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

still
unconvinced that it was necessary to maintain their ruse so strictly. She
returned after a moment with a thick blanket and handed it to him.
    “That should keep you warm,” she said.
“But it’s going to be a long night.”
    “The sooner it’s over, and tomorrow’s
consultation with Brinhain, the better.”
    They said goodnight, and Erlissa closed
the door. Lanrik listened as she prepared for bed. When the noise stopped, and
he knew she would need nothing else, he sat down, leaned his back against the
door and closed his eyes.
    But he did not sleep. There was truth in
the comment that bodyguards were not supposed to use pillows. The hard floor
made anything but dozing impossible, and that suited him tonight. He did not
like Brinhain, his guards, or for that matter anybody else staying at the inn.
He trusted them even less, and he intended to be prepared for anything.
    The night wore on. He dozed fitfully,
rarely sleeping for more than a few minutes at a time. And yet it was restful
anyway. He did not need much sleep, and a few minutes here and there were
sufficient to see him well enough rested for the next morning.
    As the night drifted by he thought of what
he had learned so far. It was still all rumor, but at least he and Erlissa had
seen things with their own eyes. They would learn more tomorrow, hopefully from
Bragga Mor, but also just by moving through the city.
    No matter how bad the influence of the
Witch-queen, people must still leave their homes for work and food. The markets
would attract people, and that was a place to observe them and see how things
stood. It was also a good place to see what the Royal Guard were doing. Were
they concentrated on places like this, places where outsiders often stopped on
their way to the city? Or were they spread out among Esgallien’s population?
That alone would serve to indicate who Ebona feared most. And knowing that was
a guide to how she might best be opposed.
    The noise had long ceased from the common
room below, and what few patrons that had stayed, as well as the guards, were
now in their beds. As the night wore on, Lanrik felt less inclined to sleep. He
had rested well, and now he simply sat against the door and dozed. His hands,
beneath the warm blanket, rested loosely on the cold timber of Erlissa’s staff.
    The hours slipped by in half wakefulness,
and away in the city he heard the intermittent barking of dogs, and eventually
the crowing of a rooster. The night wore on until dawn was near, that hour when
sleep was often deepest. But Lanrik remained alert, and it was then that his
instincts jerked his eyes open.
    He did not know what had roused him. He
sat there, unmoving but wide-awake, and his heart thrummed in his chest as
though he was running a one-mile race.
    Nothing happened. The light from the moon
filtered through the narrow window at the end of the hallway and filled the
passage with a river of pale light. And then he heard a creak followed by a
faint rasp. At the end of the hall, where the stairs descended into the common
room, shadows thickened. After a few moments they took the shape of three
menacing figures: men who paused on the landing; men who watched, waited and
checked to see if he was awake.
    He was more than awake. His heart thudded
even faster now, and a cold sweat beaded his skin; but he made no move. He
wanted to see what the men would do. Perhaps they would be scared off if he
stood. Or perhaps not. They might attack anyway, trying to rob him and Erlissa,
and then make a quick escape. And if he let them know that he saw them, he
would lose the advantage of surprise. And he needed that, for if there was a fight
it would be three against one.
    The rooster crowed again, long and shrill,
and at that moment the men began to steal toward him. He knew them now, dim
shapes though they were: the three surly men from the common room who had
leered at Erlissa, and he feared they had more on their minds than robbery.
    He gripped the cold wood