Brokedown Palace

Brokedown Palace Read Free

Book: Brokedown Palace Read Free
Author: Steven Brust
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to make an interjection. When the horse remained silent, he continued. “He told me he needed my bedchamber. That he needed a room of that size to pursue his studies. He said he was having one of the servants’ quarters cleared for me. I didn’t argue—”
    “Why not, master?”
    “Well … he’s the King.”
    “And it does you no good to argue in any case?”
    “Yes, that’s right.”
    “So what did you say?”
    “That he could have the blasted room. That the walls were cracking anyway, and the ceiling was sagging, and what did I care.”
    “And he attacked you?”
    Miklós trembled with the memory. “I’ve never seen him so angry! We’ve never gotten along well, but this! He drew his sword—he always carries it—and struck me with the flat and then with the pommel. He kept—” Miklós stopped, his eyes growing wide again. “My clothes!” he cried. “They were torn to rags! He half ripped my doublet trying to hold on to me and now it’s whole!”
    Bölk chuckled. “So, the mending of your clothing seems more startling to you than the healing of your body?”
    “No, no, it isn’t that … well, I guess it is. I don’t know. How did you do it?”
    “I had no part in it, master. But how did you escape?”
    Miklós closed his eyes, trying to remember. Already it seemed so long ago. “It’s mostly a blur,” he said finally. “I remember crawling out of the door, thinking that Lász—that the King would follow me, but he didn’t. I remember wanting to reach the River and to throw myself into it. I thought I was dying. I was dying! What happened?”
    “Who can say, master?” said Bölk. “Yet here you are. Do you think your brother will pursue you?”
    Miklós considered. “I doubt it. But I can’t go back home now. I’m afraid to.”
    “You needn’t,” said the horse. “I will bear you wherever you wish.”
    “You will?”
    “I have said so, dear master.”
    “But … why will you?”
    “Because you have found me at a time when I needed to be found.”
    “But it was you who found me .”
    “Was it?”
    Miklós fell silent. After a time, Bölk said, “Whither shall we go then, master?”
    “I don’t know, Bölk. I have nowhere to go.”
    “And nothing to do?”
    “Nothing that I know how to do.”
    “Nothing you want to see?”
    “I don’t know what to look for.” He looked up suddenly. “Except—I would like to look for whoever or whatever healed me, so I can give thanks and perhaps do a service for him or her or it.”
    Bölk’s head drooped for a moment and shook in that manner peculiar to horses and shake-dancers. Then he looked back at Miklós once more and said, “Do you really not know?”
    Miklós closed his eyes. He thought of the Demon Goddess, but he hadn’t called out to her, so how could she have known to come to him, even if she chose to? Then, suddenly, he realized that he did know. “It was the River, wasn’t it?” he said quietly.
    “The River,” said Bölk, “flows down out of the Mountains of Faerie.”
    “Then,” said Miklós, standing, “I wish to go to Faerie.”
    Táltos horse and young Prince remained still, as if this announcement had created or removed a barrier between them and they weren’t sure which.
    “Few from this land,” said Bölk, “ever travel that way. Fenarr himself; perhaps others. Are you certain you wish to go there?”
    Miklós shook his head. “No,” he said, “I’m not sure. You asked what I wished to see, and that is the answer. But I’m not sure. I’m not sure of anything. Do you think it’s a foolish thing to do?”
    “I am not certain myself, master,” said Bölk. “You may find there what you need. You may not. I have some knowledge of Faerie, but what I know causes me to turn from it.”
    “What do you mean?”
    The horse said, “I have been there once. To return, one must embrace it. I reject it; I cannot go there. I can bring you to the border, high in the mountains, but no

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