The Secret of the Swamp King Read Online Free PDF

Adam’s apple. But it wasn’t only resentment he felt. He also felt the heartbreak and disappointment of injured love. No one in Corenwald was more devoted to King Darrow than Aidan was.
    Darrow continued. “He has wheedled his way into your good graces, too, Steren, with his pretended friendship.”
    â€œPretended?” yelped the prince. “How can you even say—”
    Darrow raised his hand for silence. He was speaking more softly now. His rage seemed to have spent itself. “Quiet, Son. You must see. It’s not my throne that’s in danger. It’s yours. I’ll live out my days as high king of Corenwald.” Darrow gestured toward Aidan behind him. “There’s not much this schemer can do about that. But someday I will die. And do you think he’ll just sit by and let you receive the crown of Corenwald without a fight?”
    Darrow put a hand on either of Steren’s shoulders. “You are a good and trusting soul. Too good. Too trusting.”
    The king turned and faced Aidan, who was too bewildered to speak. “I, too, have trusted too much.” He spoke without emotion as he addressed Aidan. “I brought you into the bosom of my family. It would have been better to embrace a rattlesnake. At least a rattlesnake’s venom works quickly. Yours is a slow poison.”
    Aidan had withstood Darrow’s rage bravely. But this quiet insult was more than he could bear. He stoodstraight, his eyes fixed on Darrow’s beard. But big tears welled in his eyes and rolled down his cheeks.
    Darrow was unmoved. He spoke to Aidan with a steely evenness. “Save your tears, boy. A crocodile can cry too. But that doesn’t mean it won’t eat a man alive.”
    The king reached into a pouch that hung at his side and pulled out a piece of folded palmetto paper with a broken wax seal. Without prelude or explanation he began to read it:
    Your Majesty—
    I write to warn you: Your most dangerous enemy dwells under your roof. Beware the youngest son of Errol.
    He has convinced himself that he is the Wilderking of ancient prophecy—the rightful occupant of your throne. His every action is calculated to convince your courtiers of the same. His claim to have killed a panther with a stone is a claim on the throne of Corenwald—a blatant reference to the Wilderking Chant:
    Â Â Â Â Â Â With a stone he shall quell the panther fell,
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Watch for the Wilderking!
    He claims friendship with feechiefolk as part of a scheme to build a legend in keeping with the Wilderking prophecy.
    At the mention of feechiefolk, Steren gasped, remembering his own run-in with Dobro Turtlebane the daybefore. But Darrow paid him no attention and kept reading the last paragraph of the letter.
    Your Majesty, it pains me to accuse a fellow Corenwalder of treason. But it pains me more to think that my king would be nurturing a traitor under his own roof.
    Yours sincerely,
    A loyal subject
    All the color drained from Aidan’s face as the king read. It was a lie, of course, but it contained just enough truth to make it hard to answer. Yes, he had come to believe that he was destined to be the Wilderking, but that realization had been thrust upon him. He had never wanted such a destiny, had certainly never schemed to put himself in that position. Yes, he claimed to have killed a panther; yes, he claimed to know feechiefolk. But never had he shown (or even felt) anything less than perfect loyalty to the House of Darrow. He stood mute under the glare of his king.
    Darrow turned to the assembled courtiers. “See?” he said, gesturing at Aidan with one hand and waving the letter in the other. “He doesn’t even deny it.”
    For the first time since Darrow’s outburst, one of the noblemen spoke. “Your Majesty,” said Lord Aethelbert cautiously, “these are very serious accusations. An anonymous letter is not the same thing