Free The Living Sword by Pemry Janes Page A

“Leave us.”
    “Better do what she says,” Misthell advised.
    Clenching his fists, Eurik started to walk. Then run.
     
    ***
     
    Somehow, Eurik had found his way back to the Charging Anauceros. He'd declined dinner, had foregone the bath he'd been looking forward to not so long ago, and had headed straight for his bed. But sleep came slowly.
    So when he woke up the next morning feeling miserable, it wasn't just the bruises and overstretched muscles that were the cause. He rose up from the hay and made his way down to where he'd secured his belongings.
    'Chizuho mentioned something about people wanting me dead. It could be the same someone that sent the Blood Lord after me. I'm going to be safe from him for the next few days, until he heals, but that doesn't stop Rik's employer from sending someone else. I can't stay here, and I can't lead them to Patheos.'
    But he wasn't going to leave the city right away. First, came breakfast and meeting Rolan. Hopefully, the man could give him some indication as to where he should take his search. And even if that weren't the case, Rolan could pass along Eurik's explanation as to why he couldn't make use of Patheos' hospitality after all.
    Outside the inn, it seemed that Linese had already woken up. 'Or never sleeps,' Eurik thought as he recalled the incessant rattling of cartwheels last night. That was one aspect of the city he would be glad to escape from.
    Entering the inn proper, he found quite a few people already enjoying breakfast. Rolan Ilad was there as well, though his table was empty of food and drink. The wiry Linesan waved him over. “Rough night?” he asked Eurik as the latter sat down in the chair across from him. “I hope you don't mind that I already ordered for the both of us.”
    “Rough day,” he corrected. “People have been trying to kill me all day.”
    Rolan smiled and shook his head. “I know the city can seem overwhelming for newcomers, but it isn't that bad.”
    “I am not jesting. I fought in the Yellow Arena.”
    “You fought the plant-man? That was you? Wait, I thought you grew up among them?”
    “I did, that's why I went there. I wanted to—” Eurik stopped and sighed. In hindsight, he couldn't really say what he was thinking. “I thought it would be like a sparring match, but Chizuho got paid to kill me. And after the sun set, I was approached by a Blood Lord. He wanted Misthell.”
    And a lot of people had died as a result. In one day, he'd seen more people die than he'd ever seen in all the years he had lived on the island.
    “You're serious.”
    Eurik nodded. “I hope you can tell Patheos why I have to leave. I do not wish to repay his kindness by bringing this trouble to his home. I'll be leaving Linese today, though I hope you can give me some indication as to what direction I should go.”
    Rolan frowned in puzzlement for a moment. “Ah, you mean if I have found something regarding your parents.” He fished a piece of paper out of the leather bag that sat beside his chair. “I can't be sure, of course. Not every ship is insured, there's always a few that prefer to take their chances, but we keep track as best we can.”
    Ilad folded the paper open on the table. “However, I think I found something. The time you specified happened to coincide with the tail end of a surge of pirate attacks. There was a pretty big convoy coming up from Volsom that got ambushed. Several ships were lost. They'd been blown off course and wound up a lot closer to San than they needed to be to get to Linese,” Rolan explained.
    “I wrote their names down.” He looked up at Eurik. “You can read, right?” At his nod, Rolan slid the note over to him. “Of course, it's been seventeen years since those ships were lost. Finding people who might remember what passengers they had is going to be hard.”
    Eurik gave Rolan a grateful smile. “That's alright. Even if I can't find such witnesses, this tells me something about where they were going and