Red Sky at Dawn by D. A. Adams Read Free Book Online Page B

study. Reports had come back on the strength of the ogre clans gathering at the gate, and he needed to read them before turning in for the night. Even with such important business to occupy him, his thoughts returned to Roskin again and again.
    Other than when he had been struck by the arrow and had feared death would take him, Kraganere had known only fleeting fear. Now, with his son suffering an unknown fate, terror flooded him like melting snow in spring. Every time he tried to focus on something necessary and important, the sensation would rush through him, and his thoughts would turn to poison.
    Alone in his study, with portraits of Roskin and Roskin’s mother across the room, the terror enveloped him, and Kraganere compared their features, staring from one portrait and then back to the other. Roskin had his forehead, nose, and chin. No one could deny that, but he had his mother’s eyes, wild and unrelenting, the kind that cut through facades and made the weak turn away. The king’s love for the wild elf and his son was overpowering, and the conflicting emotions, terror and love, filled his chest and made it hard to breathe. Unable to control himself, he rose from his desk and called for Captain Roighwheil.
    “Yes, my king?” the captain said as the king strode out of his study and down the hall. Roighwheil turned and followed.
    “Prepare your unit to travel,” Kraganere, who usually spoke warmly to the captain, barked.
    “Yes sir, but where to?”
    “We’re going to the eastern gate.” The king turned down the stairwell that led to the palace’s armory.
    “Is that wise?” the captain asked, following him down the steps.
    “Your approval was not sought, Captain. Only your compliance.”
    “Yes, my king.”
    The captain stopped on the stairs and went back up to gather the king’s guards together to give them the orders. The king continued to the armory, where he called for the chief steward to assist him. The steward, a chubby and somewhat dim-witted dwarf who was rarely asked to do more than keep the king’s weapons and armor clean and well-oiled, stared at the king as if he had been asked to fly across the mountains.
    “Move your backside,” Kraganere bellowed.
    The steward clambered to his feet and opened the rack that held the king’s best axes. While Kraganere chose the weapons he would take, the steward unpacked a suit of mail suitable for battle. Pleased with both his weapons and the mail, Kraganere ordered the steward to deliver them to the livery. Then, he returned upstairs to instruct his wife and other children that he was heading to the eastern gate.
    ***
    Master Sondious rode for three days, barely sleeping more than a couple of hours a night and changing ponies frequently as he passed through cities and townships. When he finally reached the eastern gate, he had at least four days before the moon cycle ended to talk with the ogres and lower tensions, so he slept for a full night and spent half of the next day grooming himself to greet the clan matriarchs present.
    At the gate, these soldiers acted much the same as the young ones in Dorkhun outside the advisor’s window, a lot of blustering and bravado about how badly they were going to defeat their enemy. Master Sondious ignored the pretense and focused on what he wanted to say to the ogres. First, he would apologize on behalf of the council. This apology would not violate any ethical boundaries because he had the authority to speak for the council. Second, he would offer tribute to the matriarchs as compensation for their time and energy in traveling to the eastern gate under these circumstances. He would use his personal wealth as the capital. Third, he would request a reprieve of one moon cycle to allow him to gather more information on the fate of the heir, which might prompt the king to recant his accusations, thus staving off war. Given his knowledge of ogre customs, he believed that these three acts would appease the matriarchs’