Seven Swords by Michael E. Shea (the speed reading book .TXT) 📕

Adrin stepped past the two men and pushed open Ca’daan’s door.

A small man stood by one of Ca’daan’s windows looking out over the fields and mountains from the west. The man wore a simple tunic of ivory and dark trousers tucked into the folds of a pair of soft calfskin boots. His blond hair was short and neat. A light cloak, the color of sand, hung over his shoulders.

“This is a beautiful land,” said the man, turning and smiling. There was no villainy in his smile, no intimidation. The smile disarmed Adrin. His voice soothed Adrin’s worry. This was no hunter or killer, this was a good man. Realizing how easily this man’s smile had disarmed him, Adrin grew even more nervous.

The man’s blue eyes watched Adrin as Adrin’s eyes scanned over the man’s clothes.

“You’re looking for the Eye, aren’t you,” said the man. “I don’t wear it. It is useful for intimidation or for bypassing the riff-raff but counterproductive most of the time. Especially when we all want the same thing.

“My name is Gabriel. I’m a friend of Jon’s.” The fright began to build inside Adrin. He wished he had brought his guns though he doubted the monsters outside would have let him keep them. The man continued. “He and I worked together in Gazu Kadem about three or four years ago. He left us shortly after. That is fine. We do not keep slaves. He was free to go. But then he took something from us, something very dangerous. We need to find him and we need it back.”

Adrin said nothing and Gabriel continued.

“I know of the battle that took place here. I know of the men and women who defended this place. I know your part in it. You are a hero to these people even if they don’t say it. I know he was with you and I know she was with him. What I need to know is where they are.”

“He’s gone,” said Adrin. “Jon didn’t stay. He was too distraught. He went north. He said he was going home.” The man smiled his warm smile again and Adrin thought about how easy it would be for this man to unleash the two monsters outside. How fast they could kill him, Selana, and everyone else in this town.

“Where is Susan?” said Gabriel. He spoke his words very carefully and deliberately.

“She’s dead. She died during the battle,” said Adrin. “Something broke inside her, something in her head.”

Gabriel looked at him for a very long time. Adrin didn’t move.

“I am very sorry,” said Gabriel. “We could have helped her, could have taught her how to control herself.” Gabriel looked out of the window and Adrin saw real remorse in the small man’s eyes. Gabriel turned back to Adrin.

“You said he went north.” Adrin nodded. “Do you know where?”

Adrin shook his head. “No.”

“Well, we will find him,” said Gabriel. The man looked tired. “And you? What will you do?”

“I am staying here,” said Adrin. “This is my home.”

Gabriel looked at Adrin, smiled, and nodded.

“The next time I see the emperor, I will let him know his nephew is happy and healthy.”

Adrin beheld the man’s gaze and nodded.

“Tell your friend thank you for the coffee,” said Gabriel. “It is the best in the south.”

Ca’daan and Adrin watched the riders leave, heading north with fresh provisions.

“Do you think they know?” said Ca’daan.

“I don’t know,” said Adrin. He turned and looked at Cybel’s house. Two of the boys were fencing with sticks. One performed a decent disarm. A girl with red hair of about fourteen looked out at the window at them. The evening wind blew her hair.

Jon had been gone for three months before Susan had woken up. She was frail and couldn’t move her left side. She had nearly died from the lack of food. She could remember little of her old life but sometimes awoke filled with black nightmares. She spent much of her time staring at the old one.

Two years later she could walk and talk again, even playing with her brothers. If she had any of her other previous abilities, she never spoke of it and they saw no signs. Her life would never be normal but it would be as good a life as they could give her.

She would live the life she had as Adrin lived his. There was no glamour in the enormous droppings of the brill but he had helped rebuild the town even when many made it clear that he was not wanted. Even Selana’s father told him to leave. Selana’s uncle had been one of the dead. But the council had allowed it. Severn had embraced him after the declaration. Selana had fallen in love with him as he rebuilt the town and helped clear the collapsed mines.

Yet, as good as his life was, Adrin’s hand sometimes ached for the rapier.

That night, like many before it, Adrin sat cross-legged on the mound of the Seven Swords. They had found Thorn’s sword next to the huge man in the burned city. He had been surrounded by the decapitated, disemboweled, and dismembered bodies of a dozen Sticks. Now his sword stuck point down next to the Kal’s warclub and a post holding San’doro’s daggers on the hill. All three sat on the mound where their bodies had returned to ash. They never found Vrenna’s sword, nor her body. Adrin heard of a young king in the south who fought against slavers and had an ivory skinned raven-haired swordswoman at his side. Some day he might meet her again.

As the red sun set, Adrin sat on the mound with his three friends, imagining the will of the Old One and what the titan might know of impacted brill colons.