Reign Queen L. Gibbs (best books to read for young adults TXT) 📖

toyour quarters.” He paused to snap his fingers at the porter whojumped to the task. “But we must head straight to His Majesty’schambers at once.”

Meeps gave her no opportunity to agree ordisagree but strode forward, forcing her to keep up or have herelbow bent double.

“I’m in a rush myself, but we needn’t racealong, Captain,” she said, attempting to drag herself back and seta more appropriate speed across the bailey. The myriad ofsnowdrifts between them and the inner bailey which led to thecastle entrance looked like rounded waves frozen across a barrenlandscape. The few full-grown trees, utterly devoid of leaves,glistened with frost, their branches sculpted prettily by the snowwedged where the trunk and boughs met. As delightful as the greatcourtyard looked, if one ignored the churned up snow and steamingmounds of horse manure, it was a formidable walk to the inner gateof the castle proper.

“You’re late, and the Dragon King has nopatience.” He picked up the pace, unmindful of the snow he wasforcing her to struggle through.

His own knee-high boots protected him, buthers, though snug and fur lined, were soon soaked with the meltingsnow which gathered under her dress. Shennon’s wool stockingssopped up the weeping clumps that clustered close to her calves,and the folds of the double woolen inner dress under her long coatgathered heavy balls of snow with each stepuntil she was carrying as much as she was stepping over.

Shennon struggled to wade through anotherhigh drift. Oaf! “Sir, this is most unacceptable. Slow down,at once.”

The man kept his eyes ahead, not deigning toface her as he spoke. “There is no time.” Puffs of vapor spewedfrom Meeps’ thin lips. “He knows you’re here and will not acceptany further delay.”

His grip only tightened when she attempted tojerk her arm away. How is this acceptable treatment for someoneworking to bring peace to the area? She clenched her teethtogether as she put her attention to avoiding the deepestsnowdrifts he seemed determined to drag her through. Someminutes later, they entered the castle and stood in the wide foyer.Captain Meeps left her so he could converse with a servant and senda liveried boy at a run out of the grand foyer and down a corridor.She could hear the boy’s footfalls quite a while before theydwindled away.

Interested in more than listening to the boyrun in the quiet castle, Shennon used the lack of forward, motion to take stock of her surroundings. Shehoped, though she knew it was impossible, that there would be asign pointing out the direction of the archives. If she must beginat once, then she might as well begin her research there and at herown pace. But as expected, there was no mounted arrow labeled withthe designation, “Researchers, this way.” She grimaced and lookedback to the captain of the guard. He’d finished his conversationand eyed the snow enhancing her coat and dress. She shivered,suddenly aware again of the wet chill encasing her feet and lowerlimbs. Her skirt seemed to have grown into a ball gown of whitecrystals.

The captain of the guard pursed his lips ashe wiped a finger over each side of his thinmustache. A servant girl was sweeping the pristine marble floor,and he snatched the broom from her and paced toward Shennon. Shegave him a questioning look and backed up a step. His stridebrought him close fast, and she feared he intended to run her rightover; however, he stopped abruptly a foot away and swished thebroom along her dress hem, knocking cascades of snow to thefloor.

Incensed, Shennon grabbed the broomstick and stopped him mid-swish. “Captain Meeps,cease this immediately.”

He jerked the broom from her grasp andcontinued his barrage of her skirts. “Young miss, the snow must beremoved while still dry or you’ll be leaving a trail of waterthroughout the castle, probably all the way to the Dragon King’schambers which will only make things worse.”

“You don’t say,” she said and raised herdress until her wet boots came into view along with the puddle shestood in. “I hadn’t noticed how wet and frozen my feet were untilyou just now mentioned it, and how I could have been unaware of themounds of snow accumulated between coat, dress, petticoat,and stockings, I’ll never know.” She shook herdress, sending more clumps of snow to thefloor. “How I was not impeded in my movement or weighed down by thesheer mass of it is indeed a mystery.”

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Continue reading for an excerpt from TheSharded Boy, first book in the Standing Stone fantasy adventureseries.

Excerpt from TheSharded Boy

Jahl Pratter dropped his last coin into the rental boxmounted on the pine wall and prepared to pick out a standing stone.The usual stack of flat stones by the mercantile’s door was gone,so the young magic wielder had needed to head in and search thestock at the back. The cramped space where the stones were storedmade it hard for the sixteen-year-old to crouch down with hiscrippled leg stuck out to one side.

Kohen Tommlar, the Warder of Stones and theshop owner, was busy with customers. Jahl peeked around a stack ofstones to estimate how much longer he had to get his stone and getout before he fell under the eye of the easily aggravated Tommlar.The shop owner was still distracted.

Jahl twisted about, pressing a lean hipagainst one of the stacks of expensive stones he always ignoredwhen he had to search the back of the store. He needed a cheap,well-used but still viable standing stone. He ran his fingers downthe hard, flinty edges of stones that he could afford to choosefrom. They looked thinner, too, which he liked to think would makeone easier to carry.

The third edge his fingers came in contactwith sparked against Jahl’s fingertips and made them tingle. It wasthe strongest response he’d ever felt from a used stone. Thankfulit was near the top of the stack, Jahl took a decisive breath. Theywere heavy, but moving two out of the way would leave him stillstrong enough to carry the third out front to one of thecomplementary booths.

The booths were just four-foot-square spacesof dirt