Pokrewne

Start
Chelsea Handler Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang (epub
Brit Brinson [Dia of the Dead Dia of the Dead (epub)
Cody Goodfellow [Radiant Dawn Radiant Dawn (epub)
Cate Tiernan [Immortal Belove Immortal Beloved (epub)
C J Busby [Deep Amber 01] Deep Amber (retail) (epub)
Carl Ashmore [Time Hunters 01 The Time Hunters (epub)
Drew Hayes [Super Powereds 02 Super Powereds Year 2 (epub) i
Beth Harbison [Shoe Addict 02 Secrets of a Shoe Addict (epub)
Cara Lynn Shultz [Dark World The Dark World (retail) (epub)
Cabb, Alia Engelskrieger 01 Die Schmiede der Daemonen

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.She’s slowing us down.”“I know,” Bren said, dabbing his whetstone with a wet sponge.“My lord,” Hato said gravely.“You might as well get the trial over with.”“She doesn’t stand a chance, sick as she is.” She wouldn’t stand a chance if she was healthy either, but that was beside the point.“Theoretically,” Hato said, “that’s not true.”“But practically, we know it is.”“Either way,” Hato said stubbornly.“We need to know.”“She’s getting better,” Bren said.“She’s stronger every day.”“So what?”“Why put her through all of that if we know what’s going to happen?”“‘Cause it’s your damn duty.”Leave it to the old man to say the things no one else would say aloud.Leave it to Hato to state so casually the wretched legacy he had been birthed to uphold.“You’re a beaming beacon of hope,” Bren muttered, holding the sword up, closing one eye, and inspecting the blade’s edges against the light of the fire.“Hope, you say?” Hato flashed his long teeth in a bitter smile.“I’ve been at this since your father’s time.For you, I’ve toiled the length of your adult life, so that Laonia can survive.Forgive me if I give you truth instead of falsehood.”Damn Hato.He wasn’t giving up.And why should he?Bren returned the sword to his lap and, applying the whetstone to the blade, reassumed the long, even strokes necessary to sharpen the edges.The sound of the whetstone grinding against the metal filled the cave.The repetitive motion calmed his anger and focused his thoughts.“What if the mark is just a coincidence?” Bren said.Hato shook his head.“I’d be remiss to think that Orell and his men went to all this trouble for nothing.You saw what those fools tried to do.They tried to burn the mark off her, and when that didn’t work, they tried to hack it off.Had it been a fake, it wouldn’t have resurfaced.”“Yet your tests have proven inconclusive.”“That’s because the mark has been so savagely attacked.”“Hato,” Bren said, steeling his tone.“I won’t kill her unless you’re sure.”“Would you like me to test her a third time?”“As if she hasn’t endured enough torture already,” Bren said.“If you were sure, you wouldn’t be itching to test her again.But you’re not sure, Hato, and I’ll have more than just hesitation to sanction murder.”“She has the mark,” Hato said.“On that we agree.”“But she doesn’t fit Robert’s riddle.”“I thought you didn’t trust the riddle.”“They’re the words of a dying man, a madman there at the end.We don’t even know when and how he found it.”“I, for once, won’t dismiss the riddle as a madman’s raving,” Hato said.“Your brothers were determined to save the line of Uras.They died for you, so that you could continue their work.”Bren winced, remembering his brothers.He wanted to do well by the house of Uras, but his was a deadly inheritance, and he refused to take it lightly.“Think about the riddle,” Bren said.“There’s no might or wealth to this wench.She’s baseborn, the wife of a mere merchant.Inasmuch as we could use a break in our venture, she’s not it.”“We can’t afford to ignore any leads,” Hato said, logical as always.“Don’t forget, she bears the mark.Get to the trial, so we can move on.Just do it, my lord.”The whetstone ground to a halt with a jarring screech.Bren’s fingers tightened around the sword’s hilt.He had an urge to slip the blade between the old man’s ribs, to thrust it up and break through the solid encasement of a heart that failed to feel anymore.But Hato had given up his life to serve the house of Uras.No matter how hopeless or terrible, he had always told Bren the truth.And when defeat had overtaken Bren’s soul, Hato had been the only one able to wrench him away from despair’s crushing hold.Bren eased his grasp on the hilt and set aside his sword on the folded pad on the ground.Then he took a deep breath, trying to temper the raw fury coursing through him.The old man didn’t deserve to die for speaking the truth.He couldn’t slay his friend and mentor just because Hato reminded Bren of the beast he was.On the other hand, it was he, and not Hato, who had to do the terrible deed, and he couldn’t just slay an innocent because time was running out and they were desperate.“Don’t overthink the matter,” Hato said.“Riva is bound to catch up with us soon.We have little coin and low supplies.The tribute is almost due.Teos will call soon—”“A few more days,” Bren said.“Perhaps some of the other leads will bear fruit.”“I commend you for your decency, my lord, I really do, but practicality takes precedence in our case and time is not on our side.Orell is on our tail.You’ve got nothing to gain from a delay and everything to lose.Will you at least consider my advice?”“I always do.”Hato squeezed Bren’s shoulder as he shuffled out of the cave to join the others camping outside.Bren heaved a frustrated sigh.The old man was right again.But what about the woman?Bren didn’t know her.Her life might not be meant for rule or greatness, but was it any less valuable than his?Damn the Twins.The house of Uras was fated to become extinct if he continued to think like this.He knew he couldn’t afford to be weak [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]