Amazonia by Sky Croft Read Free Book Online Page B

the
     sarcasm, and moved away before Kale had a chance to say anything further.
     She joined up with Blake, walking with her. It wasn’t very far, Blake’s
     cabin was opposite the main lodge, across the center of the village.
    Shale was mortified when
     Melaina entered the cabin directly next door, on the right, but understood
     that it was tactically sound to have the best warrior close at hand should
     the princess need her. The queen’s cabin was on the other side of Blake’s,
     and Aris’s was directly next to the queen’s.
    “You are certainly well
     protected here,” Shale said.
    Blake chuckled. “I am, though
     I insisted they put those trees in.”
    Shale spotted the line of
     trees that were in between each of the four cabins. “I take it you like
     your privacy?”
    Blake nodded. “I do. But
     that’s about as much as I can get around here.”
    “Always in demand, huh?”
     Shale teased.
    Blake grinned. “Something
     like that.”
    “Then I’m honored you’re
     giving this time to me.”
    Blake’s eyes twinkled in the
     moonlight. “You should be.”
    “Oh, I am,” Shale said in all
     seriousness, laughing when Blake slapped her arm playfully. “I guess that
     means I should make it count, since I don’t know when you’ll find the time
     for me again.”
    Blake’s eyebrows rose
     curiously. “What did you have in mind?”
    Shale coyly peeked at her
     from under long lashes. She stuck her arm out. “Walk with me?”
    Blake took her arm. “Sure.”
    It was a clear night, and as
     the moon was full, it cast enough light for them to see by.
    “It is I who must apologise
     to you tonight,” Blake said, after they had passed by Melaina’s cabin.
    “How so?” Shale asked,
     bewildered. “You didn't poison my soup, did you? Thinking I was Kale?”
    Blake giggled. “No. I can
     tell you two apart.”
    Shale already knew that, but
     it still pleased her to hear it.
    “I’m apologising because it
     seems that I’m one of the fair few who can.”
    Shale grew confused. “You’ve
     lost me.”
    “You spent the entire night
     with those people, Shale, and at the end of it they still didn’t know who
     was who.”
    Shale now understood. “That’s
     hardly your fault. Don’t worry about it, I’m used to it.”
    “You shouldn’t have had to
     get used to it. I know you’re identical, but there are differences, you
     just have to look. Bar my mother, only Aris knew who you were.”
    “You think it’s bad now? Wait
     till my bruises fade.”
    “I don’t know how you put up
     with it, Shale,” Blake said. “It would drive me mad.”
    “Don’t have much of a choice.
     Though I admit it gets tedious at times.”
    Blake shook her head. “By the
     gods, imagine what it would have been like if your mother had given birth
     to three or four, there’d be utter chaos.”
    Shale snickered. “It’s funny
     you should say that.”
    Blake stopped abruptly.
     “You’re kidding?”
    “No, my mother had triplets.”
    “Wow.” She continued walking.
     “What happened to the third?”
    “It was a boy.” Shale glanced
     at her. “In my tribe, boys were drowned at birth.”
    It depended on the queen to
     make that decision: some opted for death, some allowed local villagers to
     take them in. “In ours, they’re given away,” Blake said. “My mother and I
     would never allow an innocent child to be killed, even if they are male.”
    “But with our brother, an
     exception was made. Because we were triplets, our mystic believed we all
     shared the same soul, and killing him would harm all of us. She said,
     ‘Where one will be, the other will follow. When one is seriously hurt, the
     other will pay the price.’” Shale paused. “He was given to a farmer.”
    “Do you believe that? That
     your souls are linked?”
    “Mine and Kale’s are,” Shale
     said, without a shadow of a doubt. “I don’t know about Zale.”
    “Zale?”
    “That’s what Kale and I call
     him. He