Sanctuary Read Online Free PDF

to tell Charald until after they’d collected the prince, because he feared the king’s rage would unhinge his mind.
    ‘Why did the bad man take Ma?’ Cedon asked.
    To legitimise his claim on the throne, which means he intends to kill you and your father. ‘Because he wants to be king. Don’t worry. I’ll bring her back.’ If it was humanly possible.
    The little boy twisted to look up at him. ‘Why do you have only one eye?’
    Hubris. I stole power to gain visions and the respect of True-men, but it made them fear me and they turned on me. ‘The Warrior god took my eye to prove I was his servant. He sent me to save your mother.’
    The prince accepted this. King Charald believed the Warrior had returned Sorne to get rid of the Wyrds. But, knowing the way the king bent the facts to suit himself, he would probably accept that it was Sorne’s task to recover the queen.
    They’d crossed the royal plaza now, and entered the stables behind the palace. Sorne dismounted, reaching for Cedon. He swung the boy around, making him laugh, before depositing him on the ground. Unaware of the stable lads and servants watching him, Cedon clamoured for more, jumping up and down as if he’d never had a club foot.
    ‘Look at him. At last I have a son who is fit to sit on the throne,’ Charald said. The king took Prince Cedon’s hand heading inside, and Sorne hid his contempt for the man who had murdered his mother and disowned him.
    ‘I’m hungry.’ The prince had to take little skipping steps to keep up with the king.
    ‘Send for breakfast.’ Charald strode into his favourite dining room and came to a stop. ‘Where’s my table?’
    Nitzane glanced to Sorne. Eskarnor had kidnapped the queen from this very room, and carved his challenge into the mahogany table.
    ‘A better one is being delivered, sire,’ Sorne said.
    ‘I’ll eat on the balcony.’ Charald stripped off his riding gloves and threw them on the sideboard. ‘Send for the barons. They will bend their knee before Prince Cedon and see for themselves that he is fit to rule. They’ll swear allegiance to my line and any who do not come will be declaring for Eskarnor. How dare he try to kill my son?’
    Sorne glanced to the prince, who did not need to hear this. ‘Sire, the boy needs –’
    ‘The boy needs his mother.’ Charald said.
    Baron Nitzane sent Sorne a worried look. For as long as Sorne could remember, the king’s barons and advisors had been tip-toeing around his rages. Now there was the added fear of unhinging his mind.
    ‘Where is the queen?’ Charald demanded. ‘Send for Jaraile.’
    ‘The bad man took Ma,’ Cedon said, his voice high and clear.
    ‘What?’ Charald rounded on Sorne. ‘What haven’t you told me?’
    Sorne ignored the king and took Cedon’s hand. ‘Go with Uncle Nitzane. He’ll make sure you get some breakfast.’
    The baron was only too happy to escape what they both knew was coming.
    Sorne closed the door on them. ‘Sire –’
    ‘Eskarnor took her, didn’t he? Couldn’t undermine me, couldn’t kill my son, so he took the queen.’ Charald threw back his head and laughed. Today he reminded Sorne of the king who’d conquered the kingdoms of the Secluded Sea. ‘More fool he. She’s worthless now that I have an able-bodied heir. In fact, if Eskarnor kills Jaraile, he’ll be doing me a favour. She’s popular with the people. If he kills her, they’ll hate him.’
    Sorne blinked. He’d known the king was ruthless, but this was abhorrent, even for him.
    ‘A pox on Eskarnor and his treasonous southern barons.’ The king paced, cursing the cunning mercenaries and turn-coat nobles who’d worked their way up to lead companies of men while serving him on the Secluded Sea campaign. ‘That’s the problem with war barons. They’re handy in battle, but greedy in peace time. I rewarded them with Chalcedonian estates. Was that enough? No, they had to covet my throne and plot to crown one of their own king in my