Against the Giants Read Online Free

“Why
remember?” he managed, his voice thick with tears. “Will it change anything?”
    “Not now, but it will help you later.”
    He swore a soldier’s oath that shocked her silent. “I don’t
care about later! My father—he had no chance! He fought for the king all his
grown life! And then, only to be cast off like an aging horse because he was too
old to fight! To send him out here to protect peasants!”
    “And we were grateful to him. He gave us his skills, and he
gave us you. Second-guessing a life is foolish, Lhors,” Gran said flatly. “He
died a hero. Remember that.” She wrapped both arms around him briefly. “We can’t
stay here, Lhors. There’s no time. The giants may return. Are you hurt?”
    He shook his head.
    “You’re certain no one lives?”
    He nodded.
    “You’ve checked the cellars beneath the houses that aren’t
burned?”
    “All of that. There’s no one.” He gazed helplessly at the
twisted, blackened wreck of the stable.
    Gran closed her eyes briefly. “Lhors, we’ve work to do, you
and I.”
    He nodded faintly. “I’ll fetch shovels—”
    “No, there are too many, and there are other immediate needs.
One of us must go to High Haven at once to see if they were also attacked. If
not, they must be warned of the danger, as must every village around us. I will
have one of the High Haveners ride down to New Market with the warning and have
him bring back men to dig graves or build pyres.”
    “But I can dig—”
    She laid a finger across his lips, silencing him. “No. You
have another, harder task. You must catch Old Margit or one of the other horses
and take the road to Cryllor. You must request an audience with Lord Mebree and
inform him of what has happened. At the very least, you must warn the guard
company there that giants have done this.”
    Lhors stared at her, his mouth slack. “Go to… Gran, why
would they care? And I can’t ride worth a—”
    “They’ll care,” the old woman replied bluntly. “About
revenues at the very least. Dead villagers don’t pay taxes. But the guard will
have to stop giants who are bold enough to openly attack the way those did.
Remember that this is not a plea for our lowly selves. Remember that. Keep this
in mind instead: taxes. The king will send an army to keep the money flowing.”
    The boy swallowed, and his prominent throat-apple bounced.
“Gran, you’re mad! You’d send me to convince a council? My father was only a
captain of one of the hill companies, and that was over twenty years ago!”
    “Yes, but that’s more than any of the rest of us ever were.
You are the son of a soldier, and that’s more than anyone else can claim. You are the only one we can send, Lhors. There is no one else. Now, remember to say
‘please’ and ‘thank you’ often, especially to officers and nobles. That may open
doors for you. Do not let them refuse to hear you, though.”
    “I can try,” Lhors said doubtfully, “but I won’t leave you
here alone. We’ll all go. If I can catch Margit, the girls can ride her to High
Haven. Then I’ll go on, I promise you.”
    To her dismay, Gran’s eyes filled with tears. She dashed them
impatiently aside. “Good lad. Go find Margit. We’ll wait here.”

 
 

     
     
    Old Margit was nowhere around. Lhors searched for the mare
for nearly an hour before giving up. If the giants had not taken her, then she
had fled too far away for him to find, so he returned to the husk of a village
to fetch Gran and the girls.
    Before the sun was much above the horizon, Lhors, Gran, and
the two children were on their way to High Haven. The first hour or so, they did
not trust the road, fearing another attack by hiding giants. Instead, they
stumbled their way through trees, brush, and the occasional creek. Their
progress was excruciatingly slow, and after a while, Lhors urged them onto the
road so that they could find refuge all the quicker.
    They reached the tiny herding village at midday.