Read The Legend of Asahiel: Book 03 - The Divine Talisman for Free Online Page B

life—particularly within a royal household. Why should he not profit from them when someone else would? Even when he’d delivered to Commander Zain the news of King Torin’s return, even suspecting it could trigger a coup, Pagus had been untroubled. Not until he’d learned Torin had been killed—whether directly or indirectly because of his actions—had he come to hate himself for what he’d done.
    On the verge of manhood, he was naught but a callow youth after all.
    His thoughts continued to haunt him down darkened corridors and seldom-used passages, until he came at last to the wing that would lead to his private chambers. Chambers he would still be sharing with a dozen other servants and page boys, he recalled glumly, had it not been for the unrequited kindness of a slain king.
    The door was unlocked, and he entered with his head still bowed. It was not until he had shed his cloak and hung it on a peg that he turned to find the intruder seated upon his sleeping pallet.
    “Elder Thaddreus,” he greeted, after a startled gasp. At the last moment, he remembered to bow. “Forgive my surprise.”
    “Your surprise is to be expected, though I do apologize if I frightened you.”
    Pagus brushed aside the concern, though his heart continued to thrum. The man’s words did not sound threatening, but his very presence was highly irregular. “To what do I owe the honor of your visit, my lord?”
    “I’ve been looking for you for quite some time. I finally decided to come here to wait.”
    He’d been found out. Zain or someone else had betrayed him as a spy. His would be a slow, painful death. “How can I be of service to my lord?”
    The speaker of the Circle did not move. Pagus wondered how long he had been waiting.
    “To begin with, I wonder if you might tell me where you have been.”
    “Errands, my lord, for…” He started to lie, then thought better of it.
    “For Master Allion, my lord.”
    “And what would those errands be?”
    “They…they were of a private nature, my lord.”
    “Private to whom?”
    Pagus began to sweat.
    “You needn’t fear answer, my boy. I am not your enemy.”
    Though warm in tone, the words sent a shiver down Pagus’s spine. “Of course not, my lord. But I was asked to keep quiet, you see.”
    “Ah, that I do. Would it help you to know, then, that I already have some idea as to what you were about?”
    He considered bolting, but his quarters were small, and he wasn’t certain he’d be able to open the door before Thaddreus seized him. Besides, the old man likely had soldiers stationed nearby, ready to respond.
    “Have I committed an offense, my lord?”
    “That depends. One of my pages claims to have seen you with Master Allion some time ago, pushing a barrow full of linens through the palace. A curious job for regent or herald, it must be said. And it has just been reported to me that our regent is now en route from the city. Would you care to tell me where he is going?”
    “I…” This time, he went with the lie. “I do not know, my lord. I suspect he is riding forth to greet the imminent arrival of Baron Nevik.”
    Pagus could have sworn that the Elder’s face darkened. The stern brow lowered, and the grim mouth tightened. “And did he take the Sword with him?”
    “The Sword?” he echoed, feigning ignorance. “I’m sure I do not know, my lord. ’Tis not a herald’s place to inquire about such things.”
    “Ah, but you are a curious boy, are you not? A boy who takes note of many things he may or may not be meant to see.”
    It was Pagus’s turn to scowl. His taste for intrigues had soured. Whatever game the Elder was trying to drag him into, he wanted no part of it.
    “I’m not sure I’m aware of my lord’s meaning.”
    “Mercy, lad!” the Elder exclaimed, leaping to his feet with an urgency and swiftness Pagus had never seen in the old man. The boy hunkered, his back to the door, half tempted to draw his knife. But already, Thaddreus spoke as if to