Deathstalker 06 - Deathstalker Legacy

about Jes or Douglas, are you?"
    "I could be wrong," said Lewis. "I want to be wrong. We can't afford a monster as Champion."
    "That isn't official yet."
    "Come on; who else could it be?"
    "Don't you trust Douglas's judgement?"
    "Douglas is a good man," said Lewis. "I'd trust him with my life and my sacred honor. Being a Paragon was the making of him."
    "A lot of who and what he is can be put down to you," said Anne. "You've been a good influence on him. You ground him. People who think too much about ethics and morality often forget you have to deal with real people."
    "That's a terrible thing to say," said Lewis. "A good influence! Me? It makes me sound so ... worthy.
    Dull. Stuffy."
    Anne giggled, and peered impishly at him over the rim of her teacup. "Sorry, Lewis, but that's you. Old dependable."
    "I wish I was a hellraiser," Lewis said wistfully. "It looks like so much fun. But it's just not me. Somehow
    . . . there's always work that needs to be done, and I just can't justify taking that much time off, just to enjoy myself. I'd only feel guilty anyway."
    Anne nodded slowly. "I do know what you mean. My job is my life too. At least you get to get out and have adventures. I get to sit in this office, for far too many hours of the day, watching the world go by on my monitors. Working out plans and lists and detailed inventories, so the King and his people can get through the day without tripping over each other. The only excitement I get is when an invoice goes missing. My life is ruled by the lives I have to plan for everyone else. I live my whole life vicariously, through the Court. And my monitor screens." She glowered about her, at the banks of security monitors, showing ever-shifting glimpses of the Court and its surroundings. "It's not... the life I wanted."
    Lewis lowered his teacup and studied Anne carefully. "But . . . this is what you've always done. What you've always been good at. Sorting people's lives out for them. You were even doing it back when we were kids together."
    "Just because you're good at a thing, it doesn't necessarily mean you want to give your whole life to it!
    You don't plan to be a Paragon all your life, do you?"
    "Well, no, but. . ."
    Anne looked into her cup, so she wouldn't have to look at Lewis. "This isn't how I thought my life would turn out. It isn't what I wanted out of life."
    "It's a bit early for a midlife crisis, isn't it?" said Lewis, trying hard to keep his voice light. "Plenty of time left to change your life; to be all the things you want to be. If you're tired of what you're doing now ... do something else."
    "Like what?" Anne looked at Lewis directly, and he was surprised to see real tears in her eyes. Her mouth was an angry straight line, almost sullen. "As you so astutely pointed out, this is what I'm good at.
    What I'm good for. I'm not brave, like you. Or glamorous, like Jes. I'm the small, quiet, dependable one that everyone else depends on to keep their lives in order. Well, maybe I'm tired of being dependable.
    Maybe I want to run wild, for once. Be irresponsible, just to see what it feels like."
    Lewis gestured awkwardly, spilling tea from his cup without noticing.
    If that's what you really want . . . come with me. Put your deputy in charge, and just walk out of here. I'll take you to a bar somewhere. I don't know the really disreputable ones, but I'm sure I can find someone who does. Or we could go . . ."
    "No, we couldn't." Anne said tiredly. "The Ceremony starts soon. It's important. We have to be here for it, you and I. You . . . because Douglas will need you. And I... I wouldn't know what to do in a disreputable bar anyway. Probably just sit in a corner, nursing my drink, watching everyone else have a good time. I'm a backstage person, Lewis. Always have been. The spotlight's not for me. I'm sorry, Lewis. I'm just tired. Don't take any notice of me . . ."
    She stopped, when she realized Lewis wasn't listening to her anymore. He turned suddenly and looked at the door. Anne looked too, and that was when she heard approaching footsteps, and knew who it was, who it had to be. The future King and Queen of the Empire. The important people. Lewis put down his cup and rose quickly to his feet.
    "That's got to be Douglas, and I need to talk to him before the Ceremony. Excuse me for a moment, Anne. I'll be right back."
    And he was out the door and gone, as quickly as that. Anne looked at her monitors, and other people looked back, not seeing her. Story of her