Read Online Shard Knight (Echoes Across Time Book 1) by Matthew Ballard - Free Book Online Page B

could’ve left him to die or killed him any time over the past three days. He owed her the truth.
    As she concentrated on Ronan’s bandage, she didn’t speak for the next several minutes.
    “Rika, can I ask you a personal question?”
    She froze behind him. “It depends on the question. What do you want to ask?”
    “Where’s your family? You can’t be much older than me.”
    She returned to cleaning his wounded back. Several minutes went by before she answered. “It’s a long and sordid story. And, anyway, I could ask the same of you.” She applied the fresh bandage. “I turned fifteen last week. I’m old enough to look after myself.”
    He understood secrets and let it go.
    “There you go. Your cut looks much better today.” She placed a few medical supplies in the table drawer next to the bed.
    Ronan eased over, found his fluffy pillow, and settled against the headboard. “I had my mother. Now, it’s just me.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that. What happened?”
    “That fire you mentioned earlier. The one that killed the prince. Was it in the laborer’s district?” Ronan said.
    “Yes. It happened the same night you saved me in the alley.”
    “My mother and I lived in one of the houses that caught fire. I woke to the smell of smoke. When I got out of bed, flames had engulfed my room, and I couldn’t reach my mother. I ran for help, and that’s when I came on you.”
    Rika offered a blank emotionless stare. “I can’t keep listening to these lies. I’m sorry. Let’s drop the act shall we?” She returned to her seat at the table. “I understand you’ve been through a hard stretch, but if you want any more help from me, I’ll not be lied to any longer.”
    His face flushed. “Rika, What’re you talking about. I-”
    “You never stepped foot in the laborer’s district before that night,” she said.
    “How would you know that?”
    She held up her index finger. “One. You carried a ridiculous amount of coin with you. That means you either stole it, or you’re lying about who you are.”
    She raised her middle finger. “Two. You ran across the district for help. Your neighbors were right outside carrying buckets working hard to save the other houses. You could’ve just asked them.”
    She added her ring finger. “Three. You told that bully you’d call the city guard. If you’d spent one day in this district, you’d know the guard doesn’t ever send a patrol there. Shall I go on?”
    “I think I’ve got-”
    Ignoring him she held up her pinky finger. “Four. Your hands are callused like someone trained with the sword. Nobody in the laborer’s district has ever held a sword let alone trained with one.”
    She held up her thumb. “And five, you don’t speak like any commoner I’ve heard since coming to Freehold.”
    Ronan’s heart raced. “You’ve got me all figured out. Don’t you?”
    She folded her arms and glared at him.
    He extended his hand. “Let’s start over. I’m Ronan. Ronan Latimer. And contrary to public opinion, I’m very much alive.”
    She smiled and shook his hand. “I sort of figured that out.”
    “Now that you know who I am. Can I ask you something?” Ronan said.
    “Another question?”
    “Why is a pretty girl like you running around a rough place like the laborer’s district dressed like a boy and carrying a knife? And,” he held up a finger, “a knife you use quite well.”
    Her brow furrowed. “That’ll require some explanation.” She fingered the knife that sat next to her wood carving. “About six months ago my father came to Freehold. He was sent on a mission by the Ayralen government. He never gives me the details, but, for him to travel all the way to Freehold, it must have been important.”
    “And he brought you with him?”
    “Yes. My brother joined Lora’s Guard about a year ago, and my mother died when I was eight.”
    “I’m sorry about your mother,” Ronan said.
    “Thank you. And I’m sorry about your mother too Ronan.