Read Online Children of the Wastes (The Aionach Saga Book 2) by J.C. Staudt - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: J.C. Staudt
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drink from pools of standing water wherever she
found them. If the fighting was still going on in the main tunnel, she was
better off avoiding it altogether.
The scents of battle died away in the dark. She let the
chains rattle and clink as she ran, too concerned with getting home to care
about the noise. Alert to the slightest sign of danger, she took side roads or
detours whenever she scented trouble ahead. By the end of her journey, the
chains had begun to feel like lead weights. Her heart was racing and her mouth
was dry, each breath as rigorous as Kroy’s mill wheel churning river water. But
when she caught sight of her parents’ cottage, she ran as though nothing in the
world could hinder her.
She wasn’t halfway down that familiar meandering stretch of
road before the cottage door opened and her family spilled out into the
clearing. Her brothers and sisters stumbled over one another to reach her. The
collision was like being pummeled with a cartful of stones, only the stones were
laughing and shouting and licking her and crying and blanketing her in fur.
After a joyful few moments, Papa helped her to her feet and
examined her. “Lizneth, you’re absolutely torn to ribbons.”
Her white fur was caked with dust and dirt, blood-stained and
yellowed from the above-world air. The skin was rough and raw where the
manacles had tugged at her neck and ankles. She was bruised and battered and
cut, sore and tired and feeling twice as old as when she’d left home. But she
was home. There would be time to tell them about all she’d seen and been
through later. For now, it was enough just to be with them.
Mama’s face was a sad wreckage, aged by the desolation of
worry, her eyes lined with the crust of red tears and wet with the clear ones
she was crying now. Lizneth knew all the things she wanted to say, about how
worried they’d been and how far they’d searched for her and how hard it had
been here without her. But all those things were written on Mama’s face
already, and they both knew there was no need to say them now, after all that
had happened.
“There’s a war—”
“We know,” said Mama.
“Sniverlik has called every able-bodied buck from all the
villages to fight for him,” Papa said. “Not as conscripts for the Marauders… as
members of a temporary militia in this time of need. Not me, of course. I’m too
old. Many of the farmers and fisherfolk have been granted leave to pursue their
trades in support of the effort, until such a time as the fighting ends.”
So it’s not over , Lizneth realized with despair. Today’s
battle was only the start of something much larger . “What are we going to
do?”
Papa and Mama exchanged a look. “First, we’re going to get
you out of these chains. Then we’re going to do the only thing we can do,” he
said. “The only thing we’ve ever done when times were hard. Go on living… and
do our best to stay together.”
CHAPTER 5
Bargain
Raith Entradi and his seven companions spent the night
on the floor of Sigrede Balbaressi’s den, crammed together like salted fish in
a crate. Raith woke with strains in his neck and back, opening his eyes to the
sight and smell of Theodar Urial’s feet. He sat up on his elbows and rubbed his
eyes, squinting through the pre-dawn light to count the others. Everyone was
present, and two of them were awake.
Jiren Oliver and Derrow Leonard gave Raith commiserating
looks when they saw him reach up to massage his neck. Jiren stood first, taking
care to do so quietly. Derrow did the same, and they beckoned Raith to follow
them out into the morning.
Together the three men descended the sandscape terraces of
Sai Calgoar, bound for the empty market below. They spoke not a word, but Raith
knew the two younger men had it in mind to discuss what was to be done about
Rostand Beige and the master-king, and that they intended to do so beyond the
listening ears of Sig and his family and servants.
On the way down, they passed
found them. If the fighting was still going on in the main tunnel, she was
better off avoiding it altogether.
The scents of battle died away in the dark. She let the
chains rattle and clink as she ran, too concerned with getting home to care
about the noise. Alert to the slightest sign of danger, she took side roads or
detours whenever she scented trouble ahead. By the end of her journey, the
chains had begun to feel like lead weights. Her heart was racing and her mouth
was dry, each breath as rigorous as Kroy’s mill wheel churning river water. But
when she caught sight of her parents’ cottage, she ran as though nothing in the
world could hinder her.
She wasn’t halfway down that familiar meandering stretch of
road before the cottage door opened and her family spilled out into the
clearing. Her brothers and sisters stumbled over one another to reach her. The
collision was like being pummeled with a cartful of stones, only the stones were
laughing and shouting and licking her and crying and blanketing her in fur.
After a joyful few moments, Papa helped her to her feet and
examined her. “Lizneth, you’re absolutely torn to ribbons.”
Her white fur was caked with dust and dirt, blood-stained and
yellowed from the above-world air. The skin was rough and raw where the
manacles had tugged at her neck and ankles. She was bruised and battered and
cut, sore and tired and feeling twice as old as when she’d left home. But she
was home. There would be time to tell them about all she’d seen and been
through later. For now, it was enough just to be with them.
Mama’s face was a sad wreckage, aged by the desolation of
worry, her eyes lined with the crust of red tears and wet with the clear ones
she was crying now. Lizneth knew all the things she wanted to say, about how
worried they’d been and how far they’d searched for her and how hard it had
been here without her. But all those things were written on Mama’s face
already, and they both knew there was no need to say them now, after all that
had happened.
“There’s a war—”
“We know,” said Mama.
“Sniverlik has called every able-bodied buck from all the
villages to fight for him,” Papa said. “Not as conscripts for the Marauders… as
members of a temporary militia in this time of need. Not me, of course. I’m too
old. Many of the farmers and fisherfolk have been granted leave to pursue their
trades in support of the effort, until such a time as the fighting ends.”
So it’s not over , Lizneth realized with despair. Today’s
battle was only the start of something much larger . “What are we going to
do?”
Papa and Mama exchanged a look. “First, we’re going to get
you out of these chains. Then we’re going to do the only thing we can do,” he
said. “The only thing we’ve ever done when times were hard. Go on living… and
do our best to stay together.”
CHAPTER 5
Bargain
Raith Entradi and his seven companions spent the night
on the floor of Sigrede Balbaressi’s den, crammed together like salted fish in
a crate. Raith woke with strains in his neck and back, opening his eyes to the
sight and smell of Theodar Urial’s feet. He sat up on his elbows and rubbed his
eyes, squinting through the pre-dawn light to count the others. Everyone was
present, and two of them were awake.
Jiren Oliver and Derrow Leonard gave Raith commiserating
looks when they saw him reach up to massage his neck. Jiren stood first, taking
care to do so quietly. Derrow did the same, and they beckoned Raith to follow
them out into the morning.
Together the three men descended the sandscape terraces of
Sai Calgoar, bound for the empty market below. They spoke not a word, but Raith
knew the two younger men had it in mind to discuss what was to be done about
Rostand Beige and the master-king, and that they intended to do so beyond the
listening ears of Sig and his family and servants.
On the way down, they passed
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