A Shattered Moon by Kim Stokely

Author:Kim Stokely [Stokely, Kim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781539318156
Published: 2017-01-15T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Spirit Travel

Devnet groaned and sank down on his knees. Eben waved his hand. The two young men lowered their swords. The old man stood. I refused to step away from him. The blood from the scratches on my chin dripped down my neck.

Eben stared at me. “Etain’s daughter?”

I nodded.

His eyes glistened. “Truly?”

“Yes.”

He dropped to the floor, prostrating himself at my feet. His wives and the guards did the same. I looked over to my uncle and mouthed, what do I do now?

Tell them to rise, he mouthed back.

“Rise, Eben.”

The old man remained on the ground. “Your Majesty, forgive me. I have wounded you in my ignorance. Do not release your anger on my family. I am to blame.”

“I’m not going to hurt you. Please get up.”

Eben raised his head. His face paled when I wiped away the blood that ran from the scratches on my chin.

“Idra! Fetch water and a cloth for the Queen’s wound.”

The small woman picked up the bowl she’d washed our feet with then emptied it outside the tent. Refilling it with fresh water from a clay pitcher, she dipped a new cloth in it and held it out to me. I pressed it against my cuts.

The old man continued to stare at me. Tears ran down his cheeks. “I can see it now. I can see your mother in you.” He nodded, as if confirming something to himself. “Geran also.” He looked to my uncle. “Can you not see Geran in her frame? The set of her shoulders?”

“You knew my parents?”

“I knew them well.” His shoulders sank as if he carried a burden. “I served as one of the household guards for many years. I should have been there when they were killed, but they had allowed me to go home, to see my child born.” He raised his head to look at me. “How did you survive?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Eben turned to my uncle. “How? I have seen the ruins of Etain and Geran’s palace. I sifted through the rubble gathering the remains so something could be buried.” A sob caught in his throat. “I found her majesty in her bed. Her husband by her side . . . his arms . . . his arms across her stomach, to protect the child.”

The blood drained from Devnet’s face. He moaned and seemed to fold in on himself. “I didn’t know…”

Andrew placed his arm around my uncle. “You have held it in too long, my friend. Now is the time to share the tale.”

“I cannot.” Devnet gasped. “I cannot relive the pain.”

The healer leaned over him. “You must. Alystrine needs to understand the sacrifices made for her life.”

I knelt by Devnet’s side. “Please. Tell me what happened.”

He raised his head. My heart ached to see the agony etched in the lines of his face. Eben passed him the flask of wine and my uncle took a long drink. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Some twenty years ago, Aldred became king of Ayden.

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