The Glass Casket

Начало книги

ONE BLEAK MORNING in the eye of winter, five horses and five riders thundered into the remote mountain village of Nag’s End. Without ceremony or respect for local custom, they charged through the square and up the steep alpine trail that lay just beyond. Hazarding the rocky terrain, they weaved their way between snow-shrouded pines, climbing ever higher until they reached the icy plateau of Beggar’s Drift—a place, it was said, that the Goddess had forsaken.

From the window of his father’s tavern, Tom Parstle saw them pass, and although they rode with great speed, he was certain he caught the seal of the king’s guard upon their breastplates. Few people of interest, and surely none so interesting as the king’s soldiers, had ever passed through Nag’s End, and in their wake, they left an aura of wondrous anticipation. For what could there be in such an isolated part of the forest to attract the attentions of the king?

Читать дальше →