Child of Fate Read Free

wondering what was next.
    “Stand back, lad,” Kar said, raising his arms
and letting the sleeves of his robe slide down them.
    Alto backed up and nearly stumbled when Kar
pushed his hands above his head. Flames poured out of his fingers,
striking the pile of corpses to start a magical conflagration.
    He watched as the flames consumed the goblins
in record time, leaving behind only charred scraps of bone and
metal. He tore his eyes away when he heard someone speak his name.
Turning, he saw Karthor offering him the reins to Sebas. He smiled
thankfully and swung up onto the stallion his father had given him
when it had been born six years past.
    “Lead us to your farm, Alto,” Tristam said,
gesturing for Alto to take the lead.
    Alto glanced at the other members of the
adventuring party and nodded. He flicked Sebas’s reins and moved
the horse forward. He took them through the copse of trees and the
swampy field, and then down another trail that crossed a trickle of
a creek and finally back to the field his father had been plowing.
From there, it was less than a ten-minute ride to his home.
    Alto burst into the house and led Tristam,
Kar, and Karthor into his parents’ room. His family surrounded his
father so they could listen to Magdalene, the town’s healer.
    “Alto!” Magdalene said, her tone chastising
him. “Are you done playing grown-up? Your father’s badly injured
and may not last the night. Foolish of you to put yourself in
danger as well.”
    “Pardon me, good lady, but may I have a look
at him?” Karthor stepped past Alto and into the already crowded
room. With his polite words and actions, he’d prevented the
know-it-all healer from causing a scene, something Alto reminded
himself to thank the priest for later.
    Magdalene huffed and rose from the side of
the bed she sat on. She looked at Karthor, her eyes settling on the
holy symbol of Leander he wore. She swallowed loudly and nodded,
stepping away from the bed.
    Karthor smiled and moved to her vacant
position. He listened to the unconscious patriarch’s breathing and
gently probed the bruise on his scalp, and then felt for the wound
upon his leg. Eyes closed, he pressed his ear to Halgin’s
chest.
    “How was he injured?” Karthor asked, eyes
still closed.
    “We don’t know,” Lana said. “Only that his
plow horse brought him back with his foot caught in the plow’s
harness.”
    Karthor lifted his head and gripped his holy
symbol. He began chanting softly, his words growing in volume and
strength with each repetition. As before, his holy symbol began to
glow with divine light. The light sprung out, landing upon the
wounded farmer. Karthor struggled, fighting to continue his prayer,
but soon lapsed and slumped in exhaustion as he leaned against the
bed.
    He straightened, smiling wanly. Karthor
looked exhausted. He reached out his hand and Kar stepped in to
grab it and help to pull him to his feet. Alto grabbed his other
arm and supported him. Karthor favored him with a smile.
    “He will live,” Karthor said, drawing
relieved whispers and tears of joy.
    Karthor took a deep breath and lifted his
arms free from the two men. “I have much to learn, I fear. My
mastery of healing and even understanding of Leander’s teachings
leaves much to be desired.”
    Karthor smiled and glanced at his father. “I
should still be at the church, learning of my duties, but my father
insisted I aid him and his friends.”
    “Bah, cloistered away amongst eunuchs you’ll
learn half as much as you can in the world,” Kar muttered.
    “They’re hardly eunuchs, Father. There are
priestesses as well. Marriage is encouraged in my order,” Karthor
said. Alto could tell it was an old argument between the two.
    “Priestesses, bah…women that no doubt favor
women, much as the priests favor boys. A church is no place for a
young man,” Kar said, glancing at Alto. “Praying to a saint is all
well and good; it’s the hidebound traditions of religion that ruin
a