DragonStar whipped about, raising his hand as if to strike the creature — what had that lizard ever done but enjoy a free ride? He'd spent aeons as an unfettered spirit in the Sacred Grove, and then the Minstrelsea forest, and had then simply attached himself to DragonStar's cause with no hard work involved at all — and then halted the instant before his hand flashed down in a cruel blow.
What was happening?
DragonStar struggled to control the envy, and the other emotions envy bred — hate and cruelty and a cloying, horrid self-justification — but he couldn't... he couldn't...
The old man capered about him in circles, clapping his hands. "Enjoy it!" he cried. "Give in to it!
Why bother with such inconveniences as regard for others? Enjoy it! It's the easiest way!"
And DragonStar could feel how easy it would be. All he'd have to do was give in and let the envy consume him, and all would be well, all would be well, and he could finally relax and bathe in the emotions that he'd nurtured for so many years as a resentful man locked inside the hate of Sigholt and the SunSoar family.
A small hand slipped into one of his, and DragonStar jerked. It was Katie, her eyes frightened, her mouth trembling.
DragonStar saw that she was terrified.
Envy howled with rage.
"The cats!" Katie whispered. "The cats!"
The cats? DragonStar stared at her. Why was she helping him ...or was she helping him at all? Why, Faraday cherished this little girl in a way that she did not cherish him, DragonStar could see that now. Faraday gave this weak little girl all the love and attention that she never gave him.
DragonStar growled again, and jerked his hand from Katie's.
Envy laughed.
And something small and furry wound its way about DragonStar's legs.
He jerked his eyes down. It was a white and marmalade cat, and its body shook with the strength of its purrs.
DragonStar lifted his hand to strike the thing —
— and remembered. He remembered that the cats had given him nothing but unconditional love when he'd been rejected by everyone and everything else in Sigholt. He remembered that they'd left their food to comfort him; they'd been content in his company, and they had revelled in his friendship.
They had asked for nothing in return.
They had not envied him his strength, or his speech, or even his name.
They had just loved him.
DragonStar lifted his eyes to Envy. "I pity you," he said, and Envy screamed.
"Let me offer you my friendship," DragonStar said, and extended his hand, palm upwards.
Envy stared, whimpered, and suddenly disappeared.
DragonStar shuddered, and leaned down, hands on knees, trying to regain his equilibrium.
The lizard had scuttled across the room, and now was hunched down on the floor with his claws firmly tucked underneath his body. He wanted nothing more to do with enchantments from that Book.
The white and marmalade cat was curled up behind him, watching DragonStar carefully.
"I cannot use this Book," DragonStar eventually whispered.
"Use it you must," Katie said, "or all who have sacrificed themselves before you, and who will sacrifice themselves in the future for you, will have done so in vain."
DragonStar straightened and stared at the girl. "The Book contains nothing but foulness."
Katie stared at him.
"Dammit! What is its secret? How do I use it!"
She continued to stare silently at him.
"You have most to lose, damn you — so tell me its secret!"
"I cannot," Katie said, her voice sad. "You must learn it for yourself."
DragonStar fought an overwhelming urge to throw the Book across the room, then he forced himself to relax, slowly rotating his neck and shoulders, and finally offered Katie his hand.
"I am sorry."
She smiled and slipped her hand into his. "You should already have learned one lesson,"
she said. "What was it?"
DragonStar almost grated his teeth, then chose to think it carefully through. "Envy consumed me," he finally said, "and I could not control it."
"And what broke the spell that Envy had thrown over you?"
