B008P7JX7Q EBOK by Usman Ijaz Page B

and burning all those he thought might
be Ascillian. Wars emerged from this senseless slaughter, his own countries
rebelling or fighting with their neighbors. When the Mad Emperor led his armies
upon the Ascillian capital of Asgar, it wasn’t long before the ancient city
fell, and there the blood loss was the heaviest.” Alexis emitted a bitter
sound. “Asgar was Martin’s gift to the Ascillians when the first settlers came
from Naban, and Nero took it back. I’ve read in some books that after Asgar fell
the skies turned black for a fortnight, roaring with thunder with never a rest.
The Prophet in the east claims that it was the dying curse of the Ascillians,
and the western priests will tell you that it was God himself voicing his
displeasure at our ignorance.”
    Alexis fell silent then.
    “That’s all?” Adrian asked, staring at the
reigns in his hands. The wind whipped back his sandy-blond hair and stung his
eyes.
    “I told it to you as simply as I could,” Alexis
told him solemnly.
    Adrian noticed the sudden quietness in the small
company, no one spoke, but he could imagine their somber faces all too clearly.
Suddenly, he asked, “What about Grandal’s Legion? Was it involved in the
slaughter too?” He realized his tone was harsh and accusing, but he didn’t
care.
    He looked to Alexis but it was Owain who
answered. “Grandal fought against the Mad Emperor. Nearly all of the mid-west
marched on Arath Dar to put an end to the Mad Emperor’s reign. Some of Nero’s
own countries - Teihr, Kumai - rebelled as well. In the end he was murdered by
someone close to him and his armies broken. His Empire was split among those
still standing, though some will to this day contest their boundaries.”
    “It’s in the past,” said Hamar. “Things have
changed now.”
    “Nothing’s changed!” Adrian shouted. “Do you
really mean to tell me that if I were to walk into the next town and declare
that I’m an Ascillian, that I would walk out alive?” Silence answered him, and
he grew infuriated, at himself, at the others, at everything. He dug his heels
into Wind’s sides and briskly rode past Hamar and Owain.
    “Adrian!” Alexis called out after him.
    He had no intention of running away, he knew
that it was impossible, but at the moment he simply wanted to be alone. He
slowed down his pace a little farther down the road. The rest, perhaps
satisfied with having him in their sight, did not come up to him.
    He felt infuriated. He’d been taken from his
home, from the only family he had ever known, so that he could save the lives
of a people that despised his kind. His cousin would not even talk to him now
because of what he was. He looked towards the plains by the road, and held
himself back from kicking Wind into a fast run and breaking away from the party
behind him.
    I hate them , he
thought . I despise them all. He had seen firsthand, in a manner of
speaking, what they were capable of, and he found it difficult to understand
why such people deserved saving, when others were murdered for their peaceful
nature.
    He rode alone, an odd stew of emotions brewing inside
him.

Chapter 6
     
    Distant
Forces
     
    1
     
    The halls of the dead are black.
    The words occurred to Logan Abarrai as he strode
through the corridors. He could not tell where they came from. He only knew
they fit the palace perfectly.
    The wind blowing in through the open balconies whipped
his hair back from his brow and sent a chill through him. The halls of the
dead are cold, as well , Logan thought.
    Blue eyes stared out from a hard face and
watched the few servants going about, giving him as wide a berth as they could.
He was a tall man, in his mid-thirties, his blond hair fading year by year. He
held himself with a self-confidence that at one time had bordered on the edge
of arrogance, exuding an air of one who believed himself to be untouchable, and
to this many would have credited that Jonas’s Captain truly was untouchable.
That arrogance