A Shadow's Tale by Jennifer Hanlon Read Free Book Online

Priestess.’
    â€˜Ah. And the doe?’
    â€˜The High Priestess is less bothered about her. Merlas does not pose the threat of being able to destroy the city if she is angered.’
    I glanced at Merlas. If Arias was angry with me, I didn’t want to go back. It didn’t bode well at all. In fact going back while shewas angry was the last thing I wanted to do. Especially since she would know I had been using magic.
    We waited until Merlas could no longer hear their voices before trying to sneak out in the other direction. Merlas walked quickly but quietly with me perched on her back. For the few days we had been living together, she had helped me gain confidence in riding her without a saddle so that I could now balance, kneeling on her back without a problem. I wound my hands into her mane, still acutely aware of just how high up I was.
    â€˜There it is!’
    I barely had time to register the cry before Merlas pitched forwards, going from a walk to a full gallop. I hung on grimly, trying to block out the sound of hooves chasing us as Merlas dodged through the trees. As we reached another clearing, she took off with a sudden absence of movement I don’t think I will ever get used to. Her wings began beating with a determined tempo, desperate to put some distance between us and the City Guard. I dared glance back. They were too close for comfort. One launched a bolt of magic, then several. Merlas managed to dodge most of them, but it slowed her down. They pulled up alongside us. I screamed as one grabbed hold of me, pulling me from Merlas’s back. I kicked and struggled, trying to bite my captor. Merlas brayed in alarm and fury. She rammed the pegasus. A loop of rope landed around her neck, the end held by the other guard. His pegasus dived, losing height rapidly, dragging Merlas down. She shrieked in fury. I cried out to her, reaching for her even as she fell. The guard holding me snapped at me to be silent as his mount’s wings swept through the air, carrying us back towards the city.
    To say that Arias was furious would be one of the worst understatements of my short life. To begin with, she would not even speak to me. When she eventually started talking, a torrent of anger poured forth. I felt so small and insignificant in thegigantic chamber from where Arias ruled, a tiny black speck in the bright light, where the figures carved into the pillars of white stone glared down me, as if I was a mote of dust in an obsessively tidy person’s home.
    â€˜We let you live, Shadow, gave you everything you needed, healed your wounds and kept you safe. You repaid us by disobeying the rules put in place to keep you safe and then you ran away!’
    â€˜I was scared!’ I protested weakly. ‘I was alone and didn’t know what to do!’
    â€˜That does not justify your actions. You have been trained to control your emotions. But that matters no longer. I wash my hands of you.’ Dread mounted in my heart, freezing my breath. I waited to hear what she was going to do to me. She glared at me, her nails clicking against the arm of her throne as she thought of a suitable punishment.
    â€˜You will go to Aspheri, to the realm of your father. He may do with you as he pleases.’
    A curious sensation engulfed me, not unlike that of jumping into a cold river. My surroundings disintegrated in a heartbeat before I had time to say anything.
    * * *
    It was hot, far hotter than Synairn. Demons of various sizes and shapes surrounded me. They spoke in a harsh, guttural language that was so different to the soft, lyrical Synari that it took me a moment to realise that I could understand them. And they were mainly discussing how best to kill me. I summoned magic into my hands, hoping to be able to fight my way out of the ring of demons that surrounded me. They parted like a knife parts soft butter, but not because of me or my magic. Two silver haired boys stood there. Identical in every way,