The Shadows of Night Read Online Free PDF Page A

lady here.”
    “ Enough ,” Hart said, more forcefully.   “She may be required to stay here, by the monarch’s command, but she is to be treated like an honored guest.   I will tolerate no more of your ill manners.”
    Prong turned his glittering, angry gaze on him.   “Do not treat me like a child.”
    “Do not behave like one, and I’ll consider your request.”
    Prong stared at him a moment longer, anger and resentment still glimmering in his eyes, then his skin began to ripple, and the ornate robes ripped asunder.   The jewels that had decorated them cascaded to the floor as he dove toward Hart.
    Hart leapt out of his chair, shifting as he did so, and met his brother’s furious charge head on.
     
    *****
     
    Katara shrank back as the two men shifted into their stag forms.   She saw her own Kindred shift on a daily basis, but she’d never before seen a member of the Antler Kindred change form.   She had to admit it was an impressive sight.
    Their torn clothing dropped to the floor, and their coronets fell onto the stone with a clatter, as their skin and muscles rippled and their bodies changed shape, almost too quickly for the eye to follow.   Hart’s body elongated, his neck stretched out, and his face lengthened.   His golden-brown skin and hair rippled, transforming into a sleek, tawny hide, and from his head sprouted an enormous rack of antlers with wickedly sharp prongs.   He was huge—taller and heavier by far than any true deer she had ever seen in the woods.   She suspected he might weigh as much in his stag form as her father did in his lion form, or perhaps even more.
    She shot a glance at the other brother—Prong?—seeing that in his stag form he was slightly smaller than Hart, but still quite large.   His hide was reddish rather than tawny brown, and his rack was nearly as big as Hart’s.   He flung himself forward, head down, and Hart met the charge.
    There was a horrific crashing sound as the stags’ antlers met.   Katara staggered back against the wall, shocked by the force of the blow, startled by the casual nature of their violence.   She’d always thought of the Antler Kindred as a peaceful, timid race.   It had never occurred to her they might solve everyday disputes with deadly violence, precisely as the Claw Kindred did.
    The Antler prided themselves so on being civilized, but beneath the veneer of civilization, it seemed they were as much animals as the Claw were.
    The stags sprang apart, their cloven hooves clattering on the wooden floor, then leapt at each other, their forelegs rising and meeting in midair as their antlers slammed together again.   The force of their collision propelled them sideways, into the table.   Dishes flew, shattering against the floor.   The stags strained together, hooves thrashing, each struggling to throw the other to the ground.
    The red stag backed away, then flung himself toward the tawny stag again.   Hart met the charge without staggering, then abruptly twisted his head to the side, throwing his brother off balance.   The red stag’s hind hooves slipped on the jewels scattered over the floor, and he scrambled for balance, then fell heavily to the ground.  
    Hart stood over him and lowered his great head, his antlers gleaming, sharp and menacing, just above Prong’s shoulder.   Katara braced herself to watch the killing blow, expecting to see the antlers tear into the fallen stag’s flesh, ripping him to pieces.
    Instead, the red stag’s hide began to ripple, and seconds later Prong lay on the floor, gazing up at the great stag with a rueful expression.   “Peace, brother,” he said.   “I yield.   You’ve defeated me.”
    The great stag hesitated only a moment.   Then Hart’s hide rippled as well, and he shifted back to his human form.   A cocky smile curved his mouth.
    “I always do,” he said.
    It was the first time Katara had seen him naked, and she couldn’t help but notice that his human body was as well