Dolor and Shadow Read Online Free PDF Page A

Pl—”
    “You’re losing your audience, dear brother,” Rune interjected. “I already skipped my lessons for the day.”
    “The scholars collected everything that came into port,” Bergen said. “And everything that came into port was added to their growing Serapeum. Anything that could be used for study was taken. Every artifact was confiscated and housed in the museum, every written word taken and copied in the library. When my ship pulled into port five years ago, so were my manuscripts.”
    Rune gave Bergen a solemn look.
    “They took everything,” Bergen said. “Even letters. They gave us coin for our troubles, and the writings were eventually returned to us, but…” He shook his head. “…they would only return the copies the scriveners made. They kept the originals to be added to their library.”
    “Your notes even?” Rune asked.
    “Gone,” Bergen said, unable to meet Rune’s eyes. “All of them.”
    “Naturally, you wanted them back.”
    “Well, yeah,” Bergen scoffed. “So, I did what I do.”
    “You caused a commotion,” Rune said.
    “—which drew the attention of the woman who ran the place.” Bergen beamed.
    “You didn’t,” Rune said with a feigned look of surprise.
    “You’re mocking me.”
    “I’m sorry,” Rune said as Bergen watched a pair of male sparrows land in the road, locked at the beaks. Wings flailed, throwing up a small puff of dirt, and by the time they were airborne again, their mood had subsided.
    “So what happened?” Rune asked.
    Bergen shrugged. “I found the school, enrolled, and traced my manuscripts back to the library where I got a job as a scrivener.”
    “And the woman who ran the place?”
    Bergen pretended to be interested in the trees ahead while he collected the courage to speak. “Turned out to be the queen of Râ-Kedet.” The knot in his throat returned.
    “And the egg?”
    Bergen shrugged. “Didn’t get to lay her.” His jaw tightened.
    “The egg , Bergen,” Rune said.
    “As common in Râ-Kedet as the Sliders for sale at market.”
    “Bergen.”
    Bergen sighed.
    “The woman, who took my manuscripts—”
    “—the queen—”
    “—had found the egg on a Sklavinian ship.” Bergen shoved a branch out of his way.
    “How did you get the egg?”
    Bergen knew that flux in Rune’s tone and was suddenly aware of how much he had missed it. Rune wasn’t going to buy any story he manufactured, but he was going to try.
    “She gave it to me.”
    “Just like that?” Implausibility dripped from his tone.
    “Right after the hunting and drinking,” Bergen said, smiling through his lie.
    Rune raised a doubtful brow at Bergen.
    “The Queen of Râ-Kedet went hunting and drinking,” Rune said, “with you.”
    Bergen nodded. At least that part of it was true.              
    “She did,” he said, still grinning.
    Rune threw Bergen a look that told him he knew better, but Bergen held his gaze on the path ahead.
    “Sklavinian artifacts are notorious for curses,” Rune said.
    An old memory surfaced and Bergen failed to suppress a grin.
    “I’ve had my share of experiences with the Sklavinian,” Bergen said. “And the artifacts release the curse only on those who steal from them. Besides…” Bergen waved his hand. “I’ve carried that thing now for three years and nothing’s happened to me.”
    “How did you get the egg, Bergen?”
    Bergen took a long moment, recalling the breeze that blew in from the sea that night. The desert moonlight had filled Zabbai’s chambers. Her cheeks glowed with a red that poured down her bronze neck, flushed from too much wine. Her eyes, like black pools, pulled him in too easily, even for him. Her lips…There wasn’t a day he didn’t regret not kissing those lips.
    Bergen fisted his hand and did his best to ignore the tightness in his chest. If he had known then that his two years with Zabbai were at an end—
    “She gave it to me in exchange for a promise.”
    “Before or after