Robin Hobb - [The Rain Wild Chronicles 01] - The Dragon Keeper by DragonAshe

Author:DragonAshe
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Published: 2009-08-13T21:27:00+00:00

In the dark of the deckhouse, he groaned softly as he recalled her words. At the time they had seemed like her usual nattering worry for him. Now they seemed like a prophecy. Had he been a fool to let himself depend on Hest so deeply? His hand crept up and touched the small locket he wore around his neck. In the darkness, his finger caressed the single word engraved on its case. Always. Had 'always' come to an end for him?

He shifted in his bunk, but it was uniformly hard. Sleep

would not come to him, only memories and worries. He was being foolish, of course. This was only a minor tiff with Hest. He and Hest had had quarrels before, and lived to laugh about them later. There had been that business in the Chalcedean town, where Hest, in a towering rage, had left Sedric behind at the inn and Sedric had had to dash through the streets to reach the ship before it sailed. He'd only ever struck Sedric once, and to be fair, Hest had been drinking and in a black temper even before they had quarrelled. Hitting someone was unusual behaviour for Hest. He had other ways of expressing his domination and control. Sarcasm and humiliation were more commonly his weapons. Physical force was his last resort, and it meant that his temper had reached a red hot heat.

But his current anger was different. It was cold. In the days after he'd ordered Sedric to accompany Alise on her expedition, Hest had been formal and chilly with Sedric. He'd smiled at him each morning as he handed him a long list of tasks. He treated him in an absolutely correct, master-to-servant fashion. Every evening, he listened to Sedric report how his tasks had gone. He didn't seem to care that he'd given Sedric the responsibility for Alise's journey.

He'd expected him to fulfil his regular chores as well.

Thus Sedric had been the one to arrange passage for Hest and Wollom Courser and Jaff Secudus on a ship bound for the Pirate Isles. At the last minute, with great deliberation and a cruel smile, he'd had Sedric write an invitation to Redding Cope as well. The joyous acceptance had arrived less than an hour after the post was sent. Hest had had Sedric read it aloud to him, and then had pleasantly commented how enjoyable a companion Redding Cope was, so affable and full of enthusiasm for any new adventure.

The next afternoon, they had departed. Cope had waved

a cheerful farewell to Sedric as the ship slowly moved away from the dock. This was Hest's first venture at making trading contacts in the formerly dangerous Pirate Islands. It was also a journey that he and Sedric had been discussing for nearly a year. Hest well knew how Sedric had anticipated such a trip. And he'd not only chosen other companions for it, he'd directed Sedric to book his passage on a ship that offered its passengers every comfort that a civilized man could cherish.

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