Queen of the North (Book 3) (Songs of the Scorpion) Read Online Free PDF Page A

had decided to take its nightly rest there. The great bulk of the Ilesma Temple towered above the tallest spire in Targas, as well it should, since it was the resting place of the sacred Oracle. Even with the distance, Edrik could make out the temple’s primary staircase, which climbed up the stepped face of the temple and ended at a sprawling terrace just below the dome.
    “There still might be time to catch the girl and bring her back,” Edrik said. “But only—”
    “—if you leave me here?” Thaeson cut in. He let out a wheezy gasp. “No! If any of you get too near the Shield, you’ll die as certainly as the girl.”
    “I intend to catch her before then,” Edrik said, voice tight, “but standing around discussing the issue isn’t getting us any closer to her.”
    Thaeson straightened. “I’m ready,” he said, but looked far from it.
    The company set off again, and to Edrik’s surprise Thaeson stepped livelier. The ponderous song thrumming out of Targas hurried them toward the Sleeping Wood encircling the vast farmlands and stretching a mile deep before coming to the Shield of the Fathers. On the far side of that nearly invisible obstacle waited a boundless land of frost and death, the realm of the deycath . The oldest tomes named those lands the Iron Marches, a barren place the ancestors of Targas had escaped long ago.
    As they neared the Sleeping Wood, a brief tremor shook the cobbles under Edrik’s feet, and soon after a short breath of frigid air washed over him. Had he not been looking for those signs, he might have missed them.
    Edrik peered ahead, but deep shadow clung hard to the trees, making it impossible to see much of anything.
    “She’s escaped us,” Thaeson said, halting the company.
    Edrik was horrified to see his breath steaming before his eyes. It was not the first time he had seen that, but it was no less shocking than before. Did anyone in the city notice the shaking and the cold? Some of them must have, and most assuredly those sneaking ingrates who whispered that the old ways were dying, those like the girl, who had chosen to run instead of to serve. But most don’t yet know what the signs mean, and they still believe in and trust the priesthood.
    For Edrik, this idea was more of hope than a belief. Too many had begun to take notice of the changes around the city, too many had begun to speak aloud questions that should never have entered their minds, and too many had begun to doubt the power of the Munam a’Dett Order and, more pointedly, the quidan , leader of the order and presiding ruler of Targas.
    “She’s lost to us,” Thaeson said, his thin shoulders slumping. Edrik knew the girl was beyond them all now, save for Thaeson.
    “Come, Essan ,” Edrik said. “We must retrieve the girl’s remains, lest any of her fellow traitors chance upon the body and think to use it against us.”
    Thaeson rubbed his wizened face and sighed. “Lead on, my boy.”
     
    ~ ~ ~
     
    The company marched into the ancient forest, the scent of loam and sweet sap filling the night air. Thick boughs intertwined overhead to form a leafy shroud. As the company began picking their way along a faint trail bounded by bowing ferns, Edrik noticed an unnatural quiet, as if the night creatures had vanished. Adding to his woes was the cold current of air flowing along the ground like an unseen river. He told himself he was imagining it, until Thaeson went still.
    “Something is wrong,” Thaeson warned. Without the benefit of starlight, he was just one more shadow in the company of many. “Look there,” he said sharply. “See how the mist rises?”
    Edrik cast about, wondering how the man could see anything, then stiffened in alarm. Barely seen tendrils of fog were curling up from the ground, like drowsy serpents.
    “What’s happening?” Danlin blurted, dancing back from one of those seeking shapes. “ Essan , what is this?”
    The others had taken notice, and a murmur of disquiet rose from