What Sorrow Eyes Can Hold


Atrus merely sat staring at the wall, caught up in memory, his pint empty.

"...Did you really think she would miss her own wedding?'
Catherine had stepped out of the shadows then, and took Gehn's hand. She would not even look at him now.

He still remembered the day clearly, even after all these years.

As the ceremony went on, Atrus felt as if she was slipping away from him.
Why? Why had his beloved Catherine betrayed him? Had it all been an act? A lie, and she really did care more for his father?

He let his gaze drift about the bar, not really seeing anyone or anything.

It wasn't the kiss that drove him mad. It was what happened afterward. As he looked on in horror, as they drew away from each other, she smiled. It was bright, almost blinding, and he knew there was no way of faking such emotions.

"Hey, Atrus!"
It was the bartender. This man knew him well by now. After all, all Atrus ever did now was drink, and he had the largest tab in the entire lower district.
Setting another of the massive vessels on the table, he gestured toward the corner. "If you'd stop spacing out like that, you'd notice that you seem to have a fan."
The bartender's hand directed his eyes to where a slender figure was sitting at one of the corner tables, face hidden by the hood of a long black cloak edged in red trim. He already knew who it was and had to force himself to face her.
"No one around here would even consider buying me a drink. They all want me to sober up."
"I do as well," Catherine responded quietly, leaving her hood in place. "It's just tea in a beer stein."
He sat himself on the opposite side of the table, staring at the cheerful people dancing in the middle of the room.
"I came here--"
"To torment me," Atrus interjected. "To bring me the good news perhaps? There's no need. Word of such things travels fast about here." He turned back to her, gaze laden with hate. "I already know of the mad-mans heir, my little new born brother Kahlis."
He caught sight of Catherine's deep green eyes, though her face was still in shadow. "Gehn may be cold at times," she began. "But he is not mad. But why I came to you does not concern Kahlis or my husba--"
Again, he cut her off. "Then you came to stab me in the back again? Did it all mean nothing to you? Catherine, to Gehn you are a tool; a figment of ink and paper. But I loved you! We could have done wonders, remember? We could have gone swimming among the stars. Didn't that mean anything to you?"
"I didn't have a choice," she snapped, while reaching toward her wrist. "He may well have killed my family and friends! I would have never seen Riven again!"
"So Myst wasn't a choice? I and the future we could have built wasn't a choice?"
Catherine released a shuddering breath as she stood and let the layers of black fabric fall from her head. "Hate me if you want," she said, drawing her hand away from her wrist to drop a glittering object on the table top. "I only came to say good-bye."
Before anymore words could be exchanged, she quickly made for the door. As Catherine's cloak flared with the swiftness of her stride, Atrus could not help but notice the glint of a knife blade at her side.
Looking back to the table to see what she had left, he could only feel shock. It was the gold bracelet that marked her marriage to his father.
To leave this... to carry a dagger when none would dare harm their queen on pain of death... to come to him and say good-bye...
Almost drowning in worry and doubts, Atrus hurried from the small tavern, hoping it wasn't too late.