SanClare Black (The Prince of Sorrows) Read Online Free PDF Page A

disapproving look, his eloquent black eyebrows dipping down and almost meeting over his nose before he gave in and echoed Jarlyth’s grin.
    “ Right here.” Jarlyth poked a finger into the sand at the far eastern corner of the east wing. He scooped up one of the cats who had accompanied them that morning and who seemed about to step on the west tower, and set her down again well away from the sand castle. Jarlyth could picture the rooms in his mind for they had once been Nylan’s Great-Aunt Primrose’s, and she had been Jarlyth’s mother’s second cousin. His mother had often taken advantage of this royal connection when Jarlyth was a small boy.
    Nylan tugged on Jarlyth’s sleeve. “Let me see, Jary. Please?”
    Jarlyth reached over his shoulder to check on his sword and Nylan copied him, laughing. They both knew it was a “give-me-a-moment” gesture he made when thinking or stalling. He grinned at Nylan’s teasing. “All right. This time.” Jarlyth pulled his memories of his great aunt’s apartments together and tried to organize them. Nylan, unlike most other Sensitives, didn’t even bother to close his eyes. His powers were very strong and even the Prior had been heard to say he thought Nylan the most powerful Sensitive he’d ever known.
    “ He can smell the flowers others are sniffing,” the man had said, and most of the warders had laughed, thinking this an exaggeration. Jarlyth knew better.
    “ I don’t want everything all pink.” Nylan made a valiant effort not to sound disappointed.
    Jarlyth laughed at his wincing expression. “You look like you’ve eaten something sour.” he teased. “But don’t worry. You can have them decorated any way you wish. I’m remembering them from when your Great Aunt Primrose lived in them. She was very fond of pink and ruffles and flowers everywhere.”
    “ It isn’t so bad.” Nylan’s attention shifted away from Jarlyth’s remembered images and back to the sandcastle. “But I like purple! And green and red and gold and—”
    “ Sounds very imposing,” Jarlyth teased.
    “ No, it won’t be!” Nylan exclaimed, so caught up in his new plans, he missed Jarlyth’s joking tone. “I’ll show you when we get back. I’ll draw it for you, and you’ll see. It’ll be really nice and warm and comfortable.”
    Jarlyth grinned. “Warm, huh? That will be nice.” Nylan always seemed to be cold and in need of an extra blanket or a pullover or coat. His describing something as warm was akin to describing it as a paradise. “I hope I’ll get to see it after you finish redecorating. It’ll be something, I’m sure.”
    Nylan looked up into his warder’s face, his bright golden-hazel eyes wide with worry. “You’re going to be there, aren’t you? I’ll need you to help me.”
    Jarlyth silently cursed his carelessness. Keeping a secret from Nylan was difficult and took discipline. He wished again that he hadn’t learned who Nylan’s father really was, but the boy was far too young to know. Time enough for that disillusionment later. Someday I’ll have to tell him the truth. If I don’t, and he finds out some other way, he’ll hate me forever.
    “ I want to be there, Nylan. But we’ll have to wait and see. The king may not want me around. He’ll want to be the one who helps you. That’s what parents do.” Liar, he told himself. The king doesn’t care, and he won’t care about him any more just because he’s in the castle. But his warning to Nylan was still true. Just because he might not want to honor his vow to his late wife to take care of her child, that didn’t mean the king would want Jarlyth to continue in his role as caretaker instead.
    Nylan seemed mollified by Jarlyth ’s answer. “He’ll want you around,” the boy said firmly. “I’ll tell him he has to let you stay.” He ran his finger along the sandcastle wall again. “And your rooms can be right here next to mine.” He looked up, making what Jarlyth had come to think of as