The Sword and the Sorcerer by Norman Winski Read Free Book Online Page A

retrieved Xusia’s body before they could.
    A chill went through the soldiers as they looked questioningly from one to the other. Finally the senior officer articulated what was on all of their minds.
    “Black sorcery!”

SIX
    t precisely the moment that a knife sliced through King Richard’s throat, a drawbridge at a secret castle exit fell over the moat surrounding the castle. The next moment four robed figures galloped across it into the still breaking day, headed for the green-gold cool lushness of the forest in the distance.
    The moment the solemn riders touched the other side of the moat two guards rushed out of the castle to wrench the creaky drawbridge in place.
    “God save the queen and her brood!” one of the guards exclaimed, watching the riders fade across the plain to the forest.
    “And blessed she is to have General Karak at her side to protect her!”
    For Talon a presentiment of doom seemed to thump in time with the horses’ hoofs. Ever since his mother had awakened him, Natalia, and his younger brother in the middle of the night—telling them that the castle was soon to be besieged and they were to join their father—Talon sensed a danger other than the one Cromwell’s troops posed. And when he discovered that Karak was leading them in this early morning flight, Talon grew more apprehensive.
    Although Karak had always been respectful towards him, and he had never heard the king disparage him, there was something about Karak’s cold marble features and sparseness of speech that made him feel uneasy around the general. And now this same inscrutable person was bringing them to the king. Surely his father would never entrust their lives to a man he didn’t have absolute confidence in. And yet—
    Talon’s snorting steed vaulted a racing ford, the impact on landing jogging him back to the reality of where they were.
    For several hours they had ridden hard through the forest and streams galloping for long stretches but walking the horses through the thickets. The sunlight spilled through the leafy trees and giant foliage like a steady rainfall of gold coins. He could hear the rush of the river nearby. He knew the river and this whole forest as well as he knew the streets of Elysium. His father had taken him to hunt deer and boar here many times. If Talon had to he could spend days in the dense forest and not get lost.
    “Soon, Karak?” his mother asked, her soft, silvery voice tarnished with worry.
    “Ay, my queen. The river is just beyond that large grove of trees.”
    “I’m hungry!” Natalia whined, sitting in front of the queen in the saddle.
    “Stop being a baby!” Henry chided, trying to sound grown-up. “Soon we’ll see Father and then we’ll all eat.”
    The queen beamed love at her nine-year-old son. So tender of years and yet already so responsible and stout of heart!
    Talon deliberately lagged behind the others. That way he could be sure no one from the rear could harm the queen, Natalia, or Henry. This position also enabled him to watch Karak’s every move—just in case his feelings about him were correct.
    The low overhanging branches and tangles of bushes forced them to thread slowly through the forest now. And the crunch of twigs and decaying leaves under the horses’ hoofs sounded like popping and crackling fire. Except for these noises and the chirping of birds and the clicking of crickets, the air was charged with an electric stillness.
    Suddenly they entered a clearing and there, no more than two hundred yards away, was the leap and flash of the river. Karak brought the party to a halt. The horses shook their huge heads and snorted in appreciation of the rest.
    They were on a bluff overlooking the riverbank, where a small ketch was moored, guarded by what appeared to be two of the king’s men.
    As Karak dismounted he touched the handle of the sword hanging at his side and Talon instinctively gripped the handle of his newly acquired tri-bladed sword.
    Karak approached