Read Online A Blackbird In Silver (Book 1) by Freda Warrington - Free Book Online Page B

me, Ashurek realised.
    It was strange to look at his mother and his father – the great hawk-fierce Emperor Ordek XIV – and realise that they were as ignorant and helpless as children.
    The burden was on Ashurek’s shoulders. There was no one he could tell, no one in the entire world who could possibly help. Strangely, he came up with the only solution immediately: he should trick his brother, take him away alone somewhere, and murder him. Then the demon’s contact with the world would be broken, his family would be safe. He gasped with pain at the thought.
    How can I murder Meshurek? My own brother, whom I love. It would be the realisation of his fear that I planned to take the throne from him. Then his fear would not have been misplaced all these years – indeed, it could have been a premonition, he thought despairingly. There must be another answer.
    In fact, there was not.
    He dreaded leaving his family behind with Meshurek when he went away into the Empire again.
    ‘It would be useful,’ he told his father – the only man in the Empire to whom he was now answerable – ‘if I could spend a few weeks more in Shalekahh. There is much to discuss with other army leaders.’
    Ordek answered, ‘Discussion must always take second place to action. There is a full-scale rebellion in the north of the Empire that I wish you to deal with personally. And there is similar trouble in Alaak. These must be your first duties.’
    There was no question of arguing with Ordek, so when Ashurek heard that Meshurek was going alone to supervise the completion of his castle at Terthria, he felt that his family would be safe for a while, at least. Perhaps in that time he could find an answer.
    To begin with, all went well. There was so much to be planned, discussed and done that there was no time to think of Meshurek. Eventually the scene he had witnessed in his brother’s room seemed no more than a distant nightmare. The rebellion was a challenge and took all Ashurek’s ingenuity to subdue it, so it was easiest to forget other distractions. The loyal enthusiasm of the army for their new leader was a joy to him. He could not wish to be anywhere but roaming the Empire with them, except that he sometimes missed Orkesh.
    One day his second-in-command, Karadrek, said confidentially to him, ‘What an Emperor you would make, your Highness! No disrespect to your brother, of course – but you know as well as everyone that he is unpopular. A word to the army and you could take the throne easily, when the time comes.’
    ‘I will take that as a joke, Karadrek,’ replied Ashurek, ‘as I am sure you meant it.’
    ‘Naturally,’ said Karadrek, shrugging off his own treasonous remark, ‘but it nevertheless would be the fulfilment of the people’s wishes, and for the good of the country, if…’
    ‘I doubt it,’ Ashurek silenced him sharply. ‘There are more traditionalists than you think, who would support Meshurek in his absolute right to the throne. There would be civil war. And why should I want to be Emperor, chain myself to Shalekahh and its responsibilities, when I can be wandering the Empire as free as a hawk?’ The second-in-command, realising Ashurek was sincere, fell into uneasy silence.
    Then the letter came from Orkesh. It was short, for her, and he could read some distress underneath her cool, light style. She mentioned that their father was unwell, and could he consider coming home for a few days? At once, Ashurek left the army under Karadrek’s command and rode home with just a personal guard. When he reached Shalekahh he was aware that a full two months had passed since Orkesh had written the letter. He could almost see and feel the pall of gloom over the city, and knew that bad news awaited him.
    Guardsmen of the royal household stood ready to greet him, but Orkesh broke through them and ran towards him, her face wet with tears.
    ‘Was it so difficult to get here just a day earlier?’ she shrieked at him. ‘Father