Courage Of The Conquered (Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

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living, Bragga Mor had somehow amassed a fortune. It was also said that he
spent money as quickly as he received it, mostly on horse betting, drinking and
womanizing.
     That the man had many contacts in the
city was well known. He walked in all circles of Esgallien society, and he was
respected, despite his rumored shortcomings. Lanrik remembered that the
Lindrath spoke well of him, and that was good enough for him.
    He glanced at Erlissa. She read his intent
clearly, and gave a nod of agreement. Their next stop must be the Merenloth,
and a conversation with the poet to discover what he knew. But first, they must
get through the rest of the night at the inn and be rid of Brinhain as soon as
possible in the morning.
    It soon grew very quiet. The beating had
subdued whatever faint spirit of levity that had begun to build, and the small
groups of farmhands that had shown up during the afternoon left in quick
succession.
    Lanrik and Erlissa retired to the upstairs
level of the inn as soon as they could. They paused in the hallway outside the
room they had secured from the serving maid and spoke for the first time
without fear of being overheard.
    “Do you think it’s true?” Erlissa asked.
    Lanrik chewed on his lip. “I want it to be true, but we’ll only know when we see Bragga Mor. It could be just
another wild rumor, but maybe we’ve discovered a trail to follow.”
    Erlissa hugged him. “We’ll find out, Lan.
That’s what we came here for. And as we do, we’ll learn more about Ebona.”
    Lanrik gave her a direct look. “It might
be harder than we thought. I don’t like the attitude of the guards. It seems to
me that they think they can get away with anything.”
    Erlissa nodded. “I know what you mean.
Their attitude shows that they have been getting away with everything.
They were always arrogant, but what I saw tonight makes me wonder if there’s
any law at all in the city.”
    “The king has much to answer for,” Lanrik
said. “The guards were always his, and if they’re doing what they
like – it’s because he’s doing what he likes.”
    Erlissa frowned. “Where does their loyalty
lie, though?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean, have they remained faithful to
the king, or do they now serve Ebona?”
    Lanrik had not considered that before. The
king might have become little more than a figurehead. Ebona was the true power,
and she would be ordering things to her will. The Royal Guard would have
realized that sooner than the rest of the city. Were they all like the ones
that he had seen today? Had they thrown their lot in with her and sought to
ride to ever-greater power under her influence? Or were there some that refuted
her? It was something he had to try to find out, because it might make a
difference when Aranloth moved to overthrow the witch.
    Erlissa opened the door to the room, but
Lanrik hesitated.
    “What’s the matter?”
    He grinned at her. “Don’t you know?”
    “Know what?”
    “Bodyguards sleep outside the door of
their employer’s room. That way they can ensure no one gets inside.”
    Erlissa shrugged. “I don’t think anybody
would notice, except me.”
    Lanrik shook his head. “They’ll notice.
We’ve already got off on the wrong foot with Brinhain. We can’t afford to
arouse any suspicion.”
    Erlissa stamped her foot. “How can you
sleep on hard timber?”
    “I’m a Raithlin. I can sleep anywhere.”
    Erlissa pursed her lips and shook her head
as though she could not believe what she was hearing.
    “At least let me get you a pillow.”
    “Just a blanket will be fine,” he said.
“Bodyguards aren’t supposed to use pillows. It encourages too deep a sleep.”
    “How do you know so much about
bodyguards?”
    “I spent a fair amount of time at inns
when I was training. Retired Raithlin often act as instructors, and we moved
around to different parts of the city depending on which instructor we had to
see.”
    Erlissa went inside, obviously