The Bloodsworn by Erin Lindsey Read Free Book Online Page A

though, was phlegmatic as always. “Rights got nothing to do with it, leastways not mine. Commander appoints who he will.”
    â€œHe appointed you,” Dain said. “They
made
him replace you, just to appease the Onnani.”
    Ide shrugged. “It’s done. No use whinging about it.” Saluting, she added, “Honour to see you again, General Black.”
    â€œI guess we’d better head inside,” Rig said. “Not sure where we’ll put you, but in the meantime, I can see that you get some food and hot water.”
    â€œSounds brilliant,” Ide said. “Got any wine?”
    Alix rolled her eyes. Being knighted had obviously done nothing to change Ide’s priorities in life.
    Rig just laughed. “A woman after my own heart. It so happens I have a small private stash. I’ll see to it you get some.”
    They followed him inside, to a room that looked remarkably like the common room of an inn. “Home,” he said. “Now, about that food and water . . .”
    Alix left Ide and Dain to wash up. What she had to say couldn’t wait, so Rig took her up to his quarters, which looked to double as a war room judging from the table strewn with maps. She started to speak almost the moment he closed the door, but he held up a hand. “Washbasin. Wine. Then we talk.”
    Alix nodded wearily, allowing herself to be shown to a washstand in the corner. With the dust of the road gone and a cup of warmed wine in her hand, she certainly felt better. But that didn’t make what she had to say any easier. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
    Rig’s eyes, as coal black as his hair, took her in carefully. “They usually say you should start at the beginning, but in this case, I think it might be best if you skipped to the end.”
    Alix took a sip of warmed wine. Swallowed. “Erik has been bloodbound.”
    A flicker of dark eyebrows, like lightning before the storm. “Explain.”
    â€œWe were wrong. The Priest’s cursed magicks didn’t die with him. At least one bloodbinder in Oridia still knows how to pervert the bloodbond, and he’s using it on Erik.”
    Rig paled. “Are you telling me Erik is a
thrall
?” Alix couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard her brother whisper, but he was doing it now, throwing a nervous glance at the door.
    â€œNot exactly, not yet. I think the bloodbinder must be too far away to control him completely. But he’s . . . not Erik, either. He’s erratic. Volatile, even. It’s as if he’s completely unable to keep his emotions in check. And then there’s what happened in Harram . . .” She did her best to explain, pausing every few moments to take another sip of wine, as though its warmth could banish the chill inside her.
    When she’d done, Rig launched himself away from the table, cursing a streak so foul that Alix winced. He looked like he wanted to snap someone in half. More than that, he looked like he actually
could
. “How is that even possible? Where did they get his blood?”
    â€œErik has a twin. Identical. It was kept secret, obviously—even Erik doesn’t know. Rodrik—that’s his name—was exiled to Andithyri as a baby so no one would ever know he existed.”
    Rig’s mouth fell open. “You have
got
to be . . . First Liam and now this? How many secret children did King Osrik
have
?”
    Alix couldn’t help it; she burst out laughing—a hollow, bitter thing, perilously close to tears. “He did have his intrigues, didn’t he?”
    â€œSo the enemy has this Rodrik and they’re using his blood to control our king.” Rig laughed too, both of them edging on hysteria. “It couldn’t possibly be worse! Bloody Alerran himself couldn’t have penned a finer tragedy!” He shook his head in awe. “Who else knows about