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

Quidan , one day,” Thaeson said, speaking of the symbol of authority carried by the head of the Munam a’Dett Order. Edrik’s grin faltered when Thaeson added, “Or it might get you hunted down and killed by those who want no truck with the likes of us, the quidan , or the priesthood.”
    Thaeson said nothing else until they came out of the forest, where he stopped dead at the sight of what was awaiting them. “This is why we must press on with our plans. Time, I’m afraid, has grown far shorter than any of us feared.”
    “By the Fathers,” Edrik said, eyeing the band of white mist caught between the edge of the Sleeping Wood and the Shield of the Fathers. Beyond the trees, starlight filtered down through the barrier, turning the mist into a river of milk.
    Edrik raised his eyes, searching. He found an undulating breach in the faintly glimmering wall. With a moaning sigh, frigid air poured through the gap that should not have been possible.
    “How did this happen, Essan ?” Edrik asked, having always believed the Shield of the Fathers was impenetrable.
    “Wait here,” Thaeson said in answer.
    Edrik caught his arm. “I can help, if you grant me the power to do so.”
    “That time will come sooner than you think or want,” Thaeson said, sounding regretful. “But this, my boy, I must do alone. Do not come any closer, or you will die.”
    Thaeson tottered off through the mist, leaving swirling eddies in his wake. Edrik dared not let his eyes wander. Shivering from the unnatural cold, he watched until the essan had vanished, his hand held before his face to ward against the bitter chill of the Iron Marches coming through the breach.
     
    ~ ~ ~
     
    A long time later, Thaeson came back into view, a girl’s limp figure held in his arms. He struggled closer under the burden, then he abruptly knelt down amid the restless ground fog.
    Edrik waited, tense, sure his bones were about to crack from the cold, sure that his master hadn’t knelt at all, but had collapsed. Should I go to him?
    His answer was Thaeson’s earlier admonition to stay put, lest he die from proximity to the Shield of the Fathers. Every citizen of Targas learned the same from childhood. Even without the vizien patrols that kept watch on the Sleeping Wood, most folk never considered venturing too close to the wall, for fear of a terrible and painful death.
    And here you stand , a mocking voice whispered, afraid as all your flock . Yet not an hour past, you thought of dying for your master, if he but asked it of you.
    Edrik began to step forward, but an unpleasant gurgling sound halted him. His eyes widened as the rift in the Shield of the Fathers began to close. As the gap shrank, the gurgling noise became a hissing scream, like a well-heated teapot. As soon as the fissure cut off the river of mist, nighttime silence fell.
    He was again considering taking his chances with approaching the Shield of the Fathers, when Thaeson stood up and moved laboriously toward him. The girl he had left buried in the mist. Edrik guessed Thaeson would send some others to fetch her remains. For the sake of secrecy, members of the vizien caste, perhaps even him, would bury her without ceremony. The girl’s family and friends would wonder what had happened to her, but the farmlands around Targas were extensive, the Sleeping Wood dark and deep, so it was not unheard of for people to go missing from time to time. And if she had told any accomplices she intended to flee, Edrik supposed they would assume she had made good on her word.
    “By Blood and by Water,” Thaeson said, “we are yet safe.”
    “How was the wall breached?” Edrik asked. Insofar as he knew, the Shield of the Fathers was as eternal as the Everlasting City of Light, and only those who drank of the precious Blood of Life could pass through unharmed.
    Thaeson shook his head. “All that matters is that it’s whole again, and we’re safe.” Before Edrik could press his concerns, the essan added,