The Chosen (The Compendium of Raath, Book 1) by Michael Mood Read Free Book Online Page B

began to pierce his vision now.
Vibrant costumes of every hue: bright blue shirts, red dresses and
cloaks, yellow shoes, even. Krothair had never seen yellow shoes. A
fat man wore no shirt at all despite the cold. His skin was
hairless and scarred. Most women were bundled in soft furs. There
were carriages, horses, people, a few dogs – coming, going, coming,
going. Conversations: yelling, arguing, laughter, apologies,
excuses, the occasional scream.
    He was lost in the crowd.
    A guard looked down from
the top of the wall, but Krothair wasn't sure that the man could
actually be of much use. One guard for all
these people? One guard to keep order at the gates of a city like
Haroma?
    Germon had once told him: “A man alone can
be more effective than two. Where two men are reckless, one is
careful.” That didn't seem to fit this situation, though.
    His eyes betrayed him and he knew it. He
looked harder and found a few more guards blending in with the
citizenry. A few more peering out of arrow slits. Then he saw the
heavy metal doors. He wondered how many men it would take to close
them and knew there must be even more guards around somewhere.
    And, just like that, while musing about the
guards, he was inside. Sundown was a busy time, apparently. People
were leaving, their business done for the day. Where theirs was
ending, Krothair's was beginning.
    Finding where Ti'Shed lived wouldn't be so
hard. With the reins grasped tightly in one gloved hand, Krothair
led his horse through the streets.
    “A boy with a sword that
size could have any lady he wanted,” some woman yelled to Krothair.
She stood outside of a dilapidated looking house. Krothair could
see more women through the dimly lit windows. He looked at the
woman who had yelled at him, nodded politely, and kept walking.
There would probably be lots of whores here. No sense in getting
distracted. Does Kelin Lightbearer get
distracted by women? They're probably
always bothering him about his sword, Warbreaker. It is a really great sword.
    Krothair turned left at the Finch Tavern, a
place Germon had labeled on his crudely drawn map. He could smell
the ocean more strongly now, and as much as he longed to look at it
there would plenty of time for that later. He didn't want to stray
from his goal.
    The house he eventually
came upon was smaller than he would have expected. It was in a nice
section of town, lush with plants and gardens that looked like they
had been tended. Yet the small abode he stood before now didn't
look like the dwelling of a sword master. Where will we train? In some adorned courtyard?
    Krothair tied his horse to something he
thought might have been a hitch and knocked on the door. It opened
almost immediately.
    Inside stood an old man, but Krothair didn't
for a second think that it wasn't Ti'Shed Hawkethorn. The boy
wouldn't make an embarrassing mistake and say something stupid
like, “I'm looking for Master Hawkethorn. Have you seen him
about?”
    For starters, everything about the man was
dangerous: the way he stood, the slight scowl he wore, even the
speed with which he had opened the door. And then there was the
grip he had when Krothair shook his hand. The boy felt his eyes
widening in shock at the iron force that was crushing down on his
fingers.
    “You're Krothair Mallurin,” Ti'Shed said.
His voice was smooth as ice and didn't sound as old as he looked.
“Am I saying that right? Mah-loo-rin?”
    Krothair nodded.
    “Slight accent on the 'loo', then? Places
your birthplace farrrrrr west of here. Ah, yes, but you've been
orphaned. So perhaps whoever named you simply has a western
sensibility. Around here it would probably be mal-yoo-rin, with the
'mal' accented. Come in. Didn't expect you so late, but here you
are.”
    “My horse,” Krothair said clumsily. He felt
like an oaf in front of Ti'Shed.
    “We'll take care of her,” Ti'Shed said,
peering out at the beast. “Has a gimp leg.”
    Krothair didn't think she did, but Ti'Shed
had probably