The Curse in the Gift (The Last Whisper of the Gods Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

break, Kara started a conversation. Alicia was glad for the distraction; it took her away from morose thoughts.
    “If you succeed in your goal of luring Sorial from the portal, what then?”
    Alicia hadn’t given much thought to the specifics of the aftermath; she was too concerned about achieving a goal that seemed increasingly difficult to attain. “We disappear. Go live someplace where Ferguson can’t find us.”
    Kara laughed softly; it was a mirthless sound. “You underestimate his reach. You’d have to go into the far wilds of The White World or across the seas to find a place where he doesn’t have influence.”
    “We’ll live simple lives. Keep to ourselves. The key is to avoid cities.”
    “Can you live that way? Can you work the land until your hands are blistered and calloused? Can you endure an empty belly because the crops don’t come in? Can you live in a cold shack with a dirt floor and little more than a square hole in the roof to vent the smoke from a fire? Do you really know what life will be like?”
    “How could I? I know I’ve led a sheltered life. I know it’ll be hard. But I’m made of sterner stuff than the average nobleman’s daughter. How many girls of my class would be doing this ?” She gestured expansively at the surrounding terrain. Truth be told, Alicia didn’t know any girl of her class, at least not well. But she knew enough about them to recognize they would think she had taken leave of her senses.
    “How long before you and Sorial begin to resent one another? You, for the price you’ll pay for being with him? Him, for the constant guilt of not being able to provide, not being able to ease your burden? In the end, even if you and Sorial escape detection, he may seek out a portal in desperation. By then, it’ll be too late. If he waits, he dies. Only four wizards at a time - one per element. The decision he makes when he reaches the portal - to touch it or flee from it - can’t be reversed. Once another has taken his spot, he must find and kill that person in order for it to open again.”
    Alicia said nothing. The thing that bothered her most about Kara’s words was the element of truth that lurked in them. Was that how it would be? She hoped she could grit out a life of want and poverty for Sorial’s sake, but could she? Worse still, was she robbing him of his lone chance at something better? But what kind of chance was it when its fulfillment was so unlikely?
    “Do you wonder why I came with you?”
    “To counterbalance my influence with Sorial. To push him toward the portal as I pull him away.”
    Kara shook her head. “When the time comes, I won’t seek to sway him. I’m done with manipulating my son’s life. The final decision is his. I’ve come with you because, when he makes that decision, I should be there as I haven’t been in the past. And because I want you to understand why I believe there’s a very real chance the portal won’t reject him. If you can see that, your actions at the portal will be different. I’m not on this journey to thwart you, Alicia. I’m here to support you. Ferguson wouldn’t approve, but Ferguson is elsewhere. He often seems to be elsewhere.” The last words were spoken in a soft voice laced with a resentment Kara couldn’t entirely conceal.
    “What will you do? One way or the other, this is the end for your involvement in Ferguson’s schemes.”
    “It depends on Sorial. If he returns in triumph to Vantok, that’s something I’d like to see. After that... I’ll fade away. It’s better for Sorial if I’m not around. He’s lived most of his life without his mother; he doesn’t need me dogging his steps now.”
    Alicia wished she had Kara’s faith. Perhaps she did, when it came to Sorial, but not in the same things. Kara looked at Sorial and saw a wizard. Alicia looked at him and saw the boy she had met in the stable who had grown to a man before her eyes. A part of her wanted Kara’s vision to be true, but she