Honor Bound Read Online Free PDF Page A

and a tightly spiraled stair. Open doors revealed long
hallways leading to the more modern wings of the adept's
keep.
    In the room overhead, a table
overturned with a crash, followed by the clang of metal.
    "Ha! I have you now!" howled a
resonant baritone. The table crashed again. "Wait, no I don't!
Hold, you blackguard! Hold, I say!"
    Fox pulled the acid-filled globe
from his bag and raced up the stairs. Delgar followed closely,
stomping upon his shadow with every step.
    They burst into the glass-roofed
observatory to see a portly man dressed in sapphire blue dueling a
clockwork soldier. And by dueling, Fox meant dodging one vicious
sword stroke after another.
    Judging from the color of his
clothes and the silver ear dangling from a chain around his neck
like a bizarre pendant, the swordsman could only be the adept
Tymion. His metal opponent wore a disk identical to the one Avidan
had found. It had been stuck to one side of the construct's head,
like a single ear. The assassin, whoever he was, had a peculiar
sense of humor.
    Father Tyme did not attempt to
return the metal warrior's attacks, and he blocked with glancing
parries that forced sword to slide against sword, giving him a
moment to dance aside.
    Fox assessed the situation. He had
one acid globe. Melting the device on the guard's neck would stop
the attack, but a head shot was risky. If he missed, he'd be found
standing over yet another dead adept.
    To complicate matters, Tymion stood
between Fox and the metal assassin. Fox glanced at Delgar and
hauled back the globe for the throw.
    "On three."
    Delgar seized the back of Tymion's
collar and jerked him out of the way. The glass ball flew past and
shattered against the assassin's chest. Metal hissed and bubbled.
The clockwork guard dropped to its knees and fell facedown to the
floor, lifeless as a ship's anchor.
    Tymion struggled to his feet, sword
still in hand. His jaw dropped when he beheld the young
thief.
    "My stars! And I do mean mine, " he said as he
waved one arm in an expansive gesture that encompassed the
observatory and its jumble of lenses and astrolabes. "Welcome,
welcome! I must say, you've an excellent arm, for a dead
man."
    "Um," Fox said. "Thanks. I
suppose."
    The adept slid his sword back into
its scabbard. "To what do I owe this most timely
haunting?"
    Fox reached down into the scrap
metal and pried the disk from the construct's head. He scraped off
some of the adhesive—pine sap, by the smell of it—and handed it to
Tymion.
    The adept sucked air through
clenched teeth. "Rhendish," he said darkly. He glanced at Fox.
"Unless, of course, some enterprising thief stole this from
him?"
    That possibility had never occurred
to Fox. "I doubt it," he said slowly. "Thieves have territory, just
like cats. Anyone who steals from Rhendish knows he'll have me to
deal with."
    "A fearsome prospect, to be sure,"
the astronomer said somberly.
    Fox didn't take insult from the
twinkle in Tymion's eye. Considering that he'd just claimed to be a
bigger threat than Heartstone's adept, he figured he had a bit of
mockery coming his way.
    The humor faded from Tymion's face.
"A shame about Muldonny, though. I rather liked the
man."
    "For what it's worth, so did
I."
    The adept nodded as if he'd expected
to hear this. "You deliver that line well. Just the right amount of
regret, a bit of a growl to lend an ominous edge. Nicely done. Most
impressive. Most ghosts merely groan and wail. Very tiresome,
wailing."
    Fox slid a quick glance at Delgar.
The dwarf shrugged.
    "There might be other attacks," Fox
said. "We saw at least twenty red-haired men by the southern
dock."
    Tymion looked impressed. "That many?
Some herbalist is doing a brisk business in red charil
dye."
    He held up a hand to forestall Fox's
next comment. "My dear ghost, I thank you for your warning and
assure you that I do not take it lightly. I shall have my men round
up the reds, as they say."
    Delgar cleared his throat. "We'll
just be going, then."
    "Hmm? Oh yes, I