Darkfire: A Book of Underrealm Read Online Free Page B

dazzling green eyes. Jordel slipped him a piece of copper. Inside, they found the common room had hardly an empty seat. Rain had driven the town’s inhabitants into the warmth of fire and ale. Though the place was boisterously loud and everyone seemed too interested in drink and conversation to notice four weary travelers, still Loren felt exposed as they stood upon the threshold, searching for a place to sit.
    “There are too many eyes here,” said Jordel quietly. “I had not counted on such a crowd. It will go ill for us if our presence here is remarked.”
    “Yet we stand like fools when food awaits,” said Gem, licking his lips. “I think I smell a stew.”
    “Perhaps staying in the town is ill-advised,” said Jordel. “Mayhap a return to the forest is better.”
    Annis and Gem both groaned. Loren, too, loathed the idea of spending another night upon the muddy ground, and could already imagine the comfort of a straw mattress beneath her.  
    “Jordel, we are soaked through,” she said quickly. “The children might fall ill if we press too hard. We will do ourselves no favors exceeding our limits, and the road grows ever longer. If any here would remark us, they could have done so in the streets.”
    “Very well,” Jordel said. “But we eat in our room, and leave at first light.”
    Gem gave a tiny whoop. They headed toward the back, where the innkeeper’s greedy eyes were already upon them. Jordel gave her coin, and she had a serving girl lead them to a room with a single mattress. Soon they had filled their bellies with meat and broth, and sat in lazy, contented silence.  
    “I’d wager you’re happy we stopped now, Mystic.”  
    “Gem, be quiet!” snapped Loren. “If I hear that word from you even once more, I shall make you regret it.”
    “Indeed, you should use more care,” said Jordel. “I do not trust the thickness of these walls. But I will not deny that I am grateful for a hot meal. We will have few before Feldemar.”
    “Must you always douse my hopes?” said Gem, flopping over on his stomach in a huff.
    Loren found herself preoccupied with her strange homesickness, and said nothing. Annis looked at her with interest, picking gristle from between her teeth.
    “You’re curiously quiet, Loren. Whatever troubles you?”
    “Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. “This place. It brings to mind the village I came from, that is all.”
    “Longings for home are no strange thing for a traveler,” said Jordel.
    “You have heard enough of my past to know I have little reason to miss the Birchwood.” A cold bitterness crept into her words.
    “Reason rarely governs the heart,” said Jordel softly. “I have met boys whose fathers were taken with drink, horrid memories of war, or the blackest of souls. They were beaten every day since they could walk, the father seeking revenge on his flesh and blood for a pain that can never be soothed. Yet when these boys told me of the day their fathers died, they wept hot and bitter tears. Few hold only hatred for home and family, no matter how justified.”
    “I do,” said Loren fiercely. “I would die before returning. I think you speak from your own mind, and know little of ours, Jordel. The three of us have suffered much in our youth at the hands of those who should have protected us.”
    She looked to Gem and Annis for support. Yet Gem did not meet her eyes, staring at his fingernails as he picked them with his tiny knife. Annis pulled her cloak tighter around her, then raised her gaze.
    “I have little wish to return to my mother. Yet not all my memories are ill. She used to take me to the sea that surrounded the High King’s seat, and together we played in the waves. She did not even bring retainers, or any guards I could see. She stopped when I grew older — yet if she had always acted thus, I might not have wished to leave so badly.”
    Loren turned from Annis to stare at the wall. “You had a luckier childhood than I,