Read Online Knight's Valor by Ronald Coleborn - Free Book Online Page B

healing, as it is with my father,” Redora said.
    â€œTrue, but in large enough doses it can also be used to kill,” replied Sapient Breen.
    â€œHow awful,” said the princess.
    â€œIndeed it is. Shortly after their deaths, the realm was split in two, the western portion named for Prybbus and the eastern for Glyssa. But the people of southern Prybbia rebelled, and so that land was split further, giving us the Freelands.”
    Sapient Breen went on to explain the division of the lands, defining their boundaries and offering a brief lecture on the tribes and settlers that made up the peoples of the Freelands. He was interrupted by the blowing of a war horn. Thrice it blew, which signaled an enemy at the gate. Breen gently closed the book and stood up. Princess Redora, who knew what the horn signified, had gone pale as milk. Together they moved toward the window that overlooked the courtyard and looked out. Below them knights were scrambling, their leaders shouting orders. They could not see High Road and so did not see the enemy gathering. But the horn’s three blasts were proof enough.
    Fifteen minutes had passed when they heard a knight outside shout, “Men of the plain!” Another shout went up from a different knight, and then they heard a muffled clamor coming from beyond the curtain wall. Someone gave the order, “Let fly!” and they knew the fighting had commenced. Redora watched in horror as a boulder flew above the wall and sent a knight plunging to his death. Two more rocks sailed over the curtain wall and smashed the ground before rolling to the walls of a far tower, barely missing a group of men arming themselves from a stash of weapons.
    Sapient Breen had seen enough. He took the princess in hand and gently pulled her away from the window.
    â€œThe castle is under siege,” she said. “What will we do?”
    â€œYou’re not safe here. The first thing they’ll do is kill any royal they meet.”
    â€œWhat will we do?” she repeated.
    â€œCome with me,” he said, and he held out his hand. Redora took it and followed him out of the room. They ran down the steps of the solar and came to its entrance hall. Breen took Redora through a door just off to the side and down another flight of steps that took them belowground.
    â€œWhere are we going?” Redora asked.
    â€œTo a safe room, just along the next passage.”
    They stopped running when they heard the sound of a door opening. It had come from around the corner ahead of them. They heard the sound of heavy boots marching, and Redora smiled and made to greet her father’s men. Breen grabbed her shoulder and put a finger to his lips.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” she whispered. “Are they not our own men?”
    â€œPlease,” Breen whispered back. “Wait.”
    They heard someone say, “Where do you suppose them to be?”
    â€œOne of them is in the garden,” said a second voice. “The other will be studying with Breen. You seize the elder, I’ll nab the younger brat. Take Ellyssa to the dungeon, and I’ll meet you there with Redora.”
    Sapient Breen grasped Redora at the shoulders and said, “Don’t be afraid.” Still holding her shoulders, he closed his eyes and they both began to vanish from sight, first at the feet, then up to the waist, and finally to their heads. “Keep silent,” he whispered as they disappeared. The footsteps came closer, and two men, sapients both, rounded the corner and walked past the princess and her grand tutor.
    When the two men were gone, Breen let go of Redora’s shoulders, and the two began to reappear, first their heads, then their bodies, and lastly their legs and feet. When they had returned to visibility, she was staring at him as if she had never seen him before.
    â€œI’m sorry,” he said. “I had to do something you’re not accustomed to. And, yes, I know,