Shadeborn: A Book of Underrealm Read Free Page A

The children will have risen, and are likely driving the others mad.”
    Still trembling, Loren stood with his helping hand. Together, they slowly set off into the trees. Loren no longer saw the green leaves nor the clear water of the bubbling brook as they crossed it. She saw only black and blue, and the red of blood.

three

    Gem had been a street urchin when Loren found him on the streets of Cabrus, hungry and picking pockets in the service of a guild of young thieves. Annis had been a daughter of wealth and plenty, her every whim tended to by the comforts of her mother’s coin. She had grown much in body and mind since Loren met her, but still she carried a haughty air and often expected others to service her needs.
    Their circumstances could scarcely have been more different, yet the children had surprised Loren since their arrival in Northwood, for they had both spent every spare moment working for Mag around the inn. From tending to the stables to running drinks and meals to visitors when the common room grew lively, they eagerly took to even the most menial task. Neither had been raised into a life of honest work, and yet they assumed their roles seriously and only rarely pried themselves away from the inn to explore the city. They had greatly enjoyed their time in Northwood, and Loren, when she thought of it, told herself that she had lingered in part to give them the rest they greatly deserved. Yet even to her own ears, the excuse sounded flimsy.
    “With the cook’s compliments.” Gem arrived at the table with a tray—five bowls of stew balanced atop it.
    “And the lady’s.” Annis swooped in with another tray holding five mugs of ale and two loaves of bread.
    “Our blessings upon the cook and the lady.” Albern scooped up his bowl and mug before tearing the heel from a loaf and dipping into the stew.
    Sun brushed the horizon outside, and many within the town had joined the inn’s tenants for supper and a drink. The common room buzzed with talk and occasional bursts of laughter. Loren could hear the plucking of strings from somewhere in back, the familiar sound of some minstrel aiming to earn enough coin for dinner. But still her mind lingered on terrible thoughts, and though her stomach growled at the smell of stew, it tasted bland as paper upon her tongue. Chet tried valiantly not to show his concern, but Loren could almost feel it flowing like the glow of a torch.
    “None of you will be surprised, I am sure, to learn that I have spent another day proving my worth.” Gem spoke brightly as he ate. The food mashed loudly between his teeth as he talked around it. “Today, I cleaned the hooves of every horse in the stable and laid fresh hay for each steed. I found dishes stacked into a mighty mountain, so I cleaned them all, without request. I hardly know how this place managed before me.”  
    “Oh, they must have pined for a dishwasher like yourself, master urchin,” said Albern with smirk. “Poor Mag must have spent her nights weeping herself to sleep for want of such noble, scrubbing hands.”
    “Just so,” said Gem, missing the jest in the bowyer’s tone.
    Annis sniffed primly and dipped the corner of her loaf into the stew, nibbling with well-practiced manners. “Well, while you have been getting yourself filthy down here, I have been striving for cleanliness. I cannot guess when the upstairs rooms were last cleaned, and some stank of something that I am sure I would not like to know about. But they are clean now, and I have sore knees and hands worn nearly to the bone. Give me a few more days here, and I am sure to make the place fit for the High King herself, though why she should find herself in such a town as this I am sure I know not.”
    Gem blinked and looked uneasily at Loren. “But . . . surely we will not be here that long. I should have thought we would be leaving any day now.”
    Loren could see—or rather feel—Xain staring daggers at her from the other side of the table. She