Messenger's Legacy by Peter V. Brett

Author:Peter V. Brett [Brett, Peter V.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: epic fantasy, Peter V. Brett, Demon Cycle

Chapter 5:

A Last Run

333 AR Autumn

Ragen rapped on the side of his carriage and Robbert, the guard riding outside, leaned down in his saddle. “What’s the holdup?”

Robbert sat high, looking out over the traffic clogging the streets of Miln. He shrugged. “Messenger day. Must be some news from the south causing a fuss.”

Ragen hated the carriage. Time was, he would be the one out in the saddle, escorting carriages.

Now I’m the cargo, he mused, looking to the growing belly under his robes. He was fit for fifty-two, but it was nothing like he had once been.

He had prospered beyond his wildest dreams in partnership with Cob, and when the cancer took his friend and mentor, he had taken over the Warder’s Guild in a landslide. Worried once about his future on retirement, now he was one of the richest and most powerful Merchants in the city.

At last they made it back to Cob’s shop.

Cob’s shop. It was legally his now, and Elissa had run it for years, but it was still Cob’s shop in his mind, and he had never changed the sign out front stating as much.

Elissa looked up at the ringing of the door’s bell, her face brightening into a smile that washed away his melancholy. A Mother now, she could have done anything with her life after she graduated the Mother’s School and had her peerage restored.

After years of ignoring them in favor of her sisters, Elissa’s widowed mother, Countess Tresha, had begun paying calls again. She wanted Elissa to follow her into politics, and had been stunned when Elissa refused in favor of running the warding business with Ragen.

Seeing the shop empty, Ragen flipped the sign on the door to ‘closed’ and went to his wife. He was about to step behind the counter and take her into his arms when there was a pounding at the door. He turned just as the door burst open and Derek Gold appeared, looking haggard and out of breath. He still had his armor on, Messenger satchel dusty from the road.

“Derek!” Elissa cried. “We thought you weren’t due back until tomorrow.”

“Cracked the reins to get here early,” Derek said. “News’ll be all over the city tomorrow. Wanted you to hear it from me first.”

Ragen caught the tension in his voice. “What news?”

“Might want to sit down first,” Derek warned. “And if you’ve been saving any Sweetwell poteen, now might be a good time to crack the seal.”

Elissa came out from behind the counter. “Stop stalling, Derek. What’s happened?”

“I’ve news of Arlen,” Derek said.

Word had reached Fort Miln that Arlen Bales was the Warded Man, but Derek knew him from before. The two had met years ago, back when Derek had been a station watchman for Count Brayan’s gold mine, and Arlen an apprentice Messenger. Arlen had returned with Derek in tow, and the man had worked in the warding shop for years before joining the Messenger’s Guild. Now Derek worked weekly mail between Fort Miln and Riverbridge.

“What news?” Ragen demanded.

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