Read Online Cursed by Fire by Jacquelyn Frank - Free Book Online Page B

its breath. It was not allowed for anyone to touch a member of the royal family without his or her express permission. She could have been utterly offended, could have called him out on it, could have—
    “Do not do that,” Dethan scolded her with a grim frown. “There is nothing for you to hide, unless you seek to hide your beauty from this table of unsuspecting men, lest they all fall in love with their grandina.”
    The idea was so ludicrous that she laughed out loud in a startled burst. The entire table tittered in response. She flushed at that, knowing it was mocking, just as his words must be mocking her. But it had not felt as though he were being cruel. The words had felt … serious.
    “Is there some reason you should not believe me?” he asked, divining her thoughts.
    “You mean other than the fact that you are the only one who thinks so?” she asked in a low voice, a touch of temper to the words. She was being embarrassed … She was being paid attention to and she did not like it. She withdrew her hand from his, dropping it into her lap. He frowned but did not press the matter.
    “It is a wonder you were able to come here at all, what with the Redoe. You certainly will not be leaving anytime soon unless you know of any tricks that we do not,” the grand said.
    This brought a stiffness to Dethan’s spine, his whole body tense and taut as a bowstring. “Redoe?” he asked slowly. Carefully. As if he needed to make himself perfectly clear.
    “Yes. The enemy at our walls. The Redoe have always been a thorn in our side, but with this latest siege, they are proving to be heartier and more serious than ever before.”
    “The city is under siege?” he asked. Again, very carefully.
    “Why, yes. How can you be here and not know that?” Selinda asked him, genuine curiosity in her features.
    “I have only … just arrived.”
    “But surely you passed the Redoe at the gates of the city. They have been camped there for ages.”
    “I came from … the other direction.”
    “The other … You mean the Death Mountains?” The jenden scoffed. “No one comes in from the Death Mountains. He is a liar.”
    Dethan shot the jenden a look. He did not take kindly to being called a liar, but he did not press the matter. Mainly because in a way it was a lie. He had come from that direction, but not necessarily from the mountains themselves.
    “You are very brave and a warrior besides. Perhaps a skilled fighter such as yourself has an idea of how to fight back these Redoe,” the grand said.
    Dethan frowned. “I would begin by not having a fair in the middle of a war,” he said darkly.
    The entire table went quiet.
    “But the harvest fair is a tradition,” the grand argued. “We always …”
    “And apparently the Redoe laying siege is a tradition as well. If you want to be free of your enemy, you must defeat them once and for all. And defeat them soundly to relieve any other enemies of the notion you are weak and vulnerable. You might start by moving the heart of your city to the plateau at the leading edge of the Death Mountains. It would give you the high ground and leave you naturally defended on three sides. A good sound wall on the fourth will make it nearly impossible for the fortress to be penetrated. I would create a series of walls …” He stood and reached to the center of the table, grabbed up a candle and blew it out, then turned it upside down. He used the softened, colored wax to draw on the white linen tablecloth a rough sketch of the city. It was a circle, with the mountains on one side, the city wall on the other, and the city between. “A wall here, here, and here,” he said, bisecting the city and then splitting those halves in half again, “and you will buffer the entire city. Should your enemy breach one of the walls, you could pull the inhabitants and resources of the city behind the next wall … and then the next. This will exhaust the enemy’s energy and supplies as