Web of Deceit Read Online Free Page A

few years,” Mistake stated smugly. “I don’t need or want anyone looking after me. I am just fine the way I am. Besides, I am on a mission to find the Sage of the Mountain. I doubt he exists in fancy Khadora.”
    “No, I am sure he doesn’t,” admitted Brontos. “I truly doubt he exists anywhere at all, but the decision is yours to make. You are not mine to care for, although if I were younger I might try to salvage you from your path to destruction. Thieves have very short live spans in any culture, Mistake. Think about what you really want to do with your life.”
    Mistake huffed and returned to cooking the thin slabs of meat. “Your food supplies sure don’t offer much,” she complained. “There is only stale bread to go with the meat.”
    “I am at the end of my tour,” sighed Brontos. “I usually eat in the villages I stop at, but this trip there were far too few of them left. What of you Rejji? What is your decision?”
    Rejji looked at both of them for a long moment before answering. “I would like to see Khadora,” he answered, “but not as a slave. Besides, Mistake will need someone to keep her out of trouble. Maybe this Sage can tell me how to avenge my village.”
    Mistake scowled as the merchant stiffened and stared at Rejji. “Do not be a fool boy,” he warned. “The Jiadin are not a tribe to be toyed with. They will cut you up in little pieces and feed you to their dogs. Travel with the girl if you will, but never even think of revenge for your village. There are forces that you have no knowledge of and those forces are stronger than anything you can ever imagine.”
    Silence fell over the encampment as Mistake passed out pieces of meat and small slabs of stale bread. The trio ate in silence with the exception of Brontos who occasionally nodded and smiled as he ate. When the meal was over, Brontos picked up his pipe and relit it.
    “Where did you learn about spices?” he asked. “That clova was very good.”
    “I didn’t,” admitted Mistake. “I just tasted each spice to see what would taste better with the meat.”
    “Well you did very well in any event,” the merchant smiled. “Rejji how many of those teeth do you have for me?”
    “Do you still wish to buy them?” inquired the boy. “I have no need now for the parts I was going to order.”
    “I not only want them,” smiled Brontos, “but I will pay you double for them. I think I have finally made my mind up that this will be my last trip to Fakara. It is a troubled land and getting worse. As nobody else will ever have a supply of the teeth again, I suppose I can name my own price for them back in Khadora. I will pay you in gold. Hopefully that will allow you to eat and not get Mistake killed while she tries to get food.”
    “I have close to four hundred of them,” grinned the village boy. “That is very kind of you Brontos. Thank you.”
    “You are one of the kindest boys I have met in this troubled land,” smiled Brontos. “While others run off to join the bandits, you looked after your entire village generously. Your father would have been proud of you.”
    Sadness dampened Rejji’s smile as he asked, “Did you know my father?”
    “Of course,” nodded Brontos. “I have been going to your village for over thirty years now. You grandfather and I had a very good relationship. Stopping in your village was like meeting with old friends.”
    “What was he like?” Rejji inquired.
    Brontos scratched his head and stared into the fire. “He was a quiet man. Quiet but strong. He wasn’t accepted well when he first arrived. The other villagers considered him an outsider, but your grandfather stood by him always. Over the years, I saw the changes in the villagers towards him. He was always the first to help a neighbor or to entice the village into trying something new. Purchasing different seed types was his idea, something that you continued to do by gathering the teeth. He would have approved of your boat plan