Runes of Battle by G.N. Gudgion EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
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- Author: G.N. Gudgion
- Language: English
- Genre: Coming of Age Fantasy eBooks
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
1.1 ADELAIS
It was safer to stay away from people. Much safer. But when a sharp stone
punched through the thinning sole of her boot, Adelais knew she’d have to
risk a town. By that evening she was limping as she made camp beside a
stream. She poked her finger through the hole and swore in gutter Vriesian;
she could live off the land, in the fat moons of early autumn, but only a
cobbler could fix this.
Adelais was nervous about towns. With good reason. She’d walked into
a riverside port soon after she’d escaped, hoping to find a boat to take her
upriver; the mighty Naeva would carry her almost halfway to Vriesland and
she had two gold crowns sewn into her belt, enough to pay her passage.
She’d loitered on the wharf, watching for a likely vessel, and all around her
the talk was of a Vriesian witch who had killed the high priest. She’d flung
a curse into his face, it was said. Killed him on the spot. Then vanished. Just
disappeared. The story was told and retold with the relish of a ghost tale
around a winter fire, and received with widening eyes and the sign of their
god.
There had been a Guardian knight with her, some challenged, so where
was he? Ah, that was proof that the Guardians were in league with Kakos,
the Destroyer. Heretics, all of them.
Not so, said others; the Guardians were holy men, persecuted by King
Aloys for their wealth. Was not the high priest’s body burned, as they had
been burned? The Vriesian woman was no witch; she was a Blessèd One,
wreaking the righteous vengeance of the God. Tall as a man, she was, with
hair that shone like the sun and pale blue eyes that could freeze you with a
look. No witch could be so fair.
Fragments of the arguments had slopped from waterfront taverns like
spilt beer as Adelais had passed. She’d run a finger around the edge of her
linen cap to make sure no blonde hair had strayed into sight, tugged her
hood forwards and kept walking. Swagger, she’d been told. If you’re
dressed like a man, walk like there’s something between your legs and
you’re proud of it. There had been soldiers on the quayside, searching
people. She’d heard a shout and a scuffle as they seized a beardless, fairskinned youth and pulled off his cap to see his hair. It wasn’t even blonde,
just a pale brown, but they made him drop his loin cloth just the same.
Since then Adelais had tramped across country, relying on the sun or the
stars to keep her heading north towards Vriesland where a tall, yellowhaired woman was unremarkable. Here in the warm south there were
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