Read Online The Prince Deceiver (The Silk & Steel Saga Book 6) by Karen Azinger - Free Book Online
Authors: Karen Azinger
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of Ur has come to Pellanor and we find
him wrapped in riddles."
"The
marketplace was agog with his grand entrance to the city."
"What do
our people say?"
"They speak
of bells on his stallion, veiled women riding by his side, and a wagon piled
high with treasure chests. The people are enthralled by the spectacle. A
mysterious prince comes to their city bearing the promise of lavish wealth and
exotic differences. What could be more enticing?"
"Indeed."
It sounded like a fairy tale, yet Liandra knew so many fairy tales had dark
sides. "What else do they say?"
The princess
nibbled a slice of bread. "I've heard talk of a grand banquet to be held
at his mansion in the city. The merchants are buzzing like bees to the
honey."
"A banquet?
How odd."
The princess set
her bread aside. "Why is it odd?"
"Because we
offered to hold a royal reception for him here at the castle, a banquet
followed by a dance, but he demurred, preferring a private meeting." Liandra
made no mention of the chess game for the loss still stung.
"That is odd." The princess fingered her wine goblet. "Why would a visiting
prince decline a royal reception?"
The queen had no
answer.
The princess
leaned forward, her voice dropping to a conspirator's whisper. "Would you
like me to wrangle an invitation to the banquet? Perhaps I could help solve
this riddle?"
A chill shivered
through the queen. The thought alarmed her...though she could not say why.
"No...let my shadowmen do their work." Liandra did not want a
possible heir to Navarre anywhere near the prince. "My spies will peel
back the riddle and then we'll decide."
"As you
wish."
The queen guided
their conversation towards matters of commerce, but in the back of her mind she
worried about the prince...and the missing fleet. The game grew complicated.
She sensed the hand of other players. The queen wondered if they were friends
or foes. Questions pounded through her mind. The very fate of Erdhe might
depend on these riddles yet she had few answers.
9
Bryce
The Mordant
slept and the malevolent evil receded like a foul tide, loosening the chains of
his prison. A soul trapped within the Mordant, Bryce clung to his sanity,
desperate to find a way to make a difference. Somehow his hellish existence had
to count for something. Surely the gods would not abandon him, yet his hopes were
few and his existence bleak. Horrified by everything he’d witnessed, he railed
against his bonds, but it had little effect. Without the sea’s ability to
weaken the Mordant, he’d lost the strength to move the smallest finger…yet he
had to try.
As an acolyte in
the monastery, he'd learned a timeworn saying, When one door shuts another
opens. He’d lost the sea, an unexpected ally, but another slender hope had
come his way…but with that hope came dire need. The Mordant had endured a
harrowing sea crossing to stalk a queen. Crouched within his prison, Bryce kept
watch through his spy hole while the two met across a chessboard. He'd felt the
Mordant loose his Dark will upon the queen, yet somehow she resisted. During
the whole of his long captivity, Bryce had witnessed only two people who
resisted the Mordant’s soul-assault, the cat-eyed man in the bloody cavern and
now the queen.
The cat-eyed man
had been his friend. Chained in the unholy sanctuary beneath the Dark Citadel, the
Mordant had tortured the cat-eyed man, yet somehow he'd repulsed the Mordant’s soul-probe.
Pierced by a hundred cursed daggers and left to suffer as an offering to
Darkness, yet he'd endured. Later, much later, Bryce had found a way to follow
a magical thread and speak with the cat-eyed man from afar. He'd hoped to
thwart the Mordant by sharing his plans, but that valiant warrior had died,
succumbing to his wounds. Now the Mordant fixed his deadly gaze upon the Rose Queen.
Spellbound with
worry, Bryce spied through his keyhole as the two met. At first the Mordant was
charming and courteous, the Dark threat coiled behind his eyes like a
him wrapped in riddles."
"The
marketplace was agog with his grand entrance to the city."
"What do
our people say?"
"They speak
of bells on his stallion, veiled women riding by his side, and a wagon piled
high with treasure chests. The people are enthralled by the spectacle. A
mysterious prince comes to their city bearing the promise of lavish wealth and
exotic differences. What could be more enticing?"
"Indeed."
It sounded like a fairy tale, yet Liandra knew so many fairy tales had dark
sides. "What else do they say?"
The princess
nibbled a slice of bread. "I've heard talk of a grand banquet to be held
at his mansion in the city. The merchants are buzzing like bees to the
honey."
"A banquet?
How odd."
The princess set
her bread aside. "Why is it odd?"
"Because we
offered to hold a royal reception for him here at the castle, a banquet
followed by a dance, but he demurred, preferring a private meeting." Liandra
made no mention of the chess game for the loss still stung.
"That is odd." The princess fingered her wine goblet. "Why would a visiting
prince decline a royal reception?"
The queen had no
answer.
The princess
leaned forward, her voice dropping to a conspirator's whisper. "Would you
like me to wrangle an invitation to the banquet? Perhaps I could help solve
this riddle?"
A chill shivered
through the queen. The thought alarmed her...though she could not say why.
"No...let my shadowmen do their work." Liandra did not want a
possible heir to Navarre anywhere near the prince. "My spies will peel
back the riddle and then we'll decide."
"As you
wish."
The queen guided
their conversation towards matters of commerce, but in the back of her mind she
worried about the prince...and the missing fleet. The game grew complicated.
She sensed the hand of other players. The queen wondered if they were friends
or foes. Questions pounded through her mind. The very fate of Erdhe might
depend on these riddles yet she had few answers.
9
Bryce
The Mordant
slept and the malevolent evil receded like a foul tide, loosening the chains of
his prison. A soul trapped within the Mordant, Bryce clung to his sanity,
desperate to find a way to make a difference. Somehow his hellish existence had
to count for something. Surely the gods would not abandon him, yet his hopes were
few and his existence bleak. Horrified by everything he’d witnessed, he railed
against his bonds, but it had little effect. Without the sea’s ability to
weaken the Mordant, he’d lost the strength to move the smallest finger…yet he
had to try.
As an acolyte in
the monastery, he'd learned a timeworn saying, When one door shuts another
opens. He’d lost the sea, an unexpected ally, but another slender hope had
come his way…but with that hope came dire need. The Mordant had endured a
harrowing sea crossing to stalk a queen. Crouched within his prison, Bryce kept
watch through his spy hole while the two met across a chessboard. He'd felt the
Mordant loose his Dark will upon the queen, yet somehow she resisted. During
the whole of his long captivity, Bryce had witnessed only two people who
resisted the Mordant’s soul-assault, the cat-eyed man in the bloody cavern and
now the queen.
The cat-eyed man
had been his friend. Chained in the unholy sanctuary beneath the Dark Citadel, the
Mordant had tortured the cat-eyed man, yet somehow he'd repulsed the Mordant’s soul-probe.
Pierced by a hundred cursed daggers and left to suffer as an offering to
Darkness, yet he'd endured. Later, much later, Bryce had found a way to follow
a magical thread and speak with the cat-eyed man from afar. He'd hoped to
thwart the Mordant by sharing his plans, but that valiant warrior had died,
succumbing to his wounds. Now the Mordant fixed his deadly gaze upon the Rose Queen.
Spellbound with
worry, Bryce spied through his keyhole as the two met. At first the Mordant was
charming and courteous, the Dark threat coiled behind his eyes like a
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