Ghost in the Blood (The Ghosts) Read Online Free PDF

washing like some impoverished drudge? And you shall have to buy some proper horses, and a suitable carriage as well. These mules are a dreadful sight! And…”
    The riders exchanged nods with Halfdan as they passed. Caina heard the messenger say something to the bodyguard, and both burst out laughing as they rode away. 
    “I wonder what they said about me,” said Caina.
    “I can imagine,” said Ark. He barked a short laugh. “Gods! I hope you shall not talk like that the entire time.”
    “Just when necessary,” said Caina. “I told you once that people expect nothing dangerous from a haughty Countess. Well, they expect even less from a merchant’s spoiled daughter. Easier to ferret out their secrets, that way.” 
    “You wear the mask well,” said Ark. “Had I not seen you kill men with my own eyes, I would never believe you capable of it.”  
    “Yes,” said Caina. She sighed. She had killed more people that she cared to remember. It had been her duty, it had been necessary…and still she regretted it. 
    More scars for the mind. 

    ###

    At sundown Halfdan pulled the wagon off the road and built a fire. After spending a chilly night in the woods, Caina appreciated the heat. They ate some bread, cheese, and wine. 
    “This is good wine,” said Ark. 
    “Aye,” said Halfdan, “from the Disali hill country, the ninth year of the previous Emperor’s reign. It comes in handy for impressing people, when the time is right.”
    “I’d settle for some cold water,” said Caina. 
    “You’ve no palate, girl.”
    “Wine makes me brood,” said Caina. “Water.”
    “No palate.”
    Ark took first watch, and they went to bed. Caina did not sleep well. She dreamed of the men she had killed, whether in self-defense or in the course of her duties. Again she felt the weight of the blades in her hands, the hot blood splashing over her fingers. Again she saw her father slumped in his chair, eyes empty, saw her mother screaming with poisonous hatred. 
    “You stupid, useless child!” shrieked her mother as Caina clutched the fireplace poker, sobbing. “I curse the day you were born. How I wish I had killed you in my womb!” 
    Caina often had this nightmare.
    But this time the pale girl in the gray dress stood in the corner, watching with dark eyes.

    ###

    Caina awoke, shuddering. Halfdan lay nearby, wrapped in his blanket, snoring. The fire had died down to coals, and pale moonlight bathed the countryside. Ark stood some distance from the fire, eyes on the road and hand on sword hilt. Caina rose, wrapped herself in a cloak, and walked to his side.
    “Cannot sleep?” he said.
    “No. Anyway, it’s my turn at watch.”
    “Not that it matters. I doubt I could sleep.” He hesitated. “Nightmares?”
    Caina nodded. “The usual ones.” She had told him about some. Others they had survived together. “But different, though. I saw a little girl in a gray dress, watching me.”
    Ark grunted, and Caina thought his eyes strayed towards her stomach, where the thick scars lay. “I’m sorry.”
    Her hand twitched towards the scars. “Is that what you think it was about?”
    He shrugged. “Perhaps. You told me about…what happened to you, how you’ll never have children.”
    She had her mother to thank for that. 
    “Perhaps,” said Caina. “Halfdan always said…”
    “That nightmares are scars of the mind,” recited Ark.
    Despite herself, Caina smiled. “True. But sometimes they mean nothing. I’ve never seen this little girl before. Perhaps I drank too much of Halfdan’s damnable wine.”
    He snorted. “You had half a cup. If that.”
    “Too much. Wine puts me in a foul mood.”
    “If it will cheer you up,” said Ark, “we could double back and burn down the Ragman’s Inn.”
    “Oh, stop that.” 
    They stood in comfortable silence for a moment. 
    “What about you?” said Caina. “You haven’t slept yet. Are you worried about nightmares?”
    “I’ve been thinking,” said Ark,