The Skeleton King (The Silk & Steel Saga) Read Online Free PDF Page B

rocky
promontory, offering the first unfettered view of the north. Kath pulled the
stallion to a halt. A sea of grass stretched to the horizon, golden grains
rippling in the wind. Untamed by trails or roads, the vast steppes of the north
almost seemed benign.
    Duncan joined her on the overlook, the wind
tugging at his dark hair. “Don’t let the grasslands fool you.”
    Kath gave him a questioning look.
    “It looks peaceful enough, but it’s
really a trap.”
    Kath studied the north, judging the
vast grassland with military eyes. “No trees, no high ground, no chance for
stealth or strategy.” She nodded, seeing the trap beneath the stark beauty. “It’s
like a great greensward, a moat of grass. Naked and exposed, numbers and speed
are the only advantages. And the Mordant always has the numbers.”
    “So they say.” Duncan leaned forward, patting the neck of
his gelding. “The forest looks threatening but we’re safer here, hidden by leaf
and bark.” He stretched in the saddle, muscles taut beneath black leather.
“We’ll be out of the foothills by tomorrow afternoon. Then we’ll be thankful
for the dead horses. The ravens will be our only guides, bellwethers for the
Mordant.”
    “A trail of death and evil.”
    “We’ve been following it all along,
ever since the monastery.”
    Kath thought about their journey
across the kingdoms of Erdhe and knew it was only a taste of things to come.
“Just so.” Struck by a sense of foreboding, she pointed toward the steppes with
her chin. “My brother, Tristan, died in the steppes.” Her voice dropped to a
hush. “My father’s favorite.”
    “Why was he favored?”
    Kath smiled, her voice wistful.
“Tristan had a way about him. Good with a sword, good with his command, gallant
and honorable, the perfect knight…till he was caught in the steppes,
out-numbered, slaughtered with all his men.” She stared out at the unforgiving
grasslands. “I wanted to be him.”
    “You’re better than that.”
    “What?”
    “You’ll not die outnumbered in the
steppes. You’re better than that.” His gaze held hers, strong and unwavering.
“You’ll find a way to out-wit your enemies…and you’ll out-heart them as well.”
      His voice was certain as steel. He believes in me, a rare gift she’d
longed for but never really found…till him. Wrapping his words around her like
a wool cloak before winter, she thanked the gods for Duncan.
    “We should find a campsite for the
night.”
    His words snapped her back to the practicalities
of the north. Noting the hint of twilight in the sky, she said, “Here?”
    “No, the cliff is too exposed. A
campfire would serve as a beacon to whatever lurks ahead.”
    She heard the worry beneath his
words. “Then you feel it too?”
    He shrugged. “We’re only five
against the north. We’ll need to keep our wits sharp and our weapons close.” He
rubbed the dark stubble on his chin, his face thoughtful. “And we’ll need to
keep our advantage.”
    Hearing the irony in his voice, she
studied his face, a hawk’s piercing gaze over a suggestive smile, the shadow of
a beard only making him more attractive. “What advantage?”
    “Whatever the Mordant expects,” he
flashed her a wry grin, “it won’t be the five of us.”
    “Ah, the element of surprise.” She
met his gaze and shared his laughter, loving the glint of daring in his mismatched
eyes.
    He gave her a quicksilver smile and
wheeled his gelding back toward the trail. “Come on!” Drumming his heels against
the horse’s flanks, he yelled a challenge, “Or I’ll leave no enemies for your
sword!” The gelding exploded into a gallop, hooves flying down the trail,
sending up a spray of stones.
    Kath glanced up the trail and waved
to Danya, then wheeled the stallion to follow. The big warhorse surged to a
gallop, a charge of hooves racing after the gelding. Kath leaned low in the
saddle, her long blond hair streaming behind, glorying in the thrill of the
chase. Ahead,