Reign of Shadows Read Online Free PDF Page B

it over.”
    Caelan
shook his head. “I don’t have any—”
    They
grabbed him then and lifted him bodily despite his struggles. Rough hands
patted him down and turned out his pockets. The meager remnants of his
allowance spilled onto the road and lay gleaming in the lantern light.
    The
men swore with disappointment and dropped him bodily onto the ground. One of
them kicked him.
    “Is
this all he’s got?”
    “Pipsqueak!”
    “Faure
consume his liver!”
    “Damn!”
    They
kicked him again. Caelan lay huddled face down on the road, clenching his fists
and trying not to cry.
    “Get
up,” growled the tattooed man.
    Caelan
heaved himself up to his hands and knees, but then with an oath the man seized
him by the back of his shirt and hauled him to his feet.
    “Where
do you live in town?” he asked.
    Caelan
stared at him, seriously frightened now.
    “Those
ain’t working hands you got, boy. Your da a rich man?”
    Caelan
swallowed hard. He shook his head.
    “Leave
him,” said one of the others. “Let’s go and see what better sport we can find.”
    “What
about that fancy hold down the road a bit? Good pickings in there, I’ll bet.”
    “No!”
Caelan cried involuntarily. He thought of the gate he’d so carelessly left
open, and his face flamed hot.
    The
tattooed man smiled. “So you’re a schoolboy, eh?”
    His
eyes were terrible, pinning Caelan’s and holding them. The obscene figure
engraved on his cheek moved with every shift of his jaw. It was all Caelan
could do not to stare at it.
    “Yes,
sir,” Caelan finally said.
    “I
thought as much. You wearing that cute little schoolboy robe no longer than
your bottom.”
    The
men all laughed again, and Caelan’s blush intensified. He felt raw with
humiliation.
    “So
what kind of school is it? And no more of your lying.”
    “It’s
a school for the healing arts,” Caelan said.
    They
groaned.
    “No
money boxes in that kind of place.”
    The
man with the tattoo narrowed his eyes. “Still want to join up?”
    Caelan
hesitated, then nodded warily.
    Someone
behind him snickered, but the tattooed man didn’t smile.
    “You’re
no good for it,” he said, his voice cutting and contemptuous. “We’ve no use for
such cowards.”
    Caelan
flinched. “I’m not—”
    “Aye,
coward!” the man roared, silencing him. “A braggart and a fool, as well. You
can’t stick where you are now, so how will you do your job in the emperor’s
army? Eh?”
    Without
warning he struck Caelan across the mouth with the back of his hand.
    Caelan
reeled back and went sprawling on the ground. His head roared, and he thought
he might pass out.
    “Lying
runaway!” the man bellowed at him. “I wouldn’t bet my life on a scab like you
holding your line position during a charge.”
    “But—”
    “Shut
up! You’re going back where you belong.”
    Caelan
scrambled to his feet in fresh defiance. “I won’t! I—”
    The
man slapped him again. The pain seemed to burst Caelan’s head. Panting with his
hand pressed against his mouth, he barely managed to keep his feet this time.
    “Leave
it,” one of the men urged. “Let’s go find the town. There’s better prey there
than this.”
    “Better
shut him up, though,” warned another.
    Their
eyes held no mercy. Frightened, Caelan took a step back and dodged his way out
of the circle.
    “Coward!”
one of them taunted him.
    “Mama’s
boy!” another joined in.
    Their
teeth gleamed in the lantern light.
    “Run,
schoolboy. Run for mama.”
    The
man with the tattoo pulled out a javelin and hefted it in his hand. His eyes
narrowed, sizing up Caelan. Then he smiled a terrible, empty smile.
    Fear
congealed in Caelan’s veins. For a moment he could only stare, caught like a
rabbit before a snake; then he turned and ran for his life.
    The
wind whistled in his ears, and the light from the lantern dwindled quickly
behind him. Darkness faced him, and the cold wind lashed his face as though
trying to slow him down. All he could