Fire And Ice (Book 1) by Wayne Krabbenhoft III Read Free Book Online Page B

left the study glad that they understood.  He also caught the words of Stemis.  The King had said they had things to talk about, not to catch up on.  Maybe he had really meant to say the latter.  It was a worry for later if a worry at all.  Probably nothing important.
     
                  Coran went to the wing of the palace that contained the rooms of the royal family only to find that they were not there.  A woman with dark hair mixed with gray was coming out of the rooms that had been Katelyn’s when he left.  She carried an empty pitcher for water and some towels.
                  “Carlinya,” he greeted the First Maid. 
                  “Coran?  I did not know you were here,” she replied warmly.
                  “I just arrived and was looking for Margery and Katelyn.”
                  “They might be in the garden, or with their father.”
                  “They are not with his Majesty.  I just came from there.”
                  “The garden then,” she told him.
                  “Thank you.”
                  He took Carlinya and Herrith’s suggestion and tried the gardens at the rear of the palace next.  As he walked the stone path between meticulously trimmed hedges he noticed that the various types of trees were filling out nicely.  He came to an open area at the center of the garden where marble benches sat on a carpet of green grass around a circular, man-made pool.  At the opposite end of the clearing he spotted the backs of two well-dressed women.  The blond girl in a yellow dress stood a few inches taller than her companion, a girl in blue whose black hair, bound by a blue scarf and nearly reaching her waist, swung from side to side as she walked.  He was surprised to see that it was the same scarf he had given her on the day he had left for Tyelin.  Coran came up behind them quietly and followed a few feet back.
                  “Are you excited about your birthday?” Margery asked.  “It is a special time when you turn sixteen.  I know I was excited when it was mine.”
                  “Of course,” Katelyn responded in a voice that was fuller and surer than the one Coran remembered.  “I had a new dress made especially for the occasion.”
                  “Keeping secrets from your sister?” the older princess teased.  “Well, I cannot wait to see it.”
                  “Neither can I,” Coran agreed calmly, as if he had been a part of the conversation from the beginning.  If he hadn’t been ready he would have run right into the two startled women.  They stopped dead in their tracks and slowly turned to face him.  Once they were sure it was him they both threw their arms around him.  He almost dropped his packs, including the one containing the wrapped bundle.
                  “I cannot believe you are here,” Katelyn looked up into his face.
                  Coran was startled himself by the changes he saw in her.  She was no longer the awkward girl he once knew, but a beautiful young woman.  Margery gave him another hug before stepping back.  Her sister held on for a moment longer then did the same.
                  “Not that I am not happy, I am, but why are you here?” Margery questioned.
                  “I wanted to see my two favorite people in the world,” he answered with a wide smile of his own.
    “Seriously,” Margery told him in a no nonsense tone.
                  “I mean it,” he protested, then continued in a genuine voice.  “I really did miss you.  Both of you.”  They beamed at him.
                  “You have to tell us what you have been up to,” the older sister stated.
                  “Yes,” Katelyn added.  “Tell us everything.”
                  He wasn’t