Slight and Shadow (Fate's Forsaken: Book Two) by Shae Ford Read Free Book Online

balked when she drew the sword from its sheath. It was a scimitar, the curved blade favored by desert outlaws. She spun it deftly in one hand and heard the wind whistle off its edge. “It’s very well-made,” she said approvingly. Then she leveled the point at Shamus’s chest. “But what in blazes is it for?”
    “Ah …” He glanced over his shoulder at the guards, who tried very quickly to look bewildered, before he shot a pointed look at the captain. “I don’t rightly know. I certainly didn’t order them —”
    “Oh, no you don’t,” the captain interjected, jabbing a finger at him. “Don’t try and weasel your way out of our agreement! You will pay me, sir, or I’ll spread word through every tavern on the High Seas that you’re a thief and a timewaste!”
    “Those sound like some grave accusations,” Kyleigh said with a mocking smile, her eyes on Shamus. “Come clean, man — tell me what the swords are for. Do you plan to shave with them? Are your axes not as fun to swing about?”
    Shamus glared daggers at the captain for a moment before he finally let out a heavy sigh. “All right, you’ve got me. You know what they’re for.”
    Just as she’d suspected. Kyleigh thrust the scimitar back in its sheath and tossed it into the crate. “You aren’t coming, Shamus,” she said as she slammed the lid back over the top. “None of you are. It’s far too dangerous.”
    Shamus made a frustrated noise. “But we can’t leave you on your own, Lady Kyleigh. What sort of soldiers would we be, if we didn’t follow you into battle —?”
    “Obedient ones.” She didn’t like using the tricks Crumfeld had taught her, because they made her feel like a pompous git. But in this case, she had no choice. She arched her neck and tilted her chin — making it seem as if she looked down on Shamus even though he stood nearly a head above her. “If I’m to have any chance of reaching the Baron’s castle alive, I’ve got to move quietly. And that’s impossible to do with an army stomping along behind me — no matter how they’re disguised,” she added, when she saw the argument on Shamus’s face.
    He shook his head and started to say something else, but she held up her hand.
    “Pay this man for his trouble.” She turned to the captain. “And I’m afraid you’ll have to take that crate back down to your ship. I won’t let it sit in the courtyard to tempt my men.”
    The captain smiled as he bowed. “No problem at all. You’ll never hear me complain about being able to sell the same shipment twice,” he said gleefully.
    Kyleigh passed a severe look around the guards before she headed back into the castle. She could hear Shamus arguing with the captain as she reached the doors:
    “What was that? I gave you the look, man! How could you sell me?”
    “How was I supposed to know? All I heard was that I suddenly wasn’t getting paid —”
    “You should’ve known I was only trying to cover my arse. Here — take your blasted gold and be off with you!”
    Kyleigh sighed inwardly. She squished her toes into the ground as she walked, enjoying the cool relief of the morning dew. And she realized she would have to leave much sooner than she’d planned.
    She couldn’t give Shamus the chance to order another round of equipment and get the men rallied for battle. She wouldn’t let them follow her into Whitebone — not because she feared being spotted, but because she knew how dangerous the journey would be.
    Kyleigh was prepared to risk her own life, but she wouldn’t cost them theirs.

Chapter 4
    The Black Beast
     
     
     
     
     
     
    It had been a long while since Death visited his dreams. Kael had hoped to never meet him again — for wherever the man in white appeared, trouble would follow at his heels.
    He slid in while Kael’s mind rested, in the moment when the dream world crumbled and gave way to inky blackness. He was a white smudge on the horizon — a something where there should’ve