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It was like his mind was split in two. Davion lay in the absurdly comfortable bed in the cavernous room one of the stewards had arranged for Bram and himself. All the furnishings were lavish and tasteful, a subtle satisfaction of the powerful. Earlier, Davion had sunk into a heated bath in his room, the blissfully hot water piped directly into the bath. The Helios Imperium was truly a wonder.
And yet now Davion lay awake, moonlight bathing the room in a soft glow. The only thought in his mind was Mirana.
It was like she had transfixed him – the other Davion. Considering they had been lovers, it made sense. The only problem was that Davion was having trouble separating himself from that Davion. When he and Bram had finally arrived and been allowed to see her, it had taken all his will to stand a polite distance away and not to respond to the emotions in her gaze. When they had sat side by side, shoulders almost brushing, close enough that he could smell the light perfume in her hair, it had torn him in half to smile distantly at her as if she were nobody to him, as if she weren't the sun to his very being.
That wasn't him though, Davion repeated to himself like a mantra with every step away from her. She wasn't thinking of him, she was thinking of the other Davion. Did that other Davion live on in his head now? Would their memories and minds slowly merge?
Davion exhaled slowly, his breath startling himself when it came out as a low growl.
Your thoughts scurry like little mice across my skull , came Slyrak's highly unwelcome commentary.
"It's actually my skull," Davion said peevishly. "So my thoughts will scurry all they want."
There was a low rumble of amusement before the eldwurm sunk back into slumber, leaving Davion alone with his thoughts again.
He flipped the covers back, frustrated with himself. He had been a Dragon Knight for most of his life. He was used to a hard life – brutal fights and long stretches of empty road interspersed by meaningless nights in nameless women's arms. In some ways, he was jealous of this other Davion. He'd had a purpose beyond slaughtering dragons. He'd had something, some one beyond being a cold blooded killer. The peace the other Davion had felt even as he lay dying was something Davion didn’t think any version of him would have ever been able to experience.
No wonder Mirana had come looking for him when she began remembering. If she had felt even a fraction of what the other Davion had felt, she would want to have that again. Davion only wished things could have turned out differently.
But the world was coming to an end, and there were monsters to defeat. Davion rolled over and closed his eyes.