Read Online The King's Horse (Shioni of Sheba Book 2) by Marc Secchia - Free Book Online Page A

wide mouth spitting out a broader, lazier flow. Several secluded pools nestled between clumps of boulders. When it was sunny, like today, the flat tops of the boulders heated up and she could stretch out on a deliciously sun-warmed rock and dangle her feet in the cool water at the same time.
    In several places the river was obliged to force its way between the boulders’ shoulders, so Isoke had warned Annakiya not to swim too close to them lest she be sucked between the rocks.
    She rested her arms on a rock now, kicking her legs idly, and checked that Zi could not be seen from above. The Fiuri was bathing beneath the waterfall at the top of the pool.
    Annakiya was not a strong swimmer, so she was not allowed to bathe without Shioni or another slave in attendance. And since their meeting with the General, the Princess’ list of attendants had grown to include two female Elite warriors from Takazze–both archers, young, and visibly anxious to make a good showing.
    “It’s a new thing Father started,” said Annakiya, following Shioni’s gaze up to the overhang above the pool. “Sheba has always used women warriors, although not often in the front line. Isoke told me once that the oldest scrolls in Takazze record a story that the great Queen Makeda used to lead numbers of female warriors into battle. She thinks–well, she hasn’t actually said as much, but I know she’s thinking it–that I should become a warrior like you.”
    There were another ten warriors scattered around a wide perimeter, Shioni knew, protecting the Princess while she swam in the river. While no more Wasabi had been discovered in the valley, the mystery remained as to how they had slipped though the Sheban patrols in the first place. The male Elites had instructions to keep a ‘decorous distance’… hence the female archers, she supposed.
    Shioni pulled a face. “You’re not suggesting there’s something Isoke actually likes about me? Surely you jest!”
    The Princess laughed at her droll expression. “Heaven forbid! Next the stars will be falling from the skies–”
    “Anyway, I’m only a novice warrior, and that won’t change until I’m at least sixteen.”
    “You’ll be a full warrior long before then!”
    “Not once Captain Dabir arrives. I’ll be mucking out stables until…. forever!”
    “How’s your new training regime going?” asked Annakiya, her wistful tone making it sound almost romantic. “Didn’t the General instruct the warriors to train you properly?”
    “ You’re telling me!” Shioni groaned. “I’m not sure which is better–being beaten quickly by a bully, or being beaten slowly and thoroughly by a weapons master.”
    The Princess wiped some imaginary sweat off her forehead. “Hmm, that’s a tough one.”
    “ This morning we ran an hour down the valley carrying our staves like this, at arm’s length, practised there, and then ran back again. Then we helped move rocks. As if my shoulders weren’t killing me already. Whoever or whatever tore down that defensive wall collapsed it right into the moat… ugh! I feel like I’ve been run over by an elephant.”
    “ Don’t you come begging for sympathy at my door, you wretch. I had to get my own breakfast.”
    “Aw, how did you manage without snapping a fingernail?”
    “ You lazy, impertinent slave-girl!” Annakiya declaimed in a fake rage. “How dare you address your mistress that way?” They both hooted with laughter.
    Upriver, Shioni heard a delighted, trumpeting squeal. The hardworking elephants must have been brought down to the river for a break from hauling rocks. It was a perfect, warm afternoon–utterly still. Even the crickets seemed to have been stunned into silence by the heat. However, all along the horizon, for the first time since they’d come to Castle Asmat, a dark rank of thunderheads was boiling up like a grey army invading an otherwise pristine sky. They were due the little rains soon. In the villages and hamlets, the famers