Fey 02 - Changeling Read Free Page A

brown pants and tunics — the new uniforms of the King's guards.   The King had switched his guards' clothing when it became clear the other uniform was a target.   The men had bare heads and close-cropped hair.   As they approached, Rugar recognized one of them as Monte, head of the King's guards.   Monte was a beefy middle-aged man with ruddy features and a hatred of the Fey.   He had insulted Rugar at the banquet following Jewel's wedding, and only Jewel's pleas that the ceremony be peaceful kept Rugar from responding.
    Rugar's information had been right.   The King was visiting the Kenniland Marshes on his first trip through the countryside since the Fey had arrived.   The marshes were particularly important to the King, since they were, historically, a hotbed of political rebellion.   The people in the marshes had led the Peasant Uprising generations before.
    Rugar had not known any of the history of Blue Isle when he arrived here.   All he had known was that the Isle was rich, and was between the Galinas continent and the Leutian continent.   The Fey had just finished conquering Galinas, giving the Fey control of three of the five continents in the world.   Leut was next.   If his father, the Black King, had not opposed this mission, the Fey might actually be on Leut now.
    Or dead.   There was no guarantee his father's Spell Warders would have learned the secret to the poison either.   But his father's Warders were in Nye, the country on the western edge of the Galinas continent, just as his father was.
    The riders did not speak as they rode up.   The horses were stallions, proud, dark beasts that pranced with spirit.   The men had to use heavy reins to keep them under control.   A surprise, and the poorer riders would be thrown.
    That was the technique Rugar would have used if he had a force.   Alone he had to wait for his target.
    The King.
    The four guards were scouting the area.   They looked into the marsh, and at the trees.   Rugar kept very still.   If this group got past him, the King would arrive with confidence.
    Monte peered into the tree that Rugar was in.   Rugar held his breath.   It felt as if their eyes met.   Then Monte looked away.   They rode slowly so that they could scout clearly.   It gave Rugar a chance to investigate them.   He had not seen the other three guards before.   They were all older men who had lived at least three decades, maybe four.   They had that same hefty strength that Monte had, and the same weary features.   Their blue eyes were pale, their features round.   They were shorter and stouter than the Fey, but within that square build lay a lot of strength.   Some of the Fey Infantry had learned that the hard way.
    They passed within spitting distance beneath the tree.   Rugar could smell the horseflesh on the breeze.   He watched them pass, then took a deep breath.   There should be no more advance teams.   The next arrival should contain the King.
    Jewel would hate Rugar for this, if she ever figured it out.   But he had given her four years to resolve this crisis.   Four years to bring the Islanders under Fey control.   When she had suggested her plan, she had said that once she was in the palace, she would betray the Islanders.   But she had fallen subject to their odd charm.   She didn't even realize that the child she raised was a changeling.   Her son, Gift, had been in the Shadowlands since he was less than a week old.
    If she wasn't going to betray the Islanders by now, she never would.   And the King's first visit to the outlying areas provided Rugar with the chance he had been waiting for.
    A small dust cloud rose in the distance.   Rugar smiled.   The King would travel with a party large enough to raise dust even on this meager road.   Rugar grabbed his bow, put it across his lap, and rested an arrow on top of it.
    He would get only one chance.
    As the dust cloud grew closer, the clear air carried the sound of many hooves.