دانلود کتاب پادشاه پریان ( انگلیسی )

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, a man in a lengthy dark coat paused in front of a house on a street flanked by trees. He had not parked a car nor arrived by taxi. No neighbor had spotted him strolling along the sidewalk. He simply materialized, as if transitioning from one shadow to the next.
Approaching the door, the man raised his fist to knock. Meanwhile, inside the house, Jude sat on the living room rug and nibbled on soggy fish sticks.
Pulled from the microwave and smothered in a slather of ketchup, her twin sister Taryn lay napping on the couch, cocooned in a blanket with a thumb in her mouth stained with fruit punch. At the opposite end of the sofa, their older sister, Vivienne, gazed at the television screen with her uncanny split-pupiled eyes fixed on the cartoon mouse fleeing from the cat. She chuckled as it appeared that the mouse was on the verge of being caught.
Vivi was unlike other older sisters, but because seven-year-old Jude and Taryn were identical with matching shaggy brown hair and heart-shaped faces, they were also unique. To Jude, Vivi’s eyes and the lightly furred points of her ears were not much stranger than being the mirror image of another person.
Occasionaly, she noticed how the local kids avoided Vivi and the hushed, concerned tones of their parents when speaking about her, but Jude didn’t consider it significant. Adults were constantly anxious and gossiping.
Taryn yawned and stretched, resting her cheek against Vivi’s knee. Outside, the sun shone brightly, heating the asphalt of the driveways. The sound of lawnmower engines filled the air, accompanied by children playing in the backyard pools. Dad was in the workshop, working at his forge, while Mom was in the kitchen grilling hamburgers.
Everything seemed mundane. Everything appeared to be in order. When the knock sounded, Jude sprang up to respond. She was hopeful that it might be one of the girls from across the street, seeking to play video games or asking her to join them for a swim after dinner.
A tall man stood on their doormat, glaring down at her. Despite the heat, he was wearing a brown leather duster and his shoes were adorned with silver, producing a hollow ring as he crossed the threshold. Jude gazed up into his shadowed face and couldn’t help but shiver.
“Mom,” she exclaimed. “Moooooooom. Someone’s here.”
Her mother emerged from the kitchen, drying her wet hands on her jeans. Upon seeing the man, she turned pale. “Go to your room,” she instructed Jude in a stern voice. “Now!”
The man pointed at her and asked, “Whose child is that?” His voice had an unusual accent as he inquired, “Yours? His?”
“No one’s,” Mom replied without even looking at Jude. “She’s no one’s child.”
That didn’t seem right. Jude and Taryn looked exactly like their dad, as everyone had mentioned. Jude took a few steps towards the stairs but hesitated about being alone in her room. Vivi, Jude thought. Vivi will know who the tall man is. Vivi will know what to do. But she couldn’t bring herself to move any further.
Mother appeared speechless, her whole being filled with tension. Jude wished to hold her hand for comfort, but refrained from doing so.
“I questioned Balekin’s claim that I would discover you here,” the man spoke, his tone softening. “The discovery of the earthly woman’s and her unborn child’s remains in the ashes of my estate was convincing. Can you comprehend returning from battle to find your wife and only heir dead? To witness your life reduced to ashes?”
Mother shook her head, not so much in response to him, but as though attempting to rid herself of his words.
He approached her, and she instinctively moved backward. There was something unusual about the tall man’s leg. He moved with difficulty, as if in pain. The light…
In the entry hall, Jude noticed the peculiar greenish hue of the man’s skin and the disproportion of his lower teeth. She could discern that his eyes resembled Vivi’s.
“I was never going to be content with you,” expressed Mom. “Your world is not suitable for someone like me.”
The tall man pondered her words for a moment. “You made vows,” he finally replied.
She raised her chin. “And then I rejected them.”
His gaze shifted to Jude, his expression turning stern. “What value does a promise from a mortal wife hold? I suppose I have my answer.”
Mom turned and, prompted by her mother’s glance, Jude hurried into the living room.
Taryn dormía todavía. La televisión seguía encendida. Vivienne levantó la vista con ojos de gato entreabiertos. “¿Quién está en la puerta?” preguntó. “Escuché gritos.”
“Un hombre intimidante”, le dijo Jude, sin aliento a pesar de que apenas había corrido. Su corazón latía con fuerza. “Se supone que debemos ir arriba.”
A ella no le importaba que mamá le hubiera dicho que solo ella debía ir arriba. No iba a ir sola. Con un suspiro, Vivi se levantó del sofá y sacudió a Taryn para despertarla. Con sueño, la gemela de Jude las siguió hacia el pasillo.
Mientras se dirigían hacia las escaleras cubiertas de alfombra, Jude vio a su padre entrar desde el jardín trasero.
He grasped an axe in his hand, crafted to closely resemble one he had admired in a museum in Iceland. It wasn’t unusual to see Dad with an axe. He and his friends were passionate about ancient weapons and would often discuss “material culture” while brainstorming ideas for extraordinary blades. What struck Jude as peculiar was the manner in which he held the weapon, as though he were about to—
Her father swung the axe toward the tall man.
He had never raised a hand to discipline Jude or her sisters, even when they found themselves in serious trouble. He wouldn’t harm anyone. Absolutely not.
And yet. And yet.
The axe swished past the tall man, sinking into the wooden door frame.
Taryn emitted a strange, high-pitched wail and covered her mouth with her hands.
The tall man revealed a curved blade from beneath his leather coat, a sword straight out of a storybook. As Dad struggled to free the axe from the doorframe, the man thrust the sword into Dad’s stomach and pushed it upward, causing a sound like snapping sticks and an animal cry. Dad collapsed onto the vestibule carpet, the one Mom always scolded them for when they tracked mud on it. The rug was now turning red. Amidst the chaos of screams from Mom, Jude, Taryn, and Vivi, the tall man remained silent.
“Come here,” he commanded, locking eyes with Vivi.
“You… you monster,” their mother cried out, as she moved toward the kitchen. “He’s dead!”
The man warned her not to run away, especially after what she had done. Despite his warning, she fled and was hit by his blade as she neared the corner, falling to the floor and causing magnets to tumble off the fridge. The scent of blood filled the air, reminiscent of the metallic odor of scrubbing pads used by her mother. Without fear, Jude fiercely attacked the man, feeling almost detached from her emotions.
The man completely ignored Jude. He stood still for a while, seemingly unable to grasp the reality of his actions and perhaps wishing he could undo the last five minutes. Eventually, he knelt down and held Jude’s shoulders, restraining her from hitting him, while his attention remained fixed on Vivienne. “You were taken from me,” he declared. “I’ve come to bring you back to your true home in Elfhame below the hill. There, you’ll be incredibly wealthy and among your own kind.” “No,” Vivi responded solemnly. “I will never go anywhere with you.”
He stated, his voice harsh and rising like the crack of a whip, “I am your father. You are my heir and my blood, and you will obey me in this as in all things.” She didn’t flinch, but her jaw tightened. “You’re not her father,” Jude yelled at him. Despite sharing the same eyes with Vivi, she refused to believe it. He tightened his grip on her shoulders, and she emitted a little squeak, but held her gaze defiantly. She had won plenty of staring contests.
He turned away first, shifting his gaze to Taryn, who was on her knees, shaking Mom while she sobbed, as if trying to rouse her. Mom didn’t stir. Mom and Dad were gone. They would never stir again. “I detest you,” Vivi declared to the tall man with a fierceness that Jude appreciated. “I will always detest you. I swear it.” The man’s impassive expression remained unchanged. “Nevertheless, you will come with me. Get these little humans ready. Travel light. We depart before nightfall.” Vivienne lifted her chin. “Leave them be. If you must, take me, but not them.”
He looked at Vivi, then let out a snort. “You would protect your sisters from me, eh? So, tell me, where do you propose they should go?” Vivi remained silent. They had no grandparents, no remaining family at all.