Assassin's Apprentice by J. B. Redmond

Author:J. B. Redmond [Redmond, J. B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Published: 2011-09-14T20:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

DARI

Afternoon sun cast greenish hues over the tiny Dyn Brailing village as Dari stood with Stormbreaker, Windblown, and the tearful, sag-shouldered man who had fetched them from this area’s main byway. They had left the wagons, Zed, and Aron a few yards out of the town’s limits, under guard of what was now a traveling group of more than twenty Stone Brothers, plus their Harvest prizes.

An agitated traveling group who knew they were moving all too slowly.

Dari glanced at the sun’s position in the sky and shared the group’s unrest.

Time was passing.

She could almost feel the crawl of hours across the back of her neck and shoulders. When they were finished with their business here, they would skirt the town and join the byway again as soon as possible.

But would that be soon enough?

Could they possibly be fortunate enough to avoid soldiers and battles all the way to Triune?

“We’re leagues from the Brailing Road now,” Windblown muttered, and Dari took his meaning immediately.

They were alone in this abandoned place, except for the man who had fetched them. Here, there was no great crowd of witnesses, save for whatever type of goodfolk populated this bunch of dirt farms. Though she had to admit, having a small army of Stone Brothers positioned within shouting distance gave her comfort. It would take an army of fools to risk combat with such a large contingent of professional killers.

“Are you sure we should do this, Dun?” Windblown’s whispered question echoed Dari’s thoughts exactly.

“We’ll see to our duty.” Stormbreaker lifted his cowl against the wind. “Those who need Mercy don’t choose the time. The time chooses them—and war or no war, we’ll not leave a child suffering.”

Brisk, cool breezes stirred dust down a handful of hard-packed roads little wider than paths. The sag-shouldered man picked at his tunic for a moment, adjusted the traveling pack on his back, then gestured toward one of the path-roads.

They followed him, mindful of his slowed steps, though he was young and apparently of able body. This journey must have been unspeakably hard on him, fetching Stone to minister to his only son. His pack held several days of dry rations and water, and he had been planning to walk five towns to the north, where the nearest Stone guild-house was located. Fortunately for the man, and for the man’s son who lay dying in one of these shacks, his journey hadn’t taken that long. When he encountered the party of Stone Brothers returning from Harvest, he had been able to stammer out his name, Gund Zeller, and make his formal plea for Stone’s intervention. Other than that, he hadn’t made a sound beyond an occasional sob.

As they walked in the swirling dust, Dari kept her eyes wide and her senses on full alert. Though she had determined she could not launch an organized search for her sister until she reached Triune, there was always the chance Kate could turn up in some unexpected spot—or that someone might have seen her or heard of her.

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