Read Shards of a Broken Crown for Free Online Page A

the berm, and saw
a ragged band of travelers looking about in a fearful manner as they
moved eastward along the King’s Highway. There was a man and
woman, and children, three of them, though one—Dash couldn’t
tell if it was a girl or boy under the heavy hood—seemed almost
of adult height.
    Dash stood as
Jimmy came from behind the boulder. The man in the van of the small
party of refugees pulled a wicked-looking hand scythe from under his
ragged cloak and held it in menacing fashion as the others turned as
if to flee.
    “Hold!”
Jimmy shouted. “We’ll not harm you.”
    The man looked
dubious, the others fearful, but they halted their movement. Jimmy
and Dash both put away weapons and slowly approached.
    The man didn’t
lower his scythe. “Who be you?” he said, his words
heavily accented.
    Jimmy and Dash
exchanged glances, for the man spoke with the accent of one who had
come from Novindus. This man at one time had been a soldier with the
invading army of the Emerald Queen.
    Dash held up his
hands to show he was not holding any weapon, and Jimmy stopped
moving. Jimmy said, “We’re travelers. Who are you?”
    The woman
ventured to step from behind the man’s protection. She was
gaunt and looked weak. Jimmy glanced to the others and saw that the
children were equally underfed. The tallest of the three was a girl,
perhaps fifteen years of age, though appearing older for the deep
dark circles under her eyes. Jimmy returned his attention to the
woman, who looked at him and said, “We were farmers.” She
pointed to the east. “We’re trying to reach Darkmoor. We
hear there’s food there.”
    Jimmy nodded.
“Some. Where are you from?”
    “Tannerus,”
said the woman.
    Dash pointed at
the man. “He’s not from Tannerus.”
    The man nodded.
He motioned at himself with his free hand and said, “Markin.
From City of the Serpent River.” He glanced around. “Long
way from here.”
    “You were
a soldier of the Emerald Queen?” asked Jimmy.
    The man spat on
the ground and it looked as if the gesture was taking most of his
strength. “I spit on her!” He started to wobble and the
woman put her arms around him.
    “He’s
a farmer,” she said. “He told us his story when he came
to us.”
    Jimmy looked at
Dash, then motioned with his head back toward the horses. Dash didn’t
need to be told what was on his brother’s mind. He turned and
walked back while Jimmy said, “Why don’t you tell us his
story.”
    “My man
went to fight for the King,” said the woman. “Two years
ago.” She glanced back at the three children and said, “My
girls are fit to work; Hildi’s almost grown. We did all right
for the first year. Then the soldiers came and took the town. Our
farm was far enough away we weren’t troubled for a while.”
    Dash returned
leading the horses. He handed the reins to Jimmy, then went back and
opened a saddlebag. He returned a moment later, unwrapping a bundle.
Once opened, he revealed some heavy travel bread, thick with honey
and nuts and dried fruit, and some jerked beef. Without hesitation
the children passed their mother and grabbed what they could.
    Dash glanced at
Jimmy and nodded slightly. He gave the rest of the bundle to the man,
who passed it along to the woman and said, “Thank you.”
    “How did
an enemy soldier come to be guiding your family to Darkmoor?”
asked Dash.
    The woman and
man both nearly wept in gratitude as they chewed on the heavy bread.
After swallowing, the woman said, “When the soldiers came, we
hid in the woods, and they took everything. We had only what we had
carried away. Then out of spite they burned the roof off our house
and broke down the door. Sticks and thatch was all it was, but it was
the only home the girls had known.”
    She glanced
about, afraid other threats might appear suddenly from the
surrounding woods. “Markin found us when we were trying to
rebuild our house. It was never what you’d call fine, but my
man had spent years adding