Dragonlance 08 - Dragons of the Highlord Skies Read Online Free PDF

truth. She should never have made that crack about Verminaard. At that moment she was reminded of her father’s teachings. Gregor uth Matar had once been a Solamnic knight. Dismissed from the knighthood for disgraceful behavior, he’d made a living by selling his sword to the highest bidder. Gregor had been a handsome, bold womanizer, always in debt, frequently in trouble, and Kitiara had adored him. One of his dictums—always attack, never defend.
    Instead of falling back, as Ariakas anticipated, Kitiara moved in closer, so that they were practically toe-to-toe.
    “You should know me well enough, my lord, to know that if I wanted to assassinate Verminaard, I would have done it myself. I would not have paid to have it done for me.”
    Ariakas seized hold of her jaw. His fingers clenched. A single move and he could have broken her neck. He stared down at her, waiting for her to whimper and weaken.
    Kit did not so much as blink and suddenly Ariakas felt a tickling sensation, as of sharp steel, in the area of his groin. He looked down and was startled to see Kitiara’s hand holding a knife, prepared to thrust it through the leather skirt into a very sensitive part of his anatomy.
    Ariakas gave a great guffaw of laughter and shoved Kitiara away from him.
    “Damn those guards of mine for slackers,” he said, half-amused, half-infuriated. “I’ll have their heads for this! They have orders to search everyone—even my most trusted commanders! Or perhaps I should say especially my most trusted commanders.”
    “Do not blame the ogres, my lord,” said Kitiara. “They were not meant to find this.”
    She took the thin-bladed knife and slipped it into a hidden sheath that had been cleverly worked into the ornate design of her dragon armor breastplate.
    Ariakas chuckled. “Would you really have stabbed me?”
    “Would you have broken my neck?” Kitiara returned in arch tones.
    Both knew the answer was “yes”. They expected nothing less of each other.
    “Now perhaps we can turn our attention to matters in Solamnia.” Ariakas walked over to the desk where he had spread out a map. He bent over it.
    Kitiara breathed an inward sigh. She’d survived yet another confrontation with her powerful master. Her boldness and daring had pleased him. The day would come, though, when they wouldn’t.
    “Did you have a strange dream last night, my lord?” Kitiara asked.
    “Don’t try to change the subject,” Ariakas said curtly.
    “I did,” Kitiara continued. “I dreamt Queen Takhisis was trying to persuade me to travel to Dargaard Keep to confront the death knight who is supposed to reside there.”
    “Soth,” Ariakas said. “Lord Soth. What did you tell Her Dark Majesty?”
    He tried to sound casual, but Kitiara knew then that he’d had the same dream.
    “I told her I didn’t believe in ghosts,” Kitiara returned dryly.
    Ariakas grunted. “Soth is no ghost. He lives—if you can say such a thing about a man who has been dead for over three hundred years. Our Queen wants to recruit him to our cause.”
    “Would you do that, my lord?” Kitiara asked.
    Ariakas shook his head. “Soth would be a valuable ally, but I could not trust him. He is far too powerful. Why should a death knight call any mortal ‘master’? No, let Soth brood over his wrongs in his ruined castle. I want no part of him.”
    Kitiara had to admit his reasoning was sound. Queen Takhisis was often impatient with human frailties and weakness, and she could be impractical on occasion. Kit put the dream aside
    “I read your latest proposal for Solamnia,” Ariakas was saying. He picked up a thick sheaf of parchment. “You propose that the Blue Wing seize the High Clerist’s Tower, occupy it, and from there march on Palanthas. A daring plan, Kitiara.”
    He took his seat behind the desk. “I am against it. It stretches our forces too thin, but I will listen to what you have to say.”
    Kitiara perched her hip on the edge of the table and leaned over