Read Prelude to Fire: Parts 1 and 2 for Free Online

secret truce, then what did Ilton ask of you?”
    Lacertin’s hand went to his pocket and he traced the runes on the box through the fabric of his cloak. He’d spent so much time searching, following the directions coded into one of the texts given to Ilton by the archivists, that he struggled to explain.
    Yet he needed to have help, especially if he was to understand the intent of the plates, or why they had been placed throughout the kingdoms. What purpose would the ancient shapers, those with shaping ability that exceeded his own, have for keeping the parts separated?
    Without the archivists, he wouldn’t know. Without leaving them with Ilton, he might not know. But he’d sacrificed too much to simply lose them without understanding what they were, and without knowing that whatever power they possessed would be used to help Ilton. That was why he needed Anna.
    “He sent me throughout the kingdoms,” Lacertin answered.
    Veran’s face fell. “That is all? You were gone for what? Three months? And you return telling us that he sent you throughout the kingdoms? It seems to me that you could have served better in Ethea if that were the case.”
    “You could even take up your old quarters,” Alice suggested. “Theondar might not appreciate having you so close by, but I think he’ll get over it. Maybe you can help show him how to serve his king when Althem assumes the throne.”
    “Althem has essentially assumed the throne already,” Lacertin said. “And I’m not certain there’s anything that I could do to help Theondar, or that he would listen if there were.”
    Lacertin wondered if he would even be able to stay within Ethea once Althem began his reign. Theondar would lead the warriors, and what would he do? What would Lacertin be relegated to once Theondar led them?
    He pushed the thought aside. It didn’t matter. He served the throne, not the man sitting atop it, and not the First Warrior. It had been easy when that had been him , but what happened when it was not? After all these years, would he really be able to follow another’s lead, especially Theondar’s?
    As he took another sip of ale, forcing the hot liquid down his throat, he tried to convince himself that he would.

Chapter 5
    T he streets around the palace were quieter than he remembered. Was that because of Ilton’s illness, or was there another reason for it? Lacertin made his way along the streets, the plates heavy in his pocket, debating whether to return to the palace.
    If he did, he could search for Anna. She might know something more about what he’d been asked to find. Ilton trusted her more than anyone else, so Lacertin should go to her, only how could he reach her? The princess wouldn’t be willing to see him, would she? Especially not as she mourned her father.
    But he knew of nowhere else to go. He could take the plates to the archives, but there was no guarantee that anyone there would know what to do with them either, and he would find it easier to reach Ilton’s quarters again than to find his chief archivist advisor.
    That left Ilianna.
    He’d made a point of keeping his distance from her since Theondar started courting her. What would she say to him when he went to her, asking for help? Would she offer it willingly, or would she look at him with the same expression she wore the last time he’d seen her, the one that told him that she knew what might have been?
    Did it matter? Lacertin had made his choice. It was the same choice that he’d made over and again, serving Ilton with the same devotion. There could be no doubting his loyalties, not like so many from Nara.
    He’d changed clothes and trimmed his beard, choosing not to shave completely. The months with it had given him a certain affection for the beard, and there was a part of him that preferred that others might not recognize him.
    He reached the doors to the palace and stopped inside. The servants moved in something like a dance, stepping quickly from one place