Free The Children of the White Lions: Volume 02 - Prophecy by R. T. Kaelin Page A

perhaps.
    When Nikalys suddenly spoke, breaking the silence, Kenders started. She had been lost in the memory.
    “Can’t say I’ve ever seen him out of the castle.”
    Glancing up, she saw Nikalys eyeing the far side of the courtyard.
    Following his gaze, Kenders spotted a skinny man hurrying across the gravel, his thin blond hair whipping wildly in the wind. He was dressed in a simple blue tunic, tan breeches, and leather sandals. Kenders recognized him immediately as Lady Vivienne’s attendant.
    “He must be freezing,” said Sergeant Trell.
    Sure enough, the man gripped his arms about himself, trying to stave back the biting cold of the wind.
    Kenders wondered aloud, “Why is he out of Lady Vivienne’s offices?”
    Nobody hazarded a guess. The three of them sat, quiet and motionless, watching as the man broke into a hurried, flailing run. He was quite anxious to reach the calmer air on this side of the Weave.
    Nikalys uttered, “Sergeant, I’ll bet you a copper ducat he trips and falls.”
    “Accepted,” replied the soldier with a smile.
    The aide passed through the magical barrier and stopped. He rubbed his eyes and went about fixing his mussed hair before heading into the soldiers’ midst.
    “You owe me a copper, son.”
    Nikalys shrugged and grinned.
    “So I do…”
    The attendant angled straight to where Jak and Zecus sat, taking a rest from their practice. He stopped before the pair and started to speak to them. Jak and Zecus stayed seated, arms draped over their legs, and stared up at the man curiously.
    “I wonder what he wants with them,” mused Kenders.
    The man appeared most interested in speaking with Zecus, but Jak continued to interject himself, much to the aide’s apparent frustration.
    Sergeant Trell sighed and said, “Excuse me, but I’m going to see what this is about. The commander does not like it when Lady Vivienne interrupts our drills.”
    He rose from the bench and strode toward Jak, Zecus, and the aide. When he arrived, the aide threw his arms up in the air and began talking to the sergeant directly, gesturing at the Borderlander.
    Keeping her eyes on the exchange, Kenders asked, “Have you noticed Lady Vivienne asserting herself since Broedi left?”
    “Impossible not to,” muttered Nikalys. He did not sound pleased.
    Kenders had expected that Broedi, as the lone White Lion currently with the Manes, would be in charge here at the enclave. However, it seemed authority rested mostly with Lady Vivienne, the Baroness of Argolles. She deferred to Broedi publically but now that the hillman was on his way to the Celestial Empire with Nundle, Lady Vivienne governed the enclave as though it were a part of her barony.
    After a few minutes of discussion, the aide turned toward the direction from which he came and began to walk. Zecus stood, gathered his things, and, after a pat on the back from Sergeant Trell, followed the man across the yard.
    Kenders glanced at Nikalys.
    “What does he—what does she want with Zecus?”
    Nikalys shook his head, replying, “I don’t know…” He sounded as bewildered as she felt.
    As Zecus strode across the courtyard, he glanced over to where Nikalys and Kenders sat. His eyes locked with hers and he gave her a quick smile. Her heart skipped a beat.
    His smile widened a bit as he turned and broke into a jog, chasing after the aide. As she watched him go, she realized she had not even smiled back.
    “Zecus is a good man, Kenders. You could do a great deal worse than him, but you won’t do much better.”
    She looked at her brother to find him staring at her with a kind, if measured, expression. She was surprised. Her brothers had always been a tad overprotective with her when it came to boys. Once, when she had confided in them that she liked a particular young man in Yellow Mud, they had carried the boy to Lake Hawthorne and tossed him in.
    Unsure what to say in response, she kept quiet and turned back in time to see Zecus disappear through a set