Moon's Artifice by Tom Lloyd Read Free Book Online

everything, saying the word sparked a flicker of excitement inside him. The Imperial City was a sheltered world to grow up in and the House of the Sun’s elite Astaren warrior-mages had been obliterated centuries ago along with its warrior caste. Like the rest of the city, everything Narin knew of the Astaren came through rumour and myth. A secret kept even from the lords and generals of their own Houses, the Astaren were warrior-mages who formed the secret core of each army, performed the impossible and answered only to the Gods.
    Enchei puffed out his cheeks and frowned at the goshe. His curled greying eyebrows twitched as he thought, absent-mindedly twisting the bone fetish around his neck through his fingers.
    ‘Doubt it. They’d probably have tracked you down by now if you had one of their own,’ he said eventually. ‘Let’s hope he ain’t, eh ? Near enough the games of Gods in terms of us getting out alive.’
    Narin let out a deep sigh and nodded his agreement. Normal folk getting caught up in the machinations of the Astaren rarely fared well and it was one additional complication he didn’t need.
    ‘Quite a night you had, then,’ Enchei commented. To the older man’s astonishment, his idle comment seemed to deflate Narin completely. The Investigator’s head dropped and he dropped back into a chair and slumped.
    ‘Stars above, what’s come over you ?’ the old man exclaimed. ‘Don’t tell me you argued with that girl of yours ? That’s where you found him, right ? Out seeing Kine ?’
    Narin shook his head miserably. ‘If only we
had
argued,’ he admitted.
    The Investigator fell silent, unwilling to say more. Enchei was his closest friend and the only other who knew of Narin’s relationship with Kine, but somehow he feared to speak the words in the light of day. The idea of children had been a small fantasy they had each mentioned on occasion over the last year ; wilfully dreaming of a life they’d never have. While it remained just between him and Kine, it wasn’t quite real yet – but telling another would make it so.
    ‘Well, spit it out, boy. It’s because of me the two of you met ; reckon I feel some sort of responsibility.’
    Enchei stood and headed around the makeshift bed Narin had set up. He put a hand on Narin’s shoulder and bent down until the Investigator met his arresting, cobalt-blue gaze.
    ‘Better we hadn’t met I think,’ Narin sighed.
    Enchei made a disgusted sound and stepped back. ‘You say that again and I’ll smack you round the head. I ain’t saying it’s the best way of falling in love, her being married to a Wyvern nobleman and all, but we all get dealt a shitty hand sometimes. I could’ve picked life to go a better way too.’
    ‘You don’t understand,’ Narin insisted, ‘Enchei, she’s pregnant.’
    The older man stopped mid-reply. ‘Pregnant ? Ah. That could prove inconvenient.’ He scratched his jaw and held up a finger like a schoolmaster waiting for his pupil’s attention. ‘Now I know I’m old and forgetful, but when you saved that nobleman’s life like the hero you are, hadn’t they just cut his balls off ?’
    Narin groaned and pressed his fingers against his temple. ‘What was I thinking ? As soon as she starts to show, he’ll know she’s taken a lover and have her killed !’ His voice became panicked at the very thought of it, his heartbeat jumping rapidly though he couldn’t even find the strength to rise.
    ‘Don’t be so foolish,’ Enchei said in a sharp tone, ‘it’s not so drastic as that.’
    ‘What ? The man’s been castrated ! He knows he’s not going to be the father, how long before he works out it’s me ?’
    ‘Hah, Lord Cail Vanden Wyvern ? For a man of the noble caste, he’s a spineless bureaucrat and not the cleverest either. I’d be surprised if he got that far in nine months – which is, by the way, how long you’ve got to find a solution.’
    ‘He’ll know long before then !’ Narin protested, only