Sir Dalton and the Shadow Heart Read Online Free PDF

lives of people?
he wondered.
I believe in the Prince and live the life of one of His knights. Tell me, my Prince… what am I missing?
    “That sounds like a pretty good story,” a voice said from beside Dalton. He snapped his head to the right.
    “But it’s missing something,” the young man said as he stroked his chin with his finger. He continued to stare at Putnam as he spoke to the people.
    “What’s that?” Dalton squinted at the man.
    The man turned to look at Dalton with penetrating dark brown eyes.
    “If the King and this Prince truly exist, why do they leave the kingdom in such a mess?” The young man paused for a moment to let Dalton think on his question.
    Just as Dalton opened his mouth to speak, the man continued.
    “For example, there are raids on the people, battles between castle lords, and starvation everywhere you look in the kingdom. If the King is so powerful, so wealthy, so good, then why has He let it go on for this long?”
    Dalton scrutinized the man further. He was a broad-shouldered fellow with dark hair that hung to his neck. He was about Dalton’s age and seemed far too intellectual for the rest of the crowd he was with.
    “The King—,” Dalton began, but was cut short.
    “There can only be three possible answers,” the man interjected. “Either the King and His Son don’t exist, or they don’t care about Arrethtrae, or they are too weak to do anything about what goes on. Whichever it is, only a fool or a man of ignorance would believe their story and follow them.”
    “That’s not true,” Dalton blurted. “The King and the Prince do exist! They do care and are very powerful!”
    The young man leaned close to Dalton and pointed a finger at his nose. “How do you
know?”
    The question was simple and direct. But Dalton felt violated, as if this man had entered the room of his inner heart and vandalized the motivations of his soul. Dalton swallowed hard, and his mind froze in fear, as if a beast were stalking him and there was no place to hide. The man’s eyes seemed to darken, and then he smiled.
    “Believe whatever makes you happy, chap,” he said and slapped Dalton on the back. “These people do.” He swept his hand toward the crowd, then turned quickly to walk away. As he did, his scabbard swung swiftly about and sliced Dalton’s thigh with a frayed edge of metal near the tip. Dalton winced in pain and covered the gash with his hand. Blood oozed through his fingers. Angry, he looked back up toward the man, but the crowd had swallowed him.
    “Dalton, I need you, man,” Putnam said as he came. “Where have you—What happened?”
    “Nothing really,” Dalton replied. “It’s just a small cut…an accident.”
    “I’ll get a cloth for you,” Putnam replied, and went to his horse.
    Caw!
came the sound of a raven from the top of the tavern to Dalton’s left. He looked and saw another strange, double-winged bird staring down at him.
    Putnam returned with a bandage for Dalton’s cut.
    “Putnam, have you ever seen a raven like that before?” Dalton nodded toward the tavern’s roof
    “Like what?” Putnam looked in the same direction, but the bird was gone.
    “Never mind.” Dalton muttered, continuing to stare at the rooftop.
    Later, as Dalton thought about the encounter with the mysterious young man, he felt the presence of the beast once again, and it frightened him. He tried to put the incident from his mind, but the gash in his leg was a constant reminder. Only thoughts of Brynn seemed to help…at least for a while.

A VISIT HOME
    As Dalton’s leg healed, the memory of the incident at Millvale faded. He made a trip back to Salisburg and was elated to see Brynn once again. To Dalton, she seemed more beautiful than ever, and his heart was all the more inclined toward her. He visited her numerous times at her estate. Her father seemed cool toward him but did not actually object to the visits. This encouraged Dalton significantly, but what fueled his heart