Silent Kingdom by Rachel L. Schade Read Free Book Online Page B

I like to knit. I like to ride, to shoot, to read, and to pretend I’m on grand adventures with my cousin. Once I liked to swim and listen to my uncle tell stories by the fire. But knitting…that is something I wasn’t taught, not as royalty.
    Uncomfortable, I glanced down at my hands, folded tightly in my lap.
    “It’s all right.” Lyanna smiled. “I just want you to feel welcome.” She hesitated. “What…what can we call you?”
    I stared into the fire. Was it safe to speak? Could I speak? I cleared my throat, trying to find words to say. I don’t know … My lips formed the words, but no sound came. I can’t say …
    Wide-eyed, I turned to Lyanna and shook my head.
    Maybe this muteness was a mercy. Maybe whatever had cursed me with my visions was gone with my voice. If I never spoke, then my uncontrollable need to tell the truth could never endanger me again.
    But Lyanna wasn’t finished trying to discover more about me. “Do you have family looking for you? You can stay here as long as you need to, of course, but I really would hate for your loved ones to be worried while you stay here, and we have no idea…”
    Again, I shook my head. This time I touched my throat, and Lyanna nodded in understanding.
    Rev looked up from the book he’d been engrossed in. “Lyanna, don’t pester her. Clearly she has been through a lot. She might be ready to talk in a few days.”
    Lyanna nodded. “No more questions,” she told me. “When you’ve had time to rest, you can share your story, if you want. I only want to ensure you can return home.”
    ~~~
    I was standing beside my uncle’s bedside as, pale and shaking, he stared up at me. My eyes were full of tears, so I couldn’t see him clearly at first and didn’t realize he was trying to speak to me. When I blinked, I saw his lips opening, but only a moan escaped him.
    “I’m here, Uncle Reylon,” I whispered, stretching out my fingers to grasp his hand. His skin was cold and clammy. “You’ll be fine; you just need to rest…” But even as I said the words, I knew he wouldn’t be fine. He was slipping away. If only he could say the words he was trying to speak…
    I leaned in toward him, heard the breath leave his mouth. It brushed my cheek, warm and moist in the cold, dark room. He groaned again, but then it became a new sound—a word.
    “Pleaaasse…” His voice was barely above a whisper. It cracked as the plea died on his lips.
    Pulling back, I searched his face frantically. “Please, what? What is wrong? Uncle? Uncle!”
    He collapsed onto the pillow, eyes closed, and the servants around him went wild, rushing forward and pushing me out of the way. One shouted at another to fetch the healer. My aunt, on the other side of his bed, was crying hysterically.
    “Give him his medicine! His medicine!” she cried.
    I groped for the glass on his nightstand and charged back to the bed. “Help me,” I begged of the nearest servant, who helped me lift my uncle. I touched the glass to his lips…
    His eyes sprang open and his hand jerked upward, knocking the glass from my fingers. It flew across the room and struck the floor, where it shattered into a thousand shimmering pieces. Deep purple liquid splattered across the floor, onto the rug, and up the wall. The servants were still calling out to one another in worry, but my eyes were locked on my uncle.
    His eyes were burning with fury as he grasped my wrist in a steely clutch. But his eyes were all wrong—they were no longer sky blue, but grey. As grey as his brother’s. “How dare you!” he shouted, his voice strong, angry. “How can you let me die? Why are you poisoning me? Why are you killing me?”
    “No, no!” I screamed, fighting to escape his grip, but he only strengthened the hold. “I didn’t do it! I didn’t know!” His grasp was becoming unbearable; his eyes alight with the same cruel fire that had burned behind my father’s gaze as he’d sentenced me to death.
    And then I was in the