Winter Be My Shield by Jo Spurrier Read Free Book Online

nature and of the Gods, a corruption of the natural order. Folk like him were said to have brought the power with them by accident, when they journeyed from the realm of the spirits to be born into flesh. Those born with power couldn’t help the way they were made, but they were dangerous, whether they meant harm or not. Left unchecked, their power would cause havoc and destruction, spread disease and bring disaster down on the people around them. If worn for long enough and paired with the rituals and prayers prescribed by the priests, the warding-stones were supposed to extinguish the spark of power entirely.
    It had never worked for Isidro, but then he’d never worn the stone willingly. His first one had been presented to him at the Children’s Festival, an event held every year in the spring, when every child between the ages of six and twelve was tested for the taint. In every temple in Ricalan, the priests marked out a ritual circle with lines of coloured chalk and set the sacred stones around it, while all the children living under the temple’s remit would take their turn standing at the centre of the circle. If he or she carried the taint, the stones would light up like candles, the child’s name and parentage would be marked in the temple records, and the child would be given a warding-stone, with the command to wear it until death.
    Isidro was eight winters old when the stones lit up in his presence. It had come as no surprise — his birth mother carried the taint as well. In the home temple of his father’s clan, Elza had always gone first into the circle, both to test the priests’ preparations and to demonstrate to that year’s crop of children there was nothing to fear. She had worn her stone until the day she died in a hunting accident, when Isidro was twelve.
    Isidro set the stones down and unconsciously wiped his hand against his thigh. Just holding the things made him feel as though he was suffocating, as though his mouth and nose and ears were stuffed with wool that threatened to choke him with every breath. As a boy, he’dtaken the wretched thing off at every opportunity, until his kin, in desperation, had tied the cord so tight he couldn’t slip it over his head. Once his father had died and there was no one left to enforce the rule, Isidro had thrown the cursed thing away for good.
    Cam knew all this. The nursemaids who had raised him in his mother’s court used to threaten him with sorcerers if he misbehaved. He had grown up with a Mesentreian’s attitude towards mages, but he set that aside when it came to Isidro.
    â€˜Valeria had a set like this,’ Cam said, examining the gilded links. He only ever referred to his mother by her name. If pressed he would grudgingly acknowledge their kinship, but nothing more.
    Garzen stood, stretching his back, and then came over to them with the two ruby bracelets dangling from one hand. ‘Ye Gods, but they’re ugly things,’ he said, squinting at the murky jade. ‘These aren’t much better.’ He held up the bracelets he had cut free. ‘They must be worth a cursed fortune, but I can’t say I care for the taste of him what made ’em. Well, at least they’ll be worth a bit to sell. Put them with the others, will you, lads?’ He dropped them into Isidro’s palm and turned back to help Rhia finish cleaning and binding the burns.
    When the stones touched his skin they flashed with a sudden, vicious heat; it took all his will not to curse and drop them. The enchantment inside the stones was a fierce, angry thing, and it lashed out at his touch. For an instant, it felt as though he’d grasped a live coal, but only for an instant, and then it was gone. His skin felt scorched. It left no mark, but Isidro had a fair idea of exactly where the girl’s burns had come from.
    â€˜Those burns on her wrists …’ he said. ‘Any idea what caused