Well of Tears (Empath Book 3) Read Free Page B

he
wanted. Neyv had been distraught when her father had been thrown in
the gaol, and she visited him every day. The guards had never
remembered, though of course, that was the way things normally were
in Neyv’s world.
    Right now, they were waiting for some
important guests, and Sammah needed her to be there whilst he spoke
to them. This used to happen, but now Quinn was out of the way,
these meetings were more and more frequent. It made Neyv feel
important, for Sammah to ask for her like this. Neyv been told they
were expecting Lord Erran of Achteren, and Obrenn of Mossvale. They
were attending Sammah as his allies, two of the men that had stayed
loyal when it had been declared that Vance was splitting
Sevenspells from the kingdoms. The castle had been a tumultuous
place that day, and Neyv didn’t remember any of it fondly. Men had
shouted, drawing swords on each other, and she’d hidden in her
rooms at first, before seeking out comfort with her father. Sammah
had escaped then, with Neyv’s help. She hadn’t wanted to see her
father slaughtered like a pig in a pen. He had wanted her to help
someone called Shiver escape. Neyv knew that he was a lord, but
when they got to him, he’d already escaped. There had been dead men
near that man’s rooms. Neyv had been scared, and Sammah had taken
her back to his own rooms. She’d slept in his bed that night. It
had been the safest Neyv had ever felt in her life.
    The door creaked, and the other lord, Obrenn,
walked in. He nodded at Sammah, apologising for being late, but he
did not sit down. Neyv thought the man was rude and she hoped that
her father would tell him as much. He usually told people if they
were being rude.
    “I thought Vance was going to be here?” the
lord sitting in the corner asked. He was Erran. He’d been waiting
there already for what seemed like a long time, and Neyv thought he
looked bored, and a little bit scared. The adults started talking,
and Neyv stifled a yawn. She never minded helping her father when
he asked her, but she never needed to actually do anything
apart from concentrate on what her father was saying. She wasn’t
allowed to play or read when she was meant to be concentrating. She
sat cross-legged on her chair and kept quiet. She didn’t want to
disappoint her father, and she thought that this would be a very
long conversation.
     
    * * *
     
    “You know the king is unwell and has been
confined to quarters. He’s not going to tend to these trivial
matters,” Sammah replied, his voice snapping and betraying his
impatience.
    “ Trivial matters ? I hardly call the
empath being back here a trivial matter, nor the amount of men
Shiver seems to be gathering to his banners. What news of the
Sha’sekian fleet? Are they going to be able to cut off Port Kahnel
and drop help inland for us?"
    Sammah tried to look congenial, placing his
hands on his knees and trying to smile. Lord Calvin of Port Kahnel
was astute, and had a decent army at his disposal. He was a man
usually looking to pick the victor rather than the moral
high-ground, and Sammah had been hopeful that Calvin would be
manipulated onto his side. It had been a blow when he’d helped
Shiver to escape the city, effectively ending any hopes Sammah had
harboured of bringing him over as an ally. Strategically, Kahnel
was a critical stronghold, and one that Sammah had been banking on
as a bargaining tool to convince his brother and the rest of the
council that he was able to take and keep control of the tactically
critical parts of the kingdom. After the dust of his brief
rebellion had settled, he had been left with Broadwater, its young
heir ineffective and the geriatric lord Broc unaware of what was
going on, and the minor provinces of Mossvale and Achteren. As much
as Sammah had negotiated with Broadwater, he no longer counted
those men in his ranks, as he had murdered lord Alec earlier in the
year. The best Sammah could hope for now, was that Broadwater would
remain neutral. The