Shadow's End (Light & Shadow) Read Online Free PDF

been the Duke’s dream—not our own. We lived as two sides of a coin because we knew no other way.
    And we lived this way because it worked, beautifully. The men did not, could not look away from Miriel as she outlined the plan to them. They had never seen the work that went into every gesture, the careful crafting of the tableau ; they accepted her act as her true self. They watched her, and I watched them, marking who watched her like a fool, and who had a gleam in his eye.
    “Hide me from my uncle,” Miriel said bluntly to Jeram. “He will send spies. Shelter me, and Catwin, and I will teach you all I know of how to outwit the Council and its army for long enough to draw up a treaty, a law, and sign it with the King.”
    “We need an army ,” Jeram objected. “Not words on paper.”
    “No ,” Miriel contradicted coolly. In a moment, she had turned to ice. “I can teach your men proper formations, and Catwin can train them on the uses of weapons, but it is extraordinarily unlikely that you could meet the King’s army in an open battle and win.” For a moment, she was truly her uncle’s heir: a woman well-versed in military history, with a keen grasp of army formations and a calculating mind. Her eyes swept around the room, marking the men Jeram would have as soldiers.
    “ And if you defeat them, what then? The great lords will regroup, and we will face generations of civil war as the common people struggle with the nobles. Is that what you wish for Heddred?” She dared them all to say yes, seeking to hold their gaze; only Jeram would meet her eyes, and he did not speak.
    “Just so,” Miriel said simply. “What we need, as a nation, is an understanding that the people should, and will, have a voice in their lives. What we need is to establish the mechanism by which the people have such a voice. What we need , is a treaty. A treaty for the King to sign, and thus show the Council that they no longer rule all. A treaty that promises that the rights of the people shall be enshrined in law.” There was a murmur, but this time it was Jeram who held up his hand for silence.
    “Useless,” he said flatly. “The King would never sign it.”
    “Garad would not have done so,” Miriel agreed. “But Wilhelm will.” I heard the hope in her voice, and wished with all my heart that Wilhelm would prove to be our ally. It would break Miriel’s heart if he were not. And, of course, our new allies would most likely kill us. It occurred me to that we had not greatly improved our position in the world. We were still bargaining, still living on the knife’s edge.
    “How can you be sure?” Jeram was no fool. I saw him cast an annoyed glance at the men who had nodded to her words without a thought. He was a common man, who had always known the simple fact that the laws protected the lawmakers. He had no confidence, as Miriel did, in the sanctity of words on paper.
    “ I know Wilhelm to be a sympathizer,” Miriel said, with great dignity. “You forget, I was at the Court with him before he was King. He and I spoke of the rebellion. And I tell you truly that Jacces, also, knows Wilhelm to be a sympathizer.” There was a murmur of interest, and Jeram’s eyes narrowed. I marveled at Miriel’s daring, but knew the necessity of it—she was nothing to these men, an outsider. But if she was a woman who knew their fabled leader…
    “How do you know this?” Jeram demanded. Jacces was the leader who might never have existed, the man that no one—even his own adherents—could find.
    “While at court, I maintained a correspondence with him.” Miriel stood calmly under Jeram’s scrutiny. She never wavered. Her confidence was palpable.
    “You know his identity?”
    “I have a guess.” Miriel lied without hesitation. “But for that person’s safety, I will not speak it.”
    “You must tell us,” Jer am said, and she shook her head; she had marked, as I had, the true desperation in Jeram’s voice. He might be the