Shard Knight (Echoes Across Time Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

Tyrell slid the young prince behind him. A dozen rips and cuts shredded his bloodstained dress uniform. A plethora of wounds showed beneath the shredded uniform and oozed trails of fresh blood along his chest and legs. “Stay behind me Ronan.”
    “You’re early Tyrell,” Pride said. “But, it hardly matters.” With little fanfare, Pride sank to the carpet, assembled his silver cane, and stretched out near the queen. “Guards!”
    The door to the queen’s chamber burst open, and Bryson entered the room followed by a dozen royal guardsmen.
    Pride’s shield disappeared as the guards entered the room. “Arrest that man!” Pride pointed to Tyrell. “He’s killed the queen, and the prince is next.”
    Using one hand, Tyrell clutched Ronan by his jacket collar while his shard blade shimmered with yellow light in the other. “Wrap your arms around my neck and hang on.” The words came whispered and urgent.
    Without hesitation, Ronan leaped onto Tyrell’s wounded back, and the shard master streaked toward the open terrace door.
    Tyrell never stopped as he leaped thirty feet through the air and sped away through the busy streets of Freehold.

Safe House
     
    “Ho’ there Mary.” The rhythmic clip-clop of steel horseshoes beating on rough cobble stopped.
    “This is it Ronan. Let’s go.” Tyrell pulled his hood tight and slid from the wagon bed.
    Wordlessly, Ronan slipped from the milk wagon. A light drizzle had started earlier in the evening, and now, hours later, he welcomed the rain, clouds, and midnight’s merciful shroud. He let the rain fall unimpeded over his face and stood motionless waiting for further direction.
    “Your hood Ronan. Put it up,” Tyrell said.
    Ronan secured his hood as instructed. His mind flashed with a vision of his mother’s body lying dead on the carpet. He squeezed his eyes tight and shook his head pushing away the memories.
    Light rain ricocheted from dozens of empty glass milk bottles packed in the wagon bed. “Thank you Master Wilburn,” Tyrell said.
    “What you did for my family sir. Well, it’s the least I can do,” Wilburn said.
    “If anyone should ask about this evening…”
    “I’ll hold my tongue. No need to worry about that. Whatever you’re hiding from is your business.” Wilburn’s eyes flickered toward Ronan. He lowered his voice. “The young master traveling with you. Is he all right? He seems…off.”
    “He’ll be fine Master Wilburn. We’ve had a long day.”
    “If you need a place to stay…”
    “We have a place to stay, but I thank you for your offer,” Tyrell said.
    Wilburn let out a deep breath, and his shoulders sagged. “Good luck to you then,” he snapped the reigns. “Get on there Mary.”
    The old mare ambled ahead, and the rhythmic clip-clop started again. Master Wilburn’s milk wagon creaked along the narrow cobblestone street and disappeared around the corner.
    “Let’s get you inside,” Tyrell said.
    “Inside?” Ronan said.
    Tyrell nodded toward the rundown townhouse in front of them.
    The dark ramshackle building looked neither lived-in nor inviting, but it did appear in desperate need of fresh paint and a skilled handyman.
    To the right, candlelight flickered from dirty cracked windows, and a large mangy cat sat perched on the windowsill. The townhouse on the left radiated darkness and dread the same way Tyrell’s safe house did. Dozens of homes lining the rough cobbled street appeared abandoned or in disrepair.
    Ronan didn’t recognize this section of Freehold let alone ever enter one of the homes here. “Let’s get on with it then.”
    Tyrell produced a key from the folds of his cloak, unlocked the front door, and entered the townhouse.
    As Ronan stepped inside the dark entryway, his nostrils flared with the musty odor of mold and decay that accompanied long periods of stagnation, but he had a roof over his head keeping the rain at bay. He’d left his mother alone bleeding and abandoned just like this