Robinson Crusoe 2244 Read Online Free PDF

chuckled. “There’s a terrifying thought. Stick to the streets. Most of the mob is gone or sated, but you don’t want to test them when their blood is up.”
    Slink clouted his friend on the shoulder and left.
    After he was gone, Robinson looked back to the stage and felt that cold chill crawling up his spine. Vareen was right. A change was coming. Slink seemed to have felt it too. Had he known the enormity of what was in front of him, he might have done things differently. But fate had other ideas in store.
    Robinson took one last gulp of his water and then turned to go. For some unknown reason, he paused to look back over his shoulder. Most of the Tiers had cleared out of the Clutch but one had remained. It was his father, and he was watching him.

Chapter Seven
Tears in the Rain

     
     
    Robinson was relieved to learn that Vareen had not let the children watch the broadcast, but they hadn’t missed the news of their older brother’s punishment.
    “Six lashes!” Tannis exclaimed. “That has to be a record!”
    “You’re famous!” Tallis said and everyone laughed. They asked how much it hurt, but Robinson fibbed and told them “not much.” Afterward, they played Over the Wall, Under the Wall, their favorite game.
    Word finally turned to the ball set for the following night and Tallis beamed.
    “Vareen is putting the final touches on my dress tonight,” she said excitedly.
    “And my suit was done yesterday, but we’re not allowed to see them yet,” Tannis added.
    Vareen stood nearby, helping clear the plates from the table. “It wouldn’t be fair to present your outfit separately. You’ll just have to wait until the ’morrow.”
    A patter of rain splashed the window and the staff quickly brought in the clothes from the cords outside. An hour or so into the game, one of the twins looked up and saw Leodore watching from the doorway.
    “Father!” they both cried and hugged him around the waist. He smiled, and for a moment, he looked like the man Robinson knew from before his mother had died.
    “Children, I’d like a few moments with your brother. Please.”
    When they were gone, Leodore sat in a chair opposite his son. “I’m sorry I struck you today,” he said softly. “No excuse is worthy.”
    “It was foolish of me, Father. I deserved—”
    “No,” he said sternly. “No child should ever fear their own parent. There are too many threats in this world—too many greater dangers—for them to fear coming home. And this will always be your home, Robinson. No matter how old you grow or which direction life takes you, you will always have a place under this roof. You and Tannis and Tallis. I hope you know that.”
    Robinson did. And then he sought a question to fill the silence between them. “Why did Tier Frostmore walk the Road?”
    Leodore sighed. “I wish I could tell you, but it’s for the best that I don’t.”
    “I’m not a child. You can trust me.”
    “I know that, but you’re not exactly a man yet, are you? Men don’t scale towers before the crack of dawn on a lark. Why did you do it, by the way? I forgot to ask.”
    “I heard they were keeping a render there. It’s been years since anyone glimpsed one outside the Wall. Many believe they no longer exist.”
    Leodore snorted. “Oh, they exist. Maybe their numbers have waned here in the south where the walls can’t be breached, but in other Regens, and on other continents, they are very real and very dangerous. Now, I have a question of my own. What’s the story with you and Tier Saah’s daughter?”
    Robinson’s heart picked up pace, but he didn’t dare look away. “Tessa? We’re classmates. And friends.”
    “You looked very friendly today.”
    Robinson could only shrug. Then his father asked the question he’d been dreading. “Do you love her?”
    He could not lie, so he simply nodded again. Leodore leaned into his chair, looking infinitely weary. His fingers dipped absently into the small pocket of his vest.