Asunder: A Gathering of Chaos by Cameron Hopkin (children's ebooks free online .txt) 📕

he wanted to wring them, but he stayed still. “The Beast Riders respect strength, and as an outsider, I have had to prove mine repeatedly and severely. Had I any other choice, I’d have taken it, but this young man is essential to my tasks.”

Privately, Renna was impressed. Here was a man who demonstrated care and concern for those who followed him, yet who obviously understood the value of a harsh demonstration when necessary. Perhaps this is a man who can shape the world. She would continue to watch him closely. She needed to understand what motivated him if she was to bend him to her will. She rummaged in her pouch for the another of the boneknit seeds she had used on Nira. Only one more after this one. She wished she had had time to take more things from her laboratory back in Far East, but there had been no time to stop as they were fleeing. She affixed the seed to the boy’s chest carefully, making sure the bone ends met properly. He didn’t even stir when the green tendrils bit into his flesh. Just as well. He won’t want to be awake when I wash out his wounds. To be on the safe side, she found a flake of barienne root in her supplies and slipped it under his tongue. That would keep him out until morning.

“What about his eye?” asked the savage.

“You ruined it,” Renna said. “It is unrecoverable.”

The man sighed and nodded.

Renna stroked a chestnut lock back from the boy’s face, keeping it clear of the blood. “I will clean it and keep it covered. The eye is gone, but there may be something I can do to help him recover from it.” A visit to that entomologist on King Street first. He might have what I need. No point in elaborating on the possibilities at this juncture – her ideas were unproven, and now was not the time to raise the savage’s hopes.

“Madam, I am uncomfortable asking this, given how helpful you have been,” Gamarron said, “especially in light of my earlier rudeness, but I find myself in dire straits. I have a meeting this evening whose importance it would be impossible to overstate. I must not miss it, and I did not anticipate…” he gestured to the unconscious Beast Rider, “…this. Might I beg you to watch the boy for two or three hours while I do this? I would pay you handsomely, both for the physicking and your time.” He shrugged helplessly. “I would never ask it under normal circumstances. Not even from a friend, much less someone I have just met. But…”

A meeting? An important one, at that. She thought quickly. “I meant it when I said I am at your service, Lord Gamarron. We will keep the boy. When you return, you and I must speak. There are things you do not know that you need to know. The demon lord rages.”

The color drained from his face. “What?” he whispered.

“The creature of black skin and red eyes,” she said slowly, looking him right in the eyes. “With sharp teeth and a forked tongue. Where he treads, the world burns. I have seen him. I want to help you stop him.”

His shock was so deep that he stumbled back and sat heavily on the wingback chair in the corner. “I…” he began, and then stopped. He couldn’t seem to find words. He jerked himself back upright, not meeting her gaze. “Yes, very well. I suppose… we will talk. When I return.” He stepped quickly out of the room. Renna did not intend to let him venture far without her. She waited thirty seconds and pulled the door open. She caught a glimpse of him at the base of the stairs as he hurried away. She shut the door quietly and followed him down. Not too quickly – she didn’t want him to catch sight of her in the common room – but not too slowly either.

She peeked into the common room before entering, but he was already gone. Nira came out of the kitchen bearing a steaming pot of water and towels draped over one shoulder. “Here’s the water. What are you doing?”

Renna cast an impatient glance at the door. She didn’t dare let him get too far. “The old man needs my help. Go up there and wash the boy’s wounds with the hot water. Try not to get too much on the bed. I’m sleeping there tonight.”

The girl’s eyes widened. “Me? I don’t know anything about healing! Shouldn’t you do it?”

She had no time for this. “An idiot could manage,” she snapped, “and I have to go. Wash him clean and stay in the room. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” She strode for the door before the insufferable girl could protest. “And don’t touch the eye!” she called back over her shoulder. Then she was in the street.

In all truth, she wouldn’t have minded taking a little more time tending the beautiful boy. But her destiny was here, dressed in black robes and walking away with a hurried step. The savage was easy to pick out in the bustle of the main avenue – he stood a full head taller than everyone else, and those soft black robes that split at the hips were distinctive. The streets were full even at this late hour. It was simple enough to fall in amongst the crowd – well-dressed and clean in this part of town, thank the Mother – and follow behind the man at a safe distance. She wasn’t much of a skulker, and her own height made her more conspicuous than she might have liked, but Gamarron was focused on his vitally important meeting. Anything important to this man is something I need to know about.

She trailed him for ten minutes before he moved off the main thoroughfare and into a residential area. The walkways here were narrower and closer to the water’s surface. She