Read The Jewel of Kamara (The Delthenon Chronicles) for Free Online Page B

read, just like your father.”
    She
eyed him curiously until he grinned and then she remembered. Lord Darby of
Coastir. He used to sneak her treats at palace dinners and tell her tales of
other lands when he came to visit at Amarill.
    “The
famous Lord Darby,” she said. “It has been a long time.”
    “Famous?
I like that,” he chuckled. “That memorable am I?”
    “My
mother always spoke so fondly of you, my lord.”
    “We
shared a mutual struggle,” he said. “Both new to the world of nobility and
struggling to find our feet in that viper’s nest we call the palace.”
    “Something
I now have to look forward to.”
    “If
you are anything like your parents, you will handle yourself well.”
    “I
wish I had my mother’s charm,” she said. “My mouth gets me into too much
trouble.”
    “You
should be proud that your years at the convent didn’t rid you of that. Who are
we if we don’t speak what’s on our mind?”
    “The
mindless nobles we are forced to socialize with.”
    Darby
laughed. “We are going to get along just fine,” he said and offered his arm as
he limped along. “If you find yourself bored tonight, please seek me out. I do
like a fine intellectual conversation, and they are sometimes lacking from
these formal dinners. Now hurry along. I too have to make myself look
presentable this evening.”
    Tempani
laughed and bid goodbye to the man in the long robe. The more she looked at
him, the more he began to resemble the trolls she had read of in her tales.
    She
returned to her room, preparing to take a hot bath, and she was startled to
find her tub was already filled with warm water and scented leaves.
    “Lady
Tempani?” A soft voice spoke from the corner.
    She
turned to find a woman a few years older than she was. The young woman had
copper skin and hair as black as coal, tied neatly in a braid down her back.
She was a few inches shorter than Tempani and her black pinafore over a white
shirt made her look stocky. Her sandaled feet drew Tempani’s eyes to the tattoo
on her left foot. All slaves were marked with the crown seal. It was rumored
that it was poisoned, and if they dared escape their master, the poison would
seep into their blood, killing them within moments.
    This
wasn’t the first slave she’d encountered. She had seen many in her childhood at
the palace and in the city, but this was the first time one had been in her
home - working for her. And it made her sick to her stomach. She drew her gaze
away from the tattoo.
    “I
am Zadi, my lady. Sir Otto has assigned me to you.” She bowed her head.
    Tempani
shook her head, frowning at her father’s insensitivity. “Oh, I’m sorry but I do
not require your services.”
    “You
wish for a different slave?”
    “No,
I don’t want any slaves to wait on me. Is there not a ladies maid I can have?”
    “No,
my lady. Sir Otto was very insistent that I be put under your charge,” she
said, bowing her head again. “He has made sure I’ve had all the right
training.”
    “Does
it not bother you that I am of your blood and you have to wait on me?”
    “No,
my lady. You cannot help that you are of nobility any more than I can help
being a slave. It is the path our blessed Goddess has laid before us.”
    “It’s
wrong,” she snapped and stomped out of her room in search of her father.
    She
found him in his study pouring over a book. He was an imposing man. He reached
six feet and two inches, but where other men were thin and lanky, Otto was
solid with strong arms. He kept his dark hair cropped short and favored no
facial hair. His brown eyes had once been warm and welcoming; now they were
weapons of authority. The scar that ran down his cheek was a mark of his battle
as a knight with a border knight of Horatia. In spite of his scar, he was a
handsome man. She longed to rush over and be wrapped in his embrace, which she
used to find comforting, but their relationship no longer allowed for that, and
it made her sad.
    He
didn’t