Lady Warhawk Read Online Free PDF Page A

dreams merged with his waking
mind. He would understand, but that short span of confusion, where Athrar Warhawk destroyed
the simple innkeeper boy, Thrarin, Meghianna wished she could spare her brother that pain.
    And what about Lycen? How would he feel when he learned she wasn't his birth mother,
and that Thrarin was his future king, rather than his little brother and fellow adventurer? He
would likely be delighted to realize that he had imbrose , inherited from his birth parents,
and he would indeed be a Valor someday. But the boy couldn't be entirely happy at having the
foundations of his world shattered beneath his feet.
    "What's wrong, Mother?" Lycen asked, reaching across the table as if to hold her
hands.
    "This has been a very long, surprising day. I need time to gather my thoughts, that's all."
Meghianna took a deep breath in lieu of several hours of solitude to think. The three sets of male
eyes watching her were somber, worried, and she felt warmly protected by their concern. "My
dears, we are going on a long trip, and I hope Captain Ector will be able to ride with us."
    "Ask whatever you wish." Ector held up his hand, making his words a solemn oath.
    "Here is the story, and you must not tell anyone what we discuss in this room, do you
understand?" She watched her brother, wondering if the things she was about to say would
awaken echoes from his dreams, and perhaps pick loose a thread or two of the spell that
separated his sleeping self from his waking self.
    Both boys raised their hands in silent, solemn oath as well.
    "Our visitor is Princess Megassa, daughter of the Warhawk. I knew her long ago, and I
consider her a dear friend. She has repented of her treachery and the Warhawk has forgiven her.
Remember that. She is forgiven and has paid for her deeds. She is on a mission to protect the
Warhawk's heir, and she has asked us to help her." Meghianna choked on laughter as excitement
made both boys' eyes gleam and they sat up straight, perching on the front edges of their chairs.
"You will ride with her sons and you will take lessons from their tutors. I expect you to make me
and Captain Ector proud, and make a good showing with your spelling, figuring, archery and
swordplay, do you understand?"
    Lycen and Thrarin nodded so hard and fast, her neck ached. She glanced sideways at
Ector, and found him fighting just as hard as her to smother a grin.
    "We are going up the coast to the Magra River, and travel inland. I expect you two to
work hard and to obey Captain Ector if there is any sort of trouble. And if anything odd happens,
I want you to tell me immediately. No matter how small it may seem. Magic surrounds Megassa,
because she is the Warhawk's daughter, and because she trained as a Valor."
    "She's the Nameless One's granddaughter," Lycen offered. "Doesn't that give her a lot of
magic, too?"
    "Great-granddaughter," she corrected, nodding. "And that is another thing. You will be
exposed to jewelry and knives made of star-metal." She fought down anger that the training
schedule she and Mrillis had devised for both boys was being tossed to the wind. She had
planned to take the boys on a trip next summer, to a sheltered spot in the middle of nowhere, to
give them star-metal rings, test their imbrose, and start whatever training they
required.
    "You both have talent for magic. When you are exposed to star-metal, your imbrose will awaken. Keep in mind that imbrose is ultimately the servant of
your will and your imagination. The moment you notice strange things--light where it should not
be, things moving that should not move--tell me, and we will explore it together." She sniffed. "I
don't care to have either of you set the caravan on fire or call down a horde of wild dogs on us."
She widened her eyes in mock anger, when both boys snorted and exchanged excited grins. "And
I expect you to be much better behaved than the four boys you'll be traveling with."
    Meghianna sent up a silent prayer that her four nephews were as