Read Online The Starfall Knight by Ken Lim - Free Book Online Page B

to her knees.  Wet slop covered her legs and her hands.  She grabbed a rickety fence-post and set off again.
    Ahead, Elina cut through a narrow gap between two shacks.  Alessa swore to herself.  She had missed too many opportunities to get rid of Elina after supplanting her as Leonus’ favourite but Alessa had always prided herself in being different to the rest of the Sirinese.  As she puffed, pumping her legs in a race she had always dreaded, Alessa fought down her own confusion – she bought her protection with Leonus and that made her more alike to the rest of the Sirinese than she would admit aloud.
    No, she thought, I’m nothing like them.  But she could not let Elina escape.
    A gale shot a loose branch into Alessa’s face.  She yelped as the wood snapped past her cheek and continued down the trail.  The wind howled.  Alessa rubbed her face – not a lasting injury – and took shelter in a rough lean-to.  A noisome heap of clothes rolled over and grunted, revealing a hairy old man.
    “Wharryou?”
    “Hush, old man,” Alessa said.  “We’ve hit a storm.”
    “Bah.  I broken worse wind’n this.”
    Alessa grunted and the man rolled back over, pulling his patchy blanket over his head.  With the next gust of wind, sleet pelted down and the mushy ground turned to brown swamp.  Alessa’s fellow Sirinese fled to the safety of shelter while the strong-arms and thrashers were last to retreat under the onslaught.
    The sleet drummed on the roof of the shacks and water slowly seeped along the ground, dampening the old man’s crusty boots.  He would soon be flooded out of the lean-to.  Alessa sighed, knowing that she would need to leave sooner.  With every passing second, Elina edged further away.  There was only one place she would go.
    Lightning cracked through the grey clouds overhead, the resultant thunder rippling in every direction.  Alessa stepped out of the shelter and water soaked her clothes.  With careful steps in the ankle-deep mud, she continued on her way to Tarius’ smithy.
    A hood closed over Alessa’s head and an arm like corded steel clamped down on her neck.  The faint pin-pricks of light filtering through the hessian bag faded from view.
     
    Alessa woke with a start.  Before she could rise from the wooden chair, a notched cutlass met her neck.
    “Stay.”
    She obeyed the male voice.  Several figures lounged at the edge of the room – no, a cavern.  A single lamp shone at her feet.  Alessa realised that no rope held her and apart from a sore neck, she had no other injuries.
    “We mean no harm.  Quite the opposite.”
    “Who are you?”
    “I speak for Nasius.”
    “And I for Dene,” said a younger female voice.
    Alessa peered at the figures.  If she knew anything about Sirinese factions, Nasius still led the Ceres as did Dene for the Serpens.  Rumour held that the Serpens occupied much of the depleted mines of Sirinis.
    “What do you want?” Alessa asked.
    “Tarius’ time has come to an end,” the woman said.  “But for as long as he controls the food and the weapons, no one can challenge him.”
    “You want to rule Sirinis?” Alessa asked.  “We exchange one barbarian for another?  For two?”
    “Do you like living like this?  We all saw you check your crotch as soon as you awoke.  What life is this?”
    “I know the reputation of Nasius and Dene,” Alessa replied.  “Their histories are as dirty as Tarius’.”
    “Ruling with force would be better than living under Tarius’ free-for-all.”
    “Even so, I’m no one.”  Alessa shifted in the chair.  Her eyes were growing accustomed to the dim light.
    “You are Vantanis’ daughter,” the man said.  “And he is trusted by Tarius.”
    “That’s right,” Alessa said.  “But I am not Vantanis.  I am no one to Tarius.”
    “You underestimate your influence,” the woman said.  “Your charms are considerable.  Leonus is testament to this.”
    “What do you want?  Do you want me