The Equen Queen Read Online Free PDF

offload as many of the gems as we can and move on. The Loraskians are hard on our heels,’ another voice added. They sounded familiar to Tab.
    ‘I agree,’ said the first. ‘The Loraskians should be happy to find their useless gems here. They won't follow us once they find them in Quentaris. It will be a relief to have them off our tail.’
    Tab risked a peek. It was Captain Kel, only now he didn't look so friendly.
    ‘It's much better to offload them in the city than on the world below. The distraction should give us time to skip through two vortexes at least.’
    ‘Oh, there is one thing of interest. Quentaris has a dragon,’ said the other sky-trader, who Tab couldn't see.
    ‘Is that so?’ replied Kel. He grunted. ‘Dragons aren't the easiest things in the worlds to move. Have you seen it yourself ?’
    ‘Not yet, but it is a female.’
    ‘You should check that situation …’ Then the voices trailed away.
    Melprin! Tab thought. She hadn't seen her dragon friend for a long time. Last she had checked Melprin was hibernating in one of the towers. How did the sky-traders find out about her?
    As soon as it was safe Tab rushed along the alleyways heading back the way she had come.
    Stelka's instinct was right – and Verris's too. If only she could get the council to listen to her and work together. She thought about the streets of Quentaris thick with sky-traders. And those stupid mood stones. They were everywhere! Tab reached into her pocket, feeling her own mood stone nestled there. Now some angry Loraskians were coming to collect them. Who knew how dangerous they were? Tab had to hurry. There was so much to do. It may be too late already!



Melprin's Tower
     
    Drass Nibhelline thumped the table. ‘We've only just started negotiations! And it's not just this business – who knows who these people know? We could be shunned from world after world, and where will that leave us? Is this child going to fix it when we're all starving?’
    ‘Are you’ ? Storm challenged.
    Florian said, ‘Drass is right. First we listened to this girl because she could supposedly talk to animals, and now we're listening to her because she can't. Verris, you set too much store in this …’ He waved his arm Tab's way. ‘Rift child! What if she's wrong?’

     
    Verris ignored Florian, directing his comment to Drass. ‘You set too much upon the weight of your purse. What if she's right?’
    Tab shifted in her chair, wondering if she had made a mistake telling the council about the conversation she had overheard. Maybe she should have tried to sort it out just with her friends. She'd told the council members about the threat, but she had managed to keep the part about Melprin private.
    Tab's instinct was that, with adequate warning, the dragon would be able to look after herself. Warning her was the first thing Tab would do once she got out of here, but it was taking forever! It would be dark by the time she left this chamber.
    Why was it that the council wanted to talk about things over and over? It seemed to Tab the more important they thought they were, the more talking they wanted to do. Couldn't they just get on with it?
    Drass snorted. ‘Has anyone else met anything other than charm and good humour from these sky-traders? Don't you think we should verify these allegations before we act on them?’
    ‘I have a bad feeling about them. Aside from what Tab has told us, it's nothing I can quantify,’ Stelka confessed.
    ‘Mere snobbery!’ Florian sneered.
    Stelka's eyes burned. ‘You're a fine one. He who can't help telling all and sundry about the colour of his blood.’
    Florian lifted his chin defiantly, but he didn't answer back. For a moment the chamber was silent, aside from the crackling of the timber in the grand fireplace that did little to warm the room.
    ‘Watch yourself, Florian,’ Verris said with a glint in his eye. ‘You might find yourself smote, and you've not proved yourself worthy of sparing, apart from