Read Online Warriors of the Black Shroud by Peter Howe - Free Book Online Page B

the curtain and hurried toward the throne.
    â€œPage, take these young people with you and entertain them while I am with my Lightkeepers. Bring the Chosen One back to me just before the next Quiet Hour.”
    Astrodor led the three friends out of the antechamber as the Lightkeepers filed in. Their faces were grim, and Walker was glad to be away from the heavy feeling that hung over them. When they got into the courtyard everything felt lighter and more cheerful, the way it had seemed when he first arrived there.
    â€œWhat would you like to do?” asked Astrodor.
    â€œI don’t know,” Walker replied. “What is there?”
    â€œWe could go to the quarry and watch them mining the stone,” Eddie suggested. “That’s always interesting.”
    â€œOr we could go to the unicorn farm and watch the babies being trained,” added Astrodor.
    â€œBaby unicorns get my vote!” cried Frankie. “I mean, how cute can a block of stone be?”
    â€œThat would be great,” Walker agreed, “but there’s something else I’d like to do—go to Astrodor’s house.”
    â€œMy house?” said Astrodor. “There’s nothing special about my house or my family. We’re just ordinary Nebulites. Why would you want to go there?”
    â€œIt’s because you’re ordinary people, it would be interesting,” Walker explained. “We’ve spent a lot of time with the king and all the Lightkeepers but not with just regular folks.”
    Frankie looked at him curiously.
    â€œYou know, you’re right,” she said. “It would be kind of fun. I love seeing inside other people’s houses, ’specially if they’re messy. We can go to the farm afterward.”
    â€œLet’s do it,” Walker said, “but only if your family wouldn’t mind, of course.”
    â€œI’m sure they would be honored to have a Chosen One in their house,” Astrodor assured him. “I don’t know who’s at home right now.”
    â€œWell,” said Frankie, “there’s only one way to find out. Let’s go!”
    And so they followed their new friend along the same streets he had walked on his way to work. Walker could feel a tension in the air that hadn’t been there on his first visit. Not every face was smiling. He overheard snatches of muttered conversation: “. . . think they’re better than we are . . .” and “. . . just an Outerworld boy . . .” It was all very disturbing. Finally Astrodor stopped in front of his home.
    â€œLike I said,” he mumbled, “it’s nothing special. It’s just like everybody else’s house.”
    â€œThat’s great,” said Frankie. “That means we don’t have to go into any others. You’ve seen one—you’ve seen them all!”
    They filed down the short garden path and through the open entryway that led straight into the main room. Lying on the floor were the twins, Avradin and Amradin. They were playing with small stone bricks that interlocked, and were halfway through building what looked to Walker like a fort. Behind them sat Artor on a very uncomfortable-looking stone chair reading a large book, the pages of which appeared to be made of fabric. They all looked up as their brother and the three strangers entered the room.
    â€œHello, my brothers,” Astrodor greeted them. “I want you to meet some people.”
    The twins looked curiously at the visitors, but Artor buried himself deeper into his book.
    â€œThis is Prince Edward,” Astrodor continued. “He’s a Royal Messenger and you may have seen him before. He’s the king’s messenger and one of the most important people in court.”
    Eddie looked both pleased and embarrassed by this description, and muttered something about that being a bit of an exaggeration.
    â€œAnd I’m