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

while longer, but they couldn't last forever. And their father had no allies who could be expected to come to break the siege. Akila mentally damned her father; if he hadn't spent his entire lifetime making enemies instead of allies, and then getting himself killed, they wouldn't be in this mess. Lord Ranulf was going to win this; there was just no other possible conclusion.
    She paced the walls with Galin and Briam, watching the a group of Lord Ranulf's troops leave as they did each morning. Suddenly one of the men on the walls shouted and pointed up.
    "Look! The great eagle!"
    Briam and Akila looked at each other in astonishment before looking up. Sure enough, there was an eagle circling over the castle, bigger than any eagle in nature. “It's a bit bigger than you are,” Briam whispered in her ear, “but other than that, it looks identical."
    "That's impossible,” Akila whispered back.
    The eagle folded its wings and dove straight towards them. Briam and Galin moved in, crowding Akila in an irrational effort to protect her, but the eagle unfolded its wings a short distance above them, scooped air to break its fall, and landed neatly on the wall directly in front of them. It looked sharply at Briam, then Galin, before fixing its eyes on Akila's. Akila met its stare, reminded of the afternoon the army had arrived, when she had been an eagle and had watched Lord Ranulf from the walls. There seemed to be intelligence behind the eyes that stared into hers. Had she looked like that? She forced herself to stand perfectly still and keep her face calm. Animals generally couldn't out-stare a human, and as long as its claws were on the wall the eagle wouldn't hurt her. Unlike owls, eagles didn't bite. After several long minutes, the eagle turned, dove off the wall, and flew away beyond the trees.
    Akila felt so shaken that it took her several seconds to realize that Galin was talking to her. “The men seem to think it's a good omen,” he said, looking around at the few men they had stationed on the wall.
    "I wish I thought so,” Akila said.
    Galin looked sharply at her. “You are tired,” he said firmly. “Go and lie down for a bit—there's nothing you need to do right now."
    He was right, Akila realized as she went wearily back to her room. There was nothing constructive for her to do, nothing that needed her attention, nothing she could do to save her people, her brother, her home, or even herself. She lay down and promptly fell asleep again.
* * * *
    It was early evening when she woke, and when she went to find Briam, she was horrified to find him on the walls, parlaying with Lord Ranulf.
    "Lord Briam,” Lord Ranulf was saying courteously, “you cannot hope to withstand me for much longer. I may not know to the measure how much food you have left, but you know, and I can guess. I can certainly starve you out, but that is both unpleasant and bad for your people, who need not otherwise be harmed. Yield now, and save them."
    "I will not sell my folk and my sister into slavery so tamely,” Briam retorted. “I challenge you to single combat."
    Akila check her first impulse, which was to grab Briam, drag him down from the wall, and lock him in his room until he came to his senses. This has got to be the most incredibly stupid thing he has ever done in his life! she thought. I'll never be able to get him out of this one.
    "If I lose,” Briam continued,” the castle is yours; and if I win, you give that turncoat mercenary over to us for justice and depart in peace."
    "A somewhat uneven bargain, Lord Briam,” Lord Ranulf replied. “Why should I risk the castle in single combat when I can win it simply by waiting a little while longer?” He thought for a moment. “If you want to fight someone, fight Stefan, since you seek his life, and if you win, you go free."
    "And my sister goes with me.” Briam countered.
    "What life would the lady have wandering about with you?” Lord Ranulf asked reasonably. “I pledge to marry