Free Knight Eternal (A Novel of Epic Fantasy) (Harbinger of Doom Volume 3) by Glenn Thater

fast ship, and a
dangerous one,” said Slaayde. “Cutthroats and scalawags crew her,
and her Captain’s reputation is more foul than fair. Harringgold
should’ve told me of this. There’s a different price.”
    “ You will be paid—well
paid, laddie,” said Ob.
    At this, Theta stood and walked toward
Slaayde who took a cautious step back, now just outside the
threshold. Staring the Captain direct in the eye, Theta,
expressionless, closed the door in Slaayde’s face. A few moments
later, Slaayde could be heard walking across the deck, cursing.
    “ Well that’s that,” said
Ob. “Theta, what do you make of the good captain? That fellow in
the temple said he was Slaayde’s first mate and made no secret of
it.”
    “ I haven’t seen enough yet
to take his measure. It may be he knew naught of his mate’s dealing
with the League.”
    “ We should’ve told the
Duke about this,” said Claradon.
    “ We
needed a fast and sturdy ship with an experienced crew to
catch The White Rose ,” said Theta. “Harringgold and Fischer made clear
that The Falcon suited those needs best and with The
Falcon comes Slaayde. If Harringgold
suspected Slaayde might be aligned with the League he wouldn’t have
arranged our passage and we would be burdened with a lesser
ship.”
    “ And what if he is a
Leaguer?” said Ob.
    “ Then he will soon be
dead,” said Theta.
    “ And what if he knows that
we suspect him because of that Fizdar character?” said Tanch. “He
could be laying a trap for us right now or planning to slit our
throats in our sleep. Oh my, this is all too much. Too
much.”
    “ No one knows Slaayde’s
man spoke to us in the temple—and if he’s dead, as likely he is, no
one need ever know, so don’t speak of it again. We’ll tread
carefully around Slaayde.”
    “ Too bad the bad guys
don’t all wear black or red so that we could tell them apart,” said
Dolan.
     
    ***
     
    With the ship ready to
sail, Ob gathered all the men on the main deck, and Claradon, now
clad in his priestly vestments, led them in a traditional prayer.
Less than sixteen hours after meeting with Lord Harringgold in his
chambers in Dor Lomion, The Black
Falcon was off, sailing from its berth in
Lomion Harbor into the heart of the Hudsar River. From the bridge
deck, Claradon watched the grand skyline of Lomion, capital city of
the Kingdom of Lomion recede into the distance. Atop the tall deck,
he gazed on many of the great buildings of Lomion and wondered if
he would ever see them again.
    Claradon admired the stalwart fortress of
Dor Lomion, with its tall, gray, stone walls and high tower, home
of House Harringgold. He wondered at the majestic, multi-spired,
and multi-hued Tower of the Arcane, central seat of wizardom in all
Midgaard and far and away the tallest edifice in the city. He could
just glimpse the Royal Palace of the Tenzivels and its neighbor
Tammanian Hall, bastion of government, home of the High Council and
the Council of Lords. The massive Auditorium, center of spectacles,
entertainment, and the arts stood in the western reaches of Lomion.
The Odinhome, grandest of all the temples, churches, and
cathedrals, and central house of worship of Lord Odin, the
all-father, the king of the gods, was located amidst the High
Quarter not far from the Auditorium. The peaks of these and many
other buildings both common and high all slowly vanished from sight
as the ship exited the harbor and plied its way down the river
proper.
     

 
    VI
    DOR MALVEGIL
    “ They’re really good, just
misunderstood.”
    — Torbin
Malvegil
     
    The Black Falcon glided into a berth in the deep cove that served
as Dor Malvegil’s port. Scores of buildings, stone and shingle,
wood and nail, clustered around the cove, nestled between the
water’s edge and the base of a sheer cliff, a massive flat-topped
crag that rose high above the river and the surrounding woodlands.
Atop the rocky promontory, the grand old fortress of stone, ruled
by House Malvegil