King Dom Comes Read Online Free

and
gossip.
    "What
disturbs your thoughts this night, my girl?" a voice asked from her
doorway.
    Shannon
looked up and offered a soft smile. "I am brooding over my future, Sister.
I do not wish to leave my home for a man I have never met."
    "You
knew and respected this man's father, yes? King Malkai made you his ward. He
loved and cared deeply for you. Did you not trust him?"
    "I
trusted him with my life. He was more of a father to me than any. He saw
through my evil nature and gave me hope."
    "Tsk,
tsk," the old Sister shook her head. "He would be taking a switch to
your bottom if he heard you talk about yourself like that. There is no evil in
your nature, child. You must stop repeating the lies of the past. He saw how
exceptional you are, and wished to give you the gift of his son and his kingdom
to show you his love."
    "Then
why did he not take me back to live with him? Why was I kept here, isolated
from everyone by the Sisterhood? Was he afraid or ashamed of me?"
    The
woman sat on the single chair in the room and patted the mattress for Shannon
to sit. "You know the answers to those questions. Your gift was too
unpredictable when you were a youth, it was subject to your tantrums and
temper. These walls have the power to absorb most of the damage, but not all.
He could not risk the world becoming victim to your gift until you could
control it. He was saving his kingdom, his people, and you, by having you stay
here."
    "My
temper has calmed, has it not?"
    "I
wish I could say that was so," the woman chuckled. "Only the chickens
and the goats have been spared from your screams. No amount of switchings have
limited them, either. You do tend to be unruly, yes?"
    "Yes,"
Shannon sighed. "I seem to have no power to stop the keening when it
erupts. Even now I doubt my ability to control it. But I would not hurt anyone
intentionally."
    "We
know that. Your gift controls you still, rather than you controlling it. As you
mature, it will become easier if you apply discipline to your actions."
    "I
fear that my betrothed will not be as patient. If he is like his father, he
will be immune to my cries…"
    "But
not your tears," the woman said with a gentle smile. "King Malkai
always said that you have no need to scream. He would give you the moon at the
first sign of a silent tear."
    "I
would give up my gift to have him here and alive once again. I fear for my
future, Sister."
      "The king would never subject you to
danger. He wished you to be happy, and trusts that this coupling will be the
best for all. Believe in his heart, Shannon, even if you don't trust your
own."
    "His
son is said to be unlike him. Cruel, heartless, demanding. Rumors say…"
    "Rumors!
Rumors are what took your mother's life," the sister scolded. "To
believe in a rumor is foolishness. To repeat a rumor is wicked. You have been
taught this!"
    "Rumors
usually have some element of truth in them, do they not?" Shannon argued.
    "Then
you are to find the truth and dispel the lie. Must I run you through your
exercises to remind you of this?"
    Shannon
shuddered and shook her head. She hated doing Spell-binding. Its purpose was
simply to make her focus her energy into a single flame and clear her mind of
cobwebs, and it always left her with a headache and a burned hand.
    The
sister took her silence as acquiescence and nodded her head with approval.
"Good. Wisdom prevails. The novices will come in and pack your trunks
while you make haste to finish your tasks."
    Shannon
wrinkled her nose. "It is my last evening at the abbey! Must I?"
    "You
have been trying to get out of evening chores since the day you first
arrived," the woman chuckled. "I recall King Malkai placing you
promptly across his knee for refusing to cooperate. Have you forgotten?"
    "No."
Shannon blushed. Having never been spanked before, she had been stunned by the
gentle king's actions. They had been in the cathedral talking with several of
the Sisters, and Shannon had been told to sweep the floors. She had