Read Online Sword of Jashan (Book 2) by Anne Marie Lutz - Free Book Online Page A

Chiss was not there, but someone had left warm water and cloths so that he could clean up the sweat and dirt of the ring. Finally clean and with a cup of wine inside him, Callo sat in the chair by the window and stared out at the dusty sun of late afternoon.
    There was a tap on the door. No doubt it was someone looking to offer sympathy. He said, “Go away,” but Kirian slipped inside anyway, closing the door behind her.
    He stood and drew her into his arms, enclosing her in his embrace, her cheek resting on his shoulder. It seemed she held back for a moment, but then she sighed.
    “Callo,” she whispered, “I am sorry.”
    Callo closed his eyes and rested in her embrace. She was warm and soft, and she radiated comfort. Her short, spiky hair stood up as if it had recently been washed, tickling his chin. As they enfolded each other he could feel a small glow of renewal. He sighed and asked, “What did you do today, then?”
    She shook her head, bumping his chin. “Nothing. It was not a good day to do anything useful. I watched you in the ring for a while, did you see me?”
    “No. I am sorry.”
    “It’s all right.” She drew him to the curtained bed and made him sit down. He leaned back on the embroidered pillow. She did not join him on the bed, as he hoped, but sat at the table and began working with some herbs she had carried into the room with her, stripping the leaves and letting them fall into a clay pot. The herbs exuded a sweet fragrance.
    Gradually Callo’s shoulders relaxed, and he sighed and turned his eyes to her anxious face.
    “Lord Ander was disturbed about your vow,” Kirian said. “But now he believes it was just the product of grief, and that you will not really harm the King.”
    “What do you think?”
    “I think that when your other obligation is fulfilled, you will do as you say.”
    “You need not go with me to Sugetre,” he said. “I will be a little while yet, making plans. You should think of where else you might like to go.”
    “Why would I not go with you?”
    “I can’t name all the reasons. It is dangerous to be associated with me. I have sworn to slay the King after Ander is safely guarded. Once Sharpeyes realizes what I intend, he will give up his plan of making me his heir. He will declare me traitor, and my head forfeit, and those of any who helped me. This is not a good thing I go towards, Kirian. I would rather think you safe, back at Seagard, or in Sugetre if you choose.”
    “I thought you would try to get rid of me.” She looked up at his face. Her eyes looked tired.
    “I do not want to get rid of you.”
    “Then stop pushing me away.”
    “But it is not safe for you. You do not deserve this chaos, this running around Righar always on guard against attack, with no clothes or maidservants or even a predictable place to sleep every night.”
    “Give me a little credit,” she said. There was a hint of sharpness in her voice. “I am not a fool, Callo, just because I am a woman and a commoner.”
    “I never said that.” He rubbed his eyes, which were stinging again with grief and exhaustion. Her tone of voice eased.
    “You are grieving, and not thinking.”
    He sighed. It was true, he could not think. Every time he tried to consider the future, he would remember Arias, laughing or dragging him into some escapade, or challenging him—with endless optimism—to a contest in the ring Arias stood no chance of winning. The world would be a barren place without him.
    “You wish to be rid of me, so you can pursue your vengeance without distraction,” Kirian’s soft voice said. “I did think, just this morning, that I might return to Seagard Village—but no, I cannot leave you under these circumstances.”
    It was true that Kirian would be a distraction from the brittle single-mindedness he would have to cultivate in order to commit regicide. It would not be easy, keeping his sense of purpose for when he could safely leave the boy and claim vengeance for Arias.