The Nemesis Blade Read Online Free Page A

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rose in fury, when Tristan held his hand aloft. As he was about to
speak, there was a knock on the door.
    Exem entered
bearing a tray of drinks and behind him a woman bearing all manner
of finger foods. The trays were placed on the low table before the
men and the two left. Nobody looked moved.
    Tristan spoke,
“Sanctuary is exactly that, a sanctuary. The Dome is what it has
always been and the Kaval are the new Guardians. There is no army
and our grandfather has no intention of carving out kingdoms for
us. This is the truth and those are the facts. However, rumour has
life, and fuelling it does not make it right or alter hearsay into
truth.”
    Kris nodded.
“I will speak of this to all who open their mouths to utter these
rumours.”
    Tristan
sighed. “No, say nothing. It will add fuel to the fire. Kris, we
judge you misled, but innocent of wrongdoing. Please, enjoy the
hospitality of Valla Palace this night as a token of our apology
and feel free to meet the Farmer’s Union tomorrow without ill will.
All we ask is that you say nothing of this … situation.
Agreed?”
    Kris Westlake
gazed around him. A night in Valla Palace? He would have a tale to
tell, for sure - with a few embellishments - and the Vallas would
come out smelling like nectar.
    He grinned.
“Agreed.”
    Tristan
smiled. “Thank you. Please, have a drink, eat something. I will
have someone come for you in a while. My cousins and I need to
confer now, if you will excuse us?” Tristan rose decisively, as did
Tianoman and Teroux. “Sirlasin, will you join us?”
    “Of course, my
lord,” the Elder murmured and followed the three Valla men out,
leaving a bemused Kris Westlake staring at the array of drinks and
edibles before him. He looked up at the books on the shelves and
gaped at the titles.
    Hell, never
would he read even a portion of those.
     
     
    “Is there a
rumour circulating to this effect?” Tristan demanded as the door to
his suite closed on them. “Sirlasin?”
    “There must
be.”
    “It could
affect trust in the Kaval,” Teroux muttered.
    “And relations
with Valaris,” Tianoman pointed out. “We do not want to rule by
fear or be seen as future aggressors.”
    “I wonder if
Elixir knows,” Sirlasin murmured.
    “What worries
me,” Tristan said, “is others may be readying an army to offset
this mythical force on Sanctuary. An army prepared eventually
requires a war to affirm necessity.”
    Teroux and
Tianoman were horrified, but Sirlasin said, “Elixir would see such
an army preparing.”
    “Would he? By
all accounts he has withdrawn to his villa on Sanctuary and has
little to do with the Dome and his Kaval. And what if it’s readied
in innocuous pockets of resistance? Not enough to bring Kaval
attention, yet sufficient to herald other, similar units.”
    Sirlasin
pursed his lips. “That smacks of organisation. Is someone powerful
enough to keep the secret? We do not know any of this.”
    “No,” Teroux
agreed, “yet we shouldn’t be complacent. A rumour about potential
kingdoms is fuel to resistance.”
    “Someone
should contact the Dome,” Tianoman suggested.
    “One of us
should speak to Elixir,” Tristan said.
    “Because
someone may be creating these rumours to build an army,” Teroux
murmured.
    It was
Sirlasin’s turn to be horrified. “We must tell him
immediately.”
    Tianoman said,
“Who will go?”
    Sirlasin
looked away. “Perhaps one of the Elders known to him?”
    “No, we won’t
spread this thing,” Teroux said. “You should go, Sirlasin.”
    “No, not me.
He needs to hear it from - one of you must do this.”
    Teroux said,
“He came for my and Tris’ Coming-of-Age, and he’s bound to come for
yours, Tian. That’s less than a month away; we could speak to him
then.”
    Tianoman
nodded immediately.
    “Are we afraid
of our grandfather?” Tristan said. “This is the man who comforted
you when your father died, Teroux, and was there at your birth and
naming, Tian. He was there