Heart of Fire Read Online Free Page A

was
good reason for the quiet. “Your horse is gone with the rest of
them. Nothing left but one scraggly donkey.”
    “I beg ya pardon, she ain’t one bit
scraggly!” Haemus dug in his waist pouch for a flint and began
sparking it to locate a lantern.
    As soon as he got one lit, he found
the jenny’s stall and led her out, scratching the animal’s head.
The donkey had a marking around one eye in the shape of a flower.
“Petal, my sweet girl, did ya miss me? Here’s a carrot for ya.” He
pulled the promised treat from a pocket inside his cloak and fed it
to her, stroking her neck. “I don’t see my cart.”
    Ertemis shrugged. “Probably stolen
as well. You’ll have to ride that animal.”
    Haemus grumbled something about the
cost of the cart, but soon found a light blanket and some tack and
fixed Petal up to ride. Hoisting himself onto the donkey’s back, he
followed Ertemis out of the stables.
    By firstlight, they were well beyond
Slodsham. Haemus pattered on non-stop about buying a new cart, the
price of silk in Drust and many other things Ertemis wished he
could shut out.
    He pulled his hood down against the
rising sun. They traveled through the low country forests all
morning, finally breaking at midday for Haemus’s sake. Dragon and
Petal grazed near a small shaded stream, while Ertemis and Haemus
ate bread and hard cheese from their packs. Ertemis finished first.
He contemplated how much longer he would have to abide his noisy
human companion while he refilled his waterskin.
    Another day’s ride and the foothills
of Shaldar’s Wyver Mountains would spread before them. The port
city of Drust lay slightly further east on the Callaoja River.
Maybe someone in Drust would have the information he needed to find
his father. Time was slipping away. Once the Legion declared a
bounty on his head, he’d have to be more cautious than ever. Maybe
he should go to Shaldar City first, see if what the Travelers had
told him was true. Or maybe he should abandon the idea of punishing
his birth father until his bond was paid and he was truly
free.
    Perhaps in Drust he would ditch
Haemus and find passage on a ship. He had heard rumors that the
games in Myssia were about to begin as their new queen sought a
husband among the fittest men. The thought tempted him. Myssia’s
queens were fierce warrior women, not soft, pampered nobility. He
doubted they would be afraid of him, and they’d have coin enough to
buy his freedom. Even so, the thought of himself as king of
anything was laughable.
    Maybe he would seek work through the
black markets. There was always someone willing to pay a hefty fee
for some scurrilous deed. No. Black market dealers were not the
kind of people a wanted man did business with.
    If he could just earn enough to buy
his freedom. Freedom. He couldn’t imagine what it would feel like.
He would find a quiet spot in the mountains somewhere and
disappear, away from the stares and whispers. Concentrate on other
ways of finding the blackguard who’d fathered him. Plan the
weasel’s slow death.
    Haemus snored loudly. Ertemis shook
the man awake. “You can sleep tonight. Time to ride.” Ertemis
mounted Dragon before Haemus’ eyes opened.
    “I’m up!” The merchant started. “Ya
needn’t bruise a person!” He no sooner finished speaking before a
coughing fit bent him over. Red-faced, he gasped, “Hold yerself
still a minute.” Haemus went to the stream and drank his fill.
Finished, he hoisted himself onto Petal. He motioned his hand
forward, still winded from coughing. “This wretched country air
could kill a man.”
    With a nudge, Ertemis moved Dragon
forward. His mind wandered in the possibilities of his future.
Haemus found his voice and began another one-sided
conversation.
    The air cooled as the elevation
rose. The tall pines of the low country gave way to the scrubby
brush of the foothills, and the broad open sky blushed with the
setting sun. The night calmed Ertemis. He reveled in the