Free A Rite of Swords (Book #7 in the Sorcerer's Ring) by Morgan Rice

watched Godfrey and Akorth and Fulton on the stage. It had been
the first time he had laughed in he did not know how long, and he could not
stop laughing as he watched Akorth mimic Andronicus.
    “I think I shall play McCloud!”
Fulton boomed out to the audience.
    They all booed, and Fulton hid
his face in his hands, then pulled out a handkerchief and covered one of his
eyes in an eye patch.
    “Oh I forgot, I am now missing
one eye!” he yelled out, mocking McCloud, and the entire crowd roared in
laughter.
    “The MacGils have beaten me back,
so with no other hope, I’ll join Andronicus!” Fulton yelled. He hurried across
the stage and linked arms with Akorth, and together, they strutted across the
stage, one tripping over the other, to waves of laughter.
    “Then that shall make it easier
to kill you both!” Godfrey yelled, rushing forward with a mock sword, and
stabbing each one of them.
    The crowd roared and screamed in
approval as Akorth and Fulton collapsed on stage; all the other actors jumped
in, pretending to stab them.
    Reece laughed with the others,
the ale going to his head. After all those months of travel, it felt so good to
be home. After all the travails they went through in the Empire, a part of him
had never expected to make it home alive, and he was still in shock. He was so
used to being in a hostile environment, to being in battle-mode, that it felt
great just to have a night to rest on his heels, to not have to worry about
being attacked.
    But while his friends screamed
with laughter and watched the play, transfixed, Reece was distracted. Other
things preoccupied his thoughts, and he broke off from the group, scanning the
crowd, as he had ever since returning, looking for any sign of the woman who
preoccupied his thoughts.
    Selese.
    Ever since he had returned to the
Ring, Reece had been able to think of little else. He recalled that she lived
in a small village not far from here, but he had also heard the reports and
knew that all those villages had been attacked. He knew most villagers had
died; yet he had also heard a few had escaped and had made it here, to Silesia,
to seek refuge. He prayed she was among the survivors, that somehow she had
made it, that she was here with the others, and that she still remembered him.
    Most of all, he hoped she cared
for him even a fraction as much as he’d cared for her.
    Thoughts of Selese had sustained
him throughout his quest, and he vowed that if he ever returned alive he would
find her, tell her how much he cared for her. Now that he was home, he felt he
had no time to waste.
    Reece hurried through the crowd,
searching all the faces, eager for any sign of her. But no matter how hard he
looked, stumbling through rows of people, he saw no sign of her.
    His heart sank as he pushed his
way through the crowd of thousands, swarming about to and fro. With the sky
growing darker, it was even harder to make out the faces gleaming in the dim
torchlight. They all started to blur after a while.
    Reece began to feel hopeless.
Selese had probably not made it, he told himself. And even if she had, she
would likely still not be interested in him.
    The smell of food filled the air,
and Reece turned to see long banquet tables being carried out in rows, heaped
with all kinds of meats and cheeses and delicacies. As the servants set them
out, the masses descended on them. Reece, stomach growling, ambled over,
grabbed a chunk of meat, and tore into it. He had not realized how hungry he
was, and as he devoured a chicken leg and a handful of potatoes, and took a
long draw on his mug of ale, he felt rejuvenated.
    Reece stood there, staring
vacantly up at the play, not really watching and wondering what had ever become
of Selese.
    Suddenly, he felt a tap on his
shoulder.
    Reece turned around, and his
heart stopped.
    Standing there, a smile on her
lips, clasping her hands nervously and looking up at him, unsure, was the most
beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
    Selese.
    There she