Free The Frostwoven Crown (Book 4) by Andrew Hunter Page B

called Samhaed," the narrator said.
    One of the robed men stepped forward and turned to face the others, raising his staff. "Here," he said, "we shall make our camp... Here we shall make our home."
    The lights fell again, and the music stopped.
    The lights rose again on a scene formed of smoke, a great balcony overlooking a gleaming city beneath a troubled, sunset sky. Samhaed stood, looking out over his city, older now, with gray in his beard. He no longer wore the dark traveling robes but was dressed as a king, roped with golden chains and ivory silk. He clasped his hands behind his back and shook his head.
    "Have I not led them to peace and bounty?" Samhaed cried out, "Have I not spared them the reaver's claw and hunger's bite? How can they be so stiff-necked? Do they not understand that I only wish the best for them?" He turned to face the audience as a woman emerged from the shadowy smoke behind him.
    "They are but children, my love," spoke the woman. She was dressed in gossamer robes with a golden coronet in her raven-black hair. "Children have no love of discipline, it is true, but they still love their father. The people are your children, and they love you still, even if they are sometimes... disobedient."
    "Disobedient?" Samhaed scoffed, lifting his hands to his sides, "This is not mere disobedience. They openly defy me! This is treason!"
    The woman crossed the stage to Samhaed's side and kissed him. "Let your rage be cooled," she said. She ran her hand across his brow, smoothing back his gray hair. "Listen to your advisors and proceed cautiously in this matter."
    "Advisors!" Samhaed said, turning his back to her, "I need not ask their advice to know it! They would have me huddle, cringing in this palace while the people build a mound of kindling around my feet!"
    The woman looked back over her shoulder, motioning to someone off-stage, and a trio of men in colorful robes and headdresses stepped from the smoke into the light.
    "Lord Samhaed," one of the advisors spoke as they approached their king, "We would speak to you on the matter of the..."
    Garrett's attention was suddenly drawn away from the play by the sound of the Valfrei's voice as she spoke to Marla in a hushed tone.
    "I am told that you are quite fluent in the Wyrd," she said.
    Marla looked up from the play, blinking. "Oh, yes," she whispered, "Mother has taught me most of the binding wyrds, and I've studied quite a bit on my own as well."
    "What Songs have you read?" the Valfrei asked.
    Marla looked embarrassed. "The... ah... Tanjin Cycle ... the Codex Namare ... part of Blake's Triad ," she said, "and a few more... minor things."
    The Valfrei's eyes narrowed. "That's all?" she asked.
    Marla blushed. "I'm sorry," she said, "I... I should have studied more, I know..."
    "In Thrinaar you would have learned all the Cycles by heart now," the Valfrei said
    Garrett reached out and put his hand on Marla's knee beneath the table, and she clasped it gratefully in turn.
    She was spared further admonishment by a trill of the flute and an ominous chord struck on the violins of the unseen orchestra. The lights went out again, and Garrett looked toward the stage to see what came next.
    The lights rose upon a real bed that the vampire actors had somehow rushed to the center of the stage in complete silence in the few seconds of darkness between scenes. Samhaed lay sleeping on the bed, and beside him, his queen lay, staring down at him with a troubled look on her face. The smoke around them swirled with the half-formed image of a large chamber with moonlight falling upon the floor through high, narrow windows
    The Queen turned her head, seeming to hear a sound from off-stage. She brought her hand to her lips and rose from the bed, fleeing in terror. From the shadows emerged three men in black robes, their faces concealed by strips of cloth, and bright daggers flashing in their upraised hands. They approached the bed with theatrical stealth as Samhaed lay tossing in a