The Making of a Mage King: White Star Read Online Free PDF

redeemed, then by all means do so, but if not then they should be destroyed. It might be a mercy to them. They were good men once upon a time, so follow your conscience.” He handed Basse the arrowhead and backed away. “Be safe,” he said, and strode across the room toward Larry.
    Larry opened the door for him and they left. As they strode down the hall side by side surrounded by the other five men, Sean said, “You’re really getting into this ‘king’ stuff, aren’t you?”
    “I’m learning,” said Larry with a grin. “I think it’s kind of cool being able to call a real live king my best friend. I can honestly say ‘I knew you when…’”
    Sean smiled as he put his helmet back on. “What, are you writing a book or something?”
    Larry laughed outright. “I just might, but Jenny will have to be the one to do the actual writing, my English sucks.”
    News of who they were had made it through the compound while they were inside, and as they strode across the courtyard, those who saw them pass bowed deeply. Sean felt obligated to regulate his pace in order to maintain his dignity. He was learning to dislike being on display, and every move he made was for display.
    As they moved away from the garrison, Sean turned toward the docks; he had some unfinished business to see to.
    He dismounted in front of the rickety little net shop and handed his helmet to Larry. Cordan spread the men out up and down the docks in an effort to cover every possible avenue of attack as Sean knocked on the door.
    When the old woman opened the door a few minutes later, he said, “Mrs. Calvados, I believe I have found your daughter and I would like to reunite her with her family. She’s very ill, are you prepared to care for her here, or would you prefer to join her at the palace?”
    “Calvados was my son-in-law’s name, White Star. How can you have found my daughter? She was taken by the sea along with her husband.”
    “No, a’ma, your daughter, and I suspect, her husband as well, were taken by my uncle. He didn’t know or care that your daughter was pregnant, so the baby was left behind in the boat to be found by your friends.”
    The old woman looked beyond Sean as if hoping to see her daughter among his men. “I don’t understand,” she said. Her voice trembled with threatening tears.
    Sean touched her cheek; he felt so sorry for her. “May we come inside? I think seeing familiar surroundings might help your daughter a lot.”
    “Yes, yes of course.” She led him inside and Larry came too. Cordan directed two more men to follow them and Sean had them wait at the bottom of the stairs. Upstairs, inside the little apartment above the shop, he saw the little boy, Shim, sitting in a rocking chair by the window enjoying the warmth from the afternoon sun. “ Danio Shim . How is your shumutàlē today?”
    “It is warm today,” replied the boy as he came from his place in the sun to grasp his grandmother’s skirts.
    Sean knelt in front of him. “I think I found your mother, but she’s very ill. I would like to bring her home, but it might be frightening.”
    “I never knew my mother,” said Shim.
    “I know,” said Sean. He stood and reached for Franklin. “Franklin, are you where I told you to be?”
    “I am, my lord.”
    “Open the door, please.” Sean nodded for Larry to do the same. With a twist that stabbed into his head, rather than the head of the rickety stairs that led to the lower floor, a clean and well-appointed room appeared on the other side of the door Larry opened.
    He saw Franklin holding the door open inside the room, then on a chair in the far corner sat a rail-thin woman. She had been washed and combed and clothed in a clean dress, but she seemed completely unaware. As Sean looked at her, he remembered her and now understood the profound loss that had filled her soul.
    “Marcia, Marcia, oh my lord, Marcia,” said the old woman, as she wavered near collapse.
    Sean would have steadied her,