Free Warden (Blade Asunder Book 3) by Jon Kiln Page B

still beating, just.
    “I can only thank you, Ghaffar, you and your people, for all that you have done for my family. Finding my grandmother is a joyous occasion for my heart. I am just saddened to see her this way. I had hoped to travel home immediately, but I can see now that my grandmother is in no state to be journeying across the desert. We must burden you longer and hope that now I am by her side, that she may begin to recover.”
    Ghaffar merely bowed his head, saying nothing. His plan had worked well by letting the Duchess slip into unconsciousness. It had served to keep the D’Anjue family here longer, without having to use any kind of force to do so. His Empress would be pleased with his results and would reward him richly.

18
    Artas knew that ruling in Myriam’s absence would be difficult, but he did not realize just how difficult a task it would prove to be. He had hoped to keep a low profile until the Queen returned, but the politicians and merchants were making his life a misery. Their demands to have a private audience with the Queen was a daily occurrence, one he was finding more difficult every day to keep them at bay. Soon they would guess the truth, that Myriam was no longer here, and when they did he was not sure how it would end.
    And now to make matters worse, a distant relative of Myriam’s, Lord Josiah, had arrived at the castle with a small private army demanding to see the Queen.
    “Should I rouse the soldiers and ride out to meet this Lord?” Artas asked his close advisors, Parsival and Leonie. “I would prefer to battle a hundred dragons than have to face these greedy, conniving individuals,” he declared, totally and utterly defeated.
    “Our main concern is not the traders or politicians within the city, it is those who make greater demands of the throne,” Parsival explained. “Josiah is a distant relative of Myriam’s, on her father’s side, and he feels he has claim to lands in this kingdom. And maybe he does, as his lands were lost under the Usurper. If we show weakness now then we will be inundated with distant relatives from all over the lands laying their claims. Only Josiah is aware of the Queen’s departure from her kingdom. True, he does have a small army that will cause this town a hardship, but my friend, we need only use delaying tactics on such a toad.”
    “The people will soon learn that the Queen does not reside in her castle, that is inevitable,” Leonie said her part. “This is where you need to use your influence, honorary or otherwise. Call in your chiefs, their Queen needs them. Be decisive, Artas, tell these people, don’t ask them.”
    ***
    The Duchess felt herself floating. The blood in her veins was working so hard, it had become depleted and what remained was attempting to keep her heart pumping. Her heart struggled, something evil was infiltrating her veins and taking away the very magic that had kept her healthy for so long in her life. It was not the magic within her blood that failed her, it was more that something was taking the magic out of her very veins.
    She had felt the presence of her granddaughter, imaginary or real, she could not tell. Whatever it was, she had tried to reach out to her but she simply did not have the strength to awaken from the deep sleep that had taken over her body.
    Myriam, Myriam, I am here. Wake me up if you can for I am still here, she called out in her dreams.
    Were they dreams or was she simply dead? She felt no pain, only a need to rest. This shell of a body could function no more. She would have to let it go soon. It was such hard work holding on. She longed for the light of the sun. Why couldn’t she find it?
    Her granddaughter’s presence faded and she was once again alone. Then the pain started up again, a drumming noise in her ear, like a pump pounding within her veins. A stinging sensation shivered through her entire body and her muscles seized up tightly as she convulsed on the bed.
    The female Akkedis,