Benjamin Ashwood Read Online Free PDF

merchant, but
where were her goods and why would a merchant get involved in hunting down a
demon?  His head was full of ideas, but none of them made sense.
    Belatedly,
Ben realized he was past his capacity for ale when the room started to slowly
spin.
    “Excuse,
me, I’m going to go get some fresh air,” he mumbled.
    Saala
gave him a small smile and Rhys a knowing wink, but the women ignored him.  As Ben
stumbled his way out the front door of the Tavern he saw how late it had
gotten.  Most of the crowd from earlier had left including Serrot and Ben’s
other friends.  He did see Alistair had returned and was in a deep discussion
with some farmers in the far corner of the room.  Making deals to replace slain
livestock or some other way to capitalize on the disruption from the demon Ben
supposed.
    Ben
made his way around to the back of the Tavern to relieve himself and breathed
deep of the crisp mountain air.  He hoped the cold air would sober him because
he still had so many unasked questions for the strangers.
    After
finishing his business, he came back around to the front of the Tavern and
paused next to Blevin’s rain barrel.  Blevin left a ladle to scoop water for
customers who’d had a little too much to drink inside.  Ben took a long drink
and leaned back against the rough-hewn logs of the Tavern.  He ran his hand
along the wall and thought about how this Tavern had been here a long time. 
Long before Alistair Pinewood had finished building the timber mill that Ben’s
father started.  The tavern was built back when all of the buildings in Farview
were built with rough logs.  It wasn’t worth the price to float them down to
Murdoch’s, have them cut into boards and shipped back up the mountain.
    He
was still lost in thought when another man came stumbling out of the Tavern and
headed towards the barrel.  As he got closer, Ben realized it was Alistair and
that he had also partaken a little too freely tonight.
    Alistair
splashed his face with water and had the ladle tipped up before he realized Ben
was there.  He sat the ladle back and coughed wetly to clear his throat.  “Ben,
I didn’t see you.  Exciting night, huh?”
    “Yes
sir, I think it’s about the most exciting night we’ve had in Farview.”
    “You
mean aside from the night my boy got killed?” growled Alistair with a steely
glare.
    Ben
grimaced.  He hadn’t meant any offense.  Alistair was in no mood to hear
anything but his own troubles.  Brandon’s injury must be worse than anyone in
town realized if Alistair was already talking like he was dead.
    “Sorry
sir, that’s not what I meant.  I just meant that I’ve never heard of a man like
the Blademaster being in Farview and the rest of them too.  High born ladies or
whatever they are.”  Ben shrugged uncomfortably.  Telling Alistair about his
excitement seemed like a crime when Brandon was in such bad shape.
    Alistair
snarled, “I don’t care if they’re high born ladies or King Argren’s own
daughters!  I had enough when I had to talk to them earlier.  The girls with
their noses stuck in the air, the men acting like we don’t know what the hell
we’re doing and that bitch woman trying to control everything and everyone
around her!  Who does she think she is?”
    Ben
blinked in surprise.  That was it, control.  Nothing else made sense.
    “Alistair,
she’s a Mage!”
    “What? 
That is crazy.  You’ve had too much to drink and this demon is getting ideas
into your head, boy.”
    “Think
about it Alistair.  She went after the demon with no weapons, she’s got a
Blademaster following her orders, she bosses around two Ladies but she’s no
highborn.  What else could she be?”
    Alistair
stood stunned.  A Mage in Farview was unthinkable.  In the stories, the Mages
were the hidden hand behind the thrones of the land.  They were never mentioned
as fighting demons or other mundane heroics.  What reason would she have to be
in Farview?  Ben was certain as