Songreaver Read Online Free Page B

scouting with me?"
    Garrett looked up, sniffing and blinking.
"What?"
    "We need to scout those trees ahead," Cenick
said, "Ride with me."
    "Yeah," Garrett said, hoarsely.
    "Are you deserting your troops, Captain
Cenick?" Max called back in an imperious tone. "Gah!" he added, in
his own voice, "When are you ever going to pick a last name? I
can't just call you Captain Cenick forever. It shows too
much familiarity. Bad for morale, you know."
    Cenick scoffed. "I thought I was a general by
now?"
    "Depends on how much I like you on any given
day," Max said, "How do you feel about Corporal ?"
    Cenick laughed.
    "Oh, Max!" Serepheni chided him.
    "Who told you to go scouting anyway?" Max
demanded.
    "Common sense... and boredom," Cenick said,
"and anyway, I gave my troops strict orders."
    "Which were?" Max asked.
    "Walk... straight."
    Serepheni giggled.
    "Fair enough," Max sighed, "Just don't get
into too much fun. Then everyone will want to go scouting ."
    Cenick grinned and nodded at Garrett, and the
two of them rode together toward the distant tree line.
    Once they were well away from the others,
Cenick slowed his pony to a trot beside Garrett's wolf and asked,
"What's bothering you?"
    Garrett glanced at him and then looked down
at the tall grass that swept past their legs as they rode. "I don't
know," he said.
    "You're worrying about the future again,
aren't you?" Cenick asked.
    Garrett tried to laugh. "People worry about
the future all the time, don't they?" he asked.
    Cenick shrugged. "Doesn't do any good if they
do," he said.
    Garrett frowned. "Isn't that what we're doing
now? I mean riding ahead to check things out, it's because you're
worried about what might be up there, right?"
    "I'm not the least bit worried about what
might lay ahead," Cenick said, "but that doesn't mean I don't have
the good sense to be cautious about it."
    Garrett shook his head. "What's the
difference?"
    "Caution is checking to see if there is an
ambush waiting for you behind a stand of trees," Cenick said,
"Worry is making yourself sick over what you imagine someone else
thinks of you. Caution can save your life. Worry drains all the joy
from it."
    Garrett said nothing. He tried to force the
image of Marla and Claude together out of his mind. It kept
bubbling back up like a dead bug in the stew.
    "Feel better?" Cenick asked.
    "No," Garrett said.
    Cenick chuckled. "I guess you'll need a
different approach," he said.
    "What?" Garrett asked.
    Cenick smiled. "Distraction."
    "How do I do that?"
    Cenick looked down, reaching into his
saddlebag and pulling out a Chadirian short sword. He had wrapped
its red leather belt around the attached scabbard. He reached out,
offering the whole bundle to Garrett. "Gear up," he said.
    Garrett hesitated.
    "What's wrong?" Cenick asked.
    "I lost the last knife that you gave me."
    "No," Cenick said, "That blade was taken from
you. Here is another."
    Garrett took the sword and straightened his
back to fasten the belt around his waist, swaying a little on
Ghausse's back. "I have no idea how to use this," he said.
    "You won't learn any younger," Cenick said
with a grin.
    Garrett drew the sword. The steel gleamed a
dull gray to match the clouds above. The fine mist that fell from
the sky settled like dew drops on the blade. The sword felt heavy
and unbalanced in his hand. "This isn't like the knife you gave me
for my birthday," he said.
    Cenick grunted. "Neshite blades, like mine,
are balanced for throwing," he said, indicating the curved daggers
at his belt, "A Chadirian believes that the weapon is an extension
of their own body, and they no more care to be separated from it
than from their own limbs. The river folk know better than to
become too attached to anything that sinks when you drop it in the
water."
    "Do you miss your homeland?" Garrett asked,
cutting the air experimentally with the sword. It made a
satisfactory whistling noise when he swung it. Ghausse whined and
gave him a nervous look over his shoulder.
    Cenick fell