Froi of the Exiles Read Online Free PDF Page A

the unspeakable that followed, but that her father recorded the events in his
Book of Lumatere
: stories of good people who turned their backs on their neighbours, because they needed someone to blame. Stories of how her
pardu
, Trevanion, was accused of treason and sent to a foreign prison, separated from her beloved father who was no more than nine at the time. She’ll weep for her grandfather and for the sorry truth of how he believed that his love, Lady Beatriss of the Flatlands, had died in a filthy dungeon giving birth to their dead child, moments before she was to be burnt at the stake.’
    Finnikin heard the low intake of ragged breath from his father. Hearing his name and that of Beatriss would have told Trevanion enough despite his ignorance of the Sarnak language.
    ‘And then the hardest part will be explaining Lumatere’s curse, for curses are not the easiest things to explain to a child: how half the kingdom was trapped inside the walls, while the other half walked the land in exile for ten long years. She’ll have to speak to Lady Beatriss to hear the depravity of what took place inside these cursed walls. How the impostor King and his army, trapped by the curse themselves, forced themselves into the beds of our women, hanged the children of men who chose to rebel, and burnt down our land over and over again.’
    The Ambassador bowed his head. He was a good man. Finnikin had come to realise that these last three years of negotiations. But goodness in a man was not enough when it came to appeasing a kingdom that had lost so much.
    ‘Both my king and I will have to tell our daughter what happened to our suffering people who travelled from kingdom to kingdom in exile. Begging for sanctuary.’
    Her eyes fixed onto the Ambassador of Sarnak and Finnikin shuddered at the force of her memory. ‘Begging
your
kingdom for sanctuary, Sir.’
    Her voice broke.
    ‘Give me the words, Ambassador,’ Isaboe pleaded. ‘Give me the words to explain to my child the fate of three hundred of our exiles from her grandfather’s village, who had taken refuge on your river bank. Although I was there to witness it, I still cannot find the words to explain what happens when a king turns his back and allows his people to do as they please. Give me the words to describe the mass grave her father saw at the crossroads of Sendecane. What a fever camp looks like where bodies are piled onto each other in a pit, as I witnessed in Sorel.’
    The tears pooled in her eyes, but Finnikin saw triumph in them, as well.
    ‘Knowing Jasmina, she’ll make me repeat over and over again the story of her father climbing a rock to find me at land’s end,’ she continued, her dark gaze looking over the Ambassador’s shoulder and fastening onto Finnikin’s.
    ‘But I know which part she’ll love best. That despite all the horror our people had to endure, we found a way. How her father and I and this good man who sits by my side travelled the land searching for the Captain and his Guard and my Mont cousins. How Beatriss of the Flatlands and Tesadora of the Forest Dwellers found a means from within the kingdom to lead us home and reunite our people.’
    There was silence until Finnikin heard the Ambassador of Sarnak clear his throat.
    ‘We need each other, Your Majesty,’ he implored. ’Has my king not expressed his sorrow enough? The silence between our kingdoms has gone on for too long. Let us unite and fight a more cunning enemy.’
    She leaned forward. ‘Do not bring me apologies from your king, Sir. Bring me the news that the men who slaughtered my unarmed people on that river bank have been brought to justice.’
    She stood, her eyes never leaving the Ambassador. ‘Do me that honour, Sir, so that one day the Princess of Lumatere may befriend the grandson of the Sarnak Ambassador who convinced his king that great men make amends for wronging their neighbours.’
    Finnikin felt his father’s hand on his shoulder. He must have made a sound,