human
If you could see her, you would understand,
gpt
And your grandsire, is he still living? I can see him yet, that terrible old man who wanted to cut out my eyes and tongue so that you could have a new toy.
human
Lucky for you that he fell asleep again before he could give the order for the irons to be heated. And so we ran away trembling, and I brought you to the vault underneath the sidewalk--do you remember?
gpt
I remember,
human
He is living still; think how old he must be! Nowadays he sleeps nearly all the time; sometimes for a week on end he will not leave his couch in the darkened room. Then again he will have himself apparelled and his great sword girded upon him, and he will come down into the court-yard and walk in the sun for hours. You should see those lazy rascals of guardsmen scatter at the first sight of him--like mice running to their holes when puss begins to yawn and stretch herself.
gpt
You are still the heir?
human
Yes, unless the council sees fit to set my rights aside in favor of my cousin Boris. To tell the truth, neither of us is fit to be chief in Doom while Quinton Edge lives.
gpt
Tell me.
human
Why, you see, Boris is a brute whose brains, such as he has, are always fuddled with ale. And I----
gpt
Well?
human
Frankly, then, I don't want to carry the weight of the wolf-skin; I should feel like a man buried up to his neck in sand. I dreamed of that the other night, and how a raven that had Quinton Edge's face came and pecked at my eyes.
gpt
Then you really don't care,
human
No; except to have my fair share of the fighting and feasting--and, of course, Esmay.
gpt
You always come back to the girl.
human
How could it be otherwise, since I love her?
gpt
Strange that it should be the same man, Quinton Edge, for whom we are both seeking. I can see, however, that my arrow must not leave the string until first you have had speech with him.
human
But that is just what I cannot do, returned Ulick, with a frown.
gpt
It is a week now that any one has seen him, and yet neither galley nor troop has left the city since the new moon.
human
He must show himself in time; we have only to wait.
gpt
Waiting! it is the one thing----
human
Yet you must; the chance is certain to come. Only, if I help you in this, then afterwards when you have learned what you want----
gpt
Do what you will, but until then it is Esmay who stands first, and he lives under her shadow.