A Stolen Crown by Jordan Baker Read Free Book Online

through the snow. Kaleb watched as the man approached, pulling the heavy hood of his cloak from his head and dropping it to his shoulders. He was relieved to recognize the man as a friend, and a good one at that.
    “Jax Larien!” Kaleb called as he rose from the blanket of white. Jax smiled, glad to have finally found his old friend after much searching.
    “Kaleb.” He outstretched his hand and clasped it to that of his friend. “Good fortune to have found you.”
    Kaleb gripped Jax’s hand and saw that his lips were nearly blue from the cold. Remembering the young man still hiding in the trees, Kaleb turned and signalled to Brian that all was well. A moment later Brian rose from the snow and began his descent to the trail to join them.
    “I wasn't sure if you were still in this part of the forest,” Jax said. “But I had hoped as much. Please tell me you have a warm fire nearby.” The man rubbed his hand together and Kaleb smiled.
    “That I do. And though it’s some distance from here, I think you’ll make it,” he said with a smile then turned to his young companion. Brian had slung his bow back over his shoulder but his hands still rested cautiously on the handles of the two axes tucked into his belt. “Jax Larian of Ormyr, meet Brian of Ashford,” Kaleb introduced them. Brian nodded to the dark-cloaked rider.
    “Well met, Brian,” Jax said, shivering visibly. He turned back to Kaleb. “They grow them big in these parts, don’t they.” Kaleb laughed and looked at the strapping lad, realizing that Brian might look intimidating with his massive shoulders and the two oversized battle-axes crisscrossing his belt.
    They arrived back at the hillside barracks a short while later and Kaleb was pleased to learn that Jax had already searched the area and had not been able to find the hidden shelter. If an expert tracker like Jax could not find the place, then it was unlikely that anyone else could. Even though a hot fire burned brightly in the hearth, the special chimney made by the original builders, and recently brought back into service by Kaleb’s men, dissipated the smoke so that even from a short distance, it would not be visible to searching eyes. While Jax warmed himself by the fire, Kaleb retrieved a bottle of strong spirits and asked Brian to see about some hot food for them all.
    Jax happily sat at the table closest to the hearth and watched as Brian placed thick strips of salt pork on the heavy iron grill that hung over the hot fire. Kaleb handed him the bottle and, not even bothering to smell what it was, Jax took a strong pull from it, feeling the slow burn as the liquor made its way down his throat. He had travelled a long way through the vicious winter snow to find his friend and was relieved that hospitality was in relative abundance.
    “So tell me, Jax, what brings you out this way?” Kaleb asked, almost nonchalantly. "I thought you were determined to stay at Maramyr to keep an eye on things.” Brian sat down on the end of the bench by the fire and Jax glanced at the young man, then around at the room seeing that a number of Kaleb’s men were listening intently, likely curious about who he might be.
    “I got a pretty good look at the inside of the dungeon and it convinced me to leave,” Jax told his friend. Kaleb raised an eyebrow.
    “You were arrested? How?”
    “Caught, arrested, jailed, and pretty much convicted on the spot. That’s the way Cerric runs things now at Maramyr. They were going to put me to death so I thought it was a good time as any to escape.” Kaleb shook his head and looked over at Brian.
    “Jax here is one of the best swordsmen in all Maramyr, and a pretty good thief too. It’s a hard day when someone like him gets caught by the city guard.” Kaleb told him. He did not tell the boy that Jax was also a trained assassin, a secret known to very few.
    The Larians had been a family of assassins who had been given land and titles by the last king, Gregor, with the