Lord of the Shadows by Jennifer Fallon Read Free Book Online Page A

Madalan agreed. “He's been around long enough to know the way the land lays. What about Marqel?”
    “She's riding a wave of euphoria,” he told her. “She thinks she's gotten away with murder and is about to become High Priestess of the Shadowdancers. She won't say or do anything that might jeopardize that.”
    “We need to keep a close eye on her. If she can murder Belagren, she can just as easily murder one of us.”
    Dirk smiled. “She won't kill me, my lady. Without my help, she is no longer the Voice of the Goddess.”
    “That's little comfort for me, Dirk.”
    “When you're Lady of the Suns and hold power over every Sundancer and Shadowdancer on Ranadon, you should find plenty of comfort, my lady.”
    The Shadowdancer studied him thoughtfully. “You know, if your father had had even a fraction of your wit, Belagren would never have gotten as far as she did.”
    “Then you should be grateful I'm on your side, my lady.”
    Madalan scowled at him. “You'd better be on my side, Dirk Provin. Because Belagren's fate will seem like a blessing if I find out you're not.”
    After Madalan left, Dirk closed the door behind her and locked it, but not before reminding the guards outside that not wanting to be disturbed meant exactly that. He turned his back to the door and leaned against it with his eyes closed for a moment, and then he opened them and held out his hands.
    He was not surprised to discover they were shaking.

he force gathered in the courtyard outside the Avacas palace was as much for show as anything else. Kirsh knew that, just as he knew the chances of finding anything useful about his brother's disappearance in Tolace were slim. But the Crown Prince of Senet had been kidnapped. It was important something was seen to be done, even if it was fruitless.
    He had two hundred men ready to ride out with him. One hundred and fifty of them were Senetian troops, part of his father's Palace Guard, and the other fifty were Dhevynians, members of the elite Queen's Guard of which Kirsh was, untilrecently, a member and who were now his—as Dhevyn's regent—to command.
    Given a choice in the matter, Kirsh would have preferred to leave the Senetian troops behind. Their numbers would slow him down, for one thing, and he didn't really trust their discipline. The Dhevynians, on the other hand, were much better trained, even if their first loyalty was to the Queen of Dhevyn and not to her regent. He'd managed to get Sergey appointed captain of the Senetian Guard, and with Alexin leading the Dhevynians, he was at least confident his commanders were capable and would only question his orders if they had a genuine concern.
    Kirsh had been afraid the news of Belagren's death would delay his expedition, but his father was adamant they leave as scheduled, insisting the living were more important than the dead. Antonov seemed to be taking Belagren's sudden demise very well. Although he had respected the High Priestess, Kirsh had never been as close to her as his father. He mourned her passing but he wasn't actually grieving over it. There were too many other things going on in his life; too many other problems he wasn't sure how to deal with. He anxiously cast his eyes over the crowd come to watch their departure, looking for Marqel again, but there was no sign of her. She hadn't been in her room when he went looking for her earlier. It was unlike her to let him leave without saying good-bye.
    The Lion of Senet came to see them off, with Alenor beside him. Kirsh was surprised she had come to bid him farewell. The queen was still pale and gaunt from her miscarriage and she clung to Antonov's arm for support. The effort of descending four flights of stairs from her rooms had exhausted her. She shouldn't have come. It was both a foolish gesture and a pointless one.
Still, one must keep up appearances
, Kirsh thought sourly as he rode forward with his two captains to greet his father and his wife.
    “Spare nobody, Kirsh,”