Esperance (Esperance Trilogy Book 1) by Heather Frost

Author:Heather Frost [Frost, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-11-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Carver

Carver sipped his wine, his spine stiff as he sat at the long dinner table. Amryn was beside him, but they hadn’t spoken to each other since the incident in the hall after the failed council meeting.

What truly bothered him wasn’t the things Ivan had said, or what anyone else in that room thought. It was the way Amryn had looked at him. Judged him. Dismissed him. When he’d followed her into the hall, his intent had been to reassure her. And when she’d viewed him so coldly . . .

His hands tightened on the stem of his glass, and he took another deep swallow.

Self-loathing, disgust, horror—fear. It was all a part of him, and this afternoon had dragged everything to the surface. His defensiveness was the only weapon he had, but it had proved a feeble shield today. It was hard to justify death, and harder still to come to terms with the fact that he was perhaps the most hated man in Harvari. But if the war was necessary—if he’d done the right thing by fighting and bleeding there—then he wasn’t the monster he felt like. The men he’d lost, the villages that had burned—it would have been a worthwhile sacrifice, if the end result was for the greater good. If he had been captured, tortured, and nearly killed for a reason . . .

It was the only thing that kept him sane. He had to believe the cost was worth it.

He threw back his head and emptied his glass, and he didn’t stop the servant who rushed to refill it.

Beside him, Argent frowned. “Are you all right?” he whispered. His concern was as palpable as it had been when he’d intercepted Carver after the council meeting. And just like then, it only made him feel more raw and exposed.

“I’m fine.” He tipped the fresh glass up to his lips and drank.

The high cleric came to his feet at the head of the table. “I’d like your attention, please.” He waited until every eye was lifted before he clasped his hands in front of him, his bald head shining in the candlelight that burned from the large chandelier overhead and the towering candles on the table. “I know there have been some unforeseen struggles here in Esperance, and I believe we could all use the healing touch of the All-Seeing Divinities. And so, I have planned an important excursion. As you all know, many troubled souls come to Esperance to heal their spirits and their minds. It is, at least in part, why Emperor Lorcan chose Esperance to be the ground on which this new peace was made. Your marriages are what will strengthen the bonds between kingdoms, and the council you form will forever change the way the empire is ruled. I believe this makes you the perfect candidates for the Walk of Kavaraugh.”

“Kavaraugh was one of the founders of the church,” Samuel said.

“Correct,” High Cleric Zacharias said. “After he was sainted, he came to Esperance to live out the rest of his days.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.