Serpent's Silver Read Online Free Page A

wiped off her hands and started for the door. “She and Lester won’t let me start out alone, or with just you and my horse.” He added to himself: But I wish all of you could come along. All of you all the way to wherever Kian and our father and our terrible former queen have gone. Because all of them had more actual courage than he did, though no one ever spoke that truth openly. Especially Jon, whose nature at times seemed more like that of a big brother than a little sister. That had changed substantially when she got together with Lester. Still—
    Heln made a face at him for joining wife and horse in the same breath, though in truth the two were of similar value in many Rud families. She often made faces like that, and despite her worst effort she remained as pretty as ever. Tongue out in a mock spell of insult, she went to the door and heaved at the heavy latch. It released with unaccustomed ease and the door jerked open—leaving her making a face at the visitor.
    “Heln Hackleberry?”
    She jammed her tongue back in her mouth and put her face straight, too late. She would have blushed, but instead she paled. The stranger at the door was a formidable sight.
    He was a big, rawboned man with a stockelcap pulled down around his ears despite the heat of the summer day. He was approximately Hal Hackleberry’s age, with a big ugly nose and black beard, dirty clothing, and a travelsack on his back. He wore a formidable sword.
    “Yes, I’m Heln Hackleberry,” she said, stepping back. Kelvin, fearful of robbery or worse, positioned himself for a quick rising and charge. “Mrs. Hackleberry.”
    “You won’t recognize me,” the stranger said with considerable understatement. “You never laid eyes on me before. Adult eyes, that is.”
    Heln frowned. Kelvin held his position. This didn’t sound like robbery, but…
    Abruptly the man reached up and pulled off his stockelcap. His ears popped into view. They were large and red—and round. As unpointed as her own and Kelvin’s.
    “I’m Sean Reilly, nicknamed St. Helens,” he said.
    “St. Helens!” she gasped. “You—”
    “Right, girl. I’m your father.” His dark eyes swept past her to Kelvin. “And you be the Roundear of Prophecy, son?”
    Kelvin and Heln looked at each other. Kelvin felt as though the floor had vanished.
    “A Roundear there Shall Surely be,” the man said. “Born to be Strong, Raised to be Free.”
    “Fighting Dragons in his Youth,” Heln continued faintly. “Leading Armies, Nothing Loth.”
    “Ridding his Country of a Sore,” the man said, reciting the prophecy of Mouvar. “Joining Two, then uniting Four.” He looked directly at Kelvin.
    “Until from Seven there be one,” Kelvin said reluctantly. He had been thrilled by the prophecy as a child when his mother had told him about it, but as an adult, he had been wary of it. “Only then will his Task be Done.”
    “Honored by Many, cursed by Few,” the man concluded. “All will know what Roundear can Do.”
    Kelvin experienced the old embarrassment. “I’ve heard it all my life, but I’m not sure that it applies.”
    “Hmpth. I’m not sure either, son. But you did slay dragons in your recent youth, and you did, to your great credit, rid Rud of the sore that was her queen.”
    He had indeed—but the accomplishment had been far less heroic than the prophecy made it seem. Kelvin was afraid that any further testing of the prophecy would get him killed. So he changed the subject. “You’re really Heln’s father?”
    “You doubt my word?” the man demanded gruffly.
    “I don’t know you,” Kelvin said with some asperity. Ordinarily he would not speak this way to such a formidable stranger, but the man’s attitude and round ears had shaken him. “How can I know whether your word is good?”
    “Maybe I should go elsewhere.”
    “No, no, come inside,” Heln said quickly.
    Kelvin could hardly protest. If Heln believed in this man, there must be something to it.