Secrets of the Stonechaser (The Law of Eight Book 1) Read Free Page B

Palehorse. Rade had a knack for supervision and carrying out complex tasks. And of course Nerris, for his stealth and determination.
    That night, smoke plumes littered the distant horizon. The army of soldiers, refugees, and mercenaries known as the Qabalan Horde was close. Mikaren used their fire to send up smoke signals and alert her of their presence. Lady Qabala anticipated their return, and would have men watching. Sure enough, an escort emerged from the horizon the next morning. Rade shook Nerris awake, and he beheld their silhouettes in the distance, galloping straight for their camp.
    One rider carried the banner of Lady Qabala: a stone split down the middle, one half white and one half black, circled by a wreath of flames. The leader, a large man a few inches taller than Nerris, dismounted and approached them. He removed his horned helm.
    Rade nodded to him. “Falares.”
    Falares grunted some semblance of a response. He was Lady Qabala’s bodyguard, a brute with no real rank. The men surrounding him gave a wide berth, not out of fear, but because of the stench emanating from beneath his leathers and furs. Rade, Nerris, Mikaren, and Chalis lined up, but did not salute. Falares glared at them with cold eyes and when he spoke, he revealed a mouth of broken teeth.
    “Lady Qabala, Blade of Yala, the Unbreakable, Aeterna of the Yagol People, bids you welcome and thanks you for your duty in service to her kingdom,” he said. The last part of her title surprised Nerris; Aeterna was the female derivative of a title not held since Yahd the Enslaver. He was even more shocked  Falares had remembered all the words. There was a reason some men referred to him as the Lady’s Ape.
    “We will convey you forthwith to my Eternal’s pavilion, where you will receive your reward for services sundered.” Nerris rolled his eyes; looked like he had given him too much credit. Obviously he meant rendered .
    With formalities completed, Nerris and his companions broke camp, riding across the plains to the Aeterna’s encampment. Tents and cook fires littered the yellowed grass as they rode through, and the standard bearer called out for the Horde to make way. They did so gladly, and frequent cheers rang out behind them. Nerris and the others had taken the long way back to throw off pursuit. News of the King’s death had probably reached them days ago. Every follower of the rebel queen’s revolution rejoiced at the news.
    Not many were sure how it began, but everyone knew where. Lady Qabala first rose to notoriety in the city of Lhan Del, the old capital of North Yagolhan. Seemingly overnight, she emerged as the voice of the cityfolk, crying out for justice and fairness from Lord Pieth Skovil. Her notoriety grew every time the lord tried to arrest her, only to have Qabala vanish and emerge days or weeks later, inciting sedition anew.
    The more Qabala had spoken out, the more people had poured into Lhan Del to take her part. Lord Skovil ran himself ragged in his pursuit, and their game continued through the city streets. And when the lord was foolish enough to have his soldiers punish the people, it reached a boil. Qabala led them in revolt, and they overwhelmed his men and surrounded his castle gates.
    Lord Skovil had laughed, looking down on this young girl, barely a woman, from his lofty parapet. To shame her, he suggested they settle their dispute in single combat. He had not expected her to accept, and also did not expect the following slaughter.
    The cityfolk surged against the gates before the lord had succumbed to his wounds. Lord Skovil’s men hastened to close them, but shock at the defeat of their lord made them hesitate. The people stormed the castle, and the city of Lhan Del had been taken. At least, that was the story by the time Nerris had joined up. He knew firsthand how these tales could spread until factual events were a mere shell of repeated legend.
    Lady Qabala’s pavilion was the largest in the camp, stretching