The Arcanist Read Online Free PDF

awaiting them if they annoyed the hamadryad.
     
    “But I -.”
     
    “Look at the ground straight ahead of you and say absolutely nothing. Let me do all the talking.”
     
    And just to emphasise his words he kicked his brother's leg, causing Marcus to swear at him under his breath. But at least he didn't swear out loud. Maybe some common sense was finally getting through to him? He doubted it though. Marcus was a warrior first and foremost, and he thought like one. He believed in his heart that with his sword in one hand and pistol in the other, he could stand against any enemy. And if they'd all been simple soldiers with swords and pistols he might have been right. But they weren't and he wasn't.
     
    They walked on in silence for a bit further, down the grassy meadow, between the rows of magnificent redwoods, cedars and ash trees, heading for the temple at the far end. But it wasn't an easy silence. Marcus was of course stewing at being so badly treated as he saw it. For his part Edouard was simply trying to keep himself from breaking and running in complete terror. His mouth had gone dry and his palms were sweating.
     
    It was far too late to run of course; they had been seen. So the only thing to do was to try and talk their way through it. He had some small hope that if they were very careful with what they said, respectful and above all else inoffensive, they might have a chance of leaving the temple in one piece. Tyrel was said to be reasonable. At times . It would have helped though if his stomach would stop churning. In fact the only one of them to be calm was the horse. But then she alone had nothing to fear in this place.
     
    Of course trouble wasn't far away.
     
    “May I take your offering?”
     
    Startled, Edouard looked up to see a demoness staring back at him, hands outstretched as she asked for the reigns to the horse and the sight took him aback a little.
     
    It wasn't her obvious demonic form that surprised him. He'd seen demons and demonesses before, and the small horns, tail and reddish skin were nothing new. Though they weren't common in Therion they occasionally frequented the seedier streets of the nearby realms and cities, usually making trouble. It wasn't her manner of dress that caught his breath either. Granted the attire of a handmaiden looked strange on her, and the home spun dress that barely covered her bountiful curves left little to the imagination. But then demonesses often wore scandalous clothing to show off their magnificent curves and statuesque figures, and the only difference with this particular outfit was that it was flimsy white cotton and not the leather and steel he would have expected. It was the fact that she was in the temple at all that struck him as very wrong. She seemed a strange choice for a handmaiden. Especially Tyrel's handmaiden.
     
    Tyrel's calling, for want of a better word, was in the defence of the defenceless. The women, the children and the forests. As such many of those she called her handmaidens were women who had run away or been rescued from terrible situations. From terrible husbands often enough. But demons and demonesses were far from defenceless. In fact they were usually the ones people needed defending from.
     
    “By the -.”
     
    Edouard kicked his brother before he could utter another word, and he kicked him hard. Marcus too often thought with his manhood instead of his head, and too seldom checked himself before he opened his mouth. This was never the place for that.
     
    “What my brother means to say is that we would be most pleased for you to do so.” And to make sure his words were clear he grabbed the reigns out of Marcus' hand and handed them to the demoness.
     
    “Oh, and I thought he meant to say something else. I had hoped.” She smiled lecherously at them, an expression that left Edouard feeling a little shrivelled up inside. He got the feeling though that Marcus had a different point of view. Certainly the handmaiden did