Prelude to War (Descent of Kings) by Albert Maria

Author:Albert, Maria [Albert, Maria]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2013-04-20T16:00:00+00:00

TALON listened to the Captain speaking to the crowd. He told them the man they’d captured wasn’t a wizard at all, that he’d been falsely accused, that he’d done no wrong. He’d instead saved a boy from drowning and been injured doing it. He told them they were in no danger from the man and certainly none from the boy. He said they were going to release him, as soon as he was recovered enough. After a few minutes of answering questions from agitated men, the bulk of the crowd was reassured and dispersed, many of them muttering that they still weren’t safe now, with the wizard still on the loose.

Talon wasn’t so easily convinced. The rumors he’d heard, of the boy and the man rising from the dead, had been too worrisome. He was debating how best to enter the Tower when to his surprise, he heard his traveling name called. He turned. It was Alnas, and he looked nearly frantic.

“You’ve no idea how good it is to see a friendly face!” Alnas said, sounding breathless. “I went to Oberas’s to try to get his help, but he’s not there and there was only a single guard of his, one I didn’t know. I left a message with him about what’s happened but thought I’d best hurry here to see if I could do anything to help. Have you been watching? What’s been going on? Is Hardred still all right?” Alnas asked, his voice shaking.

“Hardred? You can’t mean Hardred’s the one they thought was the wizard?” Talon asked, amazed.

“I never should have left him, but he sounded so sure Oberas could save him.”

“Don’t worry. From what the Captain said, it sounds like they plan to release him,” Talon soothed. “But tell me what happened.”

Alnas explained it to him, and Talon shook his head. He’d been so sure it was one of the Enemy’s minions! He was quite relieved to hear it hadn’t been, and that Hardred was all right after such a feat. And he’d saved a boy’s life with what Eladar had taught him. Eladar would be surprised and pleased to hear.

“This is the third time I’ve almost inherited Hardred’s pack, but the first time I’ve been forced to carry it for so long. It’s more than a little heavy, when carried with my own,” Alnas said, shifting the strap about his shoulder. “And we’ve yet to find an inn. Who knows where we’ll be spending the night, now that Oberas wasn’t there to help us find a room?”

Talon looked at his burden sympathetically, and then stared in disbelief, astonished he had not seen it immediately, that he had been so preoccupied with thoughts of the Enemy he might have missed seeing it had Alnas not spoken. It couldn’t possibly be Loruthanar! But the hilt of a sword was poking up from the pack, an unmistakable hilt.

“That sword you are carrying. It is my cousin Beryl’s blade. He was attacked and it was stolen from him. I spent the night scouring the City for it.

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.