Read Chartile: Prophecy for Free Online

to
the weapons stacked innocently in the corner. “At this point, I
think I’d believe almost anything, ya know?”
    Jack nodded. He covered himself with the
furs and blankets again, and looked at the stars outside. He
thought he could see Pasalphathe’s Courage hovering over the place
he knew Outland Post to be. With the fire newly crackling, Leo
settled back beneath his covers as well and drifted into sleep once
more.
    Piper had barely begun to drift off when she
heard Jack and Leo whispering. She steadied her breath, pretended
to sleep, and listened. Similar thoughts Jack and Leo discussed had
been racing through her mind all night. She, too, had hoped when
she awoke her encounter with the boys would have been no more than
a vivid dream. Or nightmare. Her fears that Taraniz was becoming
bolder about usurping the non-elven races of Chartile had been
confirmed today. Had anyone else heard her words as they
fought?
    “ Soon,” Taraniz had said.
Did she intend to kill the King, to kill her own father? King
Aramor had done little to advance his kingdom during his reign, but
he was a good king. He cared for his people and meant well for
them. What little he had accomplished before falling ill was to
build up the resources of the basilicas and chantries that helped
the widows and orphans in Chartile. He did not deserve to die,
especially at the hand of his own despot daughter.
    Piper often wondered what had made Taraniz
so wicked when Aramor had been so kind. The rumors said magic was
to blame. Three years ago, she might have laughed at such things,
but now?
    Jack and Leo had ceased their conversation,
and one was breathing loudly again. Piper rose and collected a dark
cloak from the corner where her weapons were stored. Her eyes
lingered on the sword and staff the boys had used only hours ago.
She tore herself from her thoughts, smudged soot from the fire
around her right eye and nose, and disappeared into the night.
    Piper reached the top of the hill that
overlooked Outland Post. She lowered herself flat against the
ground and surveyed the tiny village. It was still. Thin lines of
smoke rose from the chimneys of the thatched roof homes. Everyone
lay asleep. She crept down the rock strewn hill and wound her way
through the boulders, finally emerging onto the dirt paths that led
to the heart of Outland Post. The home she sought was close to the
outskirts, and she did not have to travel far.
    She found the little house and looked up and
down the street before approaching. She knocked softly on the
window to the right of the door three times, then on the door
itself twice, and finally on the little window again twice. Then,
she waited. She sat on the doorstep, bundled in her cloak, with her
face shrouded in the darkness of her hood. Her heart pounded in her
chest as it always did when she came here for fear of being
recognized and caught. The curtain beside the door moved faintly. A
moment later, the door opened. Piper stood and entered without a
word.
    A candle was lit in the center of a
scrubbed, wooden table. An old woman with a long silver braid of
hair flung her arms wide to embrace the girl. Piper leaned into the
woman. The cloak fell away from her shoulders, revealing how thin
and worn she and her clothes were.
    “ Gran,” Piper whispered.
“How are you?”
    “ Better it appears than
you, my darling girl,” said the old woman, and she held Piper out
at arm’s length for a better look. “Come, I have some things for
you.” The old woman motioned toward one of the chairs at the table.
Piper sat and watched as her grandmother busied herself at the
stove. “What brings you so early?” Gran turned a questioning eye on
the girl. “I was not expecting you for another two
weeks.”
    Piper sat with her elbows on the table,
pressing the heel of her hand between her eyes. She said nothing
for a long time, but accepted a cup of herbal tea and drank deeply.
Finally, very softly, she spoke.
    “ Gran, what do you know