Anna von Wessen Read Online Free PDF

down into the puddle of cold blood which lay on her plate. She could just see her eyes, reflected in its smooth scarlet surface.
    Her stomach surprised her very much, then, by giving a fierce growl. Even Greyson seemed to hear it, and afterwards to look at her oddly.
    “It’s just settling, I suppose,” she murmured.
    The table held together for perhaps twenty more minutes of conversation, grown considerably raucous in the wake of such a satisfying meal. Now and then there was an instance of a finger dipping down into the soupy red remnants, only to be brought up directly to a pair of smacking lips. There could even be seen an entire plate or two lifting into the air, to be tipped back, and emptied into the mouth of an exultant diner.
    When finally the group began to break up, Greyson rose with Anna, and asked whether she “fancied a game.” However, she answered no – and the very uncommonness of this response made Greyson eye her again quite strangely.
    “I feel a bit restless,” she offered in explanation. “I think I’ll go for a walk.”
    She had not intended for him to do so, of course; but it seemed that Valo overheard these last words of hers. In an instant he was standing by her elbow, with a very chivalrous smile upon his face. A forgotten Ari – whose golden hair, it seemed, had been curled and fixed that night, specifically for the purpose of Valo’s enjoyment – hissed indignantly, and marched from the room. But Valo seemed not even to notice.
    “Shall I come with you?” he asked Anna.
    “It’s kind of you to offer,” she said hastily, “but I don’t think so. I’d make very poor company tonight, I judge.”
    “Doubtful,” Valo said cheerfully. His eyes flashed the colour of emeralds, as he ran a hand through his spiky black hair, and smiled just as broadly as he was able. He towered more than a foot over Anna, but looked down at her so that, somehow, his face managed to come too close.
    Anna continued, as politely as she could, to decline his proposal; much to Ephram’s apparent disdain. For the moment, however, she paid that very little mind. She only wished Valo goodnight, pressed Greyson’s arm, and proceeded to exit the dining room.
    She issued out into the wide entrance hall, her boots clicking loudly across the hard tile. She passed the foot of the staircase, and made instead for the front door, beside which there was a servant standing. His name was Hyro, Anna knew, and he was a timid little fellow, on account of having been hit over the head so very many times with Valo’s hard oaken walking stick. But when he saw Anna – who had never been known to show him unkindness – drawing near to him, he rose a little out of his slump, and even ventured so far as to smile thinly.
    Perhaps you would like to know at this point, that just like all of the other servants, Hyro was a Narkul.
    He was dressed in a drab uniform of the most sombre shade of grey. He was rather gaunt and sallow-skinned, and possessed only a small tuft of hair, which had been cropped extremely close to his head. His shirt lay open at the throat, and exposed there a shining silver pendant, which was attached to a tight choker – which was in turn locked round his neck.
    That little dangling piece of silver, it should be noted, was identical to the amulets worn on occasion by the Endai. It was called a Turin; and was about two-by-two inches tall and wide, with a very small, round bloodstone inlaid at its center. To one side of the ruby was depicted a human figure with a warning hand outstretched towards the opposite side; where there stood a wolf with head bowed in concession. So long as an Endalin or Narkul was wearing the Turin, it was impossible for him to assume his wolfen form. So long as he wore it, so long was he human.
    “Good evening, Anna von Wessen,” said Hyro, with a persistence of his nervous smile. He opened the front door, so that Anna might pass.
    “Hello, Hyro,” she replied absently – thus