Poor World by Sherwood Smith Read Free Book Online Page A

witlessness, in fact — when he went on to describe Shnit’s ugliness feature by feature, showing about as much emotion as I was ever to see from him. I thought I hated Shnit — and I did, and still do — but my hatred was a little, fuzzy, cuddly toy of a hate next to his. This was a king-sized, no, a world -sized hatred, fostered by what I discovered much later had been a lifetime of horrific abuse. All the things Shnit had done to us had been done to him, only more and for longer, from the time of his birth until he’d managed to get away and start on this plan.
    â€œ... at the beginning,” he was saying, and I realized I’d gotten sidetracked into thinking about Shnit and had missed some words. Dangerous! I paid attention. “In the beginning, we’ll take the smaller countries, like your Mearsies Heili, the ones fairly isolated, that don’t have resident armies. There we will recruit and train for the second stage, the taking of those who will try to defend by force of arms — Fhleria, Ralanor Veleth, Land of the Venn. And last, combined armies and magicians against those who can defend with magic and warfare — like Land of the Chwahir, Marloven Hess, Khanerenth, Toar, Geranda. I reserve for myself the privilege of knifing Shnit in his own stronghold, after he has witnessed its fall.”
    By then I was so thoroughly chilled even my reactions were numbed down to just a kind of cold shiver.
    For a long pause he smiled, his unblinking eyes bright with reflected light from the window. Then he turned away with another of those swift movements, and he said, “Positions of authority must be earned. Rulers chosen on merit. This gives anyone an opportunity to rise, regardless of birth status. But they must demonstrate ability — something my old friend still needs to learn. Ah well.” He waved a hand carelessly toward the door, and I knew he meant the Feather-topped Fiend.
    â€œAnyway, life will be much better, for everyone in the world. A dream, about to be made real.” He was at the window again, and on the word ‘real’ he turned to face me. “Now that you have the plans before you, will you join our ranks?”
    And so I came to one of the worst moments of my life, one that has given me plenty of nightmares and bad memories since — and has had all kinds of repercussions that I’m even now learning about.
    Useless to excuse myself on the grounds of protecting the others — the fact is, I lied, and I knew I was lying, when I said, “Yes.”
    I was thinking, what else can I do? Say no and get us all killed, with his Conquering Army all lined up to watch the fun?
    But once you enter the life of a lie, there is usually only one way out: betrayal. It’s only a matter of how, who, what — and when.
    At the time he smiled again. “Excellent,” he said. “Excellent, Cherene. It would have been terrible, given all your gifts, and the experiences we hold in common, had you chosen the blind, stupid course.”
    I did , I thought. But it’s done. CJ and the Mearsieans against the Stupid Adults. I’ll think of it that way. And if I can save Clair — and the others — then maybe things won’t be so bad.
    That was it, my own private goal: to save the world.
    (That’s why I call this mess ‘Poor World’!)
    â€œMy name is Kessler, and once you’ve been trained, you’ll work with me,” he said. “I see in you much of myself at your age, something Alsaes fails to understand — though he was the same age when we met. For now, Alsaes is in charge of recruitment.”
    Which makes it surprising they have anybody, I thought.
    â€œMy lead magician is Dejain, and you will meet her presently. Do not give our names to the fools who choose the darkness. They have no right to sully our names. Any questions?”
    â€œNo,” I said.
    â€œIt will be fascinating, working