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

The entryway reminded her very much of the Governor’s mansion. That’s because it’s the only other rich house you’ve ever been in. Everything was so ornate, so fine, that it all blended together – burnished woods carved and shaped with woodland accents, smelling of beeswax, plush carpets in deep reds and browns only partially covering pale, dark-veined marble floors, glowpods suspended from the ten-meter-tall ceiling in a fanciful woodwork cage. Do all important people have to read the same books on how to decorate their houses or something? The only thing that distinguished this entryway from the other one was the lack of a grand central staircase. Instead, tiered balconies leading to the second and third floors overlooked the entryway, the oversized chandelier dangling in the air level with the top floor. From where they stood looking up, it seemed almost like the two of them were standing on stage.

An elderly man with very thin hair and long hands strode out of the main hallway overshadowed by the balconies, seeming agitated. He was dressed in a very nice black suit. “To the rear, if you please,” he hissed as he came close, his face pinched with displeasure. “I tell you people every time to use the back entrance. And for the love of Gaia, I won’t have you trying to hire away any of the serving girls this time,” he scolded Kest. “Keep your hands to yourself and speak to no one. This is a respectable house.” He took a closer look at Nira. “How old are you, child?” he asked, aghast. Then, shaking his head, he gestured urgently to a narrow hallway off to their left. “No, don’t tell me. Go on, now. Go!”

They were only too happy to oblige, hurrying away from the butler or major domo or whatever other fancy title his employer had graced him with. The fewer eyes that saw them, the better. I don’t look that young. Do I? A warren of crossing hallways and recessed alcoves spread out before them, but they kept to the directions given and soon found the narrow servant staircase at the rear of the house. I think we’re in the rear, at least. A place this size, how can you tell? There were no windows that they could see, and the glowpods were spaced parsimoniously back here. No point in wasting vidrin or pods on the servants, after all. She wondered if she’d have the chance to steal something from the house – it might make her feel better about the whole thing.

“I’m sorry about that back there,” Kest muttered as they set foot on the stairs. He looked embarrassed.

“Back there? Oh, you mean the guards?” Nira made a farting noise with her mouth. “That’s for them. Handsy bastard. May the Pure Light shrivel his balls. I wish I’d gotten that power instead of seeing things.” She had been trying not to think about it, but she realized her hands were shaking. More of that to come if this works the way it’s supposed to. She clasped her hands together to still them. “Anyway, why should you have to apologize for it?”

He shook his head, bothered. “I should have – I was brought up… Men shouldn’t do that sort of thing. He told me to protect you, and… I thought if I fought them it would keep us from getting in. Maybe I should have anyways. I’m sorry.”

She stopped at the top of the flight, turning to him in surprise. “You were going to fight them?”

He nodded, looking upset. “But I didn’t. I’m not quite the fighter I used to think I was.”

She patted him on the shoulder awkwardly, trying to keep her cloak closed. “It’s all right. Kest, seriously.” She lowered her voice to a whisper, looking around for any servants. “I’m supposed to act like a whore, right? What pimp is going to step in on an armed soldier just for a little groping? It would have ruined the whole thing if you had said anything.” There was one man far down the hallway, but he didn’t stop his dusting to take note of them. “Please, don’t worry about it.” Once again, she found herself touched by his discomfort. “Let’s keep it together. Ten minutes and we can be out of here.” She pulled at his arm, indicating the next flight of stairs. Feels like pulling on an oak tree wrapped in a shirt. “Come on.”

They made their way toward the third floor. “I wouldn’t have thought a Beast Rider would be so concerned about respecting women,” she remarked softly.

He cocked his head at her. “Why not?”

She shrugged. “Well, you hear stories.” He seemed not to know what she meant. “People say that – you know.” She gestured toward him and back at herself, feeling embarrassed and wishing she hadn’t opened her mouth.

“No, I don’t. What is said? Who says it?”

Nira sighed and threw up her hands. “Everybody, I don’t know. They say that the Beast Men can take a woman any time, even in front of others, out in the open.”

“Take?” he looked confused. “Take them where?”

She scrubbed her hands over her face, mortified. He’s an innocent. You’d think he was the one that grew up in a cult. “No, take. Have sex with. Rape. Whatever.” She cringed inwardly at her own harsh words. She’d always been the one sneaking in forbidden books and making dirty drawings to show to the other kids in the village before burning them. She didn’t have much patience with naiveté, but Kest deserved better.

His mouth dropped open, and he stopped in his tracks. “No. Never!” he said emphatically. “Who says such things?”

She made shushing motions with her hands. “Just people. Not many folks on the mainland actually know a Beast Rider, okay? Things get made up, I guess.”

Kest shook his head, sad and angry. “That is not the way of things. Women are half of us. If we