Read Beyond the Boundary Stones (The Chronicles of Tevenar Book 3) for Free Online

Sar could fit into the carriage, and Gevan refused to let Josiah walk. At least Gevan arranged for guards to surround the donkey.
    The carriage lurched into motion. The four horses pulled it along a winding course toward the Matriarch’s palace. Crowds pressed close on both sides, craning to glimpse the wizards, crying their welcome. Guards strode ahead of the carriage to push them back. As they turned from the broad dock road into narrower streets that squeezed between tall buildings, the carriage stopped for minutes at a time while the guards cleared the way.
    Josiah gazed around him in fascination. Other than their bizarre clothes, the people looked ordinary enough. But as they progressed farther up the hill they entered an area where the buildings grew more dilapidated with every block, and the onlookers became progressively thinner and more poorly dressed. Before long the buildings were ramshackle ruins and the people wore rags.
    Elkan stiffened as he looked around, his hand going to Tobi’s head. “What’s this?” he asked Gevan.
    Gevan frowned at him. “The Beggars’ Quarter. I warned you about it.”
    Elkan swallowed. “I hadn’t realized it would be this bad.”
    They pulled into a dingy open square. Masses of people beat against the wall of guards. Instead of welcoming cries, their voice rose in desperate entreaties. “Wizard! Help us! Please, wizard heal me!”
    The carriage halted, blocked by the surging crowds. Beside the carriage the guards shoved a determined wave of supplicants away, but the people fought back, reckless in their desperation. A man carrying a scrawny, sobbing child broke through and charged the carriage. A guard drew his sword and moved to block him, but the man ignored the danger and thrust the child toward Elkan. “Wizard, I beg you! Heal her!”
    “Stop!” Elkan shouted as the guard prepared to strike. “Let him come!”
    A hush fell over the crowd. The guard, with uncertain looks first at Elkan, then at his commander, grabbed the man by the arm and hustled him to the carriage. Elkan swung the door open and beckoned the man up.
    Warily the man climbed inside. Josiah scooted down the seat to make room. Elkan stroked the little girl’s stringy hair and she quieted, peering at him curiously, three fingers of one hand in her mouth. Josiah guessed she was about two years old. Her arms and legs were gaunt, though her belly and cheeks were plump. Green mucous trailed from her nose. A sudden harsh cough wracked her body, and she broke into renewed wails.
    “Please, wizard,” the man said. Though lean, he looked strong and tough, but his voice broke. “She’s been sick for a week. You feel how she’s burning up. She’s going to die unless you help her.”
    Though the girl was obviously very ill, Josiah doubted that. Children were resilient. They got sick a lot, but usually recovered on their own. Only the most severe cases needed the Mother’s power.
    Elkan smiled reassuringly at the man and reached for Tobi. “Let me see what we can do.”
    Gold light spilled from his hand and enveloped the girl. She quieted. Elkan’s eyes went unfocused, and he concentrated for several minutes. His expression gradually darkened to a scowl.
    “Josiah, can Sar get close enough for you to touch? I want you to feel this.” Elkan glanced at Kevessa, but looked away. He must want to share whatever lesson this patient offered with her as well as Josiah, but that wasn’t going to be possible without revealing her secret.
    Sar pushed past the guards, who parted to let him through, and came to the door of the carriage. He reared up and braced his front hooves on the top step. His thrusting nose met Josiah’s outstretched hand. Elkan gestured for the man to take a seat and rest the girl on his lap so Josiah could reach her. The position wasn’t the most comfortable, but this shouldn’t take long.
    Sar sent the Mother’s power through Josiah into the girl. The familiar overload of information