Troy 02 - Shield of Thunder by David Gemmell Read Free Book Online Page A

stretching and climbing slowly to his feet. “Of course you need to remember something.”
    “What’s that?” Lochos asked.
    Sekundos’ foot slammed into the seated man’s face, knocking him backward, blood spraying from his broken nose. He struggled to rise, but Sekundos leaped on him, hammering his fist twice more into the injured nose. Then Sekundos grabbed him by the throat and hauled him upright. “You need to remember that us old ones are sneaky bastards. Take Odysseus? He’d pin your ears back and swallow you whole. And what he shit out would be worth more than you are.” Sekundos threw the dazed man to the ground, then returned to his seat.
    “You are in a foul mood,” Molon said amiably.
    “No, I am in a good mood. If it was foul, I’d have cut his damned throat.”
    Just then one of the men pointed toward the settlement. “By the gods, isn’t that Kalliades?” he said.
    Sekundos lifted his hand to shield his eyes from the bright sunshine. Then he saw them: Kalliades, Banokles, and the girl, walking down toward them. The girl’s hair had been shorn away. Sekundos swore. “That’s another thirty silver rings off the price,” he said.
    “What is that he’s carrying?” Molon asked, pushing himself to his feet.
    Sekundos chuckled. “Clever lad. Should be interesting to see what happens next.”
    The three newcomers were followed onto the beach by a large number of the pirate crew, all keeping their distance. Sekundos waited. Kalliades walked up to the fire and tossed the severed head of Arelos to the sand.
    “We fought the duel,” Kalliades said.
    “So you are the captain now?” Sekundos asked.
    “I have no wish to be captain, Sekundos. Piracy does not suit me. Horakos nominated you.”
    “A great honor, I am sure, lad.” He stared hard at Kalliades. The man had a cut on his cheek that was dripping blood onto his tunic. “You’ll need some stitches in that.”
    “In a while.”
    “And we get the woman back?”
    “No. I keep her. You get the ships.” He glanced down at Lochos, who was lying on his back, holding a cloth to his bleeding nose. “What happened to him?”
    “He attacked my boot with his nose. You’ve got nerve, Kalliades. I’ll say that for you. What makes you think I won’t order the men to hack you to pieces and take the woman?”
    Kalliades shook his head. “You’d have to challenge me, Sekundos. The Law of the Sea. You want to challenge me?”
    Sekundos laughed. “No, lad. You can keep the woman. With her hair slashed like that she’s hardly worth the cost of feeding her.”
    “Whose ship is that?” Kalliades asked, pointing toward the
Penelope.
    “Odysseus’.”
    “The storyteller. Always wanted to meet him.”
    “He tells a fine yarn,” Sekundos agreed. “But he doesn’t carry passengers for free.”
    “Then it’s as well that I robbed Arelos after killing him,” said Kalliades, tapping the heavy pouch hanging from his belt. “And now it is decision time for you, my friend. Do we wish each other well and walk away, or did you have other plans?”
    Sekundos considered the question. In reality he had no choice. He was too old to challenge Kalliades. Then the thought struck him that he was too old to face any challenge. He swung toward the waiting pirates.
    “Do you lads wish to serve under me, or does any other man here want the command?”
    “We’ll serve you, Sekundos,” the thickset Horakos answered. “What are your orders?”
    “Make ready the ships,” he told them. “The wind is fair, and I smell plunder on the sea!” The pirates sent up a cheer and then moved off toward their ships. Sekundos gestured to Kalliades and led him away from the rest. “I do wish you well, lad,” he said, “but be wary of Odysseus. I happen to like the man, but he is—shall we say?—unpredictable. If he learns you are Mykene outlaws, he might just laugh and welcome you like brothers or turn you over to the first Mykene garrison he finds. He has a