Rise of the Serpent (Serpent's War Book 2) by Jason Halstead Read Free Book Online

something,” he said. “All the more when a large man who you seem to have wrapped around your finger is riding the horse that was your father’s.”
    She stared at him for a few paces and then stared ahead at the dusty road and the distant wagons ahead of them. The muscles in her cheek twitched a few times before she blinked her eyes and let out a deep breath.
    “I lost my mother to a sickness that stole her breath when I was ten years old,” Amra offered.
    Allisandra lifted her head and glanced at her. She tried to smile but it faded almost as soon as her lips crept upwards. “I never knew my mother,” she said. “She died in a fire…when the splisskin raided and burned Assurion’s Crossing to the ground. I would have too if my father hadn’t saved me. I was a baby.”
    “I’m sorry,” Amra said. “I can’t imagine not having her at all.”
    “It’s not so hard,” Namitus said. He glanced around, using the excuse of checking their surroundings to look back at Jillystria.
    “You were an orphan?” Allisandra asked.
    Namitus smiled and ignored her question. “You remind me of someone, a dear friend of mine, though you’re not quite as temperamental.”
    “Is that a good thing?” Allie asked.
    “I think so; she’s the queen of Altonia.”
    “The Kelgryn princess?” Allie gasped.
    “The same,” he said.
    “You’ve either got a silver tongue or…”
    “He doesn’t,” Amra said. “He paid a king’s ransom to help the merchants of Mira rally against the thieves and cutthroats in the Shadows District.”
    “The Shadows District?”
    “Sewers and tunnels beneath the city,” Namitus said. “They use them for smuggling and escaping the city watch mostly.”
    “They call that a district?”
    The rogue shrugged.
    They rode on for several minutes, with Allisandra sneaking glances at him time and again. Finally Namitus turned and caught her doing it. “Go ahead, ask.”
    “Ask what?”
    “What it is that’s eating away at you.”
    She blushed and looked to Amra for help. Amra shrugged. “All right, do you really know King Alto?”
    “I’ve saved his life,” Namitus boasted. “And more than once.”
    Allie’s eyes widened. “You’re messing with me!”
    Namitus shook his head. “I’m not. To be fair, he’s probably saved mine twice as many times. One time, Patrina and I had escaped a band of goblins and followers of Sarya but got ourselves lost in a silver mine. Alto heard me playing my pipes and climbed down a chimney to rescue us. Except the rope didn’t hold.”
    “How did you escape?”
    “We went through the mines and fought our way free. Although I’m not sure who fought more, the goblins or Patrina and Alto.”
    “Patrina…the queen?”
    Namitus nodded. “The same.”
    “And they fought?”
    He chuckled. “They loved each other from the first,” he pointed out. “Took them a few years and a lot of blood and tears to realize it, though.”
    Allie shook her head. “I can’t believe…I mean, I’ve heard stories, but to meet someone who knows them. Patrina and…isn’t there another woman warrior? A paladin?”
    Namitus snorted. “Aleena?”
    “That’s her!”
    “She’s something, all right,” Namitus agreed. “First female Paladin of Leander in hundreds of years, if I remember right.”
    “Amazing,” Allisandra whispered. “That’s what I always wanted—not to be a paladin, but to make a difference. To find adventure and do something meaningful. I would read my books and pine away for lost opportunities stuck tending to our farm.”
    “Alto and Patrina used to complain of the same sort of thing. I expect they’ve had adventure enough to last ten lifetimes now.”
    Allisandra had a sad smile on her face as she said, “I understand, I’d give up all my dreams to be safe at home with my father again.”
    Namitus kept his silence and let the conversation lapse. Amra’s hands squeezed his side for a moment and then relaxed.
    “What comes next?”