Templar's Destiny (9780545415095) Read Online Free Page A

the air grew still. “An’ what d’ye know o’ him?” I asked.
    â€œIt is no secret that Zachariah did not want to become a Templar,” he said. “His father is a minor noble who donated a tract of land in the northern provinces to the Order.”
    â€œWhy give up money and position to become a poor knight?” Aine asked. I fished out a fig from the pack and handed it to her, to help replenish some of the strength she’d used reinforcing the net of power.
    â€œHe is the second son and the land was far behind on the tax owed to the King,” said Gaston.
    I understood and explained it to Aine. “There is no’ enough money to support him or the land. By giving the tract to the Church they have taken care of two issues a’ once. The Templars train, arm, an’ support Zachariah, an’ the debt accumulated by the land is no longer an issue. The Templars are under the Church an’ as such pay no taxes.” As I spoke Gaston surveyed the woods, his eyebrow cocked at a quizzical angle.
    â€œDo you find the weather to be strange today?”
    I shrugged and changed the subject. “I canno’ imagine anyone no’ wanting to be a Templar,” I said. It had been the one thing I had wanted for nearly all of my life.
    â€œI don’t want to be one,” Gaston declared. “There are too many rules and too many eyes on you. And all that praying! Non. It is not something I want to do, ever.”
    His reaction made me smile. Hadn’t I felt the same way about the prayers? But to do what he did — stealing — I shuddered to think on it. He would lose a hand, if taken in by the law, and perhaps his life if caught by his victims. Either possibility was terrible and left me wondering what I could do about it.

    We traveled for much of the day, stopping only occasionally for breaks. The sullen rays of the morning sun overtook the dense cover of cloud, and by afternoon it was too warm to stay bundled up in our cloaks. I peeled mine away as I walked, tipping my face to enjoy the warmth that had been rare of late, when all at once I slid into a vision.
    Gaston crouching behind a screen. A great, wooden door closing, stirring the dust in its wake. A drawer opening. Red wax. A rolled parchment. A seal impressed on the wax.
    I stumbled as the vision broke and felt Aine’s hands steady on my arms and her song strong in my head. I blinked in the sunlight. This was the first time a vision had taken me while I was moving, and I had continued on without stopping.
    â€œAre you all right?” Gaston asked, slowing.
    â€œAye. I just missed my footing,” I murmured. The images were still strong within me, and I should have needed time to recover, but Aine’s gift had taken it away almost completely. Thanks , I mindspoke to her.
    Her eyes flashed to mine, and she nodded. “Best be careful,” she said aloud. “We have no time to turn an ankle.”
    Gaston’s pace resumed, and we trailed behind. “How often do they meet?” I asked.
    â€œI see them mostly at week’s end, when the sun sinks. The earliest arrive and drink in the tavern until the rest come, then they move to the upper room.” He glanced back at us. “Your timing is fortuitous. We can make it there before them if we hurry,” he said with a pointed look, and I quickened my pace.
    â€œWill ye be marked if ye arrive with us?” I was trying to riddle through the images that had come to me and why. This seal had appeared in several of my visions, on a ring that hung on a chain. But why had I seen it, this time pressed into wax? And why was Gaston nearby?
    â€œI do some chores for the innkeeper. Sweep up and fill the patrons’ cups as they go dry,” he said. “My arrival will be of no notice to any.”
    â€œGood,” I said. Aine seemed a bit slower and quieter than she had been for much of the day. I looked back and noted