The Twelve Kingdoms Read Online Free PDF Page B

be unsaid. The unrest will be settled and the Dasnarians sent home with pay. You’ll see.”
    â€œThere’s one more thing.” Derodotur swallowed hard. “A woman among the Dasnarians.”
    â€œI think I saw her in court.”
    â€œYes. That’s her. There are whispers . . .”
    â€œThere is always gossip in court.”
    â€œNot like this.” Derodotur’s eyes flicked from side to side, as if expecting attack from the shadows. “The King has entertained her privately.”
    Uorsin entertained many women privately. Always had, even before Salena died. Nobody blinked over it, usually. I raised my eyebrows and waited, ignoring the curl of foreboding.
    â€œShe is . . . not wholesome,” Derodotur finally whispered.
    â€œAre you saying she holds undue influence over the King?”
    â€œNo. Well, yes. You see, she—” He broke off and shook his head.
    Had he grown so old that the dementia of age had touched him? “She . . . what?”
    â€œ ’Tis unnatural, Ursula,” he said in a rush, seizing my hand, horror lurking in his eyes. “I’m afraid of what the days shall bring.”
    His hands on mine trembled and he seemed about to tumble over. “Don’t fret so, Uncle.” I hadn’t called him that since I was a girl. “I’m home and I shall look into it. No one is stronger than Uorsin. I will talk with him. Amelia will turn up. We’ll settle the matter of the heir to everyone’s satisfaction and restore peace. Uorsin will see his throne secure and will send the Dasnarians home.”
    Derodotur nodded and, shocking me, bent over my hands and kissed them. “If anyone can save us now, you can.”
    I only wished I believed that.

4
    T oo unsettled to rest now, and since I was already in the barracks courtyard, I decided a light workout might do me the most good. Burn off some nervous energy and maybe loosen up my back muscles.
    With the afternoon waning, most of the troops had cleared the practice yard. Finding an open corner, I stood quietly for a moment, centering myself and asking Danu’s blessing for a clear mind and a bright blade.
    Drawing my sword, I held it upright before me, hilt down and point up. This moment always gave me a measure of peace, the gathering pause before the flow of motion. Danu’s spirit filled me and I moved into the first and simplest of her sword forms.
    Most children begin with her first form, Midnight. I’d learned it younger than most, at five, clonking myself regularly with the wooden practice blade. Salena had just given birth to Andi and Uorsin had been raging through Ordnung in the hours since.
    I’d heard his bellowing summons long before he burst into the nursery. Though I remembered little else about that time—other than feeling bereft, summarily dismissed from my mother’s attention—that memory blazed bright in my mind. My father, who already frightened me more than a little, standing like a giant amidst the miniature toys of the nursery, his red-gold hair bright and blue eyes blazing.
    â€œCurtsy for the High King,” my nurse prompted, poking me with a shaking hand, but I’d stood frozen, clutching the doll my mother had just given me, so I would have a baby to play with, too.
    â€œWhat is this?” Uorsin yanked the doll out of my hands and threw it across the room. With contempt, he took in the little table and tiny teacups I’d set out for my doll and me to share and dashed a big hand through them, sending china shards flying. “You are my heir, Ursula, whether I like it or not—and here you are fussing about with dolls and fripperies.”
    Even then I knew better than to let him see me cry. Mother told me to save the tears, tuck them away, and take them out later. They were for me, not for him. She did the same.
    â€œCome with me, Daughter. It’s high time you learned something useful, if you’re to