Blood Lies (Dark Brothers of the Light #9) by Janrae Frank Read Free Book Online

just been shamed by an
old crone as thoroughly as his fighting skills had been by a pair
of boys. Attempting to distract himself from his burning cheeks,
Alons pulled off his gloves and brushed his fingers across the
water and the image changed:
    Horst's bedchamber appeared. Four myn were
clustered around the side of a curtained bed large enough to hold
four. The curtains had been tied open and tucked around the
stalwart posts. Franz's long, grey hair was unmistakable, even from
the back. Alons could not tell Birthe from Dietlinde until Birthe
settled on the edge of the bed to brush her fingers across Horst's
forehead and he caught a glimpse of her face. The fourth was a girl
with marmalade hair who looked about twelve or thirteen – one of
Dyna's strange children. Lion crept onto the huge bed and laid his
head upon Horst's chest.
    A wave of melancholy swept over Alons.
    "Birthe loves him. So does the dog and
Dietlinde too, although that's more sisterly. I was in love
once."
    Having finished the other two, Alons stared
into the glass of Dragonsbreath, gathering his courage to drink
that also. "I was in love..." He stretched his neck, closed his
eyes; his mouth twisting against the pain. "In Angrim they burn myn
like me."
    "Pagan?" Dyna tilted her head, leaning
toward him.
    "That also. But before that. I – I loved
this beautiful young boy ... barely sixteen. He was a prodigy. A
sculptor, as beautiful in body and spirit as he was talented." The
strong liquor had loosened his tongue without Alons noticing. He
poured another glass of Dragonsbreath, saluting his masculinity as
he drank it and suffered the effects, which were not as bad this
time. Alons was getting used to it.
    "Oooooh." Dyna's eyes widened. "You were
lovers?"
    "Nein. I was his patron." He saw her drink
another serving of Dragonsbreath and downed his, grimly deciding to
match her drink for drink if it killed him: Alons refused to be
drunk under the table by a crone. Magical crone or not, she had
pricked his pride.
    "So you've got a big helping of honor
guilt?"
    "Nein. Fear. If I had guessed wrong about
him, he might have turned me into the church. I would have been
tortured to save my soul and then burned alive."
    "What happened to him?"
    "That's the irony. It was not me the church
took, but him. He was caught using magic. The church arrested him.
I begged, bribed and even went to the Kyser, all for naught. The
day they executed him, I left to seek the wisdom of the Hermit of
Jasmine Falls in Beltria. I became an apostate there. I found peace
in the comforting arms of the White Lady and took her as my
liege-god."
    Alons chugged another glass of Dragonsbreath
and swayed. "Forgive me for becoming maudlin. I think I'm
drunk."
    "Not near drunk enough," replied Dyna,
refilling all three of his glasses. "In vino veritas."
    "Priest tongue. In wine truth. I was
schooled in that."
    "Drink some more and give me some more
truth."
    Alons managed a tremulous grin. "I feel
strange and it is not just the liquor. I have never told anyone
what I am telling you, but it somehow seems right. Maybe I am
overwhelmed by the oddness and worry of the day."
    "Here, let me help you with some of that
truth." Dyna patted his shoulder. "Some of my favorite folks are
corsach."
    "What's that?" Alons lowered his eyes to
gaze into the sapphire blue liquor he held.
    "Homoseksueel."
    Alons tilted his head, glancing at her from
the corner of his eyes. "How do they hide it?"
    "They don't. It's no big crime in most lands
outside of Angrim and Beltria."
    "Still, I fear..."
    "You don't believe that your White Lady is
changing that? Sharani are triadic."
    "I had not considered it. It is hard to let
go of the fear." Alons once more matched her drinking. "The White
Lady told me it would change. But I think ... I..." He blinked and
felt the liquor dragging at him. "When this war is ended and the
victory won, I wish to go to one of those other lands. Suggest one
and see that I don't forget."
    "Red Wolf. I'll