Oath Bound (Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

one came along,
he doubted he’d make any better showing. He sighed, and the next time he
thought anything at all, Vandis was shaking him awake.

The Plain
     
    The yard of the Jackalope
bustled, even before first light, and Vandis, with Kessa at his side, wove
among the shouting carters, running porters, and stoic donkeys toward his
friend Farid. They’d set it up the night before: in exchange for sword arms and
stories, Vandis and his two would travel with Farid’s caravan up to Seal Rock.
Dingus trailed at a distance, and though he hadn’t said more than a few words
that morning, he carried an air of cranky disquiet that annoyed Vandis no end.
    “Vandis!” Farid called,
before he could even open his mouth, and charged across the yard to kiss him on
both cheeks—the standard greeting in Hayed. Vandis had met him there a few
years back; he was in his mid-twenties now, and as garrulous as Dingus was
taciturn. “Come on, Vandis, you haven’t met my Aisha! I got married, I’ve got
kids now, did you know that?”
    Vandis returned his grin.
“And you brought everyone along for the ride.”
    “I wouldn’t dream to
leave them behind. Are these your guys? Of course they are. Kessa, isn’t it?”
Farid beamed and stretched up to kiss her on both cheeks, making her blush.
“And you, I can’t remember, is it Dennis?”
    Vandis’s boy submitted to
the cheek-bussing with bad grace. “It’s Dingus,” he said, and Farid burst into
laughter.
    “Oh no, oh no, I
shouldn’t laugh. That’s not a Hayedi name for sure, friend—I can’t call you
that, no. What about your second name, what’s that?”
    He made a face. “Dingus
suits me fine.”
    “No, you’ve got to tell
me. I can’t give the guys that name for you, they’ll tear you apart. In
Hayedi,” Farid said, slinging an arm around Dingus’s shoulders to pull him
close for a whisper and ignoring the tension that rippled through his body, “it
means road apples. Horseshit.”
    “Parsifal,” Dingus said
hastily.
    “Much better, that’s a
good name. We’ll just forget your other name until we get where we’re going,
okay, Parsifal? Okay?” he added, glancing at Vandis and Kessa. “Try to call him
Parsifal. I don’t want my guys ripping on him. It’s bad business. Let’s go
introduce you around.” Farid took them over to the stables and told them the
guards’ names; Vandis filed away as many as he could, picking out
characteristics to match them to later, and the same with the merchants.
    “I saved the best for
last,” Farid said, and guided them to his wagon to meet his new wife—at least,
she was new to Vandis—and three little ones: two girls about four and two, and
a baby boy. The girls stared up at Dingus and Kessa, round-eyed.
    “You are tall,” said the
four-year-old, and Dingus’s eyes lit.
    “Not always.” He fell
into an easy crouch. “See? I’m—Parsifal. What’s your name?”
    She swished her body back
and forth, giving him a shy smile from beneath long lashes. “Jamila.”
    “That’s awful pretty.
It’s nice to meet you, Jamila.”
    “Parsifal is a pretty name,”
she offered, and Dingus affected a grimace.
    “You think so? Can I tell
you a secret?” Her maiden braids bobbed when she nodded, and Dingus leaned
close, cupping a hand around his mouth. “I think it’s horrible,” he
stage-whispered.
    She squealed a giggle,
tugged his sleeve so he’d bend an ear, and stage-whispered something back.
Vandis couldn’t make out the words, but Dingus laughed.
    “I’m sure he’ll be a
wonderful uncle, when Kessa gives you children,” Aisha said to Vandis, smiling.
    Vandis spluttered something
incoherent, even to his own ears.
    Farid chuckled and said,
“No, my jewel, Vandis is not Kessa’s husband. He’s her teacher, Parsifal’s too.
They’re Knights of the Air, like those others we met, not a family.”
    Not by blood or by
marriage, anyway, Vandis thought, with an eye on Kessa, where she stood
talking to one of the