Read Online THREE DROPS OF BLOOD by Michelle L. Levigne - Free Book Online
Authors: Michelle L. Levigne
Tags: Fantasy, historical fantasy
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didn't want you to be angry with me,
too."
"Angry with you?" Now he did laugh, sitting back in his chair and taking his hands off
her chair, so she could have escaped if she wished. "My dear child, I am sometimes frustrated,
sometimes afraid for you, sometimes perplexed and even fearful that we push you too hard, to
learn too much, but never angry. Disappointed, I suppose. Oh, how I wish Master Breylon were
here. He would laugh."
"Why?" Meghianna dared to knuckle the moisture from her eyes.
"Haven't you ever heard the proverb that the foulest curse a man can wish on his son is
that he have a son just like him someday?" He chuckled louder, his shoulders shaking, when
Meghianna could only stare at him and frown, confused. "All the terrors and worries Ceera and I
put our teachers through, I must now endure from your hand. And you not even seven summers
old yet." The amusement left his eyes between one heartbeat and the next, and Meghianna knew
some terrible, frightening thought had occurred to him.
"What is it?" she whispered. "What's wrong?"
"There must indeed be some awesome, heavy duty and burden waiting for you, for the
Estall to begin forming you for it so early. I thought it was enough to be the one to strengthen
and support Ceera for the making of the Zygradon and Braenlicach, and history would be done
with me. I think perhaps those things will be forgotten, and I will be known as the enchanter who
trained the greatest Queen of Snows the World will ever know."
"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?"
"Neither, my dear. It simply is, and a wise man accepts his destiny and does his best to
serve and to please the Estall." He held out a hand to help her stand. "Come, time to get you back
into your bed."
"Does Nalla know?"
"Of course, but I am relieved to know she trusts me to look after you." He smiled, but
the expression didn't quite reach or warm his eyes.
"What did happen to Endor? What did you have to do, that makes you so sad when you
talk about him?"
"He killed Ceera, because she chose to love me rather than him. He killed our daughter,
Emrillian, because her death would destroy her mother, and because she was my child. And
when he came to kill me, thinking me weak and blind in my grief, I killed him with Braenlicach.
Keep this in mind, little one. The hardest task is to decide when mercy must end, and justice
must destroy evil before it grows any stronger and overcomes innocence altogether."
Meghianna thought it would take her years to understand all that his words meant and
implied, but her soul grasped the truth in what Mrillis said.
She was quiet and subdued when Mrillis walked her back to her quarters, so Nalla didn't
scold, only hugged her tight and tucked her into bed. Meghianna fell asleep to the murmurs of
Nalla and Mrillis talking in the outer room, and knowing they were there comforted her.
* * * *
"Lord Mrillis?"
"Lady Megassa." He nodded to Megassa as she approached him in the gates of the
fortress. Together, they watched the last noble leave, shrouded in the shadows of a looming
storm.
The summer had passed quickly, filled with the usual complaints about the different
enclaves of Encindi, friendly and unfriendly, and the expected conflicts among the Noveni minor
kings and nobles as more healed land on Moerta became open for re-settlement. It didn't matter
that some lords and kings didn't have enough people to hold and guard the land, everyone wanted
to expand their territory. Nearly one-third of the arguments and minor battles the Warhawk had
been forced to resolve that summer had been over stretches of land that had been neglected for
generations because of the poisoning of raw star-metal. Now that it was purified and cleansed
and usable, multiple claimants tried to take control, often leading to bloody battles. Efrin often
spent more time in Moerta, settling claims through negotiation and force, and battling Encindi
marauders, than he did in Lygroes. The title of 'The Bloody Sword' came
too."
"Angry with you?" Now he did laugh, sitting back in his chair and taking his hands off
her chair, so she could have escaped if she wished. "My dear child, I am sometimes frustrated,
sometimes afraid for you, sometimes perplexed and even fearful that we push you too hard, to
learn too much, but never angry. Disappointed, I suppose. Oh, how I wish Master Breylon were
here. He would laugh."
"Why?" Meghianna dared to knuckle the moisture from her eyes.
"Haven't you ever heard the proverb that the foulest curse a man can wish on his son is
that he have a son just like him someday?" He chuckled louder, his shoulders shaking, when
Meghianna could only stare at him and frown, confused. "All the terrors and worries Ceera and I
put our teachers through, I must now endure from your hand. And you not even seven summers
old yet." The amusement left his eyes between one heartbeat and the next, and Meghianna knew
some terrible, frightening thought had occurred to him.
"What is it?" she whispered. "What's wrong?"
"There must indeed be some awesome, heavy duty and burden waiting for you, for the
Estall to begin forming you for it so early. I thought it was enough to be the one to strengthen
and support Ceera for the making of the Zygradon and Braenlicach, and history would be done
with me. I think perhaps those things will be forgotten, and I will be known as the enchanter who
trained the greatest Queen of Snows the World will ever know."
"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?"
"Neither, my dear. It simply is, and a wise man accepts his destiny and does his best to
serve and to please the Estall." He held out a hand to help her stand. "Come, time to get you back
into your bed."
"Does Nalla know?"
"Of course, but I am relieved to know she trusts me to look after you." He smiled, but
the expression didn't quite reach or warm his eyes.
"What did happen to Endor? What did you have to do, that makes you so sad when you
talk about him?"
"He killed Ceera, because she chose to love me rather than him. He killed our daughter,
Emrillian, because her death would destroy her mother, and because she was my child. And
when he came to kill me, thinking me weak and blind in my grief, I killed him with Braenlicach.
Keep this in mind, little one. The hardest task is to decide when mercy must end, and justice
must destroy evil before it grows any stronger and overcomes innocence altogether."
Meghianna thought it would take her years to understand all that his words meant and
implied, but her soul grasped the truth in what Mrillis said.
She was quiet and subdued when Mrillis walked her back to her quarters, so Nalla didn't
scold, only hugged her tight and tucked her into bed. Meghianna fell asleep to the murmurs of
Nalla and Mrillis talking in the outer room, and knowing they were there comforted her.
* * * *
"Lord Mrillis?"
"Lady Megassa." He nodded to Megassa as she approached him in the gates of the
fortress. Together, they watched the last noble leave, shrouded in the shadows of a looming
storm.
The summer had passed quickly, filled with the usual complaints about the different
enclaves of Encindi, friendly and unfriendly, and the expected conflicts among the Noveni minor
kings and nobles as more healed land on Moerta became open for re-settlement. It didn't matter
that some lords and kings didn't have enough people to hold and guard the land, everyone wanted
to expand their territory. Nearly one-third of the arguments and minor battles the Warhawk had
been forced to resolve that summer had been over stretches of land that had been neglected for
generations because of the poisoning of raw star-metal. Now that it was purified and cleansed
and usable, multiple claimants tried to take control, often leading to bloody battles. Efrin often
spent more time in Moerta, settling claims through negotiation and force, and battling Encindi
marauders, than he did in Lygroes. The title of 'The Bloody Sword' came
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