Shrouded Sky (The Veils of Lore Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

not to freeze tonight.”
    The girl yanked it off and tossed it to the ground. “There!” she barked over her shoulder. “I hope you freeze anyway.”
    Orryn ground his teeth and marched toward her. He grabbed up the jacket and pulled it on.
    The wind picked up, sweeping a bitter chill through the air. The girl paused, wrapping her arms around herself. Her body trembled, but she set her chin with determination and limped on, her strange black boots crunching across the sand.
    Orryn followed, keeping a cool distance. He was pleased to have the warmth of his jacket again, and equally pleased the girl did not. Yes, she would soon regret her words. Then she would be begginghim for the jacket he had so generously offered. But he would not share it again. She’d had her chance.
    At last she stopped, as he’d expected. There was no place left for her to go. She’d met the tumble of rocks Orryn already knew to be there, and her injuries would not allow her to climb them even had she been inclined to do so.
    The girl began to shake, her shoulders vibrating as she buried her face in her hands. Orryn thought to reach out to her, to offer comfort as he had seen others do. But then he realized his place, and his training.
    “We must go,” he said.
    “You go!” the girl said with a sob. “I have to find my father.”
    God, enough of this, Orryn muttered to himself. Just tell her what she needs to know and get on with it. “You’re wasting your time, girl. Your father is dead.” The words, though true, had tumbled out of his mouth in what sounded like a blurt. Orryn felt a strange twinge in his belly. He had been trained not to speak truths so harshly. But he had also been trained not to care.
    “Dead?” the girl cried. She spun to face him, tears spilling down her cheeks.
    “Do—do not cry,” Orryn said stiffly. God, why was she doingthat? He reached a hand to dry her tears, but jerked it back. He had seen his mother dry his younger sister Tiersa’s tears many times, but this was different—and more dangerous.
    He clenched his jaw, realizing his mind, and very nearly his hand, had twice now reached for the girl. It was an early sign. Departure could not be delayed past morning. But then he could not help but wonder, would the Sovereign Lady agree with his decision to leave his post? As a Pedant, one of the guardship’s most elite, it was against the law for him to leave his rotation without a replacement. But surly the Sovereign would understand.
    He had been on duty for four moons now, when it should have been only three. Had his replacement arrived when scheduled, he would have been home by now, in Syddia, with lavation already complete. As it was, he had remained at his post, judging the tempers of the clouds and waters, patrolling the woods and searching the beaches. It was an all-day every day ritual, and he had grown weary of it. But to leave with no replacement? Orryn knew his job and hundreds of others like it were vital to the maintenance of things. This girl, however, was not one of those things. Or was she?
    Based on what she’d said about Kiradyn, she appeared to have ancestral memory, something rarely found amongst those who landed on these shores. Perhaps it would soften the Sovereign’s anger in regard to the abandonment of his post. But he knew it would probably require much more than that. He glanced at the girl, realizing she was staring up at him with pleading eyes, and he could not help but stare at her in return.
    To the Black with it . We leave in the morning. He grabbed her hand. “Come,” he said.
    The girl did not resist, but Orryn sensed sluggishness in her pace as he pulled her after him. She soon became dead weight, and he turned to see her spilling to the ground. Orryn leaned over the girl, noticing the bandage had slipped from her thigh. Her wound was oozing, clearly in need of more attention than he could offer here.
    He scooped the girl up into his arms. She was light, probably more