Dragons and Destiny Read Online Free PDF Page A

children and the babies - the pirates
never took the very young.
    As his brain
registered this final horrifying sight Robain was sick and retched
until his stomach was empty and more than empty. Once he had
stopped retching he fell to his knees in prayer.
    Robain made
three vows that morning. First he promised to look after Liam and
Ansell, then he vowed to find the rest of his family and to rescue
them. Finally he assured the Goddess that he would never forget her
but that he was going to leave her island for a while to learn how
to fight.
    “I know that to
fight goes against all the laws in Holy Writ,” he sobbed, “but I will . I must .”
     
     
    * * * * *
     
     
    AL597 -
Tala
     
    By their sixth
birthday, the triplets’ characters had become as different as their
looks.
    Hilla was the
adventurous one, the strongest and she was the one who led the more
timid Rilla into all sorts of trouble and scrapes. Rilla was always
trying to emulate her but never quite succeeding except in one
area. Rilla was the best rider of the three. She loved horses.
Hilla was technically as good a rider as Rilla but regarded a horse
more as a means of transport than a creature to be loved and cared
for. Zilla was the quietest, the sensible one, she did not enjoy
adventures, being content to stay at home and play with her dolls.
She was the one who Rilla found tying pink and yellow ribbons
through their pony’s mane. She had leapt at her sister in childish
anger at what she saw as a degradation of the little animal. Hilla
had stood, watched and laughed long and loud.
    On their
birthday, their older siblings, Zak, Zala and Tala clubbed together
to buy their presents - a new doll apiece. Hilla immediately used
hers as target practice for her toy bow and arrow, Rilla ignored
hers. Zilla took Rilla’s over and rescued the much maligned
Hilla’s.
    AL597 was a
momentous year for Innkeeper Talan’s family. Zala, twin of Zak was
sixteen and looking forward to her marriage to the eldest son of a
wealthy merchant from Stewarton, the largest town on Argyll and the
Seat of Government. Matt Urquhart had stayed at the Inn during the
previous summer and had been captivated by Zala. He had spoken to
Talan the very next morning. Talan had been delighted his eldest
daughter had caught such a rich man and had upped his expectations
for his next oldest daughter, Tala.
    She had other
ideas. Her heart was set on an apprenticeship and not with one of
the more commonplace guilds either. She wished to train with the
Technicians Guild and they only took the best.
    Dunetown, where
Talan’s inn was situated, was a large village and had a school.
Tala attended this until she was twelve years old. Talan was proud
of his clever daughter and for the last two years he had paid for
Tala to attend a large school in Farquharson where she had just
passed ‘The Exam’ with many distinctions and honours in
mathematics. She had applied for and been offered a place by the
Technicians Guild as a full apprentice. The Guild only took the
best and word had arrived only a tenday ago that she had been
accepted. Technician apprentices, unlike the other Guilds attended
classes at the University at Stewarton and when she qualified she
could hope for a lucrative position as a Technician Journeywoman.
Not many girls were accepted and Talan was justifiably proud of
Tala. Her sister Zala had not excelled academically and had left
school with the basic Leaving Certificate the same time as her twin
brother.
    Tala and Zala
would be leaving for Stewarton within the month, Zala to join her
new family to learn what her future mother-in-law termed
housewifery skills as the future mistress of the family’s large
merchant establishment, Tala to begin her chosen career.
    At six, the
triplets were only aware that their two elder sisters were leaving.
Hilla and Rilla were not troubled overmuch by the thought. Zilla
however, was not at all happy about the break up of the family
circle.
     
     
    * *