Watt-Evans, Lawrence - Annals of the Chosen 01 (80 page)

The
Speaker
paused
on
the
bench,
listening,
before
she climbed
down.

"The
ler
are
not
happy
here,"
she
said.
"This
is
a
sick place,
a
wrong
place,
as
bad
as
any
I've
ever
heard."

"That's
hardly
news,"
the
Archer
said.
Breaker
did
not bother
to
say
so,
but
he
agreed
with
Bow;
anyone
could
feel the
wrongness
here,
it
didn't
take
the
Speaker
or
a
priest.

"I
can't
look
at
it,"
the
Seer
said
from
the
wagon.
"You
go on.
He's
inside.
He's
on
the
stairs
right
now."

"You
won't
change
your
mind?"
Breaker
asked.

"I
can't
go
in
there.
I
can't"
the
Seer
said.
"I've
done
my part—if
I
went
in
with
you
I'd
just
get
someone
hurt."

"Don't
worry
about
her,"
the
Leader
called.
"Come
on, let's
get
this
over
with!"

Reluctantly,
Breaker
turned
away
and
followed
the
Leader,
as
did
the
other
four.
Together,
the
six
of
them
began
the
climb up
the
steep,
rocky
hillside.
The
ground
was
utterly
barren,
bare
stone
and
mud,
without
any
trace
of
greenery,
and
felt
almost
as
dead
as
the
guest
compound
in
Seven
Sides.

"The
ler
here
are
prisoners,"
the
Speaker
said.
"They're
bound,
all
of
them—he's
held
them
in
bondage
for
years
now,
never
letting
them
act
upon
their
nature.
He
feared
the Council
of
Immortals
would
turn
them
against
him."

The
Archer
had
his
bow
strung
and
ready,
a
full
quiver
on his
back;
Breaker's
own
hand
fell
to
the
hilt
of
his
sword,
but he
did
not
draw
it.

Then
he
heard
the
snap
of
a
bowstring;
he
started
to
turn,
to
ask
the
Archer
what
he
was
doing,
but
then
he
realized
that
the
sound
had
been
much
farther
away,
and
that
even with
his
supernatural
speed
and
accuracy
the
Archer
had
not
had
time
to
nock
and
loose
an
arrow
since
last
Breaker
had
looked
in
his
direction.

Then
he
heard
the
whir
of
feathers
passing,
and
the
Speaker
screamed.
Breaker
whirled.

An
arrow
protruded
from
the
Speaker's
right
thigh,
a
few
inches
above
the
knee,
and
she
was
crumpling
to
the
ground.

"There!"
the
Leader
shouted.
Breaker
heard
the
Archer curse,
and
then
draw,
nock,
and
loose
a
shaft
of
his
own,
but he
was
too
busy
trying
to
catch
the
Speaker
and
ease
her
to the
ground
to
turn
and
look.

Then
the
Speaker
was
laid
out
on
the
stones,
the
Scholar and
the
Beauty
leaning
over
her,
the
Beauty
with
a
hand
to her
forehead,
the
Scholar
probing
the
area
around
the
arrow, and
the
Archer
said,
"Missed!
I
don't
believe
it!"

"Look
at
the
range,
man!"
the
Leader
replied.
"Of
course
you
missed!
Even
the
world's
greatest
archer
couldn't
hit him
at
this
distance."