Bloodmoon (The Scarlet Star Trilogy Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

revenge.’
    Gavisham nodded, and then leant forwards to extend a hand. Dizali stared at it for a while before standing and reaching to shake it, briefly.
    ‘I will not fail you, Milord.’
    ‘I’m counting on it, Gavisham. Dismissed, and good luck.’
    ‘You don’t need luck when you can bloodrush, Lord Dizali,’ Gavisham smirked, flashing gold, before turning on a heel and slamming the door.
    Dizali raised an eyebrow. He had to smile as he reached for his brandy. ‘No, you do not,’ he replied.

Chapter IV
    THE ROAD
    20th June, 1867
    M erion lingered beneath the eaves of the shed, watching the soldiers and guards on their rounds. The fort’s mood had not lifted in the past few days. A sullen air followed the gun-toting figures like a miasma as they milled about, eyeing the refugees with mild disinterest.
    Sniffing the night air, Merion took in the dust, the wood, and the stink of sweaty horses. His feet itched, eager to move, hopefully east. Hell, his whole body itched, as it had since that weary morning trudging through the desert, with the heat rising around his cracked, blood-caked shoes, the magick still buzzing in his veins. He had itched for that feeling again every day since.
    Merion bit the inside of his lip. He felt frustrated, more than anything. The war further down the railroad had forced him to languish, forced him to confront the feelings that constantly swirled beneath his otherwise sullen and quiet exterior. Not just the itching for blood, but the outrage, the sorrow, and, though he disliked to admit it, the chilling fear that time was being wasted, crumbling like stale bread. Out on the road, they could be brushed aside or trampled. Here in the fort, there was nothing to be done but sit and stew in them. And he hated it. Fortunately for Merion, tonight was finally the night it would change. Lasp’s orders be damned .
    ‘Where are they?’ he muttered to himself, just to fill the boredom of silence.
    A small voice piped up beside him. ‘Lurker went to fill his flask. Lilain moves a little slower these days.’ Rhin appeared a short distance away, perched on the brink of a step, half-faded.
    Merion could not help but jump. A short lifetime of living with a faerie, and still it never failed. He groped for an answer.
    ‘I’m sorry for making you jump,’ the faerie apologised. ‘I thought you were just ignoring me. I didn’t have anywhere else to go.’ Rhin’s words sounded small, even for somebody twelve inches tall.
    ‘It doesn’t matter,’ Merion told the dust at his feet.
    Rhin attempted to flash one of his old trademark grins, but it quickly withered. ‘Excited to be getting out?’
    ‘Mmm,’ was all Merion said in reply.
    Rhin kicked his boots together, and sighed.
    Lurker soon rounded the corner, listing slightly to the left. Something sloshed in his pocket as he walked. He made no apology, and simply sniffed, rubbed his nose, and looked around. ‘Where’s Lil?’
    ‘Yet to arrive,’ Merion answered.
    ‘Think this’ll work? It’s failed the last three nights,’ Lurker grunted, looking between the boy and his faerie. ‘We’ve been lucky to get away with it so far. Now the soldiers are back, and Mayut’s drawin’ ever closer. They’re tightenin’ security.’ He was always more loquacious when he’d had a few, and Merion had to smile wryly. The mildly pickled prospector was right. They had been caught, or almost caught, three times since roasting the jackalope. Escape had been snatched from their hands like a starving dog deprived of its bone.
    But tonight was the night, Rhin had promised. Tonight was none other than Brigadier General Lasp’s birthday, and there were to be celebrations in the mess hall, war be damned. With half the soldiers ordered to attend, smiles firmly plastered on their faces, escape would be theirs at last.
    There came the sound of voices along the thoroughfare, and their heads snapped up. Rhin shivered out of sight, and Merion stood a little