Highlords of Phaer (Empire of Masks Book 1) by Brock Deskins

Author:Brock Deskins
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Dingo Dog Publishing
Published: 2016-08-15T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

Nibbenar’s populated sector was much smaller than Velaroth’s, greatly decreasing the number of taverns Jareen had to search, but his unfamiliarity with the city created its own delays. Jareen narrowed his search to the taverns located near the shipyards, those frequented almost entirely by construction workers and devoid of any highborn patronage.

Pausing outside the latest of just over half a score of similar establishments he had thus far visited, Jareen glanced at the emblem carved in the doorframe before entering. It was the fourth meeting house he had located in the past few hours, but none had yielded results.

It was getting late, and the taverns were just starting to empty, the workers exhausted from a hard day’s labor and reaching the limits of their meager income. As usual, all eyes flicked to the stranger when he entered, but they seemed to linger just a little longer than usual and appeared a bit more unwelcoming than the looks Jareen had received on his previous visits. It gave him a good feeling that he was in the right place.

Despite the vast differences between his city and Nibbenar, it appeared as though all taverns shared nearly identical building plans regardless of location. He passed between the long tables and made his way toward a back room. As he expected, a pair of large men stood up near the door and blocked his way.

“Nothing back there for you,” one of the men said, stopping Jareen by pressing a meaty palm against his chest.

Jareen glanced from the big hand to the man’s face. “Spanner,” he said, using a passphrase he had decoded from his wife’s journal.

“That one’s long past.”

Jareen shrugged and smiled. “It has been a very long trip.”

The man looked at the mask hanging from Jareen’s belt with obvious suspicion. Highborn slaves had no business being in this part of the city.

“What do you want?”

“I have urgent business I need to discuss with Rayna. Arlen told me I should meet her here,” Jareen added when the sentry looked about to rebuff him once more.

The man’s eyes flicked to his compatriot before nodding. “All right, but if Rayna doesn’t want to talk to you, my friend and I are going to take you out into the alley and break both your legs.”

“I expect nothing less.”

The man opened the door and ushered Jareen in ahead of him. “Rayna, this fellow says you wanted to talk to him.”

Half a dozen pairs of eyes turned toward Jareen, none of them friendly, least of all Rayna’s.

“I said everything I had to say to you,” Rayna said, her voice matching the hostility in her eyes.

“There was still more I had to say,” Jareen countered.

The door guard glared at Jareen. “Looks like we’re going out back.”

“Hold on a minute, Gregor,” Rayna said. “You can beat him after he answers a few questions. Sit,” she ordered Jareen.

Gregor grabbed an unoccupied chair and slammed it before Jareen with a loud clunk. He clamped a strong hand painfully onto Jareen’s shoulder and forced him to take a seat.

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