King's Folly (Book 2) by Sabrina Flynn Read Free Book Online Page A

cave.
    “He’s still a bastard,” her guardian called.
    The leggings were coarse, scratchy, and smelled like Oenghus after he’d been chopping wood all day, but they were warm and dry and far too long. She reached under Marsais’ robe, slid his knife from its sheath, and sat down to trim the legs. There was enough fabric left over to use for a belt and wrap her hands and feet.
    Marsais muttered restlessly, and she glanced over her shoulder. He jerked his head sharply as if avoiding a blow, and then his eyes snapped open, white and sightless as snow. A murmur rasped between his lips, neck arched and his muscles twitched.
    The first time she had seen him thus, in a pleasure house, she had not understood what was happening, but now she knew. The seer was in the clutch of a vision. And there was nothing she could do as his mouth opened in a soundless scream.
    Isiilde moved in front and shielded him from the paladins’ eyes. She did not want the paladins to see him like this. Feeling helpless, she placed a hand over his heart. When her fingers touched his scar, the tension bled from his body. He sucked in a sharp breath as if he had been underwater for an eternity. Slowly, his muscles released their hold and grey eyes blinked in confusion and fear.
    “Marsais?”
    “Isiilde,” he whispered. “A moment, my dear.”
    She lay her head on his chest listening to a pounding heart, as he regained his senses. When his breathing evened, he rested a bandaged hand on her head, but whether it was to comfort himself or her, she did not know.
    “A vision,” he explained.
    “I know.”
    “Do you?”
    She raised her head. “What else could frighten you?”
    “A great many things.”
    “I won’t ask what you saw.”
    “It’s best not to know.”
    “Is it?”
    “Oh, yes.” He closed his eyes. “By the gods, yes.”
    “Maybe.” Isiilde frowned. “But our eyes change when we know.”
    Marsais looked into her own. “That they do.” There was sorrow in his voice. He pulled her close through their bond and a warming calm like a lazy summer day, filled her, chasing back the shadows.
    “Is it bad?”
    “When is it not?”
    “Presently.”
    A chuckle rose in his chest and he clutched her close. She returned to her pillow, listening to the rhythm of his heart. After a time, when thought had turned to decision, he stirred, turning his lips towards her ear.
    “My dear,” he whispered. “If you forget everything else, I beg of you, never forget that day on the beach.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “No one ever understands a seer’s prophecy until the time is upon them.”
    “You could tell me.”
    “One day, I will explain why I can’t.”
    “Until that day, there is food on the fire and I saved some berries for you.”
    “I’m honored,” he said, kissing the palm of her hand. The touch left her skin tingling and she smiled, pressing her lips to his with a soft moan.
    “I said wake him, not kiss the bastard.” Oenghus’ growl from the fire brought her up short. Sweeping ears twitched in irritation, but she ignored the giant, eyes fixed on her Bonded.
    “Thank you for saving me,” she whispered.
    “I didn’t save you—you rescued us.”
    “But not before you ordered Luccub to remove my gag.” She shivered at the memory, fingers straying to her neck, but Marsais caught her hand and held it gently between his.
    “Thedus brought the tooth,” he said, tracing her knuckles.   “Without that seemingly inconsequential act, the Imp would have never come. And you, my dear, released our fiendish ally.”
    “And if you had remembered what was in the flagon to begin with, I would have never opened it. So it was still you and your absentmindedness,” she said with an air of triumph.
    He grunted in defeat.
    “Regardless, I’m glad you remembered what Tharios wanted.”
    Marsais cleared his throat and sat up. “I must confess, I never forgot. I had hoped he was bluffing, or that Isek would redeem himself in the