Kinshield's Redemption (Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page B

really old, and the ink’s faded on a lot o’the pages.” He took a seat in the plush chair opposite Edan’s desk, laying a dusty, brown tome upon his lap and caressing its cover.
    Edan raised his brows, pleased yet surprised that the boy was taking such an interest in learning. By taking the initiative to look for gems in what they came to call the wall of pulp, a bookshelf full of loose papers and books in various states of disrepair, Jaesh was setting a fine example for his brothers and adopted cousins.
    “I-I wasn’t snooping. I was looking for information about King Ivam for a report my teacher assigned.”
    Edan chuckled. “Certainly, and I’m glad of it. There aren’t many intact books left up there, but I plan to begin sifting through that mess someday to find the ones worthy of restoration. It’s almost like a treasure hunt, isn’t it?”
    “Yeh, almost.” Jaesh offered the old book to Edan. Its pages were wrinkled and discolored and its stitching loose within the tattered leather cover. Many pages had torn loose completely and sat between their adjacent sheets like prisoners awaiting their opportunity for escape. “It has names in it. People with the same given name as my papa and grandpa, and my name too. Are any of those people related to me?”
    “Hmm,” Edan said, turning the pages carefully. The ink was so faded in the first three-quarters of the book that it was nearly impossible to read without careful scrutiny under a magnifying glass. Towards the back, however, was a list of names and dates, most faded beyond legibility, some quite clear. The names Rogan and Gavin stood out, as well as Cuttor and Jaesh, the names of the Kinshields Edan had known personally—or known of—though their surnames were listed as Beresfard.
    “My papa always told me that Jaesh was an old family name, like his name. He made me memorize them, starting with my papa: Rogan Cuttor Landon Rothyr Jaesh Dasurien... all the way back. Every year on my birthday, he gave me another name to memorize. That’s how his papa taught him, but he didn’t learn them all afore his papa died. Could I be related to the Beresfards from a long time ago?”
    Given names were commonly reused within a family. His own name, Edan, had also been his grandfather’s middle name, and his father shared his given name with his own father. If Gavin’s family passed down these names... Edan stared at the boy, stunned and excited, his curiosity burning. Beresfard was the name of a family long thought extinct—the ruling family before the Engturys claimed the throne. “I truly don’t know, Jaesh. My history lessons didn’t cover these people in particular, but it’s interesting that your family uses the names. Give me a day or two to research this. Perhaps I can find a historian who can tell us more. Tell me those names again, slowly so I can write them down. I’ll see if any of them are listed in this book as Kinshield.” Edan wrote them on a separate paper as Jaesh recited them. “Good. I’ll see what I can find.”
    Jaesh stood. “There’s another thing. Look at this.” He reached across the desk and flipped a few more pages for Edan. He stopped on a page with another list of names, the last of which was Arek Engtury, 1401- Above that was King Dantrek’s name, with the year of his birth and the year his reign began.
    “Oh,” Edan said. “King Arek died in 1431, which means he only lived to be thirty years old. This must’ve been written while he was a teenager. His father was still king.”
    “Look at this,” Jaesh said, pointing to a few names higher on the list. “The last Beresfard kings shared Uncle Gavin’s second name, and my papa’s given name as his second name.”
    Rothyr Rogan Beresfard 1203-1245 r 1225-1245
    Samuar Rothyr Beresfard 1230-1246 r 1245-1246
    Nathem Engtury 1221-1301 r 1246-1301
    Edan tapped the page with his index finger. “I remember reading that King Samuar was the last Beresfard to rule. Looks