Read Online King’s Wrath by Fiona McIntosh - Free Book Online Page B

conveniently disappeared.’
    ‘I left Freath, at his behest and with his best wishes, to visit my old home. There was nothing untoward about my departure. We planned to see each other back at Brighthelmstone on this day, as arranged,’ Kirin lied.
    ‘And he had no other meeting arranged in the north other than with the local mayor?’
    Kirin frowned. ‘None whatsoever,’ he said indignantly, hoping his lie sounded convincing. ‘Certainly none that I was privy to.’
    Stracker’s glance slid across to Lily. Kirin could feel her flinch beside him.
    ‘This is my wife, Lily.’
    Stracker’s tatua stretched and a ghastly, malevolent smile spread over his face. ‘Mrs Felt. How beautiful you are.’
    Lily bit her lip. ‘General Stracker,’ she said, curtseying.
    ‘You can’t have known Master Felt terribly long.’
    ‘Actually, general,’ she said, nervously smiling, glancing at Kirin, ‘I’ve known him since childhood. We… er… we both grew up on Medhaven.’
    ‘Is that so?’
    She nodded. Kirin felt his gut twist. ‘We were childhood sweethearts. I thought I’d lost Kirin for good,’ she said, giving Kirin a sweet side smile. ‘But then he came back. No warning,’ she said archly and Kirin loved her all the more for trying so hard when he knew how frightened she was. ‘He just arrived back on the island. “Hello, Lily,” he said, as if we’d only parted a few days previous.’ She gave a soft laugh. ‘I’m embarrassed to say my heart leapt. I thought I was over him, particularly as I was seriously considering Link Chervil’s proposal of marriage.’
    ‘Link Chervil?’ Kirin repeated in mock astonishment. ‘What an oaf.’
    ‘Link’s doing very well, if you don’t mind.’
    ‘What does Link do for a living?’ Stracker asked and Kirin knew he wasn’t in the least bit interested. This was a test.
    ‘Link is a —’
    ‘I asked your wife, Master Felt. Mrs Felt?’
    Lily hesitated, but tried to cover her nervousness with a small smile. ‘Why, Link is a miller.’
    Kirin died inside.

6
     
    Loethar was breathing hard. ‘Elka, stop,’ he croaked.
    She turned around and came back to him. ‘Are you in pain?’
    He shook his head, unable to talk, as he sucked in air. ‘Can’t breathe.’
    ‘Does your head ache?’
    ‘As though it may explode.’
    She nodded. ‘Sit down.’ He needed no further encouragement, and dropped immediately to the ground. ‘I think you’ve got what we call “mountain sickness". It’s the air up this high. It does affect some people this way if they’re not used to moving around at such a height.’
    ‘I’m a tribal man from the plains,’ he said, trying to grin but it quickly turned into a grimace. ‘All right, now I’m hurting. Everything hurts.’
    ‘So much for the barbarian warlord.’
    ‘I was never either of those things,’ he complained. ‘That’s a title the Set royals gave me. I’m a king in my own right, of the Steppes even before I took over the empire.’
    ‘Forgive me.’
    He waved a tired hand. ‘Is this going to get any easier?’
    She shook her head. ‘Only with many moons of practice. So, first things first. Watch how I’m breathing.’ She began to takevery quick but deep breaths. ‘This will fill your chest with air faster than trying to breathe normally at this height.’
    ‘Like this?’ he asked, trying to mimic her.
    ‘Good. A breath every five counts if you can and as deep as you can achieve. And drink. You have to take on more water than normal. Believe me, it will really help.’
    He immediately swigged from the water sack she handed him.
    ‘Keep sipping. It’s important,’ Elka urged. ‘Now,’ she said, sounding distracted as she scanned the landscape, ‘what we have to do is get you lower.’
    ‘Lower?’
    ‘You can’t stay this high. Your sickness will only get worse before it gets better. And we don’t have time to spend getting you used to this height. We’ll have to descend. The problem is I