Chaos Read Online Free

Killian was too young and bratty to realize it. If the sorcerer really wanted to find them …
    He stepped warily out of the alleyway and started heading back to the main parts of the city where they needed to be. Killian reached out to grab his arm a couple of times, but David jerked away, ignoring him.
    When they finally reached the tea shop without incident, he sighed faintly in relief. The smell of tea, pungent, sharp, and comforting, washed over him as he slipped inside. A bell over the door alerted the shopkeeper to visitors, and he came out of a backroom. "Ah, there you are boys. I was starting to wonder; he said yesterday you'd be along much sooner in the day."
    "Apologies, good sir," David said. "The market is crowded and we got a bit turned around."
    The man nodded, smiling, and motioned for them to wait. A few minutes later he reappeared with several boxes and tins arranged neatly into a small crate. "Here you are, then," he said and took the token David gave him with another smile.
    Thanking him, David lifted the crate and led the way out of the teashop and across the street to the spice merchant.
    Two hours later, finally finished with their errands, they hauled their piles of goods and wares back to the inn room they'd rented for the length of their stay at the market. David's stomach finally began to unknot as it seemed that the sorcerer really would leave them in peace. All the stories he'd heard, the things he had seen in his previous trips, he had feared they would become one of those stories.
    Setting everything down in neat piles against one wall, he stood up and double checked it all one last time. Killian grabbed his arm, and David started to jerk away again, but Killian held fast with both hands. "David, I'm sorry. Don't keep being mad."
    "You never watch your mouth, Killian," David said, glaring at him. "You never watch your mouth and one day it's really going to get someone hurt."
    Killian nodded. "I really am sorry. I'll be careful."
    "I doubt it," David said, but he relented with a sigh. "Come on, Reimund and your dad aren't back yet and I have some purse money left. I'll buy you a nip."
    "Really?" Killian's face lit up, and it was impossible to stay angry with him. He surged up and kissed David's cheek, making him flush with embarrassment.
    David gave him a shove. "Quit that." He led the way out of the room, making triple certain it was locked, then followed an eager Killian out of the inn and across the street to a tavern.  He let Killian's chatter wash over him, let himself begin to relax. One more night, and in the morning they would head back home and everything would be—
    "Well, well," said a slithering voice, a rough hand grabbing the back of David's threadbare jacket, yanking him back so he nearly choked. He half-twisted, swallowing the bile in his throat as he stared into the faintly glowing eyes of the sorcerer. "Hello again, wyrms." He grabbed Killian by the throat and dragged him close, eyes glowing brighter. "I believe you're late for your whipping."
    Killian's face paled. Fear ran cold through David's blood, far more chilling than the icy winter wind around them. He fought the bile that rose in his throat again, the tears of panic that threatened. He had seen men whipped before, saw the marks left on their backs and chests from the brutal metal bits at the end of the sorcerers' whips.
    There was no way Killian, young and thin as he was, would ever survive even a minimal beating. David swallowed and said, "It was my fault, Lord Sorcerer, please. I was not paying attention to my surroundings as I should have and jostled him into you. He spoke out of turn to protect me. The beating is mine to take, and I shall. Please."
    He could tell the sorcerer knew he was lying and held his breath—and wept with a mixture of emotions when the sorcerer nodded and shoved Killian roughly away. "You're old enough to journey to Unheilvol, boy."
    "Yes, Lord," David whispered in reply. Once a citizen