Blood Ties (Noble of Blood Series Book 2) Read Free

seeking out the leftover pockets of goblins and wiping them out. He would have joined them had it not been for the humans that were left needing guidance and a firm hand.
    After the war ended, chaos had sprung up for a short time. Families had been torn apart, and many folks no longer knew how to support themselves. Having grown up with no parents to teach them the way of the land, some of the humans had fallen into thievery and pirating to survive. Instead of following his fellow warlocks and sating his lingering blood lust, he stayed behind to help put things back in order.
    Mortul had brought together some of the stronger humans and trained them how to fight, and posted them around the small villages to bring the thievery back under control. He dared not threaten the humans with his power, though, because to frighten them would make matters worse. Instead he searched around many different villages to find folks who knew different crafts, and paid them to travel to other villages and teach the younger people how to get along for themselves.
    With peace and prosperity finally on the rise, it was then that he settled into the old Duke's abandoned Keep. The humans around brought him small gifts of food and furniture and garments to say thank you for his protection and patience. The humans still had a long way to go to become truly prosperous though. And the ones who knew the crafts were getting older every year, and would soon be unable to travel to pass on their knowledge.
    This was when Mortul looked into unearthing his chamber and recreating the spells to prolong the lives of some of these humans. He could make them Noble like him, but without the devastating magicks.
    Kurmeina was one of his first to be turned. She was a scholar, and very valuable to him. He wanted to make sure all the history of the war was written and needed someone dedicated to do it. After her turning she not only wrote, but she also taught the locals how to read and to write, basic arithmetic and small doses of history.
    After she taught several humans how to pass on her knowledge, she withdrew from her scholarly pursuits and dedicated herself to writing.
    And one of the books she had penned, and continued to add to over the years, was the book laid open on the Patriarch's desk.
    He felt the elderly woman staring at him, waiting for him to grasp the meanings of what she had just found.
    “So, I take it that these findings were fairly recent then?” He finally asked her.
    “Yes, Master Mortul. The connections could have been made before, but I had not worked on the lineages in quite some time. I usually let a generation or two go by before I spend time with these entries. Had I looked at this book nineteen years ago I would have brought this to your attention then.” Her voice was deep and clear, without any trace of weakness. She may have been an elderly woman, by human standards, when she was turned, but she looked and sounded like a young matron.
    “I understand that. These findings just solidify my need to approach my son and granddaughter. If I could just catch up to one of the wayward Rangers that followed my son away that night I could get them to tell me the state of things with my son. If this is true, and I am not doubting your research, then my son's offspring could be a very dangerous person.”
    “Do you doubt your son's ability to properly raise his child?” Kurmeina asked him.
    Mortul took a long look at his companion. She had known him for centuries, before he was made into a Lord of the grateful humans and a Patriarch of their own people. She was one of only a couple who could question him so openly.
    “No, I do not doubt his ability to care for the child. I do know however, that he does not have the ability to answer any questions she may have about being different from other Nobles. He will not have the aptitude to train her in the use of magic. If she is of such strong bloodlines, then she will surely have noticed some of her