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

hit him.
    He reached out for the comfort of Jarlyth’s beloved presence. It had always sounded clearly through Nylan’s senses, but the stranger’s mind screamed over everything else, amplified by the man’s physical contact, and only the faintest hint of Jarlyth’s sounded through the maelstrom.
    “ Let go of me,” the boy managed, and he tried to kick free of the man’s hold.
    T he brief, spiraling vertigo he’d long been taught preceded a death caused him to falter, and he sobbed out a cry of agony.
    He ’s killing me he’s killing me he’s killing—!
    A new terror distracted him, and he redoubled his efforts to block out the minds around him. .: Jary? :. His warder’s mind soothed him for a fraction of a moment, and Nylan breathed again. I’ll be all right as long as he’s all right.
    Another death caught him unprepared, and he went boneless , slipping from his captor’s grasp. The man stopped and eased him down to the sand where he collapsed completely, retching up bile. The third and fourth deaths came almost at the same moment, hitting him like huge, relentless fists, and nearly caused a fifth death with Nylan’s own.
    He reeled back and tried to stand —tried to run—but he fell onto the sand again without having moved very much. He clutched at his head, distantly amazed at just how much pain he was suffering, and ignored the tears pouring down his cheeks. His captor caught him up and slung his slender, unresisting form over his shoulder once more.
    Nylan ’s mind reached out, stretching out as far as he could manage and then a bit farther still. .: Please, Jary! Don’t leave me! :. He felt the receding edge of his warder’s presence and tried to follow it, tried to reach it with flailing mental fingers, but it slipped away from him.
    The ensuing shock came almost as a blessing, insulating him from the inescapable horror of the truth. For the first time in his brief life, he was completely alone, unprotected from the minds which now surrounded him and which only meant him harm.
    Jarlyth was dead.
    # # #

CHAPTER TWO
     
    Nylan had a confused impression of being carried onto a small boat and rowed out to sea, but the press of bodies and minds around him was too overwhelming. The man who had carried him away from Tanara never released him, and the rough handling and constant, forced contact with the man’s violent mind became more and more physically painful as time passed.
    The pain became too great to bear, and a long time passed before it subsided enough for Nylan to begin taking notice of his surroundings again. He found he’d been left alone at last, and the constant movement of the tiny room around him and the sharp, briny scent in the air told him that the pirates had taken him back to their ship. He saw how torn and stained his clothing had become and shuddered. The once-fine garments hung in such tatters he could barely be said to be dressed anymore. It had all happened so fast. Too fast.
    He decided not to try to stand up just yet. There were no windows, though regular slits in the door let in enough light for him to clearly see his surroundings. The ceiling slanted low over him even though he was sitting down and very small, besides. His cell seemed no bigger than a closet.
    The pirates ’ noise rumbled dully in his head, and Nylan made a vague attempt to block them out. His shock had not entirely worn off yet, and he was able to look at all that had happened as if he had not been the one it had happened to. But it still didn’t make any sense.
    I can ’t believe this. I thought we were supposed to be safe. He’d never heard of anyone invading Tanara Priory before, and he’d always been led to believe he and all the rest of the priory’s inhabitants were too far away from the wars and raids that plagued the rest of Serathon, his father’s kingdom, to ever have to worry about them.
    It ’s my fault. If I hadn’t been messing around with that sandcastle, we would have gone back