Lords Of The Dark Fall - Fabian Read Online Free

still wet from the storm, and gave him a reassuring smile. The first man she’d seen with such short hair. Stolen, most likely, along with his clothing and pack.
    A striking face, although she was not so good a judge of men’s beauty, having married a one-eyed desert-pirate with a wooden hand. And for his money, too. Beauty never came into it. This man, she imagined, had only to crook the smallest finger to have women fighting over him.
    “Fabian? When did you last eat?”
    “A thousand years ago.”
    “Feels like that sometimes, doesn’t it? Can you stand? I make a mean pot-luck stew.”
    “Don’t go.”
    His hand convulsed around her ankle. She took it, gently and enfolded it in hers. On his deeply-tanned skin, she noticed two whiter patches, about his wrists, as if he’d worn something habitually. Wrist-guards, most likely. Further up his arms, just above the elbow, were similar white circles. Sticky blood clotted around the hole caused by the crossbow bolt.
    “You must try to stand. No way can I carry you. Or even drag you. Wouldn’t you like to sleep in a real bed?”
    “Sleep here,” he mumbled. His eyes closed, slowly and he lay so still she thought briefly, he’d died on her. Then his chest expanded in a shuddering breath. Fell again. Tig released the breath she’d been holding and sat back, onto her heels.
    “You can’t be seen. If anyone finds you here… Fabian, I need to bed down Cafino. Then I’ll be back for you. You just have a little rest. I’ll return in a short while.”
    He gave no indication of hearing or that he cared whether he was lying all-but naked on a stony path being watched by a strange woman and an ugly horse. Cafino turned to nibble at his blanket, dislodging it and exposing the part of Fabian she’d been studiously trying to ignore. How could he be so casually naked around a woman? He’d shown not one jot of embarrassment or discomfort at any time. History books showed warriors fighting naked, but that was from eras long gone. No one was stupid enough to do that now. And Fabian certainly didn’t look stupid.
    “Come on, Cafino.” Tig rose, stretching out her cramped legs. Two sharp clicks of the tongue had the beast trotting obediently after her. When they passed the hay-meadow, she grasped his bridle and dragged him past the tempting grasses to the stables housed in the barn.
    “Sorry boy. Got too much to worry about tonight. I’ll turn you out tomorrow. Promise.”
    Cafino answered in that strange way he had of talking to her. Tig liked to think the beast understood. Better than talking to herself. Something she also indulged in far too much during the long, lonely nights. Normally, she would have whiled away the time brushing and feeding him. Turning his bedding. Tonight, she had an injured and very naked man asleep on the path with no idea how to get him into the house. A man who would bring a small fortune in the slave markets, if the wrong people got to him first.
    Or a new roof. Four tin buckets littered the stable floor, steadily filling drop by drop with rain-water dripping through broken tiles.
    By sunrise tomorrow, Fabian might have changed hands three times before he landed in the slave market at Morido. Slavery was an abomination, yes, but morals were costly. The desire to live a worthy life warred constantly with the need to survive. A well-negotiated cut would buy her out of here and into one of the townships where she could earn her licence and join the craftsmen guild. Make something of herself.
    Get thee behind me
, she muttered to the devil of temptation sitting on her shoulder. Fleetingly, she wondered if Fabian’s family might pay a reward for his safe return. Everything about him screamed nobleman, or chieftain. Perhaps even prince. She gave a short, dry laugh. She might as well wish Cafino would sprout wings and suddenly learn to fly.
    No. As she contemplated the gently snoring figure lying so peacefully on the path, she had the ominous feeling