Prisoner by Megan Derr Read Free Book Online Page B

first started coming here. The custom is not well known outside of Kria, " Sol said more gently. " It will take us two weeks to reach the Winter Palace. Let us hope we can make you properly Krian by the time we reach it. " Iah nodded.
    " Come, " Sol took his arm and tucked it into his elbow. " We will eat the dinner Mella has prepared and begin your instruction tonight. By journey's end, you will be as comfortable as a native. " He laughed briefly. " Provided, of course, that you do not get into any fights. If there is one thing even I will not attempt, it is to fight a Krian. Nothing would single me out as foreign faster. "
    " Of that, I have no doubt. "
    "Come then," Sol said. His words were not the up and down tones of Illussor, nor the clipped, sharp words of his own country. They were the gruff, rolling words of Krian, and Sol spoke it as flawlessly as he had Illussor. "Dinner awaits, and I'm starving."
    He guided Iah into his chair and contemplated him as he took his own seat. Even blind and uncertain, Iah had an inherent dignity about him. Sol remembered the way he'd trembled during the meeting of the Seven Star. Iah's shock and fear must have been overwhelming, for no one ever dared to take an Illussor captive. For Salhara, who relied so heavily on arcen to perform magic, Illussor was feared as much as despised for its natural magic, and the dreaded spell for which Illussor had come to be named. No one remembered the country's original name.
    The Salharan in Sol winced at the idea of a name being not only discarded, but forgotten. Illussor was fitting, however, so perhaps the stars knew something he did not. He snorted softly and turned his mind back to Iah.
    Strange how complacent he was, but perhaps it was simply desperation. It was not as though he'd had many options. Still, if it were Sol's eyes that had been taken, he would not be so calm.
    Of course, if Tawn ever tried to attack him it would not end in Sol's eyes being harmed. Sol forced himself to relax before his tension relayed itself to Iah. Tawn was a problem he would take care of in time. Likely neither of them would survive the encounter. In the meantime, the bastard was useful.
    May his sister forgive him.
    Sol closed his eyes, then opened them again. He switched to Krian, and the language was both strange and familiar on his tongue. He had learned it before he'd been made a soldier, back when it had been frowned upon to have anything to do with the enemy. The Krian language was easy to love; it was far simpler than the flowery words of the Illussor, and so different from his own. Though he did not love the country, he did not hate it either. Not like he did Salhara. "A bowl of stew is directly in front of you. Utensils are to the immediate right, a glass of wine to the left and up slightly, a napkin is south of the bowl, and bread below the wine glass. If you need anything, you've only to say."
    Iah seemed uncertain, and Sol repeated the words again, slowly. Iah nodded, and after he began to eat Sol did likewise. "You know my problem," Iah spoke slowly, his Illussor accent glaringly apparent.
    "My sister," Sol said. "She fell sick, and the fever took her sight." Calmly Sol ate, enjoying the hearty stew made from a lingering deer he had killed the previous day. All too soon such meat would be hard to come by.
    "I am sorry. What was her name?" Frustration laced the awkward words, punctuated by the way Iah fumbled to eat.
    Sol took pity and switched to Illussor. " Her name was Ariana. " He bit back the bitter words he wanted to speak. The name was a pretty one, even if the giver had proved to be unworthy. It suited her, he had to remember that.
    Silence fell, and Sol listened to the wind outside. "It is going to snow," he said in Krian. "We will have to travel quickly, or we will be caught in it." Iah nodded, and he continued. "The Winter Princess is ruthless to those who disobey her will."
    "What?" Iah asked.
    Sol switched back to Illussor. " Do you know