Easy Betrayals by Richard Baker Read Free Book Online

with the practice of magic, does he?” Belgin answered angrily, pulling his hand from Miltiades’s grasp. “How could I read this gibberish otherwise?”
    “Tyr takes no offense at the working of magic, but he does have a problem with deception,” grated the paladin. “Who are you, pirate? What are you doing here? Explain yourself!”
    Belgin straightened and drew back his shoulders, a scowl settling over his round face. “What do you care?” he said sharply. “I’m exactly what you see—a pirate, a cutthroat, a dandy and a sharp. I take from those too weak or too stupid to defend themselves. I’ve stolen from kings and from beggars. I’ve killed good men and bad. I’ve reneged on my bargains, lied to those who trusted me, turned my back on those in need. Sometimes I’ve dared a deed worthy of a song, and more often I’ve murdered a song before it was born. That’s who I am, paladin. If you don’t like it, keep your judgments to yourself.”
    “You have led an unjust life,” said Miltiades.
    “Well, life’s been unjust to me.”
    “You feel remorse,” the paladin said.
    “What does it matter if I do? It’s a vanity of mine.”
    “No, it’s not vanity. I know evil when I see it, Belgin. That’s the weight and the gift of paladinhood. And whatever you think, evil isn’t in your heart.”
    You’ve got to be kidding me. Belgin almost laughed, but his damaged lungs could only manage a shallow wheeze. “It’s a bit late to save me, paladin, although I’m sure my mother’d thank you for trying.”
    Miltiades laughed quietly. “Fine. So how much do you know of magic?”
    “Only a smattering. I’ve knowledge of about a dozen spells, none suitable for battling a creature such as Eidola. Most of my magic is in illusion and charms.”
    “How did a pirate come to learn the wizard’s art?”
    Belgin straightened, a grimace of pain flitting across his face. “You’d be surprised at how far a little illusion magic goes at the card table, or at what a swindler can do with a simple charm.” How’s that for irony? he thought. I can’t even take a shill without cheating somehow. He laughed again, his strength returning. “Besides, I wasn’t always a pirate. I learned what I know years before I came aboard the Kissing Shark.” Suddenly the pirate straightened, looking back toward the passage they’d descended. Something dragged softly on the stone steps above.
    The paladin opened his mouth, but Belgin silenced him with an upraised hand. The air grew cold, and the bitter chill threatened to start him coughing again. “We’re not alone,” he whispered.
    “I feel it, Belgin.” Biting his lip, the paladin stepped away from the door. He glanced around, then nodded across the dark hall. “I still sense Eidola in that direction. Come on.” Leaving the stair behind, they crossed the hall of pillars, only to find another stair leading up.
    Bounding up the steps, they emerged into the shrieking chaos of the sandstorm. They stood in the ruins of a small shrine or stone patio, its roof long since gone. Belgin could feel something climbing steadily up the dark steps behind them, deliberate and unhurried. “Where’s the doppelganger?” he shouted at Miltiades.
    I’m not sure. She’s moving again!”
    “Well, pick a direction! I don’t want to find out what’s behind us!”
    Miltiades glanced over his shoulder at the dark stairway, then scanned the rubble around them. His eye fell on a drum-shaped piece of masonry, evidently once a piece of a pillar. He stumbled over to the stone and triecT to lift it. “Help me!” he cried. Belgin scrambled over and joined him. Together they flipped the stone onto its edge and hauled it to the top of the steps.
    Green-glowing eyes looked up at them as something clad in ancient bronze climbed toward them, a long glaive of emerald fire burning in its yellowed hands. More eyes glinted in the darkness beneath it. The paladin and the sharper exchanged one look, then set