A Warrior's Sacrifice Read Online Free PDF

out at the same time for the remaining drinks.
    Phae caught Kai's wrist before he reached the beer. "I reqed this for Humans, not Variants." There was the soft sound of a sword loosening in its sheath from under the table. Phae's sword hand was out of sight.
    Kai returned Phae's glare. Tense Sahktriya mounted, gathering like a storm. Phae was big for a Maharatha, but Kai made her look svelte; he could have snatched her up off her feet if he wanted. Instead he nodded and forced himself to relax. "Forgive me," he said, twisting his arm free. "I forgot my place."
    "Don't you forget again." She looked at Corwin and brought her missing hand up to join the other. "Well? You going to drink it?"
    Corwin picked it up and took a swig. It was tangy, tart, with an aftertaste of yeast and a bite of alcohol. He extended the mug to Kai without taking his eyes from Phae. Chahal leaned back in her chair, watching the exchange with wide eyes over the rim of her mug.
    "He needs to know his place, Corwin," Phae said.
    "He already does."
    Kai reached for the mug. Phae growled.
    "You got something to say to me?" Corwin wasn't sure why he was doing this, sticking his neck out for some Variant he didn't really know. It was the wrong move for someone who wanted to keep out of sight. Already he dyzued the judging eyes boring into the back of his head from the other patrons.
    Phae too became aware of the eyes that judged her for challenging a superior officer. "Fine," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't care. But you can req the next round."

    The overt hostility diffused after that, though iciness clung to their table: Corwin uninterested in conversing; Kai too afraid to offend; Chahal unwilling to start a conversation. Phae didn't care if they spoke or not. She enjoyed her stardom, nodding at familiar faces, stretching so the Maharatha symbol sewn onto her uniform flashed around the room. But something changed. The strutting ended and her grin fell, giving way to a set jaw and tense shoulders.
    Phae's Voidmates noticed the change and followed her gaze. At the bar's entrance, a woman stood surveying the gathered patrons with a scowl. Her olive uniform was pressed and clean, her black hair graying. Gold bars on her shoulders and medals attached to her lapels were evidence of her skill and prowess as a soldier and leader. Her scanning eyes alighted on Phae, and the woman's glower darkened.
    The woman approached. Phae stiffened. The stranger arrived at the table and bowed low, first to Corwin, then to Chahal. Kai she greeted with a tilt of her head. Phae she didn't greet at all, instead leaning down until her face was centimeters away from the female Maharatha's. "What are you doing here, Daughter." It was not a question.
    "Hello to you too, Mother," Phae said, trying to shrug off the palpable animosity. "I'm drinking a beer." She tried her best to meet her mother's eyes, but few children of any age can withstand a mother's glare.
    "What are you doing in a Wei bar?" Phae's mother grabbed Phae by the hair on the back of her head. It looked like it was not the first time she'd used this technique.
    Phae blanched. "I just wanted to come back to the family bar," she said.
    "You wanted to come back to show off ." She shook Phae's head. " Think, you stupid girl. You are Maharatha , and yet you taint yourself and our Family by wandering around a Wei bar. While you're in here preening, you do nothing but earn the Family jendr. You should know your place, and it is not here." She let go, stood, and straightened her uniform. "You give us all dreng with your presence," she said, bowing to the table and backing away.
    The three Voidmates exchanged glances then looked at Phae. She'd slid so far down into her chair that her arms, which she'd crossed over her chest, weren't visible above the edge of the table. The pride that had buoyed her for so long had evaporated, and now she was deflated, defeated.
    'Phae the Accident'. They'd called her that to her face and