DEBTS (Vinlanders' Saga Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

everything.”
    “Hush. You’ve cost me nothing. All that’s important to me is here in my arms.”
    Benoia’s arms tightened around Annikke as she wept anew.
    All Annikke could do was rub slow circles on her daughter’s back until the girl fell into an exhausted slumber, her head pillowed on Annikke’s shoulder.
    *
     
    Near dawn it rained again. This rainfall was gentle, as if the earlier storm had exhausted the clouds. They pulled the oilcloth over their heads and it kept them mostly dry. Annikke was glad she’d used pine wax to waterproof the canvas, its clean odor was much more pleasant in close quarters than the alternatives, and the smell blended with that of the trees.
    The drizzle had tapered off when Annikke heard voices coming from the direction of her cottage. Men’s voices, too far away for her to make out their words, but the tone was disgruntled. A kernel of satisfaction flowered in her breast. The men had probably thought to catch them easily, taking them by surprise in their beds.
    Should she and Benoia try to slip away, to put more distance between them and their pursuers? Or should they stay still like rabbits, hoping to avoid unwanted attention?
    A man shouted to another, nearer this time. “… forest?”
    Beside her, Benoia startled awake and she put one finger against the girl’s lips. Her foster-daughter nodded with the barest movement of her head.
    Annikke wished she’d pulled some deadfall around them, or done something else to hide themselves better, but it had been nearly dark when they stopped. It was too late, now. All they could do was stay still.
    Moisture dripped from leaves, pattering softly around them. Dim light filtered in under the edges of the oilcloth. Annikke’s heart thudded and she held her breath, straining her ears, but the moist ground muffled the men’s footsteps. Annikke couldn’t tell if they were coming closer or moving away until a man stopped not twenty feet away.

Chapter Five
     
    Annikke stopped breathing, fearing the slightest movement would draw attention.
    Too close, a man said, “This is a waste of time. Everyone knows she was afraid of the forest. She’d never come in here.”
    “We’ve looked enough to satisfy Tholvar’s orders. Let’s go,” another man agreed from a little further away.
    Footsteps that quickly grew too distant for Annikke to hear suggested they had left, but she and Benoia remained still for many minutes before carefully peeking out to look around. A thick mist hung in the air, turning trees into forbidding shadows. The man was right. She would never before have come into the woods, especially not on a day when Elven magic could hide behind every tree. Today, however, she gave thanks for the cloaking mist that had hidden her and Benoia.
    Annikke paused, listening. She heard nothing other than birds chirping sleepily, and a squirrel scrabbling up the nearest pine.
    Annikke breathed a sigh of relief. If the small creatures were out and about, the men must truly be gone. It wouldn’t do to linger, though. They gathered their few possessions and departed, not pausing to break their fast.
    *
     
    Aren walked through the tunnels below Quartzholm with the Jarl’s young nephew, Ari, by his side. Aren would have completed his assignment to locate Lord Dahleven’s six year old grandniece, Kaleth, more quickly if he were on his own, but the boy was a treasure of information, so Aren welcomed his company. At eleven summers, Ari’s Talent had not yet Emerged, but he was known to little Kaleth as Aren was not, and the boy’s presence would set the little girl at ease when they found her.
    Aren held his torch high as they came to a branching of tunnels and examined the dusty floor. Many feet had traveled these passages created hundreds of years ago by the Great Talents to facilitate trade and warfare. He could make out the occasional small print overlaying the others, but mostly he relied on his Talent which told him that Kaleth had gone