Free The Temple of Yellow Skulls by Don Bassingthwaite Page B

Albanon like the rising sun. He gave Shara a tentative smile and nearly staggered when she smiled back. “Come with us and I’ll tell you why Kri is here. There are some questions we think you might be able to answer.”
    Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “Me?” she asked.
    “You,” said Kri. “But not here—no offense, master smith.”
    Teldorthan waved the apology away. “None taken.” He looked to Shara. “You’re welcome back any time, lass. You work harder than my apprentices when you’re angry.”
    Shara laughed and turned to pass the hammer back to him. “Payment for taking me in.” She twisted her head to look over her shoulder at Albanon as she undid the thongs of the leather apron. “I’m surprised Uldane didn’t come with you to watch the excitement.”
    Albanon blinked. With Kri’s insistence on talking to Shara, he’d scarcely thought about the halfling. “I thought he’d be with you.”
    “He left the Blue Moon before I did last night,” said Shara. “I assumed he’d gone back to the tower and you’d let him in.”She shrugged and pulled off the apron. “I think our argument might have upset him. He might act carefree, but I know him. He doesn’t like to have friends fight. He’ll be around somewhere, I guess.”
    “Ah, about that,” said Teldorthan, juggling Shara’s hammer while he reached into a pocket stitched onto his own apron. “One of the apprentices found this stuck in the door this morning. I didn’t want to give it to you until you’d calmed down.”
    He produced a scrap of paper and handed it to her. Shara glanced at it—and Albanon saw her face turn deep red and her smile twist into a grimace. She crumpled the paper in her fist, then, almost as an afterthought, flicked it at Albanon. He caught the paper and spread it out.
    Shara,
    I know you’re staying here tonight. I’ve met some people and decided to go off with them to do some exploring. When you and Albanon talk again, tell him I dropped by the tower around dawn and borrowed some supplies from the pantry. I didn’t want to wake him up. He forgot to set the wards again.
    By the way, I think you were wrong about Hakken Raid. I like him. Back in a few days!
    Uldane
    Albanon looked up. “I didn’t know anything about this!”
    Shara was breathing heavily through her nose, nostrils flaring with each breath. Her hands twitched into fists. “The little weasel,” she said. “Of all the …” She closed her eyes, took one last deep breath, and tension—most it, at least—went out of her body.
    “He can take care of himself,” she said with an unnatural calm. “If he wants to go off on his own, that’s his choice.”
    “It’s possible you were wrong about Raid after all,” said Albanon cautiously.
    She shot him a sharp glance, then looked back at Teldorthan. “You were right. I didn’t need to see this when I was angry.”
    The dwarf gave a short laugh. “I like you, Shara, but I’m not stupid.” He turned and went back into the smithy, bellowing as he walked. “Back to work, you eavesdropping rascals! Only idle hammers make no noise!”

    Uldane led his pony off the flat-bottomed ferry and on to the dock, then looked back across the river to Fallcrest. It seemed to Raid that he looked almost wistful. He urged his own mount—a great black stallion he’d broken with his own will and sweat—over to the halfling. “Your friends will be fine without you,” he said.
    Uldane blinked and smiled. “That was a lucky guess at what I was thinking.”
    “Hardly a guess. You can lie without giving anything away, but when you’re not paying attention your face is an open book.” Raid leaned across his saddle horn, the thick, scarred leather of his armor creaking with the movement. “I don’t see you missing this sad little outpost of a town, but I think your friends would be another matter.
    “I’ve adventured with Shara for so long that it feels strange to be going anywhere without her,” Uldane