Avalyne Series 01: The Queen of Carleon Read Online Free PDF

form of a bedraggled looking human who just happened to be the exiled heir to the throne of Carleon.
    Dare had sought out House Atrayo in the Jagged Mountains because to unite the scattered dwarf clans of Iridia, he needed the voice of Atrayo’s son to speak for him. A grand alliance was being forged, the greatest that Avalyne would ever seen and it was an army that would need weapons. It was a chance to avenge both their fathers and reclaim their kingdoms. Kyou joined Dare because more than he wanted revenge, he wanted what his father had died for, the freedom of his people. Thus when Dare left the Jagged Mountains, Kyou left with him while the rest of his people set to work giving the future High King exactly what he wanted.
    The greatest weapons ever forged.
    *****
    ‘ Master Builder to the Court of Carleon!’
    Kyou looked up from the parchment s laid out on the table before him. They were the plans of the work that needed to be conducted to the western wall of the city, the one that had been hit the worst during the siege of the city when Balfure had first taken Sandrine. Reconstructing these would allow him to conduct the rest of the improvements he had been asked to carry out on the city by Dare. Dismissing the city craftsman named Gwyn who had been his partner in misery for much of this, Kyou turned around and was unsurprised to see who was approaching him. 
    Only the elf would be so bold to call him by the title. In truth, there was a whole set of rituals that required performance by his people before any dwarf could assume the title of Master Builder and Kyou had done none of it. As a result, he did not feel himself worthy of the title, despite what Dare and this upstart elf might think.
    ‘ Must you persist in using that infernal title?’ Kyou glared at the elf with his hazel eyes.
    ‘ Yes Master Builder ,’ Aeron replied, amused by the grimace that crossed the dwarf's face. ‘I bring you tidings from the king.’
    Kyou snorted in annoyance and turned back to his plans. ‘You may tell his Royal Highness that the wall must be rebuilt before I will add any weapons to it. If it cannot take the weight, it will be of little use to him. We are working as quickly as we can and if he persists in hounding me, I shall return home and he can finish it himself!’
    ‘ I will tell him that if you like,’ Aeron rolled his eyes sarcastically, ‘however, he did not send me here to request an update regarding the progress of the work. I offered to come here in place of one of his riders.’
    ‘ Oh?’ Kyou stared at him. ‘And what would he want of me if not to know how his fortifications fare?’
    ‘ To invite you to a celebration ,’ the elf declared, always amused that Kyou's temper could make him jump to foolish conclusions. After all these years of friendship and camaraderie between them, Aeron wondered if 'disgruntled' was the dwarf's natural state. ‘It appears that there is an important announcement forthcoming. The Queen has summoned her mother and mine to attend. Meanwhile the King has sent riders to the Green and the Jagged Teeth.’
    ‘ I see,’ Kyou absorbed the news and scratched the stubble on his cheek at what the announcement could be. ‘Do you have any idea what this news might be?’
    ‘ Not really,’ Aeron confessed. ‘I know that Arianne required an audience alone with Dare while we were in discussion about the deployment of men to deal with the trouble in the Northern Province.’
    ‘ Ah!’ Kyou exclaimed with a note of triumph in his voice. ‘It’s a baby then.’
    ‘ A baby!’ Aeron exclaimed, wondering how the dwarf had made that leap. ‘What makes you say that?’
    ‘ Let us examine the evidence—a celebration involving the queen’s kin and the gathering of their friends, the closest that the King has to family, not to mention that we are speaking about the most serious man we have ever met, choosing to celebrate some grand news? What else could it be?’ He gave Aeron a