The Queen of Thieves: The Line of Kings Trilogy Book Three (28 page)

The man next to Quintal rose smoothly, despite having
sat in the circle for hours while they waited on word from Drun Sard. Each man
wore armour of shifting colours and their eyes were golden. Shining hair fell
across the swordsman's face as he bent to pick up the sword and stretched, straightened
and looked around at his brethren.

He bowed his head slightly to the leader of the
Sard.

'Then we ride?' he asked.

Quintal nodded. 'We ride.'

'Good,' he said.

Outside, nine horses pranced impatiently. The
remaining devotees of the Order of Sard mounted and left their temple home
Sybremreyen behind, and rode to a future where only battle was certain.

*

Drun
heaved an upturned boat from the platform. It turned mid-air, splashing into
the sea.

He had watched the Sacrifice and the Saviour take
the path toward oblivion. The Sard may have changed over many, many years, but
the Order always remained the same in their duty; to watch for the coming of
the Three, and to oppose the Protectorate wherever their evil manifested.

The time of the last battle neared.

Drun hoped that it was not too late to make a
change. Tirielle and Shorn had made their choices, learned many lessons. Now
the time had come for the Third to join them together and for their real
teaching to begin.

*

And,
lastly, if you made it all the way to the end of that...thank you!

About the
Author:

Craig
Saunders writes humour, horror, fantasy...and anything else going. He is the
author of many novels and novellas, including Deadlift, the Spiggot series and
The Estate. He has stories forthcoming from Darkfuse, and more fantasy tales
set in the world of Rythe.

            He
lives in Norfolk, England, with his wife and children, likes nice people and
good coffee. Find out more on Amazon, or visit:

            www.craigrsaunders.blogspot.com

            www.facebook.com/craigrsaundersauthor

            @Grumblesprout

Thank
you for reading.

Also by Craig
Saunders:

Novels

Left to
Darkness (The Oblivion Series #1)

Masters
of Blood and Bone

The
Estate

A Home
by the Sea

Rain

The
Noose and Gibbet

A
Stranger's Grave

The Love
of the Dead

Spiggot

Spiggot,
Too

The
Seven Point Star

The Gold
Ring

Days of
Christmas: A Sarah House Novel

Novellas

Flesh and Coin

Bloodeye

Deadlift

A
Scarecrow to Watch over Her

The
Walls of Madness

Insulation

The Dead
Boy: A Dead Days Novella (# 1)

Short
Story Collections

Dead in
the Trunk

Angels
in Black and White

Dark
Words and Black Deeds

Writing
as C. R. Saunders:

Vigil

Writing
as Craig R. Saunders:

The
Outlaw King (The Line of Kings Trilogy Book One)

The
Thief King (The Line of Kings Trilogy Book Two)

The
Queen of Thieves (The Line of Kings Trilogy Book Three)

Rythe
Awakes (The Rythe Quadrilogy Book One)

The
Tides of Rythe (The Rythe Quadrilogy Book Two)

Rythe
Falls (The Rythe Quadrilogy Book Three)