Esther Read Online Free PDF Page A

seen a hundred people die.”
    â€œA hundred? I have seen many more than that die in a single battle.”
    â€œIf it pains you to see men die, perhaps you should not have become a soldier.”
    â€œI am an Immortal, not a soldier. And it is not of my choosing.”
    â€œYou were forced?”
    He was silent. I knew I had angered him again. Still, I believed he would not rush us back to the line if he thought there was hope for Cyra. Her head lay in my lap. I moved my leg slightly. “Ehhhh . . . ,” Cyra murmured.
    â€œSee how she stirs? She says my name.”
    â€œYour name is unusual.”
    â€œIt is Esther. She is too parched to say it fully.”
    Erez gazed at me and then at Cyra. “Perhaps I counted her among the dead too hastily, Ehhhh sther.” He raised one eyebrow. “But I do not think so.”
    I had no argument except my resolve. “Please.”
    He flinched only slightly, but still I saw it. Hearing me say “please” pained him. “Being a soldier has taught me to do what I am told without thinking too deeply about it. You will learn the same lesson as a harem girl, or you will suffer.”
    I wanted to delay our return to the line as long as possible. “Will you tell me of how you came to be an Immortal?”
    â€œEsther.” He looked at me with such seriousness that I was not certain I wanted him to go on. “It is likely that you will never, from this day forth, have your way again. But I will grant you this one request, if you agree to accept your new life as soon as I have answered your question.”
    I agreed and he told me of a panther who mauled a girl in his village twelve years before. He had killed it with a single arrow, and that had sealed his fate as an Immortal. Word of his skill traveled and the king’s men had come for him shortly after. He had been seven years old.
    â€œIf you killed her, why does Dalphon call you ‘Kitten Tamer’ instead of ‘Kitten Killer’?”
    â€œThere is only one way to truly tame anything wild.”
    I hoped he was wrong. It was said that lions were kept as pets in the palace.
    â€œEvery hunter knows this is true and all men are hunters of one kind or another,” Erez said. “You would do well to pretend you are not so wild as you are.”
    I willed myself not to blush again. I swallowed without meaning to and coughed from the dryness in my throat. “Have you gotten word to your parents since you were taken to train? Do they know you are well?”
    â€œTheir village was wiped out by plague.”
    I surprised myself by saying, “I am sorry, Erez. I am an orphan too.”
    â€œI know.”
    Did he mock me? “I do not see how that is possible.”
    â€œYou are too independent for a girl your age—”
    â€œI am fourteen.”
    â€œâ€”and too stubborn. It is why I fear for you.”
    â€œFor me, but not Cyra? Perhaps you were made an Immortal so you could save people.”
    â€œDo not be foolish, I was trained to take lives, I do not know how to give them back. Your friend’s life has already been taken. It was the king’s—just as yours and mine are—and now it is Ahura Mazda’s. He will watch over her. Do not ask me to change fate. Not even a king could do it, and I am only a soldier.”
    â€œ Only? Do you not see how lucky you are? I would gladly trade places with you. The king favors you, you have the most beautiful horse I have ever seen, and you have traveled parts of the world I never will. Not now.”
    â€œI have seen the world, but not as I would have liked to. I see its beauty only as I diminish it. I saw the great temple of Athens as I sacked and burned it. And I have done many things worse, including”—he gestured to where the line of girls had disappeared down the road—“this.”
    â€œWhat do you wish for yourself instead?”
    â€œThis is