Epic Medieval Fantasy - Realms of Kyre - Book 9 - Adam's Landing

Just a few more steps to safety...

One board creaked more loudly underfoot, and bent ominously. Only a dozen stick-assisted paces from the far end – take it easy. Be koh. Cautiously shifting his weight made the board sag more—

Crackkk!! A sharp splintering sound from below. He froze. Stepping sideways would put all his weight onto the adjacent board, but, maybe if I  kneel down and crawl, that would spread my weight… But first… Carefully, he slipped his travel bag from his shoulders, and weighed up the distance, and the effort needed to toss it to the bank.

Whilst getting rid of the weight of the bag was a good thought, swinging it back and forth to gain momentum for the throw wasn’t. The realisation came to him as his left leg split through the boarding and he dropped more abruptly than he would have imagined possible. His body slammed down, left leg straight through the broken board, half-way up his thigh; his right leg twisted and jammed under him.

‘Soddit.’ He surveyed the situation.

‘I require another child from you, Kyre. I’m fertile now. If you don’t, or won’t, then I’ll have to have Mayleen and her two killed.

‘What the frugg are you on about? What is it with you?’ Very riled now, Kyre was angered and fearful…

‘I must be the foremost Rua in this. I’ve stressed the importance of your seed. And for Mayleen to have two children, and me only one – it doesn’t look good within the Sisterhood.’

‘You’re mad. There’s nothing special about them – they’re just normal tiny kids, like Kylon—’

‘They’re certainly not. I told you before – I… we… believe your seed could be important to the realm – there is something of strength in your stock. I felt it from a distance when you first came to these lands. I believe it still: among your children could be another seed of power; one we could influence, as our own. Thus, to better the chances that it would be mine, I wish for another. I must be seen to believe it utterly…’

‘And you’d do it by killing two of them?’

'Oh, yes... Now, shall we begin by deciding who's on top?'

'I thought you'd just decided that.'

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