Honor Bound Read Online Free PDF

suppose so. Back to
your watery grave, and so on."
    Fox was beginning to suspect that
the stories of the adept's eccentricities erred on the side of
understatement. "I'm not a ghost."
    "Of course you're not." Tymion
leaned in confidingly. "But you must admit that it makes for a
better story."
    "He could sprout big pink butterfly
wings right now and I wouldn't be a bit surprised," Delgar
muttered.
    Shouts rose from the hall below.
Tymion cast his eyes skyward. "My guards. They might not be quick,
but they're loud."
    He waved one pudgy hand toward an
open window. "There's a ladder beyond that leads down to the
balcony. In case of fire, you know. Very practical, ladders. I
suggest you imagine a sudden blaze engulfing the room and respond
with appropriate haste. And Fox?"
    The young thief paused at the open
window and glanced back inquiringly.
    "Leave Rhendish to me," Tymion said
flatly.
    "I can't do that."
    The adept sighed and shook his head.
"Then, young man, you truly are a ghost."
     

Chapter 4: A New Hunt
     
     
    Tymion watched the two young men
climb through the window and listened to the creak of the ladder as
he waited for his guards to arrive.
    And waited.
    The shouts in the great hall below
had died away. The only sound came from the sea winds whistling
around the old stone keep.
    Something was amiss. Tymion fixed
his silver ear back into place, drew his sword with a flourish, and
struck a heroic pose.
    And waited.
    At last he heard slow, soft steps
climbing the observatory's spiral stair, a tread far too light for
a clockwork guard.
    "Foolish things, clockwork," the
adept muttered. "Unreliable. They rust in the sea air, take on the
occasional murderous rage."
    The unmistakable click of a crossbow
sounded behind him. Tymion stiffened and began to turn toward this
new threat.
    "Two assassination attempts in one
morning seems a bit excessive, don't you thi—"
    Shock clutched his throat with
invisible hands, cutting off his words and breath. Tymion had his
share of whimsical moments, but never could he have imagined this , not in a thousand
years.
    His most unexpected guest pressed a
lever. The crossbow sang a single deadly note.
    Tymion staggered back, clutching at
the bolt in his chest. His legs struck the edge of the giant
astrolabe in the room's center. He fell back onto the enormous
disk, twitching and gasping like a landed fish.
    He'd spent months marking the
position of the stars on this astrolabe's curving grid. Years, so
many years, devoted to charting the night skies. There was still so
much to do, to learn.
    He pushed aside his charts with an
increasingly feeble hand. His apprentices complained loudly enough
about his handwriting when they transcribed his readings. Blood
stains would discomfit them utterly.
    And there seemed to be a great deal
of blood. Well, it would have to do, wouldn't it?
    The adept wiped one hand across his
sodden tunic and with his own blood wrote a name and a warning amid
the stars.
     
    * * *
     
    When his men burst into the
observatory, weapons drawn, nothing awaited them but Tymion's still
form and the ruins of a clockwork guard. The hilt of the
alchemist's own dagger rose from his silent chest.
    They stared at the bloody name on
the astrolabe.
    "Best not to mention this," one of
them said at last. "Father Tyme was a good lord, for all his odd
ways. One last bit of madness shouldn't overshadow all. He doesn't
deserve to be remembered for this."
    A murmur of agreement rippled
through the room. One of the guards leaned down and used the sleeve
of his tunic to wipe away the impossible claim.
     
    * * *
     
    The thieves regrouped at the boat
and pushed it out to sea, leaving the third would-be assassin tied
on the shore for the adept's men to find.
    No wind stirred the cove, so Fox
drew the oars out from under the hold and passed one to
Delgar.
    They rowed in silence. Even Vishni
seemed subdued.
    "The adept's death was none of our
doing," Avidan said.
    Fox huffed. "We were there