Anilyia Read Online Free Page A

he was
finished chewing, but ended up choking on it. Sir Danth banged on
his back helpfully. After a few strangled noises, the food slid to
his stomach. He leaned on the table, gasping to regain control. His
companion’s hysterical laughter didn’t help. “What did you want to
talk about, Cousin?” he asked.
    Liselle wiped tears of mirth from her eyes.
“I wanted to let you know that Vevin and I are ready to travel. We
were wondering what the plans are.”
    “Right, plans.” Tathan thought about it for
a minute then shrugged. “I don’t see any reason not to leave right
after breakfast. How long will it take you to get ready?” he asked
them.
    “About half an hour. We don’t have a lot,”
Liselle answered.
    “It will take me all day to get ready,” Sir
Danth told them. “. . . Why are you all staring at me like that? I
have tons of things to get ready. My extra cloak must be folded
exactly right you know.”
    After a pause, they burst into laughter
again. Sir Danth didn’t have anything extra besides a cloak made
for him in the Rojuun caverns. He was always ready to go.
    Tathan took a drink of juice that had come
with the meal. “After we eat, gather your things and we’ll head out
to the gate. Then we’ll go to deliver our report to Mother
Tree.”
    “What are we going to tell the guards about
why we’re leaving?” Sir Danth asked. “We don’t want to make them
suspicious in case there is a need to come back at some point.”
    “We’re going to tell them we don’t like it
here and want to go home.” Tathan looked around to make sure nobody
could overhear. “I figure if we say the Rojuun are too weird and we
don’t like the way they treat us, they’ll understand.”
    “I don’t think they’re weird,” said Vevin.
“I kind of like them.”
    “I like them too, but we need an excuse and
that’s a good one,” Tathan replied. “If we decide to come back, we
can just say the Druids wouldn’t let us past.” He leaned back in
his chair.
    Sir Danth nodded. “It is a good plan. I say
we go with it.”
    After eating, they gathered their things and
said farewell to Hulda. If the innkeeper had had her way, she would
have kept them there the entire day saying goodbye, but Tathan
managed to get them away.
    The companions strolled to the forest gate.
The sun had risen, bathing the city in warm light. A slight breeze
caused the wings to flutter. Vevin had mentioned wanting to see it
from the air once and Tathan imagined it would be a breathtaking
sight.
    The large gate was closed as usual. It was
made for wagons and larger traffic, none of which went into the
forest. Those foragers brave enough to go outside exited through
the postern gate, which was where the party went.
    Outside the gate were four members of the
guard dressed in chainmail and red tabards. Sergeant Soam, who had
been there when the companions first came to the city, commanded
them. “Hello there. What brings you back to this neck of the woods,
so to speak?” The other guards rolled their eyes and went back to
being bored.
    Tathan altered his voice to a drawl. “Well
now, those Rojuun are some funny folk and, don’t tell them I said
this, but they talk weird.”
    The sergeant chuckled again. “Aye. That they
do. Lots of people like it, but some just can’t get used to
it.”
    “The hardest part was being told I had to do
things all the time.” Tathan stood up tall and poked his thumb to
his chest. “I’m my own man and there ain’t no person or . . .
Rojuun that’s going to go around telling me what to do all the
time.”
    “Well now. I told you they consider us
servants.” The sergeant put a hand on the hilt of his sword. The
subtle gesture caused the other guards to straighten and become
alert. “You didn’t do anything stupid, did you?”
    The air became tense and the companions knew
things could go very bad, very fast. Tathan waved for everyone to
relax. “Nah, nah. It isn’t like that. I haven’t stayed alive