Mored!" On the steps before the palace he turned to face the crowd.His voice, which could grow so powerful when need be, now resounded over all tumult: "Hear me, people of Havnor! The daughter of Gont speaks on our behalf to the chief of the dragons, and makes peace. The dragon will visit. A dragon Will come here, come to Havnor, come to Maharinan. Not to destroy, but to make peace. The time has come for the people and the dragons to talk, so listen to me: when the dragon comes, Don't be afraid, don't attack, don't run away, welcome with the amulet of peace, like a prince from afar, don't be afraid. The sword of Eriyaba, the ring of Yephran and the name of Mored protect us. I greet you in my true name Promise that as long as you live, you will defend this city and this country!" The crowd listened with bated breath.After Le Bainan finished speaking, he turned around and strode into the palace, there was a burst of cheers and shouts. "I think it's better to remind first." Lebannen said to Tehanu in his usual quiet tone, and she nodded.Lebannen was a companion, and she responded in kind, and Tenar and the nearby courtiers saw this. Lebannen ordered a council to be held at the fourth hour the next morning, and the crowd dispersed, but he held Tenar back and let Tehanu go first. "Tehanu protected us," said Lebannen. "Only her?" "Don't worry about her. She is the dragon's daughter, the dragon's sister. She can go where we can't. Don't worry about her." Tenar bowed her head in acceptance. "I thank you for bringing her back to me safely. Though she came back to me only for a while." The two stood in the corridor leading to the west hall of the palace, away from the crowd.Tenar looked up at the king, and said, "I have been talking to the princess about dragons lately." "Princess," Lebannin read blankly. "She has a name, but I can't tell you, she thinks you're going to destroy her soul with it." Lebannin frowned. "There are dragons in Huerhu. The princess said that they are small and wingless, and they can't speak, but they are sacred, a sacred symbol and promise of death and rebirth. This reminds me that after my people die, they will not go to yours. The place to go, the dry land mentioned by Alderman, is not the place where my people, such as the princess, me, or the dragon go." Lebannen's expression changed from vigilance and reserve to concentration, and he asked in a low voice: "The question Ged gave Tehanu...is this the answer?" "I only know what the princess told me or reminded me, and I will discuss it with Tehanu tonight." The king frowned in thought, then relaxed his brows, bent to kiss Tenar on the cheek, wished her good night, and walked away.Tenar watched his figure.The king melted her heart and dazzled her, but she was not blind.He was still afraid of the princess, Tenar thought.