An Oath of Brothers by Morgan Rice Read Free Book Online Page A

other.”
    In the fog, a horn from another of the ships in Erec’s fleet echoed, confirming its location.
    Alistair looked out into the fog, and wondered. She knew they had so far to go, that they were on the other side of the world from the Empire, and she wondered how they would ever reach Gwendolyn and her brother in time. She wondered how long the falcons had took with that message, and wondered if they were even still alive. She wondered what had become of her beloved Ring. What an awful way for them all to die, she thought, on a foreign shore, far from their homeland.
    “The Empire is across the world, my lord,” Alistair said to Erec. “It shall be a long journey. Why do you stay up here on the deck? Why not go down below, to the hold, and sleep? You haven’t slept in days,” she said, observing the dark rings beneath his eyes.
    He shook his head.
    “A commander never sleeps,” he said. “And besides, we are almost at our destination.”
    “Our destination?” she asked, puzzled.
    Erec nodded and looked out into the fog.
    She followed his gaze but saw nothing.
    “Boulder Isle,” he said. “Our first stop.”
    “But why?” she asked. “Why stop before we reach the Empire?”
    “We need a bigger fleet,” Strom chimed in, answering for him. “We can’t face the Empire with a few dozen ships.”
    “And you will find this fleet in Boulder Isle?” Alistair asked.
    Erec nodded.
    “We might,” Erec said. “Bouldermen have ships, and men. More than we have. They despise the Empire. And they have served my father in the past.”
    “But why would they help you now?” she asked, puzzled. “Who are these men?”
    “Mercenaries,” Strom chimed in. “Rough men forged by a rough island on rough seas. They fight for the highest bidder.”
    “Pirates,” Alistair said disapprovingly, realizing.
    “Not quite,” Strom replied. “Pirates strive for loot. Bouldermen live for killing.”
    Alistair examined Erec, and could see in his face that it was true.
    “It is noble to fight for a true and just cause with pirates?” she asked. “Mercenaries?”
    “It is noble to win a war,” Erec replied, “and to fight for a just cause such as ours. The means of waging such a war is not always as noble as we might like.”
    “It is not noble to die,” Strom added. “And the judgment on nobility is decided by the victors, not the losers.”
    Alistair frowned and Erec turned to her.
    “Not everyone is as noble as you, my lady,” he said. “Or as I. That is not the way the world works. That is not the way that wars are won.”
    “And can you trust such men?” she finally asked him.
    Erec sighed and turned back to the horizon, hands on his hips, staring out as if wondering the same thing.
    “Our father trusted them,” he finally said. “And his father before him. They never failed them.”
    “And does that mean they shall not fail you now?” she asked.
    Erec studied the horizon, and as he did, suddenly the fog lifted and the sun broke through. The vista changed dramatically, their suddenly gaining visibility, and in the distance, Alistair’s heart leapt as she saw land. There, on the horizon, sat a soaring island made of solid cliffs, rising straight up into the sky. There seemed to be no place to land, no beach, no entrance. Until Alistair looked higher and saw an arch, a door cut into the mountain itself, the ocean splashing right up against it. It was a large and imposing entrance, guarded by an iron portcullis, a wall of solid rock with a door cut into the middle of it. It was unlike anything she’d ever seen.
    Erec stared at the horizon, studying it, the sunlight striking the door as if illuminating the entrance to another world.
    “Trust, my lady,” he answered finally, “is born of need, not of want. And it is a very precarious thing.”
     
     

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
     
    Darius stood in the battlefield, holding a sword made of steel, and looked all around him, taking in the landscape. It had a