Serpent's Silver Read Online Free Page B

Certainly there were few roundears in Rud.
    St. Helens entered, and Heln closed the door. He looked around the cottage, as if evaluating it.
    Now Kelvin began to see certain trace similarities between St. Helens and Heln. Nothing tangible, just hints in the lines of the face and the manner of gesture. This, he fought to realize, really was Heln’s father: the last male survivor of John Knight’s twelve-man squad from unlikely round-eared Earth.
    “I’ve come from the kingdom of Aratex,” the man said. “I’ve come to visit my daughter and my famous son-in-law. But I’ve come for a purpose.”
    “You have?” Certainly it was easier to accept this formidable man than to doubt him. St. Helens and Mor Crumb were about the same size, Kelvin decided, though Mor’s girth was greater and St. Helens seemed all chest and muscular arms. There was a wildness about this giant’s appearance and manner that reminded Kelvin too much of men he had only pretended to command in the war.
    “I’m here to lend you my age and experience. ‘Joining Two’ might as well mean Aratex and Rud. You agree?”
    “It might,” Kelvin agreed. But it might also mean any one of the other kingdoms. Or, as was the way with prophecy, the words might mean something else entirely. He had speculated once that they might refer to his marriage with Heln, or the marriage of his sister to his friend Lester.
    “Things are not right in Aratex. The dissatisfaction is great. Together we can do it, son.”
    “You mean annex Aratex?” Kelvin asked numbly.
    “Annex is a good word. So is invade.”
    Kelvin shivered. The thought of going to war again, of risking everything he had so narrowly gained, and in an unnecessary war at that, was just more than he cared to contemplate. He feared that his face gave him away.
    “You know about Blastmore, of course?” St. Helens inquired. “Rotten excuse for a king. Good chess player, but otherwise rotten. In his way he’s as bad or worse than your former queen.”
    “I, uh, heard reports,” Kelvin agreed. “He has a witch to keep people in line.”
    “Old Melbah. Ghastly hag. She goes up to Conjurer’s Rock, waves her fingers and shouts gibberish, and everybody faints. People there are real cowed—afraid to do anything on their own. With help, well, that’s a different matter.”
    “I’ve heard she controls the elements through magic. Wind, water, fire, and earth. That she can make the wind blow, the water rise, the fire burn, and the earth tremble.”
    “Superstitious nonsense!” St. Helens flared. “Are you really my commander’s boy? John was a skeptic.”
    Kelvin found it difficult not to flinch. Indeed, his father had been a skeptic. John Knight had maintained that all magic was superstition. But that had changed after Zatanas the sorcerer had demonstrated his power. No one would have disbelieved, after seeing what Zatanas could do. But this attitude of St. Helens was exactly what was to be expected in a member of John Knight’s crew, and went far to confirm the man’s authenticity.
    “I, uh, haven’t made any plans to invade Aratex,” Kelvin said after a moment. “I have something else to do that may take time. My father and half brother are in another frame, and in trouble. I have to try to help them before—”
    “Yes, yes, I reckon they’ll come in handy. Is it true that the queen escaped?”
    “I’m not sure. Kian thinks she’s alive—or he did before he left. Heln couldn’t find her astrally, so maybe she’s dead.”
    “Or at least out of action. As far as this frame’s concerned.”
    “I—suppose.” Kelvin still wasn’t comfortable with the concept of multiple frames, though he certainly couldn’t doubt them. The implications—
    “Well, we’ll just have to go together. You’ll need my help, and later we’ll make plans together for Aratex.”
    “Go? You mean with me?” Kelvin felt new alarm. “Into that other frame? That other existence? Only roundears can enter