Read Souls of Aredyrah 1 - The Fire and the Light for Free Online

said, nodding toward the door. “I will see to
it he comes down looking like a prince.”
    Sedric moved to the doorway, then turned to
face his son whose back was still to him. “I expect you to be on
your best behavior tonight, Ruairi. None of your foolish pranks.
Understand?”
    “Of course, Father,” Ruairi said. But the
slight grin playing at the corners of his mouth indicated he had
other ideas.
    “Of course, Father,” a new voice mocked from
the doorway.
    Ruairi turned in response and grinned. It was
Whyn, his brother, no doubt come to add his fuel to the already
raging fire. But Whyn he could handle. They were twins, and Ruairi
had, after all, been handling him ever since they had shared their
mother’s womb.
    “Go see the mess your brother has made of
himself, Whyn,” Sedric said crossly. “Perhaps you can talk some
sense into him.” And with that the King exited the room, his loose
blond hair flying at his back.
    Whyn entered and stood behind his brother.
“Why do you torture Father so?” he said. “He only wants what is
best for you.”
    “Who is torturing whom?” Ruairi said.
    Ruairi watched his brother’s reflection in
the mirror. To look at them one would never know they were twins.
Whyn was blond-haired and blue-eyed, his features soft and gentle.
Ruairi was the opposite, his hair bright red, his eyes violet, his
features more chiseled. But their differences were more than
physical ones. Whyn was much more prince-like: always saying the
right things, always paying rapt attention to their father, always
involving himself in the business of the great city-state. Whyn
would make a much better king, but as fate would have it, the fiery
prince was born one minute before the golden one.
    “Why the attitude tonight, brother?” Whyn
asked. “So what if Father wants your hair down. Is that such a
price to pay for becoming betrothed to the most beautiful girl in
Tearia?”
    Ruairi laughed. “Well, you could have had
your chance with her, but you were too slow.”
    “One minute too slow,” Whyn said, but by the
expression on his face, he regretted it the instant he said it.
    “What do you mean by that remark?” Ruairi
asked. “Do you think she only wants me because I am first?”
    “No, of course not. I only meant—” Whyn
lowered his eyes.
    “I know exactly what you meant!” Ruairi
slapped Brina’s hand aside, then rose and stormed to the
window.
    “I—I am sorry,” Whyn said. “I did not mean it
that way.”
    Ruairi glanced at Whyn’s downcast face and
felt a twinge of guilt. It was not his brother’s fault that his
twin had pushed his way out into the world before him.
    “I am sorry, Whyn,” Ruairi said stiffly. “I
want these formalities over with, that is all.”
    Whyn strolled over and placed a hand on his
brother’s shoulder. “Just relax and try to enjoy it. It will be
over before you know it.”
    “Let us get on with it then,” Ruairi said,
shrugging his shoulder away and heading for the door. He jerked it
open and stepped into the hallway, then marched toward the steps
that led to the torch-lit corridor below. Brina and Whyn followed
silently at his back.
    Ruairi arrived at the double doors leading
into the reception hall and paused. The voices of hundreds of
guests could be heard on the other side of it.
    “I feel like I am going to an execution,” he
said between clenched teeth.
    “Oh, go on,” Whyn said. “It will be all
right.”
    Ruairi stiffened his spine and walked into
the cavernous room, then made his way to the dais and the
food-laden table that sat stretched across it. He seated himself in
a great armed chair centered behind the table and stared at the sea
of blond heads and pale faces bowed before him. To his way of
thinking, they all looked alike. The only thing that set them apart
was the color of their tunics, and that was determined solely by
their status within society, not by any choice of their own.
Regardless, it must be a pleasant thing to