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bisexuality. The night would be long and interesting!
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THE RIDE TO REVENGE
CHAPTER 16
SACKING OF ENTONIA
Jason lay back on the couch, gently caressing the growing mound
that had once been Charni s slim stomach. She could no longer hide her
motherhood from her people. They were delighted. They would have
an heir to the throne of Thurgan. Charni looked up at her husband, a
happy smile on her face. Peace had returned to the city. The tensions of
the past were fading into history.
Why are you looking so worried? she asked.
I m worried because we ve heard nothing about your brother since
he left the island. I m sure he isn t dead nor has he disbanded the Black
Horsemen. It concerns me that we ve heard nothing about his
whereabouts. It s just like he vanished from Praesepe, yet we know that
can t have happened. I wonder where he could be.
I don t know, Charni said sadly. Knowing him as I do, he could
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he anywhere by now. I m surprised no one noticed his passage. He
certainly wouldn t be traveling alone, so surely somebody would have
noticed a large group of warriors moving through their lands?
That would be because of Shartan. He would cloud the minds of
anybody who saw them pass.
Or Khuramani, who would willingly have had the Black Horsemen
slaughter them, in case they passed the news on to Thurgan.
I don t think he would have done that, because it would have left
corpses or missing people that would lead to whispers and rumors in
the marketplaces. There have been no such whispers.
Charni saw Jason tense, a faraway look in his eyes.
What s the trouble?
I can sense a disturbance in my thought patterns. It s very weak,
but somebody is trying to reach me from a great distance. I sense they
are very concerned. The message is important.
Can you increase your powers to accept their message?
Jason clapped his hands. Bianco hurried into the chamber.
Fetch Marni and Sarsi, he instructed her.
Marni and Sarsi? Charni asked curiously after the slave had left.
How can they assist you?
Their minds showed great natural receptive abilities when we first
brought them to the castle. If they can join with my mind, our
concentration could be boosted. It might work. We must try and reach
the messenger.
The two young girls rushed into the room and flew to Jason s arms.
He hugged them close. The horror of their mother s suicide was fading
slowly from their minds as they grew into the routines of the castle.
The regular food and attention had filled out their skinny bodies and
they were growing into regular beauties.
I need your help, Jason told them. We must combine out minds.
Someone is trying to reach me, but their thoughts are to weak to receive
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clearly.
We will try, Marni said, accepting for both in her role of elder
sister.
What do we do? Sarsi asked.
Close your eyes and let your minds go blank, Jason told them.
When you feel a mind trying to reach you, let it happen. Don t try to
get the message, let it come to you in its own time and speed. I will link
with whichever mind receives the strongest impulse.
The young girls closed their eyes. Their faces became
expressionless as they relaxed. Jason let his eyes move from face to
face. Which sister would receive the message first? He saw Marni
tense, then relax again. She had received a fleeting contact, but it had
been lost. Sarsi stiffened, pain showing on her face. Jason quickly
linked minds with her.
Lady Ormuti was trying to reach him from Cortano. The message
was garbled sometimes clear, at other times fading almost totally
away. It didn t sound good. He let his mind slip from Sarsi s and told
her gently to open her eyes.
I don t like what I saw, she whispered. I think there is trouble.
Don t worry, Jason told her, holding her close. I ll travel to
Cortano and talk with Lady Ormuti. She will thank you for helping her
reach us. She couldn t have done it without you.
Cortano? Charni asked after the girls had left the room.
Cortano has received a messenger from the coastal city of Entonia.
He is seriously wounded and they fear he will not live, but he wishes to
speak with the Warrior of the Axe of Thoran.
Your fame is growing, Charni said with a smile. What is the
message?
I don t know. Ormuti seemed agitated. Her projections were not as
clear as usual, but I sensed many deaths and great destruction.
When will you leave for Cortano?
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I ll go now. Ormuti was worried the messenger mightn t live long.
His courage mustn t be wasted.
Jason vanished from view, reappearing in the great hall at Cortano,
the Axe of Thoran in his hand. Ormuti threw herself into his arms, the
worry in her face easing slightly.
I wasn t sure if I d reached you, she murmured.
Your message was weak. I had to meld my mind with Sarsi s to
get enough power to receive you. Where is the messenger?
Ormuti led Jason to a small room. It had been darkened, but there
was still enough light to see the shadowy figures huddled around a
couch set against the far wall. A figure lay still and unmoving on the
couch, swathed in bandages. A healer and his two assistants fussed
around him. Marcello stood at the foot of the couch. He moved quickly
and quietly toward Jason as he entered the chamber.
Welcome, Warrior, he greeted him. I think you ve arrived just in
time. The messenger is fading fast.
The healers looked disapprovingly at him as he moved toward their
patient, then stepped back when they recognized who it was.
Jason kneeled beside the couch, letting his fingers rest gently
against the messenger s temples. He let his thoughts flow over the
wounded man, sending out calming waves to ease the pain that he
could sense. The taut pain lines around his face eased.
Jason probed until he established contact with the man s thought
waves, then he opened his own mind to receive the message
It wasn t good.
The messenger was a warrior from the city of Entonia, a peaceful
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