The King's Sons (The Herezoth Trilogy) by Victoria Grefer Read Free Book Online Page A

we’ll speak in the morning.”
    Hune sighed,
which brought his beagle to him, and Gratton told the princes, his tone
distracted, “Always nice to see you three.”
    The king
beckoned his soldier and the two set off, leaving the brothers in silence.
    Neslan bit
his lip, as he sometimes did when lost in contemplation. He dropped into an
armchair, while Hune shook his head and scratched his dog behind the ears. The
men and the animal all jolted when Valkin flung a book that Kansten had left on
the settee.
    “What do you
think’s happened?” Hune dared to ask.
    Neslan
reasoned, “It’s to do with Partsvale, whatever it is. Kansten heard as much,
and Gratton’s been in Partsvale for years. He must have rushed to the Palace.
Didn’t stop on the way to wash, by the smell of him. This bodes ill.”
    “Perhaps,”
said Hune. “At least we know the trouble’s there. Partsvale’s small, with few
people. Things are fine in the capital.”
    Valkin
huffed. His spectacles trapped a puff of air near his face. “You sure about
that? Did you see Vane? He’s never looked so…. Defeated, that’s what it was.
Lifeless.”
    “Numb,”
Neslan specified. “He looked numb.”
    Hune
insisted, “Things are fine in Podrar. Father would have told us if….”
    Neslan cut
Hune off, glaring at Valkin. “Things are not fine here. A woman we met once in
our lives, a decade ago, knows we have magic and just went prancing out the
room. Valkin, what in God’s name were you thinking? We should have told
Father….”
    Valkin said,
“Told Father she knows we’ve magic? What bloody good would that do but get her
sent home? It’s not her fault she knows. And don’t forget what we owe her family:
her uncle rescued us after we spent a month with kidnappers, and her
grandmother saved your life healing that snakebite.”
    “We were
mere boys then,” Neslan argued.
    “You won’t tell
Father she knows we’re telekinetic?”
    “I keep my
word, Valkin. I keep my word, but I should never have given it. Kora Porteg’s
daughter! Magic or no magic, she doesn’t belong in Herezoth. No good will come
from her being here. Why in the Giver’s name would you let her stay?”
    The Giver
was Herezoth’s creator, its only deity, so many referred to him as “God”
instead of (or in addition to) his proper title. Some chose not to believe in
him, for his devotees claimed he inspired the human heart to saving action
rather than worked blatant miracles, and as such, they possessed small proof of
his existence.
    Valkin
countered, “Why let her stay? Neslan, why would I send her back? You heard her:
she wants to see the world. She felt trapped in Triflag. She’s finally escaped,
and I say bless her for it. I won’t be the one she blames for them dragging her
back to captivity.”
    Hune
frowned, and straightened up as his beagle rolled over to rest on the rug. “She
was hardly a captive back in Traigland. We’ve met her family, and they’re
lovely people. Captivity? Where’s that coming from?”
    Neslan
answered. “He’s projecting his own resentment onto her.”
    “What’s
that?” said Hune.
    “He won’t
talk about it with the likes of us, but he feels trapped in the Palace. He’s
assuming Kansten feels the same when she’s in Traigland.” Neslan turned to
Valkin. “I mean no disrespect. And I’m not judging you. But you do feel
cornered, and it’s about time you admitted some truths to yourself.”
    The crown
prince asked, “Admitted what, precisely?”
    “That you’re
terrified at the thought of being king.”
    Valkin
clenched his fist, a visceral reaction. He needed a second to register what his
brother had dared suggest, and then exploded, “When did I say I would rather
not be king?”
    “You
haven’t, not in so many words. But it’s clear to me.”
    “Damn you!
Do you think Father’s under that impression?”
    “Not yet.
You’re an entirely different person in his presence than not. He’s going to
learn how you feel