Hero for Hire Read Online Free Page A

punish him and his people with a harpy?”
    “There was nothing, I swear," he said passionately, tears starting in his eyes. "He was a good king, wise and loved. And a good father too.”
    “No man can ever answer for another's soul.”
    His straining eyes stared at the great wound in his father’s throat. “Could the harpy have done this?” he asked, pointing with a trembling finger. “I see marks like claws there.”
    “Most men make a couple of tries before slitting their throats, sire.” I laid a hand on his shoulder and felt the jolt that went through him as I became the first to call him that. “Call your servants to prepare the body for the funeral.”
    While he was gone, I built up the fire to burn the snake’s body, and tore a strip off the curtains to bind up the late king’s throat. I didn’t want his head falling off when the servants lifted him up.
    Then I vomited out the window.
    Downstairs, I found a boy to carry a message to Jori, telling him that the situation had grown more complex and that I doubted I’d be back on the ship tonight. Having been on cases with me before, I knew he would not be too surprised by any of it.
    With a sigh, I went, again, in search of a king.
    * * *
    He sat on the ground near the half-created statue as though his knees had failed him just there. His eyes were red. He knuckled them roughly with a boy’s shame, the tear marks like creek beds down his cheeks.
    I had grabbed a straw-covered jug as I’d passed the kitchen altar. Tugging out the cork with my teeth, I took a sniff. My own eyes watered at the harsh bouquet of the local wine.
    “Drink deep. It’ll help.”
    He swigged it as though he’d been given it in his cradle. The color surged back into his face.
    “Better?”
    He nodded, wiped the lip of the jug with a grimy thumb and handed it back to me. “It’s our best yet.”
    “The Goddess won’t grudge it,” I murmured. He hadn’t realized where I’d gotten from ‘til then and he cast a glance skyward as I drank.
    One sip and I saw I’d wasted my efforts upstairs. To anyone used to the wine of Leros, cobra venom was a mild tonic suitable for peaky children and sickly kittens.
    When I could use my voice again, I asked the question I’d wanted to ask his father. “So...this harpy problem. Your father’s man offered....”
    “Whatever Phandros offered, I’ll double! All our misfortunes fell on us when this thing came upon us. My father would never have committed suicide except for that!”
    I was tempted - a double fee would mean I could just kill the creature instead of transporting it across the sea. Easier all around.
    But I’d already paid for the cage. That, and the Hero’s Code, decided for me.
    “I couldn’t do that. Your representative and I already worked out a price. Speaking of which, where is Phandros? Didn’t he come back ahead of me from Athens?”
    “He’s down at the taverna most days. He’s been drinking a lot since my father threw him out. He’ll be back as soon as he hears the news.”
    No doubt the boy I’d sent to Jori would be at pains to tell everyone he could find about the old king’s death. Bad news travels on the wind as effortlessly as a bird.
    I’d given Temas three swigs to every one of mine. So he was nicely blurry when Phandros came up, long beard blowing in the breeze. The prince hailed him even as the newcomer hesitated. “Phandros! Come to mourn or celebrate?”
    “I cannot guess your meaning,” Phandros said, bowing austerely. He nodded to me, in brief recognition. “I grieve for your loss, King Temas. Your father was a great and noble king and shall be long remembered. But now we must look to the future.”
    I hadn’t cared much for Phandros when we’d worked out our deal. He was thin and pale, with a greenish tinge like a reed dipped in fat. It had been dark in the bar and I’d had a hard time resisting the urge to light his head. He had a high arched nose, ideal for sneering down. I now knew