City of Demons Read Online Free Page B

in all the fantasies he had created on this boulder, he had never foreseen how frightening real change could be. Now that he had finally played the hero of his daydreams, he feared that his reward would be to lose all that he loved along with all that he hated.
    A week after the news from Three Roads, strangers came riding between the low hills to the gate of Hilly’s farm. From his perch on the sheep pasture boulder, Garet could see his father gesture angrily at the four figures, who had not bothered to dismount. The party consisted of an older man mounted on a tall black, a young woman or older girl on a smaller grey, and two boys, younger than Garet and riding together on a big, brown farm horse. The twins had swaggered over to join their father, and all three now seemed to be shouting at the older man. His father repeatedly pointed at himself and waved his arms. Whatever response he got must have displeased Hilly for he shook his fists at the unmoving figure on the black horse.
    The girl urged her mount up beside his, crowding the twins back. The older man merely kicked the sides of the big black. Hilly jumped out of the way as the party rode through the gate and towards the farmhouse. For a long moment, Garet saw his father stare after the riders. Then, Hilly lifted his face to the sheep pasture. Across that great distance, father and son looked at each other. Garet ducked his head as his father spat in the dirt of the trail and turned away. With the twins following, Hilly walked quickly back the way the strangers had come, in the direction of Three Roads and the tavern.
    His mother appeared at the door of the cabin, waving her hand to signal him down from the pasture. Garet eyed the sun, still too high above the hill’s brow to bring in the sheep, and knew that he was being called to a meeting. Perhaps the new life starts here , he thought. A stray breeze played with the back of his neck. Nervously, he picked up a handful of stones and began the laborious process of aiming the sheep downhill.
    When he had corralled the sheep and reached the cabin door, he saw his mother seated at the table with Allia twisting in her lap, facing the older man. Garet slipped quietly inside and made his way around the table to his mother’s side. His back touched the heavy pot he had thrown at the demon, and for a wild moment, his hand itched to pick it up again and drive these strangers from the house.
    The old man gave no indication that he felt endangered. Stiff as a plank, he sat across from Garet’s mother and sipped his tea. There was no sign of the two younger boys, but the girl, tall, blond and no more than a year older than Garet, stood just as stiffly behind the grey-haired man. Garet couldn’t help staring. Their clothing was well made but dusty. They each wore a coloured sash over a long, purple vest, a black, high-collared shirt, and grey trousers tucked into high, black boots. The girl’s sash was green, the old man’s blood red. The girl noticed his open examination and gave back an icy glare.
    The old man put down his tea. “Mistress Allaina, at the tavern it is said that there was a demon slain here.”
    Garet’s mother straightened as if to match the posture of the man opposite and replied, “Yes sir.”
    Garet prayed that she wouldn’t expose his actions on that terrible night until they knew what these strangers wanted, but his worries were interrupted by an indignant outburst from the girl.
    â€œA Bane of the Master Mandarack’s rank is to be addressed as ‘Master’, not ‘sir’—farmwife!” The last word was delivered dripping with contempt. She took a step forward and Garet, less intimidated by someone so near his own age and size, stepped up to shield his mother from her anger.
    The old man raised his right hand, and Garet saw that the other hand lay twisted and curled in his lap, the whole arm seeming dead to use. The girl immediately