Lords Of The Dark Fall - Fabian Read Online Free Page A

she’d been handed a cart-load of trouble. First task – get him hidden before someone came visiting. Second, heal and clothe him and send him on his way before anyone realised he was here. Simple.
    She kneeled beside him on the stony path and shook him gently. When had her life ever been that simple?

Chapter 2
     
    In his sleep, he went home. Relived his past glories and drank with his brother. For a brief moment, on awakening, he lay blissfully suspended in that wonderful place where dreams become reality. An immense feeling of relief washed over him like the high tides of Palio-Oceana. His terrible defeat, the Fall - all a dream.
Oh, thank the god
s.
    But his bed was full of stones. Cold air lifted the hairs on his arms and legs. His head was strangely light, while at the same time feeling as if he’d indulged in an entire flagon of wine without stopping to draw breath. Someone was beating his arm and his chest with a hammer. Slicing at his flesh with the point of a knife.
    Unpleasant sensations filtered through, one by one, until he remembered. And then he fell, all over again, screaming out his repentance, into the black void of nothingness.
    When he awoke the second time, the pain had dulled to a tolerable, background ache and beside him was a wraith, albeit a rather scruffy-looking one, gazing down at him with eyes full of concern. He wanted to reach out and touch her to see if she was real, but his arms were too heavy, and they refused to obey.
    “I cannot die,” he told her. “The bracelets of immortality are mine by right of conquest. Why are you here?”
    Soft fingers drifted over his brow, moving to trace the line of his cheek.
    “You’re raving. But no fever, thank god. Fabian, can you stand? You need to come indoors. You’ll be safer there.”
    He should know her. A familiar voice, as was the scent. Spring-time. She smelled of spring-time. And she had a stupid name.
    “Tig?”
    “That’s me. Come on, Fabio. Give me something to work with here.”
    “My name is Fabian Luc...”
    Her mouth twitched at the corner. “I know,” she said wrapping him in her arms. “Just teasing. Lean on me and stand.”
    “You brought me here?”
    “Yes,” she said patiently. “Updates later. Now the priority is to get you down the path and into that house. Can you see it?”
    The narrow path wound away to a dip. In the dusky evening light he made out the faded roof tiles and whitewashed walls of a rustic dwelling. The kind of building that housed peasants and swine back in his world. Right now it looked like a palace.
    “Yes, I see it,” he said shaking away the last threads of confusion. “I need the services of a mage. Urgently.”
    Tig shook her head. “You can’t afford a mage. Few can these days.”
    “This is a strange world.” He refused her offer of an arm to lean on. The rebirth into this new life had been painful, but the pain meant he could feel, and if he could feel, he must be alive. He wanted to feel it.
    Tig picked up the blanket and walked close, letting him lead the way, while carefully shepherding him along the path. She seemed to have an extraordinary ability to navigate the tender sensibilities of the male ego. Still acting the vanquished, even though she was anything but. Back in his world, she would have made a formidable diplomat. 
    The windows were shuttered from the inside. The wooden door locked in five places. Tig fished into the inside pocket of her coat and dangled a bunch of iron keys from one finger.
    “Want to do the honours? Or shall I?” The tone remained neutral. As if she were asking a long-time acquaintance rather than her captor. Perhaps he caught a hint of sarcasm. Key-keepers opened doors for him. He did not bother himself with such trivial matters.
    “Proceed and unlock, that I may enter,” he said, and immediately felt foolish. Men of equal stature had cowered before him. Only his true-brother would dare to address him directly without prior leave. But standing