Luck in the Shadows Read Online Free PDF Page A

tale; he might as well have said, “I’m from the back of the moon.” “Do you know much of the south?”
    “A little. The Gold Road goes down from Wolde all the way to the country of Mycena. Most of the caravaneers I’ve met have been Mycenians, though there have been a few Skalans, too. Skala’s near there, isn’t it?”
    “Yes, it’s a huge peninsula between the Inner and Osiat seas, west of Mycena. To the east is Plenimar, which lies on another peninsula to the east of Mycena, along the coast of the Gathwayd Ocean. The Gold Road, as you call it, is the main trade route between the Three Lands and the northern freeholdings.”
    “Which country are you from?”
    “Oh, I travel around.”
    If Alec noticed the evasion, he let it go. “Some of the traders claim that there are dragons in the south, and powerful wizards. I saw a wizard once at a fair.” His face brightened at the memory, easy to read as a tavern bill. “For a price she’d hatch salamanders from hen’s eggs and make fires burn blue and red.”
    “Indeed?” Seregil had performed those tired fakeries a few times himself. Still, he understood all too well the wonder they could evoke.
    “A Skalan trader tried to tell me the streets of his cities were paved with gold,” Alec went on. “I didn’t believe him, though. He was the one who tried to buy me from Father. I was only eight or nine. I could never figure out what he wanted me for.”
    “Really?” Seregil lifted a noncommittal eyebrow.
    Luckily, Alec was more interested in the matter at hand. “I’ve heard that Skala and Plenimar are always at war.”
    Seregil gave a wry smile. “Not always, but often.”
    “Why?”
    “That’s an old question, and a complicated one. This time, I suspect it’ll be to gain control of the Gold Road.”
    “This time?” Alec’s eyes widened. “They’re going to have another war? And way up here?”
    “Looks that way. There are those that believe Plenimar means to drive out the Skalan and Mycenian merchants and extend their own political influence over the northern freeholds.”
    “You mean by conquering them?”
    “Given their past history, I imagine that will be Plenimar’s solution.”
    “But why haven’t I heard any of this before? In Stone Tor, even at the Harvest Fair, nobody was talking of war!”
    “Stone Tor is a long way from the main trading routes,” Seregil reminded him. “The fact is, very few northerners are aware of it at the moment, except those who already have a hand in it. As it stands now, no one will be able to make a move until spring.”
    “But Asengai and that man Morden, are they part of it?”
    “An interesting question.” Seregil pulled his hood forward again. “I think the horses have walked long enough, don’t you? We need to make some distance before dark!”
    The Downs made for smooth riding. Alec knew of a spring they could camp by and set a steady pace until dark.
    He knew the landmarks well, but. could imagine what it must look like to his companion. Seregil was clearly uneasy as they left the mountains behind, and kept looking back over his shoulder as if trying to use the distant peeks to gauge their progress.
    But the mountains were quickly obscured by the lengthening darkness and windblown snow. The sun, never more than a pale hint behind the lowering clouds, was their only guide.
    “We’ll have to make your food last,” Alec remarked when they’d halted for the night. “Most of the summer game has moved south—not that I’d be able to get anything without my bow anyway,” he added bitterly.
    “I’ve got cheese and sausage enough for both of us,” Seregil told him. “Good with a bow, are you?”
    “Good enough.” In truth, Alec felt like he was missing a limb without one. The bow he’d lost at Asengai’s had been the best he’d ever made.
    Dismounting, they scavenged around for firewood but found nothing except low, resinous bushes that burned too quickly, giving off more light than