Velentham sat on the top of the mountain, the moonwell behind him still swirling after Sanria's departure, and let out a yell of rage. Things were not supposed to go this way. She was supposed to admit she loved him and admit she wanted to be with him. He shouldn't have had to use the energies to make her stay here with him. He shouldn't have had to use the energies to make her make love to him. Now she wanted him gone.
Velentham thought back over the day as it had played out. She had come to him upset. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Those things you said to Colin! You told him things you saw while you were in my mind? Who does that?"
"I understand that you're upset, and I'm sorry. I was angry and hurt."
"Is that what you do when you're angry and upset? Try to ruin someone elses life?"
"I honestly didn't mean to ruin your life."
"And what in the hell is this business about coming to take me away?"
"It's what I came here for, yes. I make no qualms about that. I want you to be with me, Sanria."
"Well I'm with Colin. I told you that before."
"But you don't really want to be."
"That is not for you to decide. It's for me to decide and I've chosen to be with him. I do love him."
"But not like you should. You can't hide that from me, Sanria. I know."
"It doesn't matter! Throm is dead, Thasmudyan is... my past -"
"And I am right here. I know what we had, so do you."
It should have been enough but Velentham had been shocked by the bull- headed nature of Sanria's mind. "Colin is right here, too," she said.
"But you've had one moment where you really looked at him as a lover, every time after, years after, you've looked at him as someone you have to take care of - someone that you had to defer to. An afterthought!"
"That's not true."
"Isn't it? I've seen it, Sanria."
"That... that was before. Not now."
"All his jealousies, are you going to try to tell me that now that he is getting upset with you over Thasmudyan, worrying about your every move, speaking for you when you can speak for yourself that you're not feeling that small ball of regret in your heart?"
She kept telling him no. Kept claiming she loved Colin, but Velentham knew better. She couldn't lie to him. He had seen every corner of her mind. He took her to this very mountaintop. He had said everything he could say. "Why do you fight this?" he asked.
"It's not right, Velentham. If you saw anything, you should have seen how frequently my life was tied up in one affair or another."
"If I were Thasmudyan would you do it?"
"That is... low."
She had tried to get up, but he simply couldn't let her get away from him. "No, it isn't. You can't lie to me, Sanria. I've seen your heart."
"And you're not above using that to your advantage, are you?"
That stung. "For you? No."
He poured every ounce of calming, soothing, relaxing energy into her and had succeeded in bending her to his desires. But now, she wanted him out. Out of her life. No. He wouldn't leave until she was left with him.
