Kingdom of Stars (The Young Ancients: Timon Book Three) Read Online Free Page A

and he was allowed to try most of the unarmed stuff on Mindy. It was
easier to pull off than with the much larger man really. For one thing he could
aim blows at her face without jumping. He was about five-six now, so she was
taller, but not so much he couldn't reach that high.
    It was
one of the things that Tor had done to him, making it so that he'd grow taller
than he might have otherwise. It was mainly that, and giving him a conscience
like a normal person. Unless there was more that had been hidden from him that
he hadn't guessed yet. Technically that second part was only half of what a
normal person had. It... still wasn't easy to deal with. Guilt, shame,
embarrassment, these were things that had only been a faint glimmer before for
him. Now, ever since his brother had changed him in his sleep one night, near
Noram Day, Tim had been dealing with new things that he wasn't ready for.
    It had
been a chore, though he was sort of getting a handle on the worst of it. It
seemed mainly based on lying to yourself. For instance, he'd let thousands of
people die, suffocating to death with the Gray plague. He'd taken the healing
amulets slated for them, so regular men and women would die. Yes, he'd saved
some lives, since soldiers died of it too, which meant he'd single handedly
crippled the rebellion, but that wasn't the problem. It was the grannies
and children that haunted his sleep. So he told himself how it wasn't really
his fault, but the King's , since Richard could have ordered him not to
do it. Or Tor's, for not just making some more and fixing it.
    Instead
the Ancient King in his brother's head had backed the play, which was part of
why Tor had altered him, and left him feeling like he was. All guilt ridden and
ashamed of himself. His brother wasn't really in control though, and changing
him might have been part of Cordes's plan to keep him from being effective in
the war that was just starting. The Ancient war.
    Or, it
might have really been his brother doing what he normally did and assuming that
having power gave him the right to do whatever he wanted, since no one could
stop him. Except... That really wasn't how Tor thought. Even Cordes didn't. No,
that was the way Tim viewed the world and always had, at least deep
down. It was his way. Take what you wanted to and if no one could stop you,
then you had a right to it. Even now, after everything, it made a strange kind
of sense to him. Wasn't that the ultimate goal of political and personal power?
To gain control over others?
    He didn't like it when Tor did that to him, forcing him to be more like his
brother, but Timon understood it. It was up to him to fight against it, and to
hold himself as a whole and complete person, not letting shame and all that
other emotional garbage influence him in what had to be done. It was hard
though.
    Next to
him Bethany was talking to Karl, her voice still shy, and her gaze averted. At
least that's what he thought was going on at first, until her eyes went far
wider. She was looking East, out over the ocean. There was a row of focus stone
buildings in the way. In this part of the world it made a white and gray mixed
substance that was part glass and another stone. It was pretty enough, and
gleamed a bit in the late winter sun. That meant he had to blink for a second
when the craft that came over it, growling and roaring at them, came into view.
    Without
waiting Timon yelled. It wasn't exactly a manly thing, but it worked well
enough.
    "Shields
on! Everyone, get back... into the craft!" He had to run to the bench
along the low wall thing, which wasn't a real wall at all, being only a few
feet high and made of regular stone. It was a bit rough, as was the shelf along
the top of it. It took a bit to get to the amulets, snatch them all up
clumsily, and then work a craft up, but he had people loading about the time
that the mechanized looking thing stopped near the far side of the space and
began to settle.
    Timon
didn't freeze, but had to