Free Steamsworn (Steamborn Series Book 3) by Eric Asher Page A

fumbled with The Dead Scourge . “I’m worried about my parents too.”
    Charles nodded. “I’m worried about most everyone who’s still back in Ancora with that madman pulling Parliament’s strings.”
    “I feel like we’re not helping anything by being outside Ancora. Like every time I smile or enjoy myself, or try a new food, I’m rubbing it in their faces.”
    “Whose faces?” Charles asked as he stepped closer and crouched down beside the cot.
    “Everyone trapped in Ancora.”
    Charles offered a kind smile and shook his head. “What you’re doing here is more than most people could ever hope, Jacob. The people left in Dauschen are trapped under the heel of an oppressor they can’t fight on their own.”
    “What if it doesn’t work?”
    Charles settled himself onto the floor. “What if we fail?”
    Jacob nodded.
    “Then we will rest easy, knowing we did all we can, and that is a thing anyone could be proud of.” Charles squeezed Jacob’s shoulder and stood up. “Get some sleep, kid. We make for the upper supports tomorrow.”
    Charles walked back into the shadowed hallway. Jacob clicked the lantern off and laid back on the cot in the darkness. They were doing everything they could. That was definitely something he could be proud of.
    *     *     *
    “What reason do you have to be here, outsiders?”
    Alice thought the hostess at the restaurant was being rather rude, and Alice spoke before she really thought about what she was saying. “I’ve been called an outsider more in the past months than in my entire life. If we only ever call each other outsiders, how can we be friends?”
    “ You are not an outsider here, child.”
    Alice frowned slightly. “I’m not a child, either.”
    The woman opened her hands slightly and bowed her head.
    “They’re my friends,” Alice said. “I trust them with my life.”
    Mary stepped up beside Alice. “I grew up here, lady. Why don’t you drop the attitude and show us to our seats? We’ve traveled a long way to get here, and it starts all over again sooner than I’d like.”
    The hostess eyed Smith. “Bollwerk is a distant journey.”
    “I’m from Ancora,” Alice said.
    The woman’s eyebrows rose slightly, the first sign of surprise Alice had seen. “That is a distant journey indeed.”
    Alice couldn’t quite place what was bothering her about the woman’s attitude. They were on their way to a booth in the back before she realized the woman reminded her of one of the Highborns in Ancora.
    Eva slid in beside Mary, and Alice sat down next to Smith.
    “Menus?” Smith said. “Fancy place.”
    “It would certainly explain that bitch of a hostess,” Eva muttered when the woman walked away.
    “Don’t worry about it,” Mary said. “Let’s get some fried bread and maybe a beer.” She ran her fingers through her hair and flipped her menu over. “I need to relax before we head back to Bollwerk.”
    “So soon?” Eva asked.
    Mary nodded. “We have to be there. It’s … it’s not just a debt anymore, Eva. Jacob and Charles and their friends need us. Bollwerk’s been good to me, and I’ll be damned if I let the Butcher march into that city unchallenged.”
    Eva frowned and rubbed the back of her hand. “How long can you stay?”
    “We’ll at least be here through the night. We have to wait for Lady Katherine’s decision. Do you think she’ll help?”
    Eva shook her head slowly. Alice didn’t think she meant it as a no. She was fairly certain Eva meant she had no idea what Lady Katherine would say. Eva shrugged. “She’s turned down many pleas from the wasteland villages for assistance. Their requests are almost always due to some infighting between the tribes. I don’t know.”
    They ordered and waited in relative silence until Smith began drumming his fork on the wooden table.
    “Stop that,” Mary said.
    “What?” Smith asked as his tempo increased.
    “It’s rude and you’re drawing attention to us.”
    Smith