A Forge of Valor by Morgan Rice Read Free Book Online

replied, “I think I can.”
    Aidan looked back, puzzled.
    “What do you mean?” he asked.
    Motley rubbed his chin, his eyes drifting, clearly hatching a plan.
    “Warriors are not allowed to walk freely in the capital now—or go anywhere near the city center. Yet entertainers have no restrictions.”
    Aidan was confused.
    “Why would Pandesia let entertainers into the heart of the capital?” Aidan asked.
    Motley smiled and shook his head.
    “You still don’t know how the world works, boy,” Motley replied. “Warriors are always only allowed in limited places, and at limited times. But entertainers—they are allowed everywhere, at all times. Everybody always needs to be entertained, Pandesians as much as Escalonites. After all, a bored soldier is a dangerous soldier, on either side of the kingdom, and rule of order must be maintained. Entertainment has always been the key to keeping troops happy, and to controlling an army.”
    Motley smiled.
    “You see, young Aidan,” he said, “it is not the commanders who hold the keys to their armies, but us. Mere, old entertainers. Those of the class you despise so much. We rise above battle, cut across enemy lines. No one cares what armor I’m wearing—they care only how good my tales are. And I have fine tales, boy, finer than you shall ever know.”
    Motley turned to the room and boomed:
    “We shall perform a play! All of us!”
    All the actors in the room suddenly cheered, brightened, rising to their feet, hope returning to their dejected eyes.
    “We shall perform our play right in the heart of capital! It shall be the greatest entertainment these Pandesians have ever seen! And more importantly, the greatest distraction. When the time is right, when the city is in our hands, captivated by our great performance, we shall act. And we shall find a way to free your father.”
    The men cheered and Aidan, for the first time, felt his heart warming, felt a new sense of optimism.
    “Do you really think it will work?” Aidan asked.
    Motley smiled.
    “Crazier things, my boy,” he said, “have happened.”
     

CHAPTER EIGHT
     
     
    Duncan tried to blot out the pain as he drifted in and out of sleep, lying back against the stone wall, the shackles cutting into his wrists and ankles and keeping him awake. More than anything, he craved water. His throat was so parched, he couldn’t swallow, so raw that each breath hurt. He could not remember how many days it had been since he’d had a sip, and he felt so weak from hunger he could barely move. He knew he was wasting away down here, and that if the executioner didn’t come for him soon, then hunger would take him.
    Duncan drifted in and out of consciousness, as he had for days, the pain overwhelming him, becoming a part of who he was. He had flashes of his youth, of times spent in open fields, on training grounds, in battlefields. He had memories of his first battles, of days gone by, when Escalon was free and flourishing. These were always interrupted, though, by the faces of his two dead boys, rising up before him, haunting him. He was torn apart by agony, and he shook his head, trying unsuccessfully to make it all go away.
    Duncan thought of his last remaining son, Aidan, and he desperately hoped he was safe back in Volis, that the Pandesians had not reached it yet. His mind then turned to thoughts of Kyra. He remembered her as a young girl, recalled the pride he had always taken in raising her. He thought of her journey across Escalon and he wondered if she had reached Ur, if she had met her uncle, if she was safe now. She was a part of him, the only part of him that mattered now, and her safety mattered more to him than being alive. Would he ever see her again? he wondered. He craved to see her, yet he also wanted her to remain far from here, and safe from all of this.
    The cell door slammed open, and Duncan looked up, startled, as he peered into the darkness. Boots marched in the blackness, and as he listened to the