Read Online End of the Century by Chris Roberson - Free Book Online Page A

and Alice was sure he was about to start swinging at her, never mind the fact that she was a foot shorter, about a hundred pounds lighter, and a girl. Then his eyes widened, and his mouth opened in an “o” of surprise.
    â€œWhat's all this, then?” came a voice from behind her.
    Here's what Alice knew about the police in England: they wore funny hats, they didn't carry guns, and they were called “bobbies.”
    Here's what Alice noticed about the policeman in front of her: he wasn'twearing a funny hat, he was as big as a brick wall, and he didn't need a gun to get his point across. Whether he would answer to the name “bobby” or not, she wasn't sure, but she wasn't about to ask.
    â€œNothing, officer,” Alice answered automatically, in her innocent-little-cute-girl voice. It was her reflex when dealing with cops, whatever the situation, after years of experience. “We were just talking, is all.”
    â€œShe assaulted me!” The guy, who was about to throw a punch at a hundred pound girl a few seconds before, was now all of the sudden the aggrieved party. That he actually was did little to improve Alice's view of him.
    â€œThis little thing?” The policeman treated Alice to a toothy smile. “American, are you?”
    Alice nodded. “From Texas.”
    â€œTexas?” The policeman got a strange look in his eyes for a moment, like he was seeing the lonesome prairie out there, somewhere in the middle distance. “Well, you run along, miss, and mind yourself.” Then, he pushed the brim of his hat up with a fingertip, and in an atrocious imitation of a Texan accent, said, “Y'all be careful now, y'hear?”
    Alice smiled sweetly, and failed to point out that “y'all” was a plural, only to be used when addressing a group, not when talking to a single person. “I sure will, sir. And thank you.” Then she flounced away, holding tight to the empty Pepsi bottle and hoping to put as much distance between her and potential arrest as possible. For all she knew, her mother had put out some sort of international APB on her, and the last thing she needed was to get picked up taking a swing at a local before she had a chance to see what her destiny was all about.
    Behind her, she could hear the guy talking to the policeman.
    â€œBut she hit me !”
    â€œShut it. One more word out of you and I'll run you in, you understand?”
    Alice couldn't help but smile. She felt a little bad, having taken out her frustrations on a total stranger and then left him to deal with the mess. But she'd learned long before that batting her eyelashes, smiling sweetly, and trotting out the Disney Princess voice was enough to get her out of most problems, and if that meant that someone else was inconvenienced as a consequence, that was merely an unfortunate side effect.
    Finally, overcoming the ingrained prohibition against littering that her mother had drilled into her since birth, she ditched the Pepsi bottle in the middle of the street when crossing in front of the houses of Parliament. If she'd just given herself up to littering before, she'd have saved everyone a load of trouble.

THE FAIR-HAIRED CAPTAIN gave his name as Caius, and though he styled himself an eques , a member of the horsemen elite, he insisted that Galaad not stand on ceremony.
    â€œI was on my way to my daily bath anyway,” Caius explained, as they walked out the palace doors and headed across the Gallus to the northwest. “So it really isn't any trouble.”
    Caius, whose Italian accent sounded to Galaad's ears as something of an affectation, seemed perpetually to be smiling. Towering over Galaad, he was gregarious and welcoming, not at all like the Gael Lugh who had escorted Galaad through the city's streets. But for all of that, Galaad could not help but feel that there was a more sinister edge to some of the eques's words of which he should be wary. Galaad was reminded of