A Stolen Crown by Jordan Baker Read Free Book Online Page A

promise that they would no longer practice their craft in his lands. The Larians of Ormyr had thus become sworn protectors to the king and spies for the throne even though Gregor had not asked it of them. They had claimed that such activity would allow them to keep up their skills without them having to kill anyone, at least not anyone important. When Cerric had assumed regency over Maramyr, he quickly set out to discredit the Larians, claiming that they could not be trusted, though the real reason was that the Larians refused to spy for Cerric.
    The regent finally found his opportunity to rid himself of the family of spies one day when Dash Larian, Jax’s father had been discovered in a sealed wing of the palace without leave of the royal guard. For such trespass, Cerric had rescinded the dead king’s order of title and seized the lands of Ormyr from the Larian family. Dash Larian was never heard from again but, for a long time, Jax believed that his father still lived. Jax found out from one of the palace guards that his father had been caught in the part of the palace where the king and queen had died. It was supposed to have been sealed off permanently, but no one could say how either Dash or the palace guards, who had allegedly apprehended him, had been able to enter that part of the palace in the first place. That had been years ago, and Jax had lost his taste for honorable living and had become an inveterate thief, though he still kept up with a few friends from the more respectable days of his youth.
    Jax stared at the fire, feeling the warmth penetrate the layer of cold that had worked its way into his flesh. He was a great swordsman and a very good thief but bad luck had betrayed him that day in the crown city. Of course it had been a might foolish to steal the Xallan ambassador's jewels by the light of day but he had taken greater risks many a time and always escaped without a scratch.
    “Bad luck,” he said, staring at the flickering fire. “It was plain bad luck. I was liberating the purse of the Xallan ambassador when I ran across one of the young Academy boys. I hate to admit it, but he slowed me down long enough to get me surrounded by the city guard.” Kaleb raised an eyebrow.
    “A student?” he asked. Jax nodded.
    “I didn’t think they still taught them proper swordplay but this fellow was years beyond anything he would have learned here. Aaron was his name, and he seemed to be a real honorable sort too, and since honor is in short supply these days, it would have been a shame to kill him, so I figured it would be easier to surrender and escape later.” Brian had been turning the bacon on the grill when he heard Jax mention Aaron's name. He wondered if it could be his friend, Aaron, who he had been wondering about for some time.
    “You said someone named Aaron stopped you?” Brian asked. Jax smiled at him
    “I'm pretty sure that was his name. Nice young fellow.”
    “What did he look like?” Brian asked and Kaleb leaned back and listened with interest.
    “About my height but a little bigger in the shoulder," Jax told him. "Light hair, good features and blue eyes that seem to look right through you. He’d be about your age too and damn good with a sword. Not as good as me, but in another life, he would make an excellent sparring partner.”
    “Do you know this fellow?” Kaleb asked Brian.
    “It sounds like he might be a friend of mine,” Brian said with a frown, though his eyes were shining with excitement. “And he was very good with a sword. Tarnath had him training with it since he was a boy.”
    “Tarnath?” Jax asked. Kaleb too looked surprised. “The armsmaster?” Brian shrugged.
    “He was Aaron’s uncle. He said he was a soldier at Maramyr a long time ago. I didn't really pay much attention to things like that before, but he’s the one who taught me how to use the axes and to shoot a bow properly.”
    Jax nodded slowly and took another drink of the strong liquor. Tarnath