Read The Dark Glory War for Free Online

of the dreaded Lamburn sisters, so you are clearly valiant.“
    Nay scowled. “Don’t like an invite what doesn’t say who sent it.”
    Laughter rolled melodically from Leigh’s throat. “Oh, but that’s the joy of the day, Nay. It’s the mystery of it all. Look at the watchers, secure in their anonymity, all wrapped up in red secrets. You know why they wear red, don’t you? It’s the color of blood and the color of life. It’s to stress their import and to show how they have the power to make our lives or destroy them.”
    He lowered his voice and all of us had to lean down to his level to hear him continue. “The man who gave this note to the chamberlain had a military bearing. Even the script is the type they teach officers so orders will be clear. We’ve clearly understood their order. We didn’t drink too much, just danced, showed we are not out of control. We’ll be the winners here, all four of us, tines and haft together.”
    In the garden Leigh had stationed himself on the walkway to prevent Nay from bolting. I think Nay fascinated Leigh because the man clearly was not frightened by him, nor did he particularly care if he offended the son of the city’s highest noble. Instead Nay seemed more frightened of doing something that would prevent him from reaching his dream. Being with us when he shouldn’t be could certainly do that, but running away when he should be with us would also doom him. He bounced back and forth between those two alternatives, and only Leigh’s having positioned himself to cut off any retreat forced Nay to remain with us.
    Which, from the occasional smile that graced his moonlit face, I judged to be what he wanted to do anyway.
    The north gate itself was not one of the garden’s best known features. A small, iron-bound oak door had been set in an arched doorway. Ivy covered the wall around it, and curled tendrils reached for the door itself. I’d not seen it before from this side, and I couldn’t recall having seen it on the handful of times I’d been walking along High Street.
    Crickets competed with crunch of stone beneath Nay’s feet until Leigh hissed: “Quiet; listen.”
    I heard nothing at first, then, from the other side of the wall I caught the muffled thump of horses’ hooves on cobblestone and the occasional squeak of wagon wheel on axle. The hoofbeats should have been sharp and clear, so I assumed rags had been tied over the hooves to kill the sound. That realization puckered my flesh.
    Nay stared hard at the door and whatever lay beyond it. “Not liking this at all.”
    “All part of the game, old shoe.” Leigh tried to keep his voice light, but he still ended up wiping his palms on his jacket.
    I stood as a key rasped in the lock. Ivy leaves bounced and shimmered in the moonlight as the door opened outward, pulling free of clinging vines. From my angle I could see nothing through the doorway, but Nay bobbed his head, then nodded. He flashed me two fingers.
    I smiled.Smart man. He can see two people, but doesn’t think they need to know they’ve been seen.
    A voice disguised in a hoarse whisper snapped an order at us. “Come on now, the four of you. No time to waste.”
    Leigh flashed a quick knowing smile at Nay, then strolled through the doorway as if he had not a care in the world. Rounce followed him, bowing his head to get through. Nay had to stoop and shift his shoulders at an angle, and I let him precede me so he’d not have any excuse to run off. I came last and heard the door squeak shut behind me.
    The wagon I’d heard roll up had been a big, boxy affair, the kind that serves as both shop and home for tinkers and traders who make a circuit through the hinterlands. I saw that ragshad been tied around the hooves of the team drawing it and likewise had been wrapped around the wheels’ iron rims. The wagon had no windows that I could see, and I only saw the door as I came around the back of it. The door itself had been hinged at the bottom and served as a ramp for walking up into the