Read Deltora Quest #1: The Forests of Silence for Free Online Page B

entrance, Endon turned to Jarred. “You say we must run, that we must hide, but where can we go?” he asked in a trembling voice.
    “With the Shadow Lord will come a time of confusion and darkness,” Jarred answered grimly. “Many people will be roaming the countryside, neighbor will lose sight of neighbor, and life will not be as it was before. The confusion will aid us.”
    “You have thought of a place?” whispered Endon.
    “Perhaps,” muttered Jarred. “It will be dangerous, but if you are willing, the chance is worth taking.”
    Endon asked no more, but followed his wife into the tunnel. Jarred climbed after him, pulling the marble tile back into place over his head so that no one could tell where they had gone.
    As the last of the light from the chapel was shut out and blackness enfolded him, he thought of Anna and his heart ached.
    The life they had known had been hard, but they had been happy. Now all this was ended. Fear and trouble were coming — long years of waiting while Deltora groaned under the yoke of the Shadow Lord.
    And only time could tell what would happen then.

L ief ran for home down the dark, winding back-streets of Del, past lighted houses closed tightly for the night. He ran as fast and silently as a cat, his heart hammering in his chest.
    He was late. Very late. He had to hurry, but he knew that the smallest sound could betray him.
    It was forbidden to be on the streets after sunset. That was one of the Shadow Lord’s strictest laws. It had been put into force on the day he took possession of Del, just over sixteen years ago. The penalty for breaking it was death.
    Lief slipped into a long, narrow street that ran through the ruined part of the city. It smelt of damp and decay. The stones under his feet were slimy and treacherous.
    He had been out after sunset before, but not for so long and never so far from home. He wished with all hisheart that he had been more careful. It flashed through his mind that his father and mother would be waiting for him, worried for him.
    “You are free for the afternoon, my son,” his father had said when their midday meal was over. “Your sixteenth birthday is a special day. Your mother and I want you to be glad and to celebrate with your friends.”
    Lief was overjoyed. Never before had he been granted leave in the middle of the working day. Usually he had to study in the afternoons.
    He had always felt that this was unfair. He was the only one of his friends who had lessons to do. Why learn to read and write? Why learn figures and history and worry at mind games? Of what use were these things to a blacksmith?
    But his parents had insisted that the lessons go on, and, grumbling, Lief had obeyed. Now he was used to the way things were. But this did not mean that he liked them any better. A free afternoon was the best birthday gift he could imagine.
    “Tonight, there will be another gift. And — things we must discuss together,” his father said, exchanging looks with his mother.
    Lief glanced at their grave faces with quick curiosity. “What things?” he asked.
    His mother smiled and shook her head. “We will talk of them tonight, Lief,” she said, pushing him gently towards the door. “For now, enjoy your holiday. But stayout of trouble. And keep track of the time, I beg you. Be home well before sunset.”
    Lief promised gladly and ran — out of the house, through the hot forge where he helped his father each morning, past Barda, the tattered, half-wit beggar who sat all day at the gate and slept in the forge yard by night. He crossed the road that led to the palace on the hill and waded through the weed-filled fields beyond. Then he ran joyfully on till he reached the market, where he could lose himself in the smells and sounds of the noisy, crowded city.
    He found one of his friends, then another, then three more. Happily they roamed their favorite haunts together. They had no money to spend but they found fun anyway — teasing the