Lament (Scars of the Sundering Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

affect the chill that lingered in his withered
limb. He decided to change the subject before she buried her snout in her
grimoire.
    “I think it’s time we return to
the road. The worst of the winter’s storms should be over.”
    “Good. The sooner this business
is over with, the better. I want to go home, Pancras.”
    Pancras agreed.
    A gust of wind from the opening
doors caused the hearth to flicker. Kale and Kali bounded into the room,
laughing. Delilah forced a smile onto her face and snapped her grimoire shut.
The other two draks took no notice of Delilah and Pancras and helped themselves
to some wine from a jug on the dinner table.
    Pancras gestured to the grimoire.
“Learn anything new lately?”
    “As a matter of fact, I’ve been
learning tons of earth magic. Some water magic, too. I don’t know how the book
decides what to show me.” She opened the book to the page she last read. The
symbols and writing were still undecipherable to Pancras.
    “Perhaps you’re just learning
techniques in the order in which Gil-Li wrote the book?” That made the most
sense to Pancras.
    “Maybe.” Delilah leaned over to
peer around Pancras’s chair. “Hey, lovebirds! Pancras says we’re leaving soon,
so separate yourselves and get to packing!”
    “Packing?” Kale brought his
goblet of wine over to the chairs in front of the fire. “We’re leaving
tonight?”
    “No, not tonight,” Pancras shook
his head. “Nor tomorrow. Possibly the day after. I still have a few errands I’d
like to run in town.” He pointed a withered finger at Kale. “And you still have
to pick up my horn tips from that jeweler.”
    “I forgot!” Kale smacked his
forehead. “Things got so crazy with you dying and all. I’ll go get them first
thing.”
    Pancras smiled. In truth, he’d
forgotten, too. “I’ll go with you. I need to find something to cover this arm
with. Maybe a leatherworker has a sleeve or something with a glove.”
    “A black glove?” Kale poked at
Pancras’s arm with a clawed finger. Pancras smacked the digit away. “You can be
mysterious with it.”
    “That’s what I need: to draw
attention to myself.”
    “Will it matter much where we’re
going?” Kali cocked her head. “Muncifer is more of a minotaur city than human,
right?”
    Pancras faced her. “About
fifty-fifty. Or it was twenty-five years ago. The humans there tend to be more
tolerant than they are here.” He hoped the situation in Muncifer had not
changed drastically since he was last there. A lot can change in a
quarter-century.
     
    * * *
     
    The next morning, Delilah busied
herself with packing, while Kale and Pancras went into town to take care of
last-minute errands. Meanwhile, Kali volunteered to track down Edric. Half of
the time, the dwarf didn’t return to the palace at night and staggered with a hangover
to their quarters in the middle of the following day.
    Delilah took the liberty of
sending a messenger to fetch Lady Milena so she could inform the humans of
their plans. Delilah didn’t feel any obligation to be polite to the knight and
the princess, but she figured they’d want to be notified Pancras was leaving.
To their credit, the humans were true to their word and didn’t try to convince
Pancras, or any of them for that matter, to undertake any tasks or favors over
the last several weeks.
    Lady Milena arrived before any of
the group returned from their errands. She seemed surprised to find Delilah
alone. “Where is everyone else?” Her armor clanked as she entered the room. To
Delilah, the thought of having to be clothed in that constrictive, noisy metal
all day was incomprehensible. The knight cocked an eyebrow and regarded
Delilah, resting one hand on the hilt of her sword.
    “They’re running errands. We’re
leaving in the morning. Weather permitting.”
    Lady Milena blinked and crossed
her arms. “Tomorrow? The princess wanted to have a banquet for all of you
before you left. I don’t think there’s time to