A Land of Fire by Morgan Rice

Author:Morgan Rice [Rice, Morgan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Amazon: B00ITFO7CU
Published: 2014-03-05T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Alistair stood against the wall of Erec’s chamber, craning her neck up at the window, side-by-side with Erec’s mother, and looked out the window in fear. She could see hundreds of torches, an angry mob of Southern Islanders hurrying through the night, chanting, all making their way in a procession toward the house of the sick. They were being led by Bowyer, and she knew they were coming right for her.

“The devil girl has escaped!” one of them yelled, “but we shall tear her apart with our own hands!”

“For the murder of Erec!” another cried out.

The crowd chanted and roared as they marched in procession right for her.

Erec’s mother turned to her, face grave.

“Listen to me,” she said urgently, clutching her wrist, “stay by my side and do as I say. You will be fine. Do you trust me?”

Alistair looked at her, her eyes welling with tears, and nodded back. She looked over her shoulder and saw Erec, fast asleep, and at least took solace in that.

“Will he be able to help us?” his mother asked.

Alistair shook her head sadly.

“The healing spell I cast on him takes a long time to take effect. He’ll be sleeping. Perhaps for days. We are on our own.”

His mother bore the news with the resolve of a woman who has seen it all, and she took her hand, led her across the room, opened the door to Erec’s chamber, and closed it firmly behind them.

They marched down the stone corridors of the house of the sick, all the way to the barred main doors, tall wooden doors that were already buckling as the mob slammed against them.

“Let us in!” someone in the crowd yelled. “Or we shall knock it down!”

The two guards who stood before it turned and looked at Erec’s mother, puzzled, clearly not knowing what to do.

“My Queen?” one asked. “What do you command?”

Erec’s mother stood proudly, fearlessly, with the fearless countenance of a queen, and Alistair could see in that moment where Erec got it from.

“Open those doors,” she commanded, her voice dark and hard. “We hide from no one.”

“Stand back!” a guard yelled out, and he then removed the iron bars on the doors and opened them wide.

The move clearly surprised the mob; stunned, caught off guard, instead of rushing forward they stood there as the doors opened wide, staring back at the Queen and at Alistair.

“The devil girl!” one called out. “There she is, back to harm Erec again! Kill her!”

The crowd cheered and began to press forward, and Erec’s mother stepped forward and held out a palm.

“You shall do nothing of the sort!” she boomed, with the commanding voice of a queen, of a woman used to being listened to.

The crowd stopped in their tracks and looked at her, clearly a woman they respected. Stepping out front and facing her was Bowyer, leading them.

“What do you mean by this?” he demanded. “Will you protect her? The woman who tried to murder your own son?”

“My son is not murdered,” she replied.

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