The Knight Marshal (The Silk & Steel Saga) Read Online Free PDF Page B

the maroon reduced to skulking like brigands, eating meat
stolen from wolves…but at least they lived, surviving to fight another day.
    Sir Abrax noticed his stare. “So
we’ll camp here tonight?”
    “We dare not tarry. We need the
dark to slip past the enemy. We’ll sleep once we reach Stonehand.”
    “A long ride.”
    “Then we best get started.”
    Dousing the fire with snow, they
filled their empty saddlebags with cooked venison and mounted their weary
horses. By the light of the moon, the marshal led them east, sneaking across
the mouth of the pass, hooves crunching on snow. Twice they paused, hearing the
clink of armor, but no challenge came their way. In the small hours of the
morning, they reached the forest on the far side, the trees offering the
promise of cover against the dawn.
    Weary from the long night, the
marshal let his horse pick a path up into the snow-dusted foothills. He
struggled to stay alert but his mind kept wandering, hammered by fatigue. So
much had changed in so short a time. Only two days ago he’d fought atop
crenellated battlements, holding the Mordant’s hordes at bay till the gates
were sundered, shattered by foul magic. Two days for his world to be upended;
the Octagon defeated by trickery and gods-cursed magic. Now his men were
kingless, scattered in retreat, riding through the night like brigands. Somehow
he had to find a way to restore the maroon to glory. Honor and courage had to
count for something. “By Valin, I’ll not let the Octagon fail!” but the oath
sounded hollow in the night. He stared at the stars, so cold and distant,
wondering if the gods cared.  

3
    Katherine
     
    Kath startled awake, her hand reaching for her sword. Give
it to us ...the spectral voice slithered through in her mind, a memory and a
threat. “ No!” The shout rose unbidden to her lips. Unsheathing her
sword, she stared at the shadows. A feral fear clung to her, planting a deep
seeded dread. Like so many nights before, she woke plagued by nightmares…but
this felt different, this was a memory. Her heart pounding, she clutched her
gargoyle, relieved to find it on the leather thong around her neck. Duncan’s warrior ring was there as well, but what of the other? Grabbing her clothes
puddled on the floor, she ransacked the pockets, turning them inside out, nothing!
    Perhaps it had fallen out.
    She clung to the slender hope. In
the dim light, she knelt, frantically running her hands across the cold marble
floor, praying to find it. Nothing! Worse yet, she could not feel it.
    Closing her eyes, she took deep
calming breathes, straining to sense the magical bond…but her efforts were for
naught, as if the link was severed. The stink of her own fear filled her
nostrils. Quelling her panic, Kath tried to remember the last time she’d held
it. She remembered sheathing her sword and reaching for the amber pyramid… in
the cavern of nightmares! Fear spiked through her. She couldn’t have lost
it there! Memories of the demons’ grasping hands shredded her denial.A
chilling thought seized her. Zith had warned her countless times that the
Quickner could not fall into the hands of Darkness…and now she’d lost it…in the
worst possible place. Her dread fought a tug-of-war with a desperate hope.
Perhaps she could get it back. Shoving her stockinged feet into her boots, she
hastily dressed. Grabbing her throwing axes, she crossed the marble hallway to
bang on the nearest door. “Wake up! I need you!” Her fist beat against the
door.
    Bear was quick to answer. Clad in
fighting leathers, weapons studded his belt. “Svala?”
    Sometimes she wondered if he slept
with his sword. “Wake Boar and get Blaine.”
    A moment later, Boar emerged, his
great axe in his hand. Nodding towards her, he jogged down the hallway to the
Mordant’s opulent chambers. When they’d first explored the palace, Kath had
shunned the Mordant’s chambers, repulsed by the thought of sleeping in the
enemy’s bed, but Blaine