Shadows of Time: Shadow Maiden Read Free

could stop him he flung himself from
the open window to his death below. I was overcome, wrought with
grief, as was the king. Not only was my brother dead, the boy with
whom I shared my mother’s womb, but the embodied link of the power
and pride of the Alainian rulers had been broken. Father was so
distraught. He had come close to madness with mother’s passing, but
this time he fell deeply into despair.
    Word had come to us that my brother (I cannot
even bear to write his name) was influenced by a power-mad leader
of the common people. He had convinced him, like so many, that
there was no need for a king, that they should have the power of
the Anvalin. Such fools!
    The king blinded their leader and banished
all that followed to live their lives subject to the cruelties of
the world. His wrath was so great he summoned the power of the
Anvalin and raised the city from its foundation into the very
clouds above, never to be touched by evil again.
    This great feat of strength drained the king
of his own life force. When the city had finished its descent, he
left nothing but a withered body. He had died before passing the
power of our people done to me, the rightful king.
    The power was lost. The only reminder of its
presence was the sacred Anvalin and its key, now rendered useless
because it had not been successfully passed down.
    I fear this event will create an even greater
rift among the people of Alainia. There are some that would see my
head hang from the castle gate to pay for the city’s upheaval, and
yet there are those who are merciful, who know that that is not the
way of the Alain. I have already seen the riots from my hiding
place. It is only a matter of time before war breaks out inside
these walls.
    Now, while the world’s gone crazy around me,
I wait here to die, hiding like a rat behind the wall. I can smell
the smoke and hear the angry screams from outside the door. At
least they will never find my body.
    I only ask, to any that read this, if it’s
ever found, to please recover my poor father’s ring. It deserves to
reclaim its rightful place upon the finger of a true ruler.
    Lestel felt his heart thud to a stop and
crawl up his throat. No wonder there wasn’t anything here about
the past. He couldn’t help but question how many other lies he
had been told to keep from inquiring about the actions of his
ancestors.
    So many questions, so few answers. He
flipped through the rest of the pages only to find nothing. The
only thing he knew was that he needed to find that ring. It was his
best chance to finding any clues to what had happened so many years
ago.
    Let me see, let me see.
    If the fire wasn’t what burned ye,
    Then where can your safe place be?
    It had to be part of the old library. At
least that was the best guess he had. Assuming, mind you, the fire
that destroyed the old library had been one in the same with the
fire set to draw the prince out. It was a risk he was willing to
take.
    Lestel circled the room, prying at teetering
book shelves and prodding at the damp stone walls. Finding nothing
on the first level, he wandered on to the next. He climbed the
rickety ladder to the first catwalk above and repeated his
inspection. Still finding nothing, he then climbed up to the final
top level. He circled around, poking and nudging, still producing
nothing. Heaving sighs of exasperation, he propped himself up at a
lone round window and looked up at the night sky. The moon smiled
down at the world below, like a mother looking in on a sleeping
child. His eyes wandered for some spark of inspiration while
listening to the muffled thunder. Suddenly, Lestel noticed a small
adjoining room hanging from the library’s outer wall, barely ten
feet from where he stood. His head quickly shot inside to see,
maybe, if there had been a way in he had missed, but only saw
nothing but immovable stone wall. He popped his head outside again,
trying to figure out how to get inside. He could see a window on
the wall facing