Free The Sword of Light: Book One of the Veredor Chronicles by E J Gilmour Page A

sailor.’ He looked toward
the big open fire across the room; the flames were burning
brightly. ‘I’m going to get us some drinks.’ Red jumped up out of
his seat and approached the bar.
    Cassiel
returned at the same time as Red. ‘We have rooms on the upper
floor,’ he said as he took the spare seat at the table. A barmaid
walked over and placed the three ales down on the table in front of
the three of them.
    Cassiel’s eyes
narrowed at the sight of the three ales. He looked up at Red and
raised an eyebrow. ‘You don’t like me much do you, Red?’
    ‘ Sorry Cassiel, you were talking with the innkeeper. I didn’t
know how long you would be gone,’ replied Red defensively. Cassiel
stared at Red for a few silent seconds. He then stood up and walked
over to the bar to buy himself a drink.
    ‘ Zyranians,’ muttered Red when Cassiel was out of
earshot.
    Stella looked
at Red with a harsh frown. ‘Cassiel is our friend, Red. At least
try to get along with him.’
    Red looked
down at the table and nervously scratched his forehead. ‘I’ll
respect him when he shows me a little respect,’ he muttered.
    Eben was aware
that tension had been growing between Cassiel and Red ever since
the two of them met back in Ancora. Red was rarely serious and
always tried to turn everything into a joke. Cassiel was almost
always serious and stern in demeanour and rarely had time for
joking around. Eben decided it was best not to intervene and to
focus on the mission at hand.
    Cassiel
returned to the table with a mug of ale. He sat down and took a
sip. ‘I once visited this inn regularly when I was studying at the
academy,’ said Cassiel, glancing around the room nostalgically.
    ‘ How far did you get into your training?’ asked
Eben.
    ‘ Seven years,’ replied Cassiel. He then took another sip of
his ale. ‘After seven years I was cast out of the
academy.’
    ‘ Why were you cast out?’ asked Stella.
    ‘ That’s something I don’t like to talk about; it was a rather
unpleasant experience. I will say that I was glad to see the end of
my time there. When an apprentice is cast out they can never return
to the Citadel and they are forbidden to practice magic,’ he said
soberly.
    Before long a
barmaid appeared with steaming plates of mutton and vegetables.
They hungrily devoured their meals before retiring to their
beds.
    **
    The next day
was less gloomy. Eben looked out of his window and could see the
dark clouds had reduced above the Citadel. Sunlight was pushing its
way down through small gaps in the sky. The Citadel of Zyran was a
daunting sight; it dominated the skyline above the small village.
Eben could see a large group of guards marching across the top of
the wall in the distance.
    There was a
knock at his door. Cassiel stepped into Eben’s room.
    ‘ Good morning, Eben. I think we should go down to the docks
and buy a small boat. We’re going to need one to leave after we
finish our mission here.’
    ‘ How do you feel about the plan now that we are here?’ asked
Eben nervously as he stood at the window and continued surveying
the immense dark walls of the Citadel.
    ‘ I hope we can succeed,’ replied Cassiel. ‘Falsig has made our
task more challenging; hopefully he won’t be a problem until after
King Ignis is safely away from here. Stella’s task is very
dangerous. I think it is doubtful that Trebax will leave the
dungeon key out of sight. If he sees her he will not hesitate to kill
her. ’
    ‘ Maybe we should find another way,’ suggested Eben, feeling
concerned for Stella.
    ‘ There is no other way into the dungeon. Only the key will
open the prison door and the doors to the cells within. We are the
only people who know King Ignis is imprisoned in the Dungeons of
Zyran. If we fail then we fail.’
    Eben stood up
and put on his leather cloak. Cassiel led the way down the stairs
and out of the inn. They walked across to the bustling area of the
docks. Sailors were offloading crates and barrels from a