Broken World Book Four - The Staff of Law Read Free Page B

all
emotions, next to love. Though they tread the path of damnation,
I’ll not harm them. Only Marrana can give compassion in death. Only
she could free their souls from the stone in which they’re trapped.
The Hashon Jahar were her creations, and carried the souls as
punishment for their wrongdoings, but ultimately they were destined
to be freed. That will not happen now. They’ll suffer until the
world ends, then be consigned to oblivion.”
    “ They’re evil!”
    “ No. There is no evil in this world. They are the misled, the
unenlightened, the ones who chose the wrong path, that’s
all.”
    Kieran growled
in frustration. “Okay, then return and free them as soon as we’ve
crossed the mountains, just give us the time to escape them, that’s
all.”
    “ Perhaps,” Chanter conceded. “I’ll think on it.”
    As he wandered
off, Kieran called after him, “Don’t think too long, or it may be
too late for the rest of us. You don’t want to harm the damned
Torrak Jahar, but you’d let us die!”
    “ Kieran!” Talsy frowned at him. “You have no right to speak to
him that way. Without him we’d all be dead long ago. You see things
differently, but you don’t have the right to question
him.”
    “ Damn it, he could spare us a lot of suffering if he wished,
but he won’t. That’s why Truemen hate Mujar, but I thought that had
changed.”
    “ Careful,” she warned, “you sound like an unchosen. You don’t
know that he won’t do it. I think he will, but while you see the
Riders as beastly fiends out to kill us, he sees them as lost
children, already suffering for their crimes. Haven’t you learnt
anything about Mujar while you’ve been with him?
    “ When he broke your wrist to stop you killing the sea creature,
he was filled with remorse. Mujar hate to harm others, and by
locking up the Torrak Jahar, even for a while, he’ll make them
suffer even more. When he releases them, he’ll owe them a debt, and
he’ll pay it just like he did with you. He healed the harm he did
you and granted you a Wish. Can you imagine what sort of Wish
they’ll want?”
    Kieran swung
away, torn by conflicting emotions. “By the gods, why must he be
like that?”
    “ Because he’s Mujar. Don’t you understand him yet?”
    “ I do, I just wish he’d change.”
    “ He won’t. He can’t. What you’ve asked him to do is no simple
thing. If he grants it, he’ll have to make reparations to the
Riders for the harm he does them.”
    Kieran kicked
a rock in frustration, cursing when he bruised his toes, then
lifted his head and stiffened in alarm. A faint thunder of hoof
beats drifted on the wind.
    Talsy’s eyes
widened, and she jumped up. “Is it them?”
    “ Can’t be,” Kieran muttered, “they’re more than a day’s ride
behind us.”
     
     
    Talsy looked
around for Chanter, but he had vanished. The Aggapae stood around
the fire they had kindled, staring in the direction of the sound,
their expressions tinged with alarm. A mounted party burst from the
distant line of trees and thundered towards them, led by a tall man
clad in blue and silver. He appeared to be having trouble
controlling his big chestnut stallion, which plunged as it fought
the bit. The riders who followed were armoured in silver and
caparisoned in blue, carrying banners of deep blue edged with
yellow. Halfway across the field, the stallion quieted, and the man
brought it under control, slowing to a canter. The riders behind
him caught up, and the group approached the chosen.
    The leader
stopped his horse a few yards away and regarded Kieran with
narrowed eyes. Kieran’s hand rested on the hilt of the Starsword.
The stranger’s size was obvious, even mounted, and his rich garb of
silk and velvet told them that he was a noble. Some of his
companions were similarly dressed, while the rest were soldiers,
though well armoured and mounted. The leader leant on his pommel
and pinned Kieran with cold brown eyes.
    “ Well met, Prince,” he said in