Read Online Dawn of Wonder (The Wakening Book 1) by Jonathan Renshaw - Free Book Online Page A

stop his hands shaking. The sheriff motioned for silence.
They approached the farmyard through the gate which had not been shut.
    Nothing stirred.
    By this time there would usually have been much
activity. First light was more than light enough for farm work. But now
everything was silent. The farmyard was completely deserted.
    With Lanor taking the lead, the group walked their
horses towards the main house. Some of the men loosened their weapons; a few
held spears at the ready. They had advanced only a little way when they saw
movement at the manor house and everyone drew to a halt.
    Dresbourn and Lieutenant Quin stepped out into the
courtyard and approached.
    Aedan felt his heart slip into his shoes.
    “Dresbourn!” said the sheriff. “We expected to
find you in a more desperate plight.”
    “I have no immediate complaint besides the threat
of slavers. But we were amply warned and have taken due precaution as you can
see.” He motioned to the house from which people began to emerge.
    Though the sight should have relieved him, all
that Aedan could feel now was an empty humiliation and a surge of dread. He
knew what was coming.
    “We were certain that you had been betrayed by
your messenger, and that last night you would all have been rounded up. But it
appears we were wrong.”
    Dresbourn’s eyes narrowed. “How, pray, did you
come to such a conclusion?”
    “Why, young Aedan, Clauman’s son, and your
daughter arrived in town a little after midnight. We assumed you had sent
them.”
    Dresbourn’s face changed colour and when he next
spoke his voice was edged with steel. “Are they among you now?”
    The two children were ushered to the front where
they dismounted.
    “Kalry,” Dresbourn said, his voice shaking with
anger, “stable your pony and get into the house. I’ll deal with you later.” As
she moved away, he turned to Aedan and lifted his voice so that it carried well
beyond the two of them. “Was disgracing me and insulting my guest last night
insufficient amusement for you?” His voice rose. “Did you need to bring the
whole town to my doorstep to embarrass us further? Where is your imagined
treachery, Aedan?” he roared. “Answer me!”
    Aedan tried to say something but no sound escaped
his throat.
    “Is anyone else involved in this?”
    A noise drew their attention from the timber-shed
roof where a sooty-faced Thomas stood and clambered to the ground. He
approached with his eyes fixed on his shoes, dragging a blanket.
    “Who else?”
    “D – Dara is in the treehouse,” Aedan stammered.
    “What! You put a nine-year-old girl out in a treehouse
during a slaver threat!” Dresbourn was shouting for the entire farmyard to
hear.
    “I didn’t really send her, she –”
    “Silence! You have done more than enough talking.”
He turned to the swelling crowd, “Someone go and find her.” When he turned back
to Aedan, whatever restraint he had been exercising broke. “You insolent cur!”
he shouted, mouth twisted with rage as he raised his hand and strode forward.
    But something changed in Aedan’s face. There was a
flash of recognition and then his features went slack with vacant terror. He
uttered an almost animal moan and sank to the ground, cringing, arms clutched
over his head, body shaking as a dark stain spread through his trousers.
    “What is this! A coward? There’s enough talk of
your hair-brained adventures, but you can’t even stand up and take a beating. You
little fraud. Revealed at last for all to see!”
    The crowd began to murmur. It was an unexpected sight
– a boy widely known for his pluck now cowering and whimpering in his own mess like
a beaten dog. This was not the way for a boy of the Mistyvales to behave when
disciplined. Men frowned, women talked, Emroy smiled. A young coward had been
stripped of his disguise.
    The only person there who would have guessed the
truth of what was really happening in Aedan’s traumatized thoughts was in the
stable, out of sight.