Prelude to Fire: Parts 1 and 2 Read Free Page B

bring the device to the prince, especially if there was anything that could be used to help heal the king.
    “I have returned,” Lacertin said softly.
    The king reached for his hand and took Lacertin’s in a bony grip. Some strength remained, though it was brief. “You have stopped Incendin?” he asked.
    “My lord?” Was there more to the Incendin attack? But of course, there must be more to the attack, especially if two of the kingdoms’ most accomplished shapers had been lost. Now that he was back, Lacertin needed to understand what.
    “They think to claim Nara, Lacertin. You will stop them?”
    Lacertin held his breath. The claim on Nara was the reason for the decades-old war, one in which Incendin thought to reunite ancient Rens. But Nara had been a part of the kingdoms for a thousand years, and the kingdoms were unwilling to cede even a strip of land to Incendin.
    “I will do all that you need, my king.”
    Ilton nodded. “I know that you will.” He sighed. “You are the First. You command the warriors. You will tell Althem that you speak with my voice.”
    Lacertin swallowed back the lump that formed in his throat. He had once served as the king’s Athan, a title bestowed upon him so that he could speak on his behalf, and so that he could forge necessary alliances, but it had been years since Lacertin had exercised that right. Not since Althem had come of age.
    But nothing had changed him serving as First Warrior. Nothing but Ilton’s death would change that.
    Did Ilton speak lucidly, or was this the illness speaking?
    He didn’t know, and that made it all the more difficult to know what he should do.
    “You will secure the border. That will keep us safe,” the king whispered. “That will give us peace.”
    Ilton closed his eyes and said nothing more. His breathing became slow and regular. Occasionally, he would cough, and he muttered softly, as if trying to say something more, but then he would fall back into a deep slumber.
    Lacertin looked around the king’s chambers. Given how weak that he was, it was likely the last time that he would be granted access. Lacertin did not think that he would want to come again, especially not until he knew how clear the king’s mind remained.
    He pulled his hand free from Ilton’s grasp and started to turn. The gold plates made him pause. Would the next person to enter the king’s chambers appreciate the reason that Ilton had requested them, or would they think it some trinket that the dying king had brought to him?
    If there was power to be had with them, shouldn’t Lacertin see that the archivists had a chance to use it? Shouldn’t the king be given every opportunity needed to improve?
    Lacertin sighed. Perhaps Theondar was right. His king wasgone. That didn’t mean that Lacertin would stop serving him, though.
    He took the plates that he’d spent so much time searching for on Ilton’s behalf, and returned them to his pocket. He needed to find someone who might be able to help use them on behalf of the king, but who? The archivists would take time studying, and there was no guarantee that they would be able to use them. There was a part of Lacertin that suspected shaping was required to utilize the plates, especially given the difficulty that he had finding them, but that meant the archivists wouldn’t be able to use them anyway.
    He could use them, but he would need someone who understood them. He could think of only one person to ask, though he wasn’t sure the princess would even see him.
    For Ilton, he would have to ask.

Chapter 3
    L acertin found the shaper Nast standing guard outside the king’s chambers, waiting for the warrior when he left. The same sneer that he’d worn prior to learning who Lacertin was had returned to his face, and he crossed his arms over his chest.
    “Is Ilianna in the palace?” Lacertin asked.
    “Prince Althem requires your presence,” Nast said, ignoring the question.
    Lacertin closed his eyes for a moment. He had