Free the Darkness (King's Dark Tidings Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

chewing on
rocks all the time. “You have learned all of the Rules such that you
rarely break any, and since you passed your final Skills test last week,
we have little more to teach you. You have done so well, in fact, that you
completed your training at least three or four years ahead of our
predications.” Master Jaiardun paused at the perplexed look on Rezkin’s face.
“What is the source of your confusion?”
    “Master, you said I know all the Rules , but I still
do not know Rules 1 and 2 ,” Rezkin replied.
    “Hmm, yes, well, you will learn those as well. They are your
final lesson, which you will learn when you leave here,” replied Master
Jaiardun.
    “Leave, Master? Am I not to stay here?” Rezkin asked. This
was the first he had heard that he would not be staying in the fortress where
he had lived his entire life.
    Master Jaiardun huffed. “What did you think we were doing
here, Rezkin? You have learned the Rules and Skills . It is time
for you to put them to use. You have a purpose, and that purpose is not here.”
    “I have a purpose?” he asked with surprise.
    Master Peider stepped forward and spoke in his usual quiet,
sure voice. “We are men, Rezkin. All men need a purpose. Our purpose, and that
of these strikers, has been to train you . Our purpose is now at an end.
You must now go into the outworld.”
    “So, what is my purpose?” Rezkin asked with curiosity.
Curiosity was one characteristic of Rezkin’s natural personality the masters
had actually encouraged. He was never punished for asking questions…unless they
were something he was already supposed to know.
    “That, Rezkin, will become clear when you learn Rules 1 and 2 ,” replied Master Peider.
    Rezkin knew that men played different roles in the outer
society. He had been trained to understand the workings of many of them. First,
there were the average commoners. He was familiar with many of their Skills ,
but he otherwise did not know much about these people. His masters had always
said they held little importance to him. Then, there were the thieves. The minor
thieves held about as much importance as the average commoners, but the
thieves’ guilds had been a major point of discussion. Rezkin certainly had the
necessary skills for a thief, but to act as such would render much of his
knowledge wasted.
    Rezkin thought of his other skills and compared them with
what he knew about society. He could become a soldier or guard, but most
soldiers and guards would never need the majority of his Skills . None of
the strikers in his own fortress were masters of all of the Skills ,
which had always been confusing to him since they were obviously grown men. How
had they grown without knowing all the Skills and Rules ?
    What else was there? He could pass for a merchant. Although
he had never been to a market, the masters had described them in detail and
made certain he was knowledgeable in matters of currency and bartering. On a
greater scale, he was qualified to broker trade deals between merchant houses,
evaluate supply and demand, determine trade routes, and he understood (and
could undermine) levies, tariffs, and taxes. The masters had even brought in a
Master of one of the great merchant houses, Lord Butrand, for a few years to
teach him from first-hand knowledge. Lord Butrand had been a rather nervous man
who sweated profusely and always seemed on edge. After Rezkin passed his Merchant
Skills test, he had never seen Lord Butrand again. He briefly wondered
whatever happened to the man. But, what good would knowledge of poisons and
battle tactics be to a merchant?
    A noble might have occasion to need any one of his skills
but would probably never actually need all of them, and from what he
understood of the nobility, one had to be born into it. Rezkin had never
thought much about his birth, but he was fairly certain he was not a noble. He
had been thoroughly trained in court etiquette and intrigue in case he ever had
to pass as a noble, but