Circle of Reign Read Online Free

reminded himself. It wasn’t surprising to him that Antious had risen to bear the rank of general and lead the armed forces of the Western Province. Lord Kerr felt great pride in promoting him last year. He knew of no greater patriot to Arlethia than Roan; nor of anyone who had sacrificed so much for the Realm.
    The Orsarian War took much from him
, Lord Kerr reflected.
More than should be asked of anyone
. He was excited to see his dearest friend again, to whom he owed his life.
    He will listen, he’ll understand
.
    Kerr again leaped to another tree, this one a Triarch, and instantly went rigid as he landed upon the tree’s apex. The single word, though not more than a faint whisper, jolted through him as his left hand brushed across a cluster of the smooth three-pronged leaves, his right still in possession of the leafling.
    Help!
    Though not an audible voice, the timbre
felt
familiar. Apprehension gathered within him, but Thannuel captured the friction and recycled it, directing the energy to enhance his sensitivity of touch and hearing. He stood more still than stone waiting for further communication. The soft whirl of a breeze. Occasional sprays of precipitation flecked him and beaded upon his sleeveless jerkin. Silent as an ancient statue, he waited. Listened. Nothing. Perhaps it was nothing. It had to be nothing. Who else besides theGyldenal knew how to sync their minds with the forest to open the channel
both
ways? It took someone of extreme sensitivity and power of will and the Gyldenal were far from here, deeply secluded in the Tavaniah Forest in the most northwest parts of the province. Yes, it had to be nothing; he tried to convince himself of this. But the word he had felt, it was powerfully projected. The overtones were desperate. He could not shake the familiar feel it had. Pitch and inflection were lost when speaking through trees, but there always remained something identifiable within the message, the way it felt as it entered your mind through the trees, the intonation. And yet, Thannuel was conflicted within himself. He was certain of the identity if he could believe that this was not a trick of some kind.
Reign does not possess the ability
, he thought. He had tried to teach her, but he knew she was still too young for the mental maturity required.
Most do not even know of the possibility, how could she
—
    His ponderings were cut short as he felt the vibrations before he heard them. Footfall—three distinct pairs. A horse and rider still far off, but the other two much closer. Without dismissing the rider’s vibrations, he pushed them to a sequestered part of his mind for now and converged his mind upon the two closer pairs of footfall. One determined and heavy, the other short and light and…fearful. The latter was a wood-dweller.
    He knew Reign’s stride almost instantly and spurred himself across the top of the treed-canopy to intercept her. Something was wrong. Very wrong. He could sense fear in his daughter’s sprint, almost desperation. Finding the hilt of his sword he quieted his mind, quelled his emotions, and opened himself to the forest’s influence and power. Through the Triarch leafling he still held, Thannuel began to draw into himself the strength of the ancient trees he now sprinted across at increasing speed. Something else caught his attention as the power swelled within him: the trees were afraid and confused, but they were also furious. Lord Kerr had never sensed emotion such as this from the forest. Anxiety pulled at the frayed edges of his concentration, but did not take hold. Heunsheathed his sword, its dark gray blade forged of Jarwyn steel dully catching the waning white light of first moon as it began to hum with power.
    Centering his being as he had been taught, Thannuel inwardly recited the ancient axiom:
Focus. Think of nothing but this moment
.

    It changed. It was still her scent; the chase-giver felt sure of that. But it had morphed to something else entirely. What