Free Legon Ascension by Nicholas Taylor Page B

tell her this?
    As he spoke he felt uneasy, not for what Emma would think, but for the subject matter. “Arkin told me a bit of how the queen stays in control, something about dragons and stuff I don’t know or don’t want to know, but she’s the one behind all this.”
    That was a lie. Sure, the queen was behind a lot of it, but so were the people. They didn’t have to let themselves be cruel, but Emma didn’t need to hear that now.  
    “How did Arkin know that?”
    He paused. “I don’t think he was from here. I think…”  
    “You think what?”
    “I think he was here on assignment. He never said so, but he left when Legon did and he looked after that boy. Sasha too never saw anything like it before. Sometimes it bothered me, but he was devoted to Sasha and he gave Legon the skills to defend her, so…” he trailed off again, not knowing where this was going.
    “You must think I’m a bad father for letting my kid learn from someone just so he could hurt people.”
    “Not at all. Sasha needed that and he would have done it anyway. I can see what you mean. The Royal Guard was looking for Legon, and they all got killed. Do you think that was Arkin that did that?”
    “Maybe, I don’t know, just so long as those young ones weren’t involved. That’s all that matters to me.”
    She was leaning into him now. “Edis.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Thank you. I won’t be so gloomy anymore.”
    “Ok kid, you better not, do you want that room I offered? So long as you own a house you won’t get taxed for living with us.”
    She looked thoughtful. “You know what, I will take it. Thank you.”
    She smiled widely at him and he gave her a squeeze. “Emma?”
    “Yes?”
    “Today when you mop, make sure you get the corners of the room.”
    She leaned away from him and hit his arm. “Oh, slave driver!” She was still smiling as she got up.
    “Do you need help old man?”
    “Old?” he paused. “Yeah, I could use a hand.”
    * * * * *
    Laura waited patiently for Emma and Edis to come home. It would take Edis a little while to get up the hill and then to talk to Emma. Laura was making her way to her bedroom. It was the largest bedroom in the house with a large window looking out the back. Her eyes moved to the left side of the room where the bookshelf sat. It was one of Arkin’s and it took up the whole wall. It was actually more like three bookshelves. Laura wasn’t a reader per se. These were mostly out of date medical books, ones that she should really get rid of, but then the wall would be so bare. Some were not books, but logs of things she’d tried as a healer and things she thought might work in the future. One whole shelf was covered wither her logs for the Empire. Every person she treated, barring her family, was in these, including every treatment in detail dated with the cost, the amount she charged, everything. These logs were audited at random and she needed to keep only the last ten year’s worth, but she kept them all. Her’s was a compliant industry, as was the butcher’s shop. Edis had logs as well, though not quite the same. Most of his audits involved cleanliness and procedures. He was audited every six months. She was only saved this because unlike butchers, healers needed to be certified.
    The back door opened downstairs and she quickly grabbed the book she wanted. She moved to the railing, looking down into the small living space. Emma was with Edis, which was a good thing. He was jubilant and his face looked like it would crack from the smile he gave her.
    “Honey, she finally caved!” he called to Laura.
    Now her face hurt with a much-too-large smile. “Good! We have so much to do!”
    Edis looked a little confused. “What do we have to do? She needs to keep her house looking like it’s hers for taxes, remember? She can’t move too much stuff over. It will take us maybe an hour.”
    She was heading down the stairs now and sidled up to Emma, placing her arm around the girl’s