The Keys to the Realms (The Dream Stewards) Read Online Free PDF Page A

with his gaze. “And when you do, you must not hesitate to ask.”
    Before she knew what was happening, Glain found herself taking her leave of the king in a silly, schoolgirl stupor and feeling all a-flush. It wasn’t until she was out in the hall and Ynyr had closed the door behind her that she realized how much Hywel had affected her. And only then did she realize that she had never actually refused his request.

    Morning dawned too bright on an angst-filled and sleepless night. Glain had spent the remains of it in tortured thought, assessing each of her colleagues. In the end, the decision was not so difficult to make. Of the three score and four Stewards who remained at Fane Gramarye, Glain trusted only four enough to count them among her chosen.
    The acolytes Ynyr and Ariane were her closest friends, and the apprentices Verica and Euday had supported her in the early days following Machreth’s insurrection, when Alwen had first appointed her proctor. All had served the Stewardry with distinction , though to varying degrees and ability. For these comrades Glain would sacrifice her own life, and they would vow the same for her. What else Alwen would ask of them, Glain could only guess.
    “So few?” Alwen seemed surprised, taking in the small group from the Sovereign’s chair atop the small dais in her private receiving room. “I see you continue to exclude Nerys from your confidence, Glain. She is an acolyte as well. Her experience and leadership might be useful.”
    “Yes, Sovereign.” Glain choked the urge to bristle with indignation . “But you charged me to bring only those I would trust with my life.”
    Alwen’s brow creased. “And still you do not count Nerys among them, even after her actions last night?”
    “I have no evidence yet, but there are reports of subversion, clandestine meetings with her own inner circle.” Glain’s frustration refused to be contained. “And I have not forgotten her allegiance to Cerrigwen.”
    “We have no proof of any allegiance to Cerrigwen beyond what duty demanded of her. Nerys was in service to Cerrigwen, just as you are in service to me,” Alwen reminded her. “But you are correct, Glain. The choice was yours to make. So be it.”
    Alwen surveyed the Stewards before her, her gaze lingering long enough to make them all even more anxious than they were already. Glain worried when Alwen’s eyes turned toward Ariane. What must Alwen think of her? And what would Alwen think of Glain, once she knew of her own private encounter with the king— if she were to know. It was only a passing thought. It would be wrong to withhold this truth.
    With her elbows cradled in the ornately carved armrests, Alwen rested her chin atop clasped hands and continued her contemplation. The silence stretched on, straining Glain’s nerves until she was sure they would snap.
    At last, Alwen looked directly at Ynyr. “Madoc held the opinion that the Order never healed from the fracture that took place before you all were born. Nearly half the membership defected from the Stewardry then. Madoc thought this was how Machreth was able to encourage sedition among those who remained. Glain agrees. She thinks the discord still survives. What have you to say? Have recent events unified our Order, or does the Stewardry remain divided?”
    “The Stewards have always been of two minds, Sovereign, have we not?” Ynyr was scholarly and given to practical, well- considered opinion—qualities that provided a welcome counterbalance to Glain’s instinctive responses, even when she disagreed with him. “Some of us are purists, true believers one might say, those who take the prophecy of the Ancients in its most literal sense.”
    “As did Madoc,” Alwen affirmed.
    “Yes,” said Ynyr. “And then there are others who see the prophecy as an allegory which was meant to be interpreted in keeping with the ever-changing tides of time. These are the members to whom Machreth appealed, and some of them