Read Online To Whatever End (Echoes of Imara Book 1) by Claire Frank - Free Book Online

cause nightmares. Leading men always led to death. When I was younger, I thought I could use my skills to protect people. But I did things in those days I’m not proud of, and I don’t intend to repeat those mistakes.”
    “You’re far too hard on yourself,” Alastair replied. “What man hasn’t done things he regrets?”
    Daro met Alastair’s eyes. “We all have our own ways of dealing with what we did. And I’m not talking about our days protecting merchant caravans. Your way was to stay here, be involved, serve the king. I’m sure the benefits of your newfound station don’t hurt either,” he said and gestured to Alastair’s fine clothes. “I have my own way. I didn’t want to be involved in the first place, but we did what needed to be done and that is the end of it.”
    Alastair sighed and lowered his voice. “You act as if we did something shameful—as if you want to sweep it under the rug. We did what needed doing, Daro. Plain and simple. King Hadran was insane, we all knew it. What he did out at Madrona Keep…” He trailed off and turned away. “You were there. You saw it. You saw how many people died, innocent people. And King Rogan is a good man. You know that too. We did what was right and the kingdom is better for it. You should be here, Daro. You could make a difference here, serving a good king.”
    Daro clenched his teeth and felt his anger rise. He took a deep breath. He didn’t want to argue with his friend. He was about to reply when he realized another man was standing next to the table.
    “Good timing, Callum,” Alastair said with a hearty laugh. “I suspect Daro was about to throttle me. Please, sit down.” He shoved a chair backwards.
    Callum brushed his dark hair from his eyes. He was dressed in his usual long black coat with a wide collar turned up around his neck, a loose-fitting black shirt and trousers, and shiny black boots with the tops folded down. He sank down in a chair next to Alastair and flipped a gold coin along his knuckles.
    Daro forced himself to relax and nodded to Callum. As always, he was struck by Callum’s youthful appearance as the man peeked out from behind his slightly disheveled hair with a rather boyish grin. “Good to see you,” Daro said. “We weren’t sure if you’d be here this year.”
    “I live nearby, so it’s convenient enough,” Callum said with a shrug. His gaze swung back and forth between Daro and Alastair, one corner of his mouth turned up slightly. “So, what are we talking about? Clearly not the price of wine.”
    “I was simply trying to figure out why our friend here has run off to the farthest reaches of the kingdom and seems content to waste his life making trinkets for the gentry,” Alastair said. He leaned back in his chair and set his mug down hard.
    “I would hardly say I ran away. Besides, what do you know about my life? I trained for years learning how to hurt people under the guise of defending them. And what did that get me? A lot of blood on my hands. Now I need to create. I need to keep busy, and the things I make are hardly trinkets. I have something now that I can take pride in. I do good work and I’ve made a good home for my wife.”
    “You can’t keep hiding her away, you know,” Alastair replied. “She thrives here, you have to see that. She was born here, this is her home. She shouldn’t be living out in the wild. She needs more to keep her happy.”
    Daro pushed his mug away and slammed his hand down on the table. “And what do you think you know about my wife?”
    “Hey, easy, Daro,” said Callum, putting a hand out toward him. “He didn’t mean anything by that.”
    Daro glared at both of them. They didn’t know the first thing about her, or how to make her happy. “Leave her out of this.”
    “Fine, fine,” said Alastair. “But think about it. We both know Rogan wants you here. Why won’t you at least consider it?”
    Callum tossed his coin in the air and caught it with deft fingers.