Shards of Time Read Online Free PDF Page A

can still call Seregil and Alec ‘my lord,’ so that will be easy.”
    “Are you excited about our journey?” asked Micum.
    Mika’s grey eyes widened, and so did his smile. “Oh, yes! Though Master Thero says I have to keep away from dangerous places. He promised Mama.”
    Just then the elderly lord chamberlain, Duke Waris, tapped his carved staff on the marble floor and announced, “Attend Her Majesty, Queen Elani.”
    At seventeen, flaxen-haired Elani was still slim as a boy, and deceptively delicate looking as she took her place on the carved stone throne. Even so, she looked every inch a queen. She wore the ruby-studded diadem, and a golden breastplate over her gown of royal red silk chased with the royal emblem of flame and crescent. The great Sword of Gherilain, the ultimate symbol of her power, hung at her side, and a golden war helm rested on a cushion at her feet, constant reminder that the queens of Skala were first and foremost warriors and protectors of the land.
    Her uncle, Prince Korathan, stood at her right hand in his capacity as vicegerent, wearing the robes, heavy chain, and flat black velvet hat of his office.
    The chamberlain summoned each petitioner in turn. As he waited for their names to be called, Alec watched Elani carefully. Favors were asked, pleas made, and grievances presented. The girl listened intently to each one, occasionally consulting Korathan before she made her pronouncements. Alec admired her impassive demeanor. Only once did her expression threaten to give way to emotion; a dyer’s wife fell on her knees, wringing her stained hands as she begged for her husband’s life. Apparently the man had killed an apprentice in a fit of anger. For an instant Alec was certain he sawpity in Elani’s eyes, but she shook her head and the woman was led away by relatives, sobbing into a handkerchief.
    The queen was the supreme justice in the land and Alec suspected that it weighed heavily on the shoulders of a girl five years his junior, despite her training.
    At last the chamberlain called out, “Lord Seregil of Rhíminee and Lord Alec of Ivywell. Present yourselves.”
    He and Seregil stepped forward and knelt before the dais. Elani came down to stand before them, left hand resting on the pommel of her sword.
    “Be it known throughout the land,” Korathan announced, “that these two men, though foreigners, stand in the queen’s favor.”
    Elani drew the sword and held it up before her in both hands.
    “Do you swear fealty to the Throne and Skala?” she asked.
    “By the Four, I so swear,” answered Alec, who’d been coached on the ritual responses by Seregil.
    Seregil solemnly repeated the oath.
    “Do you swear to come to the queen’s aid in times of war?”
    They both swore to do so, and Alec wondered if that meant serving as officers. He’d always envied his friend Beka Cavish, now a commander in the Queen’s Horse Guard, a little.
    “Demonstrate your devotion to Skala and the Queen,” Korathan intoned.
    They prostrated themselves at Elani’s feet and kissed the hem of her gown.
    “Kneel,” Korathan ordered.
    With the hint of a smile tilting the corners of her pale green eyes, Elani touched them each on either shoulder with the tip of the sword. “As you have both sworn your loyalty before these witnesses, so I invest you with the title of Barons of Mirror Moon, with all lands, waters, and chattel that belong to it.”
    “We will be faithful stewards, Your Majesty, and serve at your pleasure,” Seregil replied.
    “Thank you, Your Majesty,” said Alec.
    Elani sheathed her sword and offered her hand for the kissof fealty. Her fingertips were cool against Alec’s hand, and callused from the bowstring. When he straightened up again, he caught her smile and the faint flush infusing her fair cheeks.
    Elani ascended the dais and took her seat. At her nod, Korathan proclaimed, “To all here before gathered, at the queen’s pleasure, I present to you Baron Seregil of Mirror