Lance of Earth and Sky (The Chaos Knight Book Two) by Erin Hoffman Page A

sighed happily.
    He carefully drew one breath after another. By the tenth, he was reasonably sure he wouldn't be ill.
    By the twentieth, he started to think about the implications of Farian's death.
    “They're going to blame me for this,” he said quietly. “The boy has a prominent family.” He couldn't yet say had . Even now he shoved the memory of the boy's body melting to ash behind the wall of numbness that was all, at the moment, that was keeping him sane.
    So not my problem, the Starhunter replied. But I see you're going to be mopey about this. Toodles!
    The shadows on the wall vanished, lightening the room. Not quite believing they were gone, Vidarian set the pup down and staggered to the wall, placing a hand on its cool, papered surface. He lost track in moments of how long he remained there.
    * Is she gone? * Ruby, who had been silent the entire time, now gave the impression that she was creeping out from a cave. Vidarian had never heard her so disturbed.
    “Yes,” he said, sinking down the wall and cradling his head in his hands. The pup whined and nosed his leg, and he dropped a hand down, carefully, to stroke its forehead.
    * That's what you had in your head, all that time? * Now she was tentative, apologetic—also new.
    “All that time.” He lacked the strength to do more than repeat her words. And before she could answer, he slipped, unknowing, into sleep, there on the plush carpet, the pup curled up at his feet.

P ain woke him.
    A pounding headache dragged Vidarian from restless sleep. Opening his eyes made things much worse, so he closed them again, and clenched his teeth against the sear of agony that shot through his arms and legs.
    Once the surge of red faded from behind his eyes, he cracked them open cautiously again, while pushing himself to a seated position.
    Gingerly, and without quite knowing why, he reached out with his elemental senses—then immediately drew back as pain lashed him again. His subconscious fears were confirmed; he'd overreached, trying to resist the Starhunter's attack last night, and now those parts of his mind that controlled the magic were paying the price. He throttled them down, let go of the unconscious hold he kept on his abilities, and some of the pain dulled enough for him to think, if not clearly.
    Gradually the room came into focus. First, the pup was staring at him, his white-tipped ears pointed up and forward. Vidarian leaned out to pet him, and as pain roared in his head with the movement, the little wolf howled in sympathy.
    Wearily he thought reassuring thoughts at the pup, which seemed to calm him down, then took a quick breath and levered himself to his feet all at once.
    This time he was ready for the wave of black dizziness and did not stagger, and the pup whined rather than howling. His sight came back in patches, and with it, rational thought, beneath the layer of still-throbbing complaint from his entire body. Given the soft morning light filtering through the expensive curtains, enough time had passed that the pup should have rendered the rooms a disaster area, from hunger or any assortment of physical needs.
    There was no such disaster. In fact, a sniff of the air revealed a faint aroma of mint and lemons. The polished stone floor of the water chamber across from the bedroom gleamed even at this distance, his clothes had been neatly folded and shelved in the wardrobe, and a small folding table had been set up with a steaming silver meal service discreetly placed at the foot of the bed. Vidarian's stomach growled at the sight of that last, and his feet took him there before he'd quite consciously decided to go.
    He lifted the engraved silver cloche to find a robust morning meal of thick toast, oatmeal porridge, dried fruits, and piping hot kava . Accompanying the breakfast was a plate of finely minced raw meat and a small porcelain jar of pungent hangover remedy. Vidarian realized with a flush of embarrassment that a servant must have come to clean