Changing Fate [Fate series] Read Online Free PDF Page A

their father's head from the ground, then straightened, cradling it in his elbow. “By the way, don't try to send out any messages. My men have orders to shoot any creature trying to leave the vicinity.” He rode back to his army and started them setting up in siege formation.
    Briam ordered the men-at-arms to keep watch on the army, then strode majestically to Akila's room and bolted the door, while she flew around the building and landed on the window ledge so she could change back. The last rays of the setting sun still warmed the ledge, but the air was getting cold, and Akila was glad to scramble back into the clothes she had left in front of the fire.
    Briam started to take his armor off, and Akila automatically moved to help him. “What do we do now?” he asked in the confident tone he always used when asking her that question.
    But this time, Akila had no idea of the answer.
* * * *
    Lord Ranulf returned their father's body to them the next morning, under a flag of truce. The body had been washed, dressed in the best clothes their father had taken with him, and placed in a coffin, which the village carpenter confirmed had come from his shop. “There's always a few men make it back here and then die each year,” he said, “so I always make a coffin or two this time of year to have one ready."
    On top of the coffin was a letter and a small pouch. Briam picked up the letter, glanced through it, then handed the letter to Akila and the pouch to the carpenter. “Payment for the coffin,” he explained.
    Akila looked at him in surprise, then bent her head over the letter. True enough, the first few lines dealt with the matter of the coffin and the payment for it. She turned it over to check the signature. “And Lord Ranulf commends your craftsmanship and the orderly way in which you keep your shop,” she told the man.
    He hefted the pouch in his hand, looking puzzled. “Strangest invasion I've ever seen—or heard of,” he said. “He hasn't fired the village, has he?"
    "I doubt it,” said Galin calmly. “For one thing, we'd see the smoke if he did, and for another it makes no sense from a tactical standpoint. If he could win, it would be his village and he wouldn't want his own property damaged."
    Akila noted Galin's use of the conditional tense with appreciation. She was sure that he know as well as she did that “it will be his village” was more accurate than “it would be his village.” By her reckoning, they had food for three more days.
    She forced herself to smile at the carpenter, hoping that her face didn't look as stiff as it felt. “If he had burned your shop, he certainly wouldn't bother to pay you for the coffin,” she pointed out. “And I am glad that you had it ready made, since we do have need of it.” She blinked quickly to forced back the tears that suddenly blurred her vision. I can't break down in front of people, she thought. I've got to get away for a bit.
    She looked quickly at Briam. He seemed to be holding up just fine. Probably shock, she thought, but I'll work with what I've got. “Briam, why don't you get some men and take the body to the chapel, while I go see about getting the proper herbs.” Briam nodded and he and Galin chose several men from the group standing around them to help carry the body.
    Akila headed for her room as fast as was consistent with the dignity she had to maintain under the circumstances. She would rather have run, screaming, but that wasn't an option.
    When she got to her room, she bolted the door and collapsed on the bed, shaking violently. Then she blacked out.
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CHAPTER THREE
    Akila awoke to find the sun streaming in her window. It took her several minutes to figure out what she was doing lying on her bed fully clothed in the middle of the day. She felt cold all over, and sick, and too shaky to stand. She twisted to reach the clothing chest at the foot of her bed. When she reached to open the chest, she found that she