The Death of Chaos by L. E. Modesitt Jr. Read Free Book Online Page A

order senses.”
    “Would you like something to drink?” I unfastened the leather apron and hung it on the peg, then wiped off the clamp with a cloth to make sure it was perfectly dry. Glue on the clamp surface would set rough and ruin the wood. Good and clean tools are a woodworker’s livelihood.
    “Of course.”
    We walked past the rail where her roan was tied and into the house. She sat at the table while I got out the redberry. Rissa had taken the cart and the black mare to Kyphrien to market.
    “Do you know where Justen is?” I poured two mugs and set one in front of Tamra, then sat down across the table from her.
    “No. I already told Krystal that. You wanted to see me for that?” Tamra flipped the end of the green scarf back over her shoulder.
    “Partly. I was wondering where he had gone, and how long before he’d be back.”
    She shrugged, then swallowed about half the redberry in her mug.
    “Why would he go off without telling anyone?” I got up and retrieved the pitcher of redberry, refilling Tamra’s mug and setting the pitcher on the table where she could reach it.
    “Lerris, you are still so…obtuse!” snapped Tamra.
    I wasn’t the one who had been dense enough to get enslaved by a white wizard, but I was obtuse? “So where is he?”
    “He didn’t tell me, but just because he’s been around for a while doesn’t mean he’s not a man. You, with all your leering at Krystal, should certainly understand that.”
    “Justen?” Somehow, the thought of my uncle Justen with a woman was disconcerting. “Justen?”
    “You’re impossible! Haven’t you ever looked at Justen, really looked at him? With your order senses?”
    “No. That’s not something that exactly crossed my mind.”
    Tamra sighed. “How you ever bested Antonin—”
    “Lucky for you I did.”
    “Lucky is right. Lucky.” She took a deep breath. “If you look at him with your order senses, if it ever crosses what passes for your mind, you can see an order tie—it looks like it stretches forever.”
    “He’s linked somehow to someone?”
    “That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”
    I frowned. “The secrecy would make sense. He’s probably got enemies…”
    “Of course it would.” Tamra looked toward the pantry. “Do you have anything to eat?”
    “There’s some cheese in the cooler.”
    “I’ll get it.” She rummaged through the cooler—running water from the stream runs around the sides of the thing, a design that dates back to Dorrin, but I’d never seen one in Candar, so I had to have Ginstal, one of the local smiths, make it up specially for me. “You’ve only got the yellow stuff?”
    “We finished the white the other night, and I haven’t broken the wheel in the cellar yet.”
    Despite the complaints, Tamra hacked off two healthy wedges and broke off a large chunk from the bread in the breadbox. I sipped the rest of my redberry while she sat down and ate.
    “You going to eat, Lerris?”
    “I had some cheese before you came.”
    “Late breakfast?”
    “Lunch.”
    She winced. “…barely past mid-morning…” she mumbled with her mouth full. “When did you get up?”
    “Early. I always do when Krystal’s not here. Then I can stop whatever I’m doing when she comes in.”
    “What happens when she’s off somewhere?” Tamra refilled her mug.
    “I get a lot of work done. I’ve gotten a lot of work done lately.”
    “That’s woodwork. What about real work?”
    I frowned.
    “You’ve gotten slow and sloppy.” Tamra flipped a strand of short red hair off her shoulder and looked at my chest.
    “I have not. Not sloppy, anyway.”
    She prodded my stomach. “Not sloppy…but slow, I’d still bet.”
    “You just want an excuse to show your prowess.”
    “Naturally.” She grinned. “You’ve been insufferable in your humbleness. Just the humble woodworker whose consort is the important one. Your humbleness is almost arrogance. Bah!”
    I could use the exercise, and a break from planing