Chael's Luck (A Knights of Dorathan Novel) Read Online Free PDF

hurt?”
    “I think I’ve a few cracked ribs by the feel
of it.”
    I looked down the path. Deep inside of me,
the need to win this race, to prove myself burned. Mac coughed
again and groaned. I thought back to my dream. Maybe I’d been wrong
when I’d told the visitor I wanted to win. It was definitely
something I wanted, but did winning make me a Knight? I looked down
Mac.
    “Alright, let’s get you up on your horse and
we’ll take the shortcut back.”
    Mac shook his head. “You can still catch up.
I’ve seen Klora at a dead run. If you go now, you’ve got this race
won.”
    “He’s right, Chael. You could still win.”
    I shook my head. “I’m not leaving you here
alone with Mac lying in the woods. Let’s get him up.”
    It took a few tries, but we finally managed
to push Mac up onto his mare. He lay on her neck, trying to keep
the tears of pain from spilling from his eyes. I took his
reins.
    “Just hang on to your saddle. We’ll go as
slowly as we need to.”
    Harry grinned. “I wasn’t aware that Klora had
a slow speed.”
    I laughed. “We’re just full of surprises,
Klora and I.”
    “Oh?” Mac looked up, still pale from his
climb up his horse.
    I shrugged. “It’s just a saying.”
    By the time we had gotten back to the
starting line, the only people waiting were Harry’s father, Sir
Gregory, Mac’s father, Sir Charles, my father, and General Krane.
Harry and I dismounted and helped Mac off of his horse.
    “What happened?” Sir Charles rushed to his
son’s side.
    “I fell.”
    “You mean you were pushed.” I glared at him,
angry he was covering for the man who’d done this.
    General Krane frowned. “Who pushed you?”
    Mac shook his head and General Krane turned
his attention to Harry and I.
    “It was Caleb.” I answered.
    “He’s also the one that ran Hal’s horse into
the woods which caused him to fall and break his arm,” added
Harry.
    “And he cut off Mark and Jarran just before a
jump which caused the injury to Jarran’s knee.”
    The general turned his attention back to Mac.
“Is this true?”
    Mac stared at the ground and nodded.
    “And what of you two?” inquired my
father.
    “We came upon Mac lying on the ground… we
couldn’t just leave him there.” I smiled at Mac who nodded his
appreciation.
    “I was going to try by myself and we told
Chael to keep going, but he insisted on staying to help.” Harry
gave me a pat on the back.
    The General raised an eyebrow. “Harry, you
didn’t want to win?”
    “Oh, of course I did, sir. My horse, he’s a
good one, but mostly on short distances.” He gave the speckled grey
a pat. “There’s no way I could have caught up and passed the
leaders to win. Chael, on the other hand, well, Klora may be high
strung and out of control most of the time, but he’s got speed and
stamina like no other horse I’ve ever seen. Chael had a chance to
win and we thought he should take it.”
    The general turned his attention to me.
“Chael? Do you think you could have won?”
    I took a deep breath, not sure how to answer.
Did I want to sound conceited? I decided to say what I felt. “I
think I still had a chance, sir. Like Harry said, Klora is a bit of
a meathead, but he’s got heart.”
    “And, now I ask you; did you not want to
win?”
    “More than anything, sir.”
    “Then why stay behind? Harry could have
handled the task of bringing Mac back on his own.”
    “True enough, sir. However, I’m a strong
believer that a Knight doesn’t leave a man behind. Mark and Hal
were able to walk back on their own, but Mac, well, if something
had happened and he’d fallen while on his way back, Harry would
have needed help to get him back on his mare. The honor of winning
the race would have been amazing, but it wouldn’t have been greater
than the dishonor I would have felt had I left Mac and Harry
alone.”
    My father beamed where he stood while Sir
Gregory and Sir Charles nodded their approval. General Krane looked
at my horse