Saving Thanehaven Read Online Free PDF

satin, heavily embroidered with gold.
    “Are you Princess Lorellina?” Noble inquires hesitantly.
    “Yes. Are you Noble the Slayer?”
    Noble nods, dumbstruck. For some reason, he’s never tried to imagine what the princess is actually like, though the simple challenge of rescuing her has occupied most of his brain space until now.
    “In that case, my cousin wishes to thank you forcoming.” The princess folds her arms. “Perhaps I should be grateful, too. But after all your transgressions, I would rather
spit in your face
!”
    Noble looks to Rufus for help.
    “Who’s your cousin?” Rufus asks the princess.
    She frowns at him, narrowing her magnificent emerald eyes. “Cousin Harry is the thane of this realm. Lord Harrowmage the Just,” she rejoins. “Who are you?”
    “I’m Rufus. And I’ve come to set you free.”
    “Oh.” Perplexed, she points at Noble. “You mean this man is your prisoner?”
    “Huh?” Rufus is clearly startled. “No way.”
    “Then you must be his lord.”
    “Me?”
With a smile, Rufus prepares to set her straight. Noble, however, jumps in first.
    “Wait,” Noble interrupts. “Did you say that Lord Harrowmage is your
cousin
?”
    “And only friend,” the princess confirms.
    “Then why did he kidnap you?”
    “Kidnap me?” She stares at Noble, dumbfounded. “Cousin Harry did no such thing.”
    Noble is getting more and more confused. “But aren’t you imprisoned in this fortress?”
    “Of course. I just told you that.”
    “Then who’s keeping you here?” Noble isn’t trying to be funny. He’s genuinely perplexed and can’t understand why the princess suddenly bursts into a peal of laughter.
    “Who?” she cries. “Why,
you
are! We are
your
prisoners, my lord!”
    “Nonsense.”
    “Are you calling me a liar?”
    “No, but—”
    “
You
are to blame! It is
your
tyranny that keeps us skulking behind these walls, afraid to come out in case you kill us!” Upon receiving no response from Noble (who’s speechless with shock), Princess Lorellina continues shrilly, “And if you think you can carry the day with your lies and trickery, then you are mistaken. Because I am no peace-loving scholar. I value my liberty above all else—and will fight to the death, if I must!”
    She’s barely finished speaking when a voice across the room squawks, “Your Highness!” Noble turns to see a squad of armed guards pouring out of another, curtained doorway. He’s been so distracted that he completely failed to register the sound of their approach.
    “Be easy. I am safe,” Princess Lorellina assures the guards, as they spread out in a rapid, encircling maneuver. They’re strange-looking things, half insect, half troll. Though each has only two legs, some have four arms and some have six. Their hunched backs are protected by overlapping bands of armor like the shell on a wood louse, but their heads are sooty, rough-hewn lumps.
    Most of them are wielding multiple weapons—tridents,axes, pikes, clubs. And most are scarred like chopping blocks.
    Noble immediately raises his hands in surrender, conscious that, without Smite, he’s at a disadvantage. Rufus merely pulls a face. “Come on, guys, don’t point those things at us,” he whines. “We’re harmless. Can’t you see that?”
    The newcomers aren’t impressed. “Step away from Her Highness!” one of them screeches.
    Noble promptly obeys. The princess says, “My cousin awaits you in the audience chamber. I will take you there myself. It is no great distance.”
    Noble bows. “You honor us,” he replies. Somehow, he understands that this is the correct thing to do.
    But Rufus merely frowns.
    “You mean we’re not
in
the audience chamber?” he asks, as he’s hustled toward an exit. “That’s weird. I thought this must be it, what with the throne and all.”
    “It used to be our audience chamber,” the princess admits. “But having no guests, we thought it a waste of space. Now we just use the