The Sword Unbound by Gareth Hanrahan

Author:Gareth Hanrahan [HANRAHAN, GARETH]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2024-05-08T00:00:00+00:00

The boy came back with a candle. He led Alf through the cellars. A greenish mist now billowed through the corridors, emanating from the cask he’d seen earlier. The wax seal was broken, and now necromiasma hid them from arcane sight.

“Cover your mouth,” he said, “it’s a foulness that hides us from a greater danger. They’ll reseal it when we’re clear of the city – the Lady says that we must conserve what little we have of the miasma, for it is precious.”

He led Alf back up onto the streets of Arden, emerging through the side door of a tavern. It was twilight; night had fled and returned and fled again while he was hiding, and now it crept back over the eastern hills. The sun had set beyond the Westcleft, but the lights that blazed in the Palace of Arden lit up the heart of the city.

Alf’s guide tugged at his arm, pulling him towards the east gate. “This way, holy one.” He pressed a battered old leather pouch into his hand. Inside was an old letter from the Archon of the Westermarch, declaring that the bearer was a properly accredited mendicant priest and could cross between provinces freely. It would get him out the east gate without scrutiny.

They passed a small church. The doors stood open, and the pews were crowded. Candles blazed around a side altar, on which the priests had erected a pair of painted icons. Both were centuries old. One depicted Prince Maedos, the shield of dawn, and it was wreathed in the black cloth of mourning. Laerlyn’s face, surrounded by roses, stared back at Alf from the other. A young acolyte saw Alf’s robes and hailed him.

“Blessings upon you, father! The Erlking’s daughter passed down this very street only a few hours ago. She calls the Lords together to bless their common purpose in avenging – father? Father?”

But Alf was already running, the rebel boy and the priest both left staring after him as he raced towards the palace.

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