Temple of the Traveler: Book 02 - Dreams of the Fallen by Scott Rhine Read Free Book Online Page A

three darts before the leaders declared it safe enough to huddle.
    “Over thirty of ours made it,” announced Legato.
    “Gods,” whispered a few people.
    “Your wizard did well,” said Strongbow. “Killed as many as I did, and that’s saying something. How many you figure we cost them?”
    Legato shrugged. “No telling. I say we cut them down two for every one we lost. Not bad for an ambush against us.”
    “What’s wrong with your foot?” asked Sajika.
    The prince winced. “I cut the bottom on an Imperial helmet lying in the river; the nose-guard was steel. I’ll be moving a little slow for a while.”
    “Allow me,” said Sajika, taking out some wine and dressing the wound while they rested.
    “Now what?” asked the smith.
    Legato screamed in pain briefly as the alcohol hit his foot to clean out the river mud. “Run north like we planned.”
    “What about the catapults?” asked Pinetto.
    The prince shook his head. “Not today. We can drop caltrops and a few trees across the road on this side to slow them down, but as a war unit, we’re finished. There are just over sixty of us who can still fight, and I’d guess only about a dozen honors. In these conditions, standing orders are that such a unit goes guerrilla and harasses the enemy.”
    Everyone around the circle nodded assent, or at least understanding. The prince continued, “We’ll take a few bits to get our clothes and boots on, but then we don’t stop moving till morning.” Throughout the empire, the coin system was the same as the time system: seventy heartbeats per bit, seventy copper bits per silver hour, and so forth.
    Pinetto desperately wanted sleep, but went along with the experts. He took the opportunity to catch up with his friend the smith. “Well, we’re heading to the mines like you wanted.”
    “I hope that this sort of thing doesn’t happen every time we delay,” said the smith darkly.
    “You really don’t think the gods work like that, do you?” said Pinetto.
    The smith said nothing, but cleaned pieces of skin and hair out of his hilt. The wizard sat beside him in silence, hoping that his nerves would calm down.
    Once she sewed Legato’s foot wound closed, Sajika joined them. Along with the rest of his clothing, she gave Pinetto his bolo and a kiss. “You were a hero tonight,” she told him. “Will it ever be safe to sleep?”
    The smith laughed. “Welcome to the scouts, Ambassador.”

Chapter 6 – Southern Politics
     
     
    The chief steward winced, even as he delivered the news to a pregnant and temperamental Lady Kragen. “Milady, your new flagship waits for you at the docks.” He handed her the papers for the vessel as well as the bill of lading.
    “I’m the head of this family, and I need to be at the center of the action to plan properly,” she replied. Humi was smaller than most Imperials, just beginning to blossom into womanhood, with a hint of her mother’s dusky, exotic skin. Lord Kragen’s last written instruction had been to acknowledge Humi as his wife and the boy she carried as his heir. Wizards, underworld figures, and a large shipping industry now bowed to her formidable will.
    They’d intercepted a message meant for the generals laying siege to Innisport. Because of recent turmoil caused by widespread assassinations, Bablios had abandoned its hold on Tamarind Pass. Without guards on the mouth of the Tamarind River, the Kragen navy could strike along the waterway faster than any land-based force. With the help of the Brotherhood, she intended to storm Silverton, the capital city of Zanzibos. Troops were already being ferried out of this city in secret.
    “Your p-pardon, milady, Innisport will be p-poorly defended. You and your unborn child might be captured. No conquest is worth that,” the steward recited rapidly. As a storm gathered on her face, he invoked the name of calming. “General Morlan was explicit in his instructions, and the Sept has agreed with him. The safest location for