The Conqueror's Shadow Read Online Free

up.
    â€œI will be, given a few moments. Thank you,” she added, directing the comment at Lorum, who’d held the glass for her. The young man stepped back, smiling slightly.
    â€œWhat happened?” the knight demanded.
    Hesitantly, Rheah rose to her feet, leaning only lightly on her friend’s shoulder. “I was detected. My little helper was killed. In a rather excessive display of power, at that.”
    â€œPower?” Lorum asked hesitantly. “Couldn’t they just have stepped on it, or squashed it?”
    â€œI suppose they could have. Rebaine chose not to. The death of a mount is never a pleasant experience.” With a grimace, she rubbed the bridge of her nose with the thumb and index finger of her left hand. Obviously, the ogre wasn’t
completely
exhausted.
    â€œYour Grace …,” Nathaniel warned quietly. The young man frowned, but nodded.
    â€œRheah,” he said tentatively, “I hate to press you under the present circumstances, but—”
    â€œBut,” she interrupted, “you need to know what I learned.”
    Another nod.
    She sighed once, forcing herself to straighten up. “Less than I’d hoped, unfortunately. I know Rebaine has discovered a series of tunnels, a complex or catacomb of some sort, beneath the Hall of Meeting.”
    â€œTunnels?” Nathaniel asked. “Where do they lead? Could he move his troops through them? Is—”
    An upraised hand silenced him. “Don’t get ahead of me, Nathan. No, they’re useless for troop movements. They’re small, and they don’t seem to lead much of anywhere. He’s searching for something down there. Something specific.”
    The young regent’s eyes grew wide. “Like what?”
    â€œI’m not certain. But it’s something worth trapping his entire army in a nearly indefensible city to find.”
    Lorum and Nathan exchanged bleak glances. The regent stepped away, stopping only when he reached the tent’s canvas wall. Absently, his left hand dropped to the table beside him, fingers drumming on the tactical map. His eyes unfocused, as though peering into the city itself. “How close do you think he was to his goal?”
    â€œI can’t say for certain, Your Grace. But he definitely gave the impression he knew where he was going. If I had to guess, I’d say fairly close.”
    â€œThat’s what I thought.” Lorum allowed himself one more endless moment to stare into space, to fully ponder the ramifications of what he knew he must do. Then, with a fortifying breath, he turned around.
    â€œThen we can’t give him any more time,” he said firmly. Nathaniel, in the mix of everything else he was feeling, found himself impressed that the young duke was growing into the role required of him. “Gather the generals and tell them to form up the men. We attack as soon as they’re ready. May the gods smile on us all.”

    MANY OF THE GUARDS and the prisoners, united in their curiosity despite the loathing each felt for the other, peered intently over the edge of the pit into which Corvis Rebaine, the Terror of the East, had vanished an hour before. No sound emerged from the blackened depths; no flicker of movement could penetrate the age-old darkness.
    â€œMaybe the gods are with us,” Jeddeg whispered softly. “Maybe the bastard’s died down there.”
    Tyannon kept her mouth clamped firmly shut for a change. She gazed, instead, at the exhausted, despairing faces around her—all but that of her father, who refused to meet her gaze.
    The darkness beneath them splintered; a burst of flame rolled down the corridor, cracking the stone walls as it passed. A wave of heat flowed from the pit, stinking of smoke and brimstone, making the watchers’ eyes water and blink. And then it passed, replaced by the sound of screaming.
    But this, despite the hopes of the gathered prisoners, was not the