Jonathan Moeller - The Ghosts 07 - Ghost in the Ashes Read Online Free PDF

what happened, and perhaps he’ll know more…and he might be able to get Muravin and Mahdriva to talk.”
    “You think they’ll lie to us?” said Ark.
    Corvalis shrugged. “Why would they not? They have no reason to trust us.” 
    “And it is indeed odd,” said Ark, “that this happens the week before a new Lord Ambassador arrives from Istarinmul.”
    “We will find out more tomorrow,” said Caina.
    Ark grunted and crossed to the shutters. “It is tomorrow.” Caina saw that the night sky had begun to brighten. “Halfdan will be here soon. Why don’t you two rest here? I’ll have Tanya bring you some food once she’s finished with Muravin and Mahdriva.”
    “Thank you,” said Caina. “For everything.”
    Ark offered a tight smile. “I don’t like slavers any more than you do.”
    He disappeared through the inner door, leaving Caina alone with Corvalis. She sat on the couch Mahdriva had vacated. The soft cushions felt pleasant against her legs and back, and a wave of weariness went through Caina. It had indeed been a long night.
    She looked at Corvalis and smiled.
    And she hadn’t gotten that much sleep before seeing that first Immortal, either. 
    Corvalis stared at the inner door as he sat, his face grim.
    “What is it?” said Caina. 
    “I wonder if Muravin would have tried to kill me,” he said, “if he knew what I really was.” 
    “What you used to be,” said Caina. “You’re not Kindred any longer.”
    “True,” said Corvalis. He sighed. “A man like Nalazar. That’s what I would have become. If not for Claudia.” He looked at her. “If not for you.” 
    “You’re a better man than you think you are, Corvalis Aberon,” said Caina. “I’ve told you that before. Perhaps someday you shall listen.”
    “Perhaps,” said Corvalis. His frown faded. “Though I wonder how Nalazar found them at the Inn of the Broken Wheel. Malarae has a thousand inns. Muravin could have chosen any one of them. How did Nalazar find them?”
    “With luck,” said Caina, “we’ll discover that tomorrow.”
    He took her hand, and they lapsed into a comfortable silence.
    “There is one thing,” said Corvalis, “I enjoy about this ridiculous charade of Anton Kularus. He has quite a comfortable bed.”
    Caina laughed. “If you’re tired enough, you can sleep anywhere.”
    She proved it by drifting off to sleep.

    ###

    A pounding at the door awoke Caina. 
    She lifted her head from Corvalis’s shoulder, her hand reaching towards her knives out of habit. More sunlight streamed through the opened windows. 
    The inner door opened, and Ark came out, crossbow in hand. He stepped to the front door, opened it a crack, and spoke for a while in High Nighmarian. Then he laughed and stepped aside. A man in the furred-lined robe of master merchant walked into the sitting room, a beret with a silver badge on his head. He had iron-gray hair and a close-cropped beard, and the thick arms of a man accustomed to physical labor.
    “Well,” said the man in the robe, his voice thick with a Caerish accent, “you’ve been busy, haven’t you?”
    “Halfdan,” said Caina. 
    He was one of the high circlemasters of the Ghosts, and she had known him for over ten years, ever since he had rescued her from Maglarion’s lair near Aretia. He was one of the four or five most knowledgeable men in the Empire – and one of the most dangerous. 
    Few others knew as many secrets. 
    “I will never get used,” said Halfdan, “to the sight of you with blond hair.”
    Caina sighed. “Don’t remind me.”
    “It suits you,” said Halfdan. “But we have more pressing concerns. The civic militia is in an uproar, Theodosia tells me. A dozen dead men, found scattered from the merchants’ district to the docks, most of them Istarish. I’ve heard some say that a gang of Istarish slavers ran amok, others that a group of assassins sent to kill the new Lord Ambassador turned on each other.”
    “Fanciful tales,” said