Shadows of Time: Shadow Maiden by B.R. Nicholson Read Free Book Online Page B

question. His absence
would raise one too many eye brows.
    Now to find someone to point the finger
at.
    “Hey Fanger,” Maggot filled the doorway, his
frazzled head cocked to the side, “how much longer are you going to
be? I smell someone’s breakfast going to waste and you know—”
    Maggot’s eyes snapped wide open at the
dribbling corpse. Fanger had already picked up his sword from the
soiled hay below. Their eyes met for only an instant before Fanger
could feel his hands clawing for the imbecile’s throat. He slammed
the back of Maggot’s head into a heavy wooden beam, sending his
cohort’s eyes lolling into his skull. Maggot slid down onto the
floor, his head bobbing onto his chest. Fanger grabbed his flask
and doused the Phooka in dragon whiskey.
    Fanger heaved the wretched creature onto his
shoulders. He began the promenade straight to Chief Al’Rul, working
out the final details of Maggot’s folly in his whirring mind and
fighting hard not to grin at the crowd of laughing Phooka through
his gritted teeth.
     
     
    ***
     
     
    Astrid hopped from tile to tile, humming and
smiling a clever smirk. She had once again outwitted her nanny from
dressing her in her princess best. She hated frilly, fluffy
clothes, and for some reason everyone felt it their duty to keep
her covered head to toe with such frivolities. Anya, on the other
hand, adored being dressed up and pampered like a coveted doll. Her
cousins that lived on the far side of the palace were just as silly
as her twin. Even the boys enjoyed braiding their long golden hair
and parading in colorful silks.
    Pft. Stupid prissy girl. Why couldn’t I be an
only child?
    Her bare toes were numb against the frosty
stone. She soon grew bored of her skipping game and wandered
further down the corridor. A nearby door creaked open and shut with
a bang. She dashed for a quick hiding spot behind one of the many
large tapestries lining the hall. The servants usually didn’t
linger in the royal sleeping quarters past noon, but she couldn’t
be too careful. Her old croon of a nanny seemed to always be on the
prowl, watching like a vulture watches a young pup, waiting for
Astrid to lower her guard.
    She hid with her hand clamped over her mouth
to keep her breathing hushed. Heavy feet shuffled down the shady
corridor. A faint laughing floated through the air, along with a
chill breeze. Light drained from the sun lit hall like blood from a
dying man’s face. Fear squeezed around her heart, holding tighter
with each beat.
    Anya rounded the corner into the gaping
corridor.
    No! Turn around! No, no, no!
    Astrid’s twin looked up from her doll,
straining her eyes to see what was standing before her. The
darkness crept down the hall, its shadowy fingers reaching out like
a spider’s embrace. Astrid wanted to run out to Anya, but she was
rigid with fear, caught in the spider’s web.
    Anya stared with empty, emotionless eyes at
the approaching figure. She didn’t move. She hardly even seemed to
breathe.
    What is she doing? Run! Fight back! Do
something!
    Astrid’s fingernails dug into her cheek while
tears burned at her eyes. She didn’t know what to do. She would
have given anything to somehow wake up to her mother’s soft,
comforting voice. Despite pinching herself and shaking her head
violently, the nightmare remained.
    She could see a cloak seeping from the edge
of the tapestry. It stretched open before her sister, yawning wide
like the mouth of a hungry beast, until finally it swallowed her
whole.
    The corridor immediately brightened. Birds
chirped away as if nothing had happened, basking in the burning
haze of the noonday sun.
    Astrid crumpled to the floor, her hand
falling away from her tear slicked face. She did not know what to
do. She hugged her legs and pressed her face against her knees.
    “What are you doing behind there?”
    Her head popped up to find Anya pulling back
the heavy tapestry, an old and scornful look on her young face. “I
said what are you