Mordraud, Book One by Fabio Scalini Read Free Book Online Page A

nobleman leading the rebels. Although they were in one of Cambria’s enemy territories, those lands were of no particular strategic interest, nor did they stand in the path of likely Imperial attacks. Cambrinn, behind them, was a brake on Loren’s army, in this wearying war of position. It was much safer and simpler to live there as outcasts, rather than as free citizens within the Empire. The regions dominated by the ancient Aelian capital were heavily policed by guards and tax collectors – something that would have made it difficult for the pair of them to mind their own business and live in peace.
    And so they decided to settle. Varno had managed to erect a sort of tent beside the ruins, by amassing old canvases and ropes collected from the traps he’d come across in the woods, and he’d soon set to rebuilding the tumbledown house. He had also started working as a woodcutter for a carpenter in the village, to scrape together some meagre earnings, and every coin of his wages was used to purchase materials and builder’s tools. It had taken months, but in the end he’d succeeded in shaping a few rooms covered by a makeshift roof.
    From that moment on, they added the rest piece by piece.
    ‘ We’ve got a vegetable patch, a woodshed and three lovely large rooms...’ Eglade considered, proudly. Getting used to Khartian life hadn’t been that hard. It wasn’t so different to that of her people. She would get the dinner ready, see to the chickens and the vegetable garden, and pick medicinal herbs in the woods to make some infusions to sell down in the village. She would go there herself, even though Varno had emphatically objected to her desire for contact with other humans.
    “ And if they found you out?” he’d protested, deaf to her proposals.
    “ With a shawl, a long dress and a bit of care, nobody will notice...” she’d repeated to the verge of exasperation, until one day Varno finally relented. Very reluctantly.
    Time had proved Eglade right. Apart from her intensely blue eyes, she looked like any other woman when she covered her copper hair with a headscarf. Extremely beautiful, yes, but there was nothing truly out of the ordinary about her. In the meantime, he’d found employment working the land, then as a blacksmith. It wasn’t much money, but it was enough for them and the life they’d chosen.
    The only ingredient missing was a child.
    Odd ly, however much passion they dedicated to the task, Eglade failed to fall pregnant. She, who perceived time’s passing differently to Varno, had never seen this as an obstacle. But for him it was becoming a tragedy.
    “ Maybe we can’t have children...” he repeated over and over, desolately.
    “ Why ever not?! You’re always saying the Khartians and the Aelians are not really that different...”
    “ Yes, in many aspects, but not all of them! Look at you: you’re still a young woman, with no marks, no blemishes – nothing. I’ve already got a few wrinkles on my forehead...”
    “ Then we’ll have to try more often... and for longer!” she would always say, with a mischievous little smile. A love of life that was hard to resist.
    After long and zealous efforts, Eglade was finally expecting. It was 1603. The pregnancy had exceeded the natural term for humans by a few months. Varno was increasingly concerned and puzzled. But luckily there wasn’t long to go, it seemed. Eglade knew, she could feel the birth was drawing closer.
    And she also knew she was carrying a boy.
    Varno came into the kitchen and hugged her, fondly caressing her stomach. The sun was dipping behind the trees, while a hint of moon grew on the horizon.
    “ Each time I look at you, here in this house, I ask myself what made you want to flee with me that night.”
    Eglade didn’t answer straight away. She was observing the trees at the edge of the garden, reflecting on how similar her new world was to the one she’d deserted in following Varno. Yet, no Aelian seemed ready to