Roads of the Righteous and the Rotten (Order of Fire Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

person.
    “Are you hurt?” Zar asked again, examining the woman from head to toe.
    “No.”
    “You’re brave,” said Zar, squatting over one of the bodies that lay across the road.
    “I didn’t want to be killed,” Shahla replied.
    “You were safe, away from the fight. I made sure of that. But you came back to fight.”
    “I didn’t want you to be killed.”
    Zar smiled as he looked over another still body. “A most noble act, I daresay, but it would take more than this rabble of thieves to do away with me .”
    “Were you not afraid?” Shahla asked, her eyes still fixed on the man she’d shot. Her gaze hadn’t left that body for one moment—even as she spoke to Zar.
    “I was sorely afraid,” Zar replied, “though not for my neck.”
    “You don’t need to worry about me,” said Shahla, raising her voice a bit.
    “Four gold pieces?” Zar called, “only four gold pieces among them? No wonder they tried to rob us.”
    “Did I do well?” Shahla asked. She had finally lifted her eyes from the corpse that her arrow had pierced just below the throat.
    Zar smiled. “You did.” He moved to her side and took her hand. “Let us go for the wagon. Come, Asha!”
    Asha, seated calmly by the edge of the trees, rose to follow after them. She had rushed off the road as soon as the fighting began and sat quietly until Zar finished his business, as she was accustomed to doing. The place where Shahla had stopped the wagon wasn’t far down the road, and after checking the mare for injuries and examining the wagon wheels for cracks, the two set themselves back on their journey to Gara. Zar had told Shahla that the man she shot would have died from the first wound Zar had given him regardless, and whether this was true or not he still felt guilty after thinking about what had happened. He had exposed her to this.
    Shahla never questioned his decision, but Zar knew that she and Barek usually took the main road along the mountainside to get to Gara—the safe road. Perhaps she knew that when it came between taking the long but safe route to a destination or the short and risky one, Zar would certainly choose the latter.
    There was no doubt that the forest road was considerably more dangerous, and Zar had taken that risk, believing he could protect her from any trouble they might get from thieves along the way. And he had protected her. He had protected her against bodily harm; he had made sure no one could physically harm her, and she had gotten through the ordeal without a single scratch. But instead of being happy she was safe he felt guilty—guilty he had exposed his tender, little sister to the wicked world that she would no doubt inevitably have to experience. He was solaced, however, by reminding himself that in the world outside her home she would have to face this, for one day, whether on her own adventure or with him on his, she would com e to realize what it was like outside the comfort of the meadow. Better sooner than later, he told himself; better now, with him, under his protection, than off somewhere else by herself.
    There was no denying that Fairview Meadow was uniquely paradisiacal—the tight knit village of hunters, smiths, and merchants who had lived there for years would take arms against a dragon before allowing their sanctuary to be desecrated. The only trouble that brewed in the meadow was between those who lived there, and the inhabitants revered the place all too much to let their land be tainted with even one drop of blood. The place was home to those who loved it, and unsuited for the likes of the men they had just encountered.
    “I get more trouble from the king’s men than from men like those,” said Zar They made camp for the evening far from the road, and Shahla stared into the fire, her legs crisscrossed, nibbling on a bit of roasted rabbit she had killed and prepared.
    “It’s usually the Snowguards,” Zar continued, “taking what they want. If people cannot call on their own