Child of Fate Read Online Free Page A

companionship would do you good.”
    Those cries and others assaulted Alto as he
entered Portland. He spun in the saddle, trying to take in the
different people calling out to him and to others that came in
through the opened gate. He saw food and drink, weapons, shields
and armor, wagons with men looking for laborers or guards, and
other people hawking their wares. He heard a woman call to him,
offering a bath and companionship. Alto was already blushing when
he turned to look at her, and then dragged his gaze away as fast as
he could when he saw the buxom woman was old enough to be his
mother.
    Alto tried to ride through them all, only to
be stopped by a guard wearing a leather jacket and a helm. “Ho
there, son, are you royalty?”
    Alto’s eyes widened. “N-no!”
    “Are you pulling a wagon? Have a permit to be
on important business?”
    Alto glanced around and shook his head.
    “Then get off your horse!” the guard
bellowed. “The stables are over there.”
    Alto spun and saw a large barn tucked against
the city wall, complete with a sign showing a picture of a horse.
He dismounted and apologized to the guard, and then turned and
walked Sebas toward it.
    Several minutes later and with his purse
lighter by three silver pieces, Alto strode away from the throng
near the gate. His saddle bags rested across one shoulder as he
walked through the town. The streets grew crowded again as he left
the market near the gate and funneled into a street. He felt a tug
at his side and glanced down to see a short section of leather
thong bounce once on the ground. A boy barely older than Edwin was
running away from him.
    Alto took off after him. The pouch only held
a few silver and copper pieces he’d acquired over the years but it
was all the money he had. The thief disappeared into the crowd
within a dozen paces. Alto stopped and looked around, his heart
sinking. The grumbling of others passing by forced him to turn back
and keep walking.
    In a few minutes, Alto strode across a sturdy
wooden bridge that spanned a river. He turned and stared at the
buildings nearby, craning to catch a glimpse of something he might
recognize. He was swept along by the crowd, and then had to
scramble out of the way when a coach led by a team of magnificent
horses bore down on him.
    “You look lost.”
    Alto spun about and tripped on the wooden
porch that surrounded the building he was next to. He recovered his
balance and glanced up at the wooden sign. It had been years since
his father had taught him how to read. Most of what he’d learned
he’d forgotten. Lucky for him the foaming mug on the sign left
little doubt to the building’s purpose. Beneath the sign, with a
broom in hand, he saw a brown-haired girl with freckles on her
cheeks studying him.
    “Is it that obvious?” Alto asked.
    She grinned. “We’re not open yet. Were you
hoping to come here?”
    “I don’t think so.” Alto hesitated and looked
around. He turned back to her and jerked his thumb toward the river
he’d just crossed. “Was that the Yelb?”
    “No, that’s the Sadani,” she said. “The
Yelb’s in farther. Just outside the castle proper. There’s some
locks set up between the two near the market.”
    “I just came from the market,” Alto said. “It
was near the gate.”
    “That’s just merchants and whores preying on
travelers coming to town, not a proper market,” she said with a
laugh.
    “Oh, um, okay. What are locks?”
    She giggled. “You really aren’t from around
here. They’re a dug out section with walls that raise and lower to
let boats pass from one river to the other.”
    “I’ll have to look at that; it sounds
amazing,” Alto admitted. He couldn’t understand how such a thing
could work; wouldn’t the water keep the walls open? He ran his hand
through his hair and looked around again. “How do you live in a
place like this? It’s so full and busy!”
    “Farm boy?” She giggled again.
    Alto’s cheeks reddened as he nodded. “I