Soul of Kandrith (The Kandrith Series) Read Online Free Page A

“You just said it.”
    Julen paused with his mouth open, then laughed—a strange noise
Lance claimed people made if something was “funny.” “So I did. I’m happy to see
that you didn’t get your head chopped off.”
    Sara’s head had been chopped off,
but Julen hadn’t asked her a question so she said nothing.
    “You wouldn’t believe the rumours we’ve heard out here in the
sticks.” Julen watched her closely.
    She scanned the one-room cottage, but didn’t see any sticks.
Logs for the fire, yes, sticks, no.
    A pause. “Please sit down.” Julen pointed at a kitchen
chair.
    Sara sat.
    “Gah!” The noise came from the wooden cradle.
    Julen bent over it and picked up a baby with brown eyes and a
full head of dark hair. He sat down across from Sara with the baby on his lap.
Her tiny head rested in the crook of his arm. “This is my daughter, Meghan.
Remember how I told you I would soon have Iorweth wrapped around my finger?
Well, Meghan wrapped me around hers instead.” His lips turned up.
    Sara watched as the baby tried to jam her entire fist into her
mouth. Sara didn’t think her own fist would fit in her mouth.
    “Iorweth and I would never have married except for the
unfortunate accident that killed her husband—and, yes, I admit some
responsibility, but it was an accident. She’s not in
love with me any more than I am with her, but we both love Meghan and that’s
enough. At least for now,” he added under his breath. He kissed the top of the
baby’s head, then cleared his throat. “Would you like to hold her?”
    Sara considered the squirming bundle. “No.”
    “I’ve got a buyer lined up for the farm,” Julen told her after
another pause. “Since it seems you won’t be needing my diplomatic talents, I’ve
persuaded Iorweth I’ll make a much better merchant than a farmer. Less mud. And,
frankly, I want out of this village. I’m tired at being glared at by Iorweth’s
first husband’s friends. They make Iorweth tense, too, muttering behind her back
about her sleeping with the enemy. We’ll both be able to start fresh in a new
place.” He waited for three heartbeats, then continued, “We plan to move to
Gatetown. I’ve an idea I might be able to bring a colt through the Gate.
Kandrith is in desperate need of new breeding stock...”
    The man called Julen talked while the baby drooled on her fist.
Sara answered if he asked a question. Every thousand heartbeats, she checked
Lance to make sure his skin was warm and that he breathed.
    After her eighth check, a black-haired woman entered the house,
bringing with her a gust of wind and a spatter of rain.
    Julen quickly stood. “Oh good, you’re back,” he said. He took a
step forward, then stopped. “We have visitors.”
    “So I heard.” She removed her gray woolen cloak and hung it on
a peg.
    “Iorweth, you remember Lady Sarathena and Lance?”
    “Of course.”
    If the woman remembered her, then Sara should know her. Sara
studied her more closely. Sara did remember a black-haired woman named Iorweth,
but that woman had been fat. Ah, yes. Last time the baby had still been inside
her.
    Iorweth felt Lance’s forehead, tutted over his swollen stomach,
then took the baby from Julen and sat at the table. She opened her dress, baring
one breast so the baby could nurse.
    Julen told Iorweth about finding Lance.
    “What’s wrong with her?” Iorweth asked, when the baby had
fallen asleep.
    She was looking at Julen, so Sara didn’t answer.
    “Iorweth, please don’t.” Julen turned his head from her to
Sara. “I think she’s had a rough time of it. She’s not herself.”
    That was true. Sara knew she was different from the Sara Julen
had known before. That Sara had had a soul.

Chapter Three
    “Feeling better now?” Julen asked Lance, with a tight smile that failed to disguise his anger. He’d cornered Lance on his return from the privy.
    “Yes,” Lance said. Here it comes . He’d been expecting the confrontation for awhile