Rite of Exile: The Silent Tempest, Book 1 Read Online Free PDF Page A

that little bucket,” he whispered.
    A wooden hand bailer sat wedged beneath the seat. Warren wrested it out, and Caleb bent close to murmur a few words in his ear. The boy’s eyes popped wide. Then he nodded, smiling.
    Caleb hurried up the ledges to join Telai. “Nice view!”
    “I try to get out here when I can; it’s so relaxing,” she said. “This is Sonién. Everything from here to Krengliné, the Old Wall, is part of Ekendoré. Krengliné was built about four hundred years ago, but it looks much older, because—”
    A splash and a breathless gasp ended her lecture in an instant. Water spilled over her shoulders, and cascaded down her back and legs. The basket of food dropped to the stone, and Caleb, grinning, bent down to keep the fruit and biscuits from rolling away.
    Telai spun in place at an impish giggle at her back. Warren’s smile vanished. He yelled and launched into a hasty retreat, while the wooden evidence of his crime rocked back and forth in the spreading pool of water at her feet.
    She turned back to Caleb again. “I suppose you think that’s funny!”
    “We have a saying on Earth,” he said calmly. “Revenge is a dish best served cold. ”
    A dangerous smile appeared. “Is that so?”
    She stepped closer. In the bright morning sun and in full view of the city, the Grand Loremaster of Ada began unbuttoning her blouse.
    “What the—!”
    Caleb snapped his mouth shut and turned away, unwilling to gamble whether she wore a bra. His eyes answered to a different will, however, and glimpsed Telai’s lean arms swinging wide to remove her shirt. Then he shut them fast. The cream-white camisole she wore was soaked, and left little to the imagination.
    Presently he heard the twist of wet cloth near his head. Ice-cold water dribbled over his shoulder, and smacked against the stone and across his shoes. She snapped her blouse a few times, spraying water in his face, and dressed. He gave her plenty of time to button things up before he dared look at her again.
    She patted him on the cheek, then took both the basket and skin of wine hanging limp from his hands. “I trust you’re still hungry enough for lunch,” she said sweetly.
    Caleb followed as she searched for a good spot along the dam. The forward edge of Sonién sloped to the valley, and they sat and dangled their legs like children atop the wall of an old-fashioned schoolyard. Warren approached cautiously, searching his victim’s expression.
    Telai showed no trace of resentment, however, and foraged through the basket as if hunting treasure. Caleb watched, his chagrin slowly turning to admiration. When she calmly offered him a slice of cheese, he smiled with delight and surveyed the sights of Ekendoré.
    He could just hear the river Quayen far to their left as it rushed down the long, terraced channel of Sonién. From there it meandered through the northern side of the valley, dwindling into the haze, until it escaped through a conduit in the Old Wall seven miles away. Hendra rose to the left, a cloud-crowned and snow-mantled bastion of stone dwarfing all mortal achievements, oblivious to friend or foe or even storm.
    Caleb looked at his son. Warren was chewing on a biscuit, kicking his feet against the stone, all this grandeur just one more day of adventure. Telai watched the boy for a moment, then turned a thoughtful smile toward his father.
    A fit of bashfulness descended, and Caleb shifted his attention to the city behind. “Didn’t you say the Hodyn lived here once?”
    “They called it Dorgonan back then,” she answered. “They’ve never been very friendly to us, but the loss of their main city sealed their hatred. It’s gotten to the point where any Hodyn who speaks the name Ekendoré ends up swinging from a gibbet.” Her brow furrowed, and she added, “I thought you said you were tired of lessons.”
    Caleb laughed. “Lessons, yes. But I love going places I’ve never been before, and meeting new people.” He glanced at her,