Steel Maiden by Kim Richardson Read Free Book Online Page A

desk
with a stack of documents in front of him. He scribbled in a large
ledger and did not look up. He wore a heavy-looking white robe made of silk. It was embroidered with jewels and
golden thread around the cuffs and neck, and a large sun symbol was
stitched in lavish jewels on the front. He wore a pyramid-shaped
white hat, and I suspected he was the high priest.
    A shadow appeared behind
him, but as I tried to get a better look, Baul grabbed me
and held me steady in front of the desk. Garth looked nervous,
which only made me feel worse. Blood pounded in my ears as I tried
to steady my breathing. I looked around the chamber for a means of
escape if things turned sour.
    Baul cleared his throat. “I beg your pardon,
Your Grace, but as you requested we have a brought you the
thief.”
    “Which thief?” said the high priest without
looking up from his ledger. I saw a shadow behind the high priest
again but it disappeared before I could get a good look.
    “The thief who stole the Anglian crown, Your
Grace.” Baul stepped forward, placed the golden crown on the desk,
stepped back, and folded his arms behind his back.
    The high priest dropped his pen and looked
up. The dark purple shadow under his eyes made his pale gray eyes
stand out. With a stone-cold expression on his thin face, the high
priest took the crown and inspected it as though he was making sure
it was the real Anglian crown. As he placed it back on the desk,
his eyes found me, and my breath caught in my throat. I shuddered
under his unnatural stare.
    The high priest looked particularly
interested in me. “ She passed through the sorcerer’s
fire?”
    I cringed under the priest’s piercing stare.
There was something wrong with the way he looked at me. It was
almost like he was happy to see me, thrilled that I’d survived the fire. But why would he be?
    “Yes, Your Grace. She must have some kind of
magic. Shall we bring her down to the prison cells or would you
rather we take her to your chambers—”
    “No.”
    The high priest pushed his chair back and
stood up. In a single swift move he made his way around his desk
and stood before me. His white robes billowed behind him like great
big wings. He was taller than the two guards, and he looked like he
spent more time scribbling in his ledgers than he did eating. His
pale eyes bored into mine. I felt my heart rate accelerate, but I
wouldn’t look away. His face showed intrigue, contempt, and even
victory. He was the creepiest man I’d ever seen.
    But when the shadow emerged beside him, I
flinched and stepped back.
    The shadow wasn’t a shadow at all but a
horribly deformed creature with long gnarled fingers and toes. It
seemed to be made of mist. Its body had a see-through quality, as
though it was a specter, as though it wasn’t really there. Its dark
gray skin was barely covered in what appeared to be a ragged old
pair of trousers and a shirt. When it turned its large, protuberant
eyes onto me, it took all my self-control not to bolt.
    What kind of priest would keep company with
such a creature? My eyes flew to Baul and Garth, but neither of
them seemed to take any notice of the vile thing. They were both
watching the priest. The smell of wet dog and rotten flesh emanated
from it, and it looked straight at me with large, wet eyes.
    The high priest frowned, but then he
followed my gaze to the creature. When he turned back to look at
me, he looked satisfied.
    The creature moved towards me, but the
priest shot it a look and the beast cowered behind him and nearly
disappeared altogether behind his robes.
    The high priest circled around me,
inspecting every inch of me. I saw his brows furrow when he
examined my singed cloak, but then his brows rose when he inspected
my hands and face.
    “Fascinating,” said the high priest. “Not
even a single burnt mark on her at all. It’s quite remarkable.”
    He smiled. There was something ominous about
the way he watched me, and I felt a chill in my bones. His