Lodestone Book One: The Sea of Storms by Mark Whiteway Read Free Book Online Page B

I
get you a drink?” she offered.
    “You are kind,” the woman
responded. “But as you can see for yourself, Jadar has had quite
enough for one evening.”
    The big man was
still staring straight ahead. “Poltann was a good man,” he repeated more to
himself than anyone else.
    “That was the man who died?”
Keris asked the other woman.
    “Executed,” continued Jadar.
“Strung up and left to die by the Prophet’s soldiers.”
    “Why? What did he do?”
    Keris learned that he was the
owner of the Wayfarer, another inn fronting the next street over.
It was where the girl who was involved with the incident three days
ago had worked. That explained the connection, but not why the man
was now dead.
    She listened to the parts of the
story she already knew, registering shock and concern in the
appropriate places. A strange man impersonating a Keltar had tried
unsuccessfully to set free the tributes and then fled. She listened
closely to the description of the impostor. A few people had caught
a glimpse of him, but it seemed he was unknown in these parts. The
couple seemed sincere, and Keris had no reason to disbelieve them.
That left the girl as her only lead.
    The girl had worked in the
kitchens there. It seemed unlikely that such a person could be a
part of an insurgency movement, but it could be part of a cover,
Keris supposed. In any event, her next move was clear.
    The woman, who she had learned
was named Fallon, had a kind, easy manner. Even Jadar seemed to
have shaken himself out of his black mood and smiled slightly.
Keris found herself drawn to the two of them and would have liked
nothing better than to have whiled away the evening in their
company, but she had work to do.
    She excused herself on the
pretext of retiring for the night and located her room. Once the
door was closed behind her, she located her flying cloak, black
tunic and black trousers. Moments later, Keris the diamond merchant
was no more; in her place stood Keris the Keltar. She opened the
window latch, climbed onto the window sill and glided to the street
below. Moving between pools of shadow, she headed for the
Wayfarer
    ~
    The rear of the Inn was quiet,
with no lights showing. That was unusual. Innkeepers normally kept
late hours, although the owner of this particular establishment was
dead, so perhaps the guests had taken rooms elsewhere. That would
make her task rather easier.
    She approached the kitchen door
silently. A simple catch on the inside. She reached inside the
pouch at her belt and felt for an oval shaped lodestone. It
resisted her pull on it slightly. Taking it out, she placed it
carefully against the door, a little way beneath the catch. Its
repulsive force was enough to push the latch up. In a single fluid
movement, she slipped inside and closed the door behind
her.
    The stairway to
the left would lead to the staff chambers. She ascended and came to
a hallway with three doors set in them. All right, we do this one by
one. The first door was unlocked. She
entered and shut the door behind her. A brief search turned up
nothing of interest. She was about to turn to go when she heard a
scraping sound. A split second later, the door to the room flew
open and two silhouettes burst in, weapons drawn.
    Without taking the time to turn,
she jabbed her elbow backward. She heard a satisfying “Ooomph” as
she made contact with the intruder’s stomach. As the body doubled
up, she jerked her fist upward, feeling her knuckles make contact
with the face as it descended. She spun around in time to see her
attacker stagger backwards and fall to the floor on his rump. The
other was advancing, weapon raised. She crouched down and launched
a spinning kick which took out her opponent’s legs from under
him.
    A light suddenly appeared at the
doorway, illuminating the forms of two soldiers sprawled on the
floor. One was bleeding profusely from the nose. A man’s voice
called out, “What’s going on in there?”
    The dark uniformed man