A Rite of Swords (Book #7 in the Sorcerer's Ring) Read Online Free

he found himself wanting to be closer to
him these days.
    Gareth hurried across the open
field, a cold gust of wind making him shiver as he wrapped his ragged cloak
tight around his shoulders. He heard the shrill cry of a winter bird, and
looked up to see the huge, awful black creature circling high overhead, surely,
with each cry, anticipating his collapse, its next meal. Gareth could hardly
blame it. He felt on his last legs, and he was sure he appeared to be a prime
meal for the bird.
    Gareth finally reached the
building, grabbed the massive iron door handle with two hands, and yanked with
all his might, the world spinning, nearly delirious from exhaustion. It creaked
and took all his strength to pry it wide.
    Gareth hurried into the
blackness, slamming the iron door. It echoed behind him.
    He grabbed the unlit torch on the
wall, where he knew it was mounted, struck its flint and lit it, affording
himself just enough light to see by as he descended the steps, deeper and
deeper into the blackness. It became colder and draftier the deeper he went,
the wind finding its way down, whistling through small cracks. He could not
help but feel as if his ancestors were howling at him, rebuking him.
    “LEAVE ME!” he screamed back.
    His voice echoed again and again
off the crypt’s walls.
    “YOU WILL HAVE YOUR PRIZE SOON
ENOUGH!”
    Yet still the wind persisted.
    Gareth, enraged, descended
deeper, until finally he reached the great marble chamber, excavated with its
ten-foot ceilings, where all his ancestors lay entombed in marble sarcophagi.
Gareth marched solemnly down the hall, his footsteps echoing on the marble,
toward the very end, where his father lay.
    The old Gareth would have smashed
his father’s sarcophagus. But now, for some reason, he was beginning to feel an
affinity for him. He could hardly understand it. Perhaps it was the opium
wearing off; or perhaps it was because he knew that he himself would be dead
soon, too.
    Gareth reached the tall
sarcophagus and hunched over it, leaning his head down. He surprised himself as
he began to cry.
    “I miss you father,” Gareth
wailed, his voice echoing in the emptiness.
    He cried and cried, tears pouring
down his face, until finally his knees grew weak and he slumped down in his
exhaustion alongside the marble, sitting on the floor, leaning against the
tomb. The wind howled as if in response, and Gareth lay down the torch, which
burned lower and lower, a tiny flame decreasing in the blackness. Gareth knew
that soon all would be blackness and that soon, he would join all those he
loved the most.
     

CHAPTER
FIVE
     
     
    Steffen trekked somberly on the
lonely forest road, slowly making his way from the Tower of Refuge. It broke
his heart to leave Gwendolyn there like that, the woman whom he had been sworn
to protect. Without her, he was nothing. Since meeting her, he had felt that he
had finally found a purpose in life: to watch over her, to devote his life to
paying her back for allowing him, a mere servant, to rise in the ranks; and
most of all, for being the first person in his life not to detest and underestimate
him based on his appearance.
    Steffen had felt a sense of pride
in helping her reach the Tower safely. But leaving her there had left him
feeling hollow inside. Where would he go now? What would he do?
    Without her to protect, his life
felt aimless once again. He couldn’t go back to King’s court or to Silesia:
Andronicus had defeated them both, and he recalled the destruction he saw as
he’d fled from Silesia. The last he remembered, all his people were captives or
slaves. There would be no virtue in returning. Besides, Steffen didn’t want to
cross the Ring again and be that far from Gwendolyn.
    Steffen walked aimlessly for
hours, winding through the forest trails, gathering his wits, until it had
occurred to him where to go. He followed the country road north, up to a hill,
the highest point, and from this lookout spotted a small town perched on
another