The Twins Read Online Free PDF

bring the boy!” he shouted to his aide on guard outside the room.
    “Yes, my Lord,” Dalek responded, a bit startled by his liege Lord’s animated behavior. “At once, my Lord!” he answered as he leaped down the winding staircase to the room below where the boy was sleeping.
    Baladar hastened back to the table with the disk and smiled to himself.
    If the traces are still fresh on the boy I may yet be able to locate the casting ground. Oh, I hope that they have not yet bathed him. These doting nursemaids of mine, they probably couldn’t resist immersing him in water as soon as they got their motherly hands upon him.
    Baladar paced while he awaited his aide’s return.
    Dalek entered the room where the boy lay sleeping, and told the attending women of his Lord’s orders. With sighs and tsks, they handed the prostrate youth over to the soldier, whose large and awkward hands received their portentous bundle with some discomfort. Hastily retreating from the room, Dalek began the ascent to Baladar’s study once again. He tripped over the corner of a soiled, green cloak the meddling women had apparently wrapped the boy in to keep him warm in the chilly castle. Dalek grabbed at his feet, not wishing to disturb the youth, but also unwilling to delay in fulfilling his lordship’s orders, and pulled the cape from under his boots. Balling it up without taking even a moment to glance upon it, he tossed it into a corner, out of sight behind a large piece of oaken furniture.
    As rapidly as he could, Dalek bounded up the stairs and into the room, carrying the boy as awkwardly as anyone could imagine, his arms outstretched in front of him as if he were holding a snake at bay and out of striking distance, straining under the weight.
    “I have done as you asked, Sir, as fast as I could. Is there anything else you require?” he appealed, panting as he thrust the child into Baladar’s waiting arms.
    “No, not now. I appreciate your haste, though, Dalek. Wait outside. I may need you later.”
    “Yes, my Lord.” He bowed as he returned to his post outside the door, relieved that he no longer had the burden of the child in his arms, and anxious to take up his post once again outside the room.
    Dalek was a country boy at heart and though he was as loyal to Baladar as any man could be, he was still unaccustomed to the use of magic. As uncomfortable as it made him, he nevertheless trusted his Lord implicitly. But, he still preferred not to be in his company when he wielded his power.
    Baladar received the boy lovingly. It was with much sentiment that he carried the unnamed and helpless youth across the room. The boy’s head rested peacefully on Baladar’s shoulder, and he misted over with emotion. His almost navy blue eyes were clear as crystal and wide open, though empty of any awareness. The thick, long, blonde hair was matted against his skull. Baladar wiped a single tear from his cheek as his thoughts skidded between the sorrow at the absence of his wife and his joy at having the young man in his presence. He felt the true weight of the boy for the first time, in all senses, and he was precipitously aware of it.
    Setting the boy down softly upon the grand work table in the center of the room, he gazed upon him attentively. He was quite tall for his age, though thin and pale from his past ordeal, and his skin was almost translucent. Carefully he placed two large, sausage-shaped satin pillows on either side of the boy so that he would not fall. As he pushed the support snugly into his body, he noticed a crude bracelet around his wrist and pondered briefly on its origin and meaning. It was clearly not of appreciable value, at least in a monetary sense, so he was certain that it bore some other significance. Before Baladar had an opportunity to closely examine the trinket, a sense of power emanating from the disk in the confines of his cloak distracted him.
    He reached inside another pocket and removed a modest suede pouch. Loosening