The Godling Chronicles 02 - Of Gods And Elves Read Online Free PDF

the fire. “They
won’t send for her, I don’t care what they told you. I
doubt she’s even alive.”
    “ They let you live, didn’t they?” said
Malstisos.
    “ That may be. But I’m in Hazrah, and my
mother is not. The house Nal’Thain still has a good name among
the people. To kill me without scandal or reprisal, they would need
to do it away from the city.”
    “ We were told that you helped Angrääl
take control,” said Maybell huddled close to the fire, sipping
elf brandy.
    “ That’s a lie,” spat Jacob. “I
did everything I could to stop them.”
    “ That may be,” said Maybell. “But if
the people believe it, I doubt your death would cause much of a
scandal.”
    Jacob pulled his blanket close and stared into the fire.
    “ What did happen?” asked Malstisos. “From what we have seen it
didn’t take much of an effort for Angrääl to seize
control.”
    Jacob scowled. “It was the King,” he
muttered in disgust. “He sold us out.”
    “ You’re not making sense,” said
Millet. “Even the King couldn’t simply hand over control
of the land to a foreign power without resistance from the nobles.”
    “ That’s not what happened,” replied
Jacob. “They were far more subtle. A year ago an ambassador
arrived at court with a message of friendship. He said he was from a
kingdom in the north and desired to establish relations and trade.
Naturally, the lords were skeptical. All the old tales of the
northern kingdoms are of terror and war, but the ambassador assured
us of his good intentions and suggested that we send an envoy to meet
with his lord. After much deliberation, the King agreed. I wanted to
be the one to go, but mother wouldn’t allow it.”
    “ Wise woman,” said Millet.
    “ In this case she was.” Jacob nodded in
agreement. “The King sent his second cousin to gauge the truth
of matters. Sadly, though loved dearly by the King, he has no skill
with diplomacy. He returned two months later accompanied by a full
entourage of representatives from Angrääl, enough to occupy
a proper diplomatic embassy. At first, the King protested, but his
cousin convinced him that relations and trade would be in the best
interest for the kingdom. Before long they had bought a building near
the palace and had established themselves as the embassy to the
“Reborn King of Angrääl.”
    “ That didn’t send up warning flags?”
asked Millet. “The “Reborn King” can only be
referring to the Demon King, Rätsterfel. Surely the temples
intervened when they heard this?” He retrieved a loaf of bread
and dried meat from his pack and passed it around.
    “ I believe the temples had been infiltrated long
before the arrival of the ambassador,” replied Jacob.
    “ Why would you think that?” asked Maybell,
trying to contain her irritation.
    “ From the moment they arrived they showed their
contempt for the Gods. They refused to have their embassy blessed,
and turned away any offer of friendship the temples made. On the
streets they openly mocked the Gods, and said that anyone that
trusted in them was a fool. A few of the temples were even
vandalized. Everyone knew who did it, but there was no proof. More
than that, the temples did little to stop it.”
    “ All this and the King did nothing?” said
Millet.
    “ There was nothing to do,” said Jacob. “The
temples made no complaint. Not to the King or anyone else. In fact,
it was widely known that many of the high priestesses and senior
monks had dealings with them on a regular basis. I myself saw the
chief librarian of the Temple of Gerath riding with the ambassador,
talking and laughing as friends.”
    “ That means nothing,” said Maybell. “You
can’t know why they were speaking.”
    “ True,” he answered. “But the next day
the library was robbed and nearly every important text stolen. The
culprits were never found despite the fact that I told the magistrate
what I had seen. Of course, after that life became more difficult for
my