Sea of Sighs (Empath Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

with
them?”
    Eden rolled his eyes around, searching for
an answer again. He didn’t have one. No one had ever given him a
good plausible historical reason for the war against Sha’sek. All
he knew, was that the last one had been started by an empath. Even
the actual reasons behind it had never been clarified to him. It
was all conjecture now he realised, and whenever anyone challenged
the truth, it was hidden underneath layers of hypocrisy and
lies.
    “The men of Everfell have no idea what they
face in those islands. The population of the seven provinces here
outnumbers Sha’sek perhaps, what, five to one? But take into
account Sha’sek allows their women to fight. That helps even out
the numbers. However, the people of the islands are used to
fighting on ships. The only reason Sha’sek were never going to win
the war, was their reluctance to fight on land. Then again, from
what I could understand, they just wanted the war to end. They were
reacting in self-defence, they just wouldn’t let the men Everfell
force them into submission. That’s why they hired men like me. I
was the intermediary, the kind of man that could fight on land. I
could see the battleground from their standpoint. No, I don’t want
to see my countrymen die against Sha’sekian swords, but the men of
Everfell only attacked Sha’sek out of fear.
    “You see, their talents stretch far beyond
healing and emotion. I’ve seen boys cry blood. I’ve seen a child
control the winds, and have seen a blind boy spot rabbits from
two-hundred paces. The range of their abilities is virtually
unimaginable, and though not all of them can be put to war, all of
them can be seen as strange and definitely daunting when you’re a
man of Everfell blood.”
    Eden thought on it. Yes, crying blood was
certainly a petrifying trait, but it wasn’t a threat. None of the
things, really, that Ross had said, were threatening to him.
Perhaps someone able to control the winds would be a scary thought,
but think of the benefits? Such a boy in the hands of the right
fleet, and your ships could go anywhere. Imagine the lands that
could be discovered. No, fearing these people wasn’t the right
thing, and he told Ross as much.
    Ross patted his hand in what Eden supposed
to be a fatherly way, but Eden pulled it back, feeling patronised.
“Quinn liked you, because you feel like that. She spent her entire
life knowing—not thinking, but knowing—that people were scared of
her. You’ve tried to tell her that’s not true, that not everyone is
scared of her, and I’ve told her the same. She fell in love with
you—that’s how much she believed you. But the first time she has
revealed herself to the world, she’s been met with revulsion. Not
just that, but threat of death. You’ve got an uphill struggle, if
you think you’ve ever got a future in this country with Quinn.”
    Eden ran his hands through his hair, trying
to ease his frustration. “But if I can’t have a future with her
here, what future can we have?”
    “Eden, that is up to you. You’re the only
person that can make that decision. Yes, you have obligations to
Sevenspells, but you’re still just a youngest son. Rowan is going
to have his own sons, and so is River. One day, you’re going to be
given the freedom to leave, because you’ll be so far down the line
of succession that they won’t care what you do.”
    “My father made me captain of the guard,
despite my age. They do care, Ross.”
    “They care now Eden, but will they care in
ten years’ time? And when you realise that they don’t, that you’re
too old to swing a sword, and you’re still not married, what
decisions will you regret then?”
    Eden was stunned into silence. He was still
young enough that he hadn’t considered his future beyond his
current career in his father’s guard, and he’d never really given
any thought to his brothers having heirs ahead of him. In many
ways, Eden hadn’t even considered life beyond his