Changing Fate [Fate series] Read Free

left. Akila put her hands in her lap, fingers interlaced, looked into her cupped palms, and reached out with her mind. As she had expected, she heard a faint thread of melody, apparently played on a lute.
    Briam! she sent out a mental call, accompanied by the sensation of her empty and complaining stomach and the feeling of embarrassed annoyance that she always got when she was in a room full of people waiting for Briam.
    The lute music stopped with a startled jolt, and she could feel Briam come back to an awareness of the world around him. “He's on his way,” she whispered to Galin.
    "Good,” Galin replied. “It would be helpful to have him make the announcement that we start harvesting tomorrow."
    Akila nodded. “It would certainly look better that way, since he is supposed to be in charge here."
    "It would look even better if he were to show up on time for dinner,” said Marfa.
    Briam entered the room at a brisk trot just in time to hear the last remark. “I do apologize,” he said, slipping quickly into his seat and nodding for the servers to begin. “I am composing a new piece, and I'm afraid that I lost track of the time."
    Since all three of his table companions had been able to guess that for themselves, they did not bother to comment. The boy who was serving them barely repressed a snicker. Marfa glared at him, and dinner continued without incident. Akila and Galin discussed the work schedule and crew assignments for the next morning. Briam ignored them and ate in silence, his mind presumably still on his music.
    When he stood up to leave at the end of the meal, however, Akila prevented his departure with a quick hand around his wrist. You have an announcement to make, brother dear . It really did help sometimes that he was her twin; not only could she call him from a distance, but, when they were in physical contact, they could speak mind to mind with words. This ability was very useful when most of Briam's thoughts were elsewhere, as they were tonight. She prompted him through the announcement of the harvest schedule virtually word by word. When he was done speaking and had escaped back to his lute, Akila wondered if he had any idea of what he had said, or indeed, if he even grasped that the harvest would begin the next day.
    Judging from a conversation she overheard a bit later, she was not alone in her doubts.
    "Quite an unusual heir our lord has.” The voice was male, but not one Akila could put a face to. “Of course, it's not like he has much choice, having only the one son."
    "Lord Briam's not so bad.” That voice Akila did recognize; it belonged to the arms-master, now old enough to be semi-retired. “He's a good fighter when he puts his mind to it."
    "And what do you have to do to get his attention on fighting?” the first man challenged. “Threaten to smash his lute?"
    The arms-master chuckled indulgently. “It's not quite that bad. Good dancers are frequently good fighters, and he's quite good at both. No, Lord Briam will do well enough as long as Lady Akila stands by him. She's got the common sense of the pair."
    "Of the family, belike. At least she stays here and pays attention to what's going on, instead of being off campaigning half the year. How much land can one man hold, anyway? And our lord sees more of his horse than he does of his children. Small wonder that his son is a dreamer and his daughter takes more after Galin than her own father."
    "We can use more than one of Galin—or Lady Akila. We couldn't support more than one of our lord."
    "True enough. But I'd pity those children, if it weren't for the fact that if they mess things up, we will be the ones to be pitied."
    "Don't you worry. They'll do all right, as long as they have each other."
    They moved out of earshot then, leaving Akila puzzled. Why should anyone pity her and Briam? And why should they think that the twins would want to see more of their father? Life went much more smoothly when he was away than when he was