Heart Stone by DJ Edwards

Author:DJ Edwards [Edwards, DJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781520361024
Published: 2017-01-26T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

Freya rather liked staying in the palace. She’d risen from an extremely restful night in a bed that, for a wonder, was large enough to comfortably accommodate a minotaur. Not that she was particularly large by minotaur standards, but she was certainly a lot bigger than the average human. She had woken to a delicious breakfast and given the run of the palace and its grounds by the queen herself. The queen had even said that she could explore the city if she wanted to. She would be quite safe, Queen Arlana had assured her, news of “Freya the Peacekeeper” had spread throughout the city like wildfire. She giggled to herself when she imagined what Prince Hrolf would think of that. Maybe he’ll notice Freya the Peacekeeper more than he notices Freya the Servant, she laughed to herself. Thinking of the prince soured her mood slightly, feeling a pang of worry for Hrolf and Conall out in the Deadlands. Keep them safe, Katy. They need a good woman to keep them on a straight path.

She was now exploring the palace itself after she had just finished a lovely morning stroll in the gardens. The gardeners had been delighted to be told by her that the flowerbeds looked beautiful and even more delighted when she showed a genuine interest in the names of the different plants. One young man had even given her a flower to wear in her hair, she’d forgotten what he had called it, but it had perfect peach coloured petals and was the prettiest thing she had ever seen. She wondered if Hrolf would think her pretty with it.

At one point she had seen Chief Alberich coming towards her and had half expected another public scolding, this one about neglecting her servant duties, but instead he had just given her a respectful nod and continued on his way. Apparently, according to a chatty serving woman by the name of Bretta, everyone had been told that all the minotaurs were guests of the queen so no one had servant duties to perform for the duration of their stay.

Freya rounded a corner and came to a halt, watching curiously as a small human boy peeked around a suit of armour, checking the corridor ahead of him like he didn’t want to be seen. He looked far too finely dressed to be servant, although his dark hair needed a good brushing, a young lord perhaps, trying to hide from his lessons. Freya smiled warmly. Human children are so cute. Seeing that the corridor ahead was empty, the boy rushed out from his hiding place, running down the corridor a few paces before ducking behind a plinth with an amber vase sitting upon it, then peeking down the corridor again. Filled with curiosity, Freya trotted to catch up to him.

“Hello,” she said, “can I help you?”

The boy started at the sound of her voice, his eyes rising up and growing wider and wider until they reached Freya’s face. He screamed and leapt back, bumping the plinth, the amber vase wobbling precariously.

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.