Read Online Morgarten (Book 2 of the Forest Knights) by J. K. Swift - Free Book Online

I was very young,” Thomas
said. He was not sure why he had said that.
    “I know,” Seraina said.
    When he looked at her with confusion on his face,
she added, ”You talked out loud, and often, when you were stricken
with the blood fever.”
    “Ah,” he said.
    “In fact, I think you talked more when you were at
death’s feet than you do now.”
    “Perhaps my silent nature is the reason the
Hospitallers paid more for me than Gildas did for you,” Thomas
said. He found himself smiling, and if the scar on the left side of
his face tightened, he did not notice.
    “Oh, ho! The fox bares his teeth,” Seraina said.
“Speaking of Gildas, what was it that you and he discussed when I was gone?” If anyone looked like a fox at that moment, it
was Seraina.
    Thomas shook his head and tried to keep his eyes
locked on the thatched roof of Sutter’s house in the distance.
    “Was it about me?” Seraina asked, innocently. But
her grin and the tilt of her head told Thomas she knew that it
was.
    ***
    Seraina saw Sutter cutting wood behind the inn as
she and Thomas approached across a field. He straightened up when
he saw them coming and, after shielding his eyes from the sun to
get a better look, shouted something toward the kitchen window.
Within seconds, both Vreni and her daughter Mera ran out the back
door.
    Seraina left Thomas behind and ran to meet the two
women with tearful embraces all the way around. By then Sutter was
there, and even the gruff innkeeper wrapped his long arms around
Seraina.
    Mera had her crying under control by the time Thomas
limped up, but one look at him and her pretty features began to
waver. She ran at Thomas, as though it were a race to get to him
before her tears exploded, and threw her arms around his neck. She
got her head on his chest just in time.
    Seraina looked on as Thomas held his arms out to the
side for an uncomfortable moment, but then in small jerky
movements, managed to put them around the girl and comfort her as
best he could.
    “I am so sorry Thomas,” Mera said. “None of us
deserved to have Pirmin taken from us, but you least of all.”
    Thomas said nothing, but Seraina was sure she saw
his arms squeeze the girl a little tighter.
     
    While Vreni and Mera disappeared upstairs to make up
two rooms, Seraina and Thomas sat with Sutter at the small kitchen
table, since it was the dinner hour and there were a few guests in
the main room.
    “You have been to Altdorf, then?” Sutter said to
Seraina.
    She nodded. “More men flock to Noll’s fortress every
day, from all corners of the Forest Regions,” Seraina said. “If
Leopold comes next year, he will be in for a surprise.”
    Sutter’s mouth became hard. “That is good to hear.
And what of Landenberg?”
    Seraina feared he would ask about the Vogt of
Unterwalden. “The Council will meet and decide his fate,” she
said.
    He looked up at the ceiling for a moment and then
lowered his voice to a whisper. “He should be hung.”
    Seraina could feel Sutter staring at her, but she
could not be sure because her own eyes refused to leave her
fingers. “I know how you feel, and if it is any consolation, Noll
punished the man. I saw his injuries.”
    “That will not stop him from coming right back here
and terrorizing us all over again.” He paused. “I have given this
some thought. I am going to join the Confederate Army.”
    Seraina could not believe what she was hearing, but
it was Thomas who responded first.
    “No, that is a very poor decision. Look around you,
Sutter. You have a business, a family, and both need you more than
any band of Melchthal’s. If you go to Altdorf, you throw all of
this away.”
    “I believe in what Noll is doing,” Sutter said.
    “War is for young men,” Thomas said.
    “You serve this cause better by staying alive,”
Seraina said. “Your family needs you.”
    Sutter closed his eyes and massaged his temples with
one hand. “You are both right. I am not thinking straight these
days.” A