Fable: Edge of the World Read Online Free PDF Page A

care for it.
    “You—would trust me to lead the kingdom?”
    “Well, who else?” said Ben. “Jasper’s a fine fellow, but if we left him in charge, and the darkness came here, we’d all be fighting it with the proper silverware.”
    The unexpected joke broke the tension. First Laylah groaned, then they were all giggling. It was nervous laughter, but it felt good, and the king’s head was clearer when it died down.
    “Then it’s settled. We’ll meet again for a detailed strategy-planning session. But until then”—and he extended his arm to Laylah—“I am a newly married man, and I have a reception to attend. As do all of you. Let’s not keep poor Jasper waiting.”
    “Too bad horrors beyond the imagination had to ruin the king’s wedding parade,” Finn said as he tipped back a second ale.
    “They look happy,” Page observed. The king and queen were dancing together, and Finn had to admit that yes, despite the dire news that had come on them so unexpectedly, the couple did indeed look disgustingly happy.
    “For the moment,” he agreed. “Sorry you have to miss all the fun and babysit a new queen instead.”
    He had expected her to fire back with a sharp remark, but instead she looked somber. “Have you really forgotten what it was like to fight those things? How they got into your head?” She shook her head. “I haven’t. And she’s not a child, she just needs to learn.”
    Ben regarded Laylah. “She’s lovely, I’ll give her that, and she’s got a sharp brain in that head. But this is a pretty rotten time for on-the-job training.”
    “And who better to teach her than I?” Page sipped her own ale, relaxing a little.
    “You raise an excellent point, ma’am.” He clinked their glasses—glasses, not tankards—together. Right enough, here in the castle you didn’t sip ale from pewter like you might at some third-rate tavern.
    “Page is right,” came Kalin’s voice behind them. Ben startedand splashed the very excellent brew on the tablecloth. “Laylah is stronger than one might think.”
    “Does
everyone
have to come sneaking up behind me today?” Ben muttered and dabbed at the spill with a napkin, belatedly realizing that all he’d done was dirty
two
linens that now needed to be washed. As he put the napkin down, he saw Jasper interrupt the dance. The king looked over the crowd, and his gaze landed on Ben. “And there’s our cue,” he said, fairly leaping up to follow as the king indicated.
    They weaved through the crowd and were joined by Timmins. “The boy’s awoken,” the king said without preamble. “And Sabine says he is ready to tell us everything he knows.”

Chapter Three
    S abine sat on the boy’s bed. The youth was propped up on several pillows. A few hours of sleep had helped him. He no longer looked blank and stunned but merely frightened and exhausted. He was eating roasted chicken as if he hadn’t seen food in days. Maybe he hadn’t.
    “His name is Shan,” Sabine said. “He’s got holes in his memory, he says, but he can tell us some things at least.”
    Shan’s dark eyes flitted to the door. He relaxed a little as Kalin and Laylah entered the room.
    “I’m glad to see you’re feeling better,” the king said. “You’re a very brave young fellow, Shan.”
    The boy’s dark gaze slid away. “I do not think so, Your Majesty.”
    “Well, Sabine and I do, and so does everyone else in this room. And if two kings agree on it, it must be so, mustn’t it?”
    “Ha!” cackled Sabine. “True, true, eh?”
    Rex trotted in and went straight to the boy, plopping his forepaws on the bed. He panted cheerfully, then licked the youth’s cheek. The monarch was relieved to see a ghost of a smile curve Shan’s lips. Then it faded.
    “You—you won’t send me back?” he asked.
    “Sire,” said Timmins, “this boy’s a native of Samarkand. He knows its history, its geography, far better than we could hope to. He’s seen firsthand what we’ll be up