The Huntsman's Amulet Read Online Free PDF Page A

deck. It did not make for a promising start. The captain walked forward and offered his hand.
    ‘Captain Christophe, I presume?’ Soren said.
    ‘Nah.’ The captain laughed. ‘That name was on her when I bought her. Bad luck to change it. Don’t think the fella I bought her from was Christophe either. I’m Captain Joris. Pleased to meet you.’
    He offered his hand, thick, coarse and covered with smears of tar. Soren took it and shook it firmly.
    ‘Banneret of the Duke’s Cross Soren. Pleased to meet you,’ he said. He looked around him and noted the absence of any crewmembers.
    The captain spotted his curiosity. ‘I let the lads into town for the night. They’ll be back in the morning, like as not. We didn’t have the easiest trip over; that’s why the deck’s in a bit of a state. This tub doesn’t take too many hands to run though, so they know I’ll leave without ‘em if they’re not back in time. So, you want passage to Venter then?’
    ‘Not exactly,’ Soren said. ‘And that’s where the problem may lie. I want to disembark on the way. I want you to drop me off on the Shrouded Isles.’
    The captain barked out a laugh. ‘Did that old prick Gheert put you up to this?’ He continued to chuckle, but when Soren did not react he cut his mirth short.
    ‘Come on now, someone put you up to this. You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?’
    ‘I’m not,’ Soren said.
    ‘You’re mad then.’
    It was going better than Soren had expected; the other captains had told him where to go by that point. ‘I’m not.’
    ‘You do know the Isles are cursed? Anyone who goes there is never seen again. Any ship that strays too close? Never seen again. Even the birds won’t fly over them.’
    ‘Do you actually know anyone who went missing there?’
    ‘Yes.’
    Soren raised an eyebrow.
    Joris frowned. ‘No, but there are too many stories. People I have spoken to know people who went missing.’
    ‘I’m not so sure that I believe anything I don’t know first hand. Do you?’
    ‘I believe the stories well enough to stay away. Well away. Only once have I strayed close enough to even lay eyes on them.’ He leaned forward as he continued. ‘You know why they’re called the Shrouded Isles? There’s a thick grey bank of cloud that sits above them, hanging there like a shroud. A mourning shroud for all the poor souls that met their end there.’
    Soren was determined, and wasn’t going to be put off by Joris’s tales of doom. ‘If you were able to make passage through the straits, it would take days, or even weeks off your journey. Let me off just close enough to row ashore. You don’t need to go any closer. I’m taking all the risk. If I make it back to the ship, then you’ll be the only captain who knows the straits are safe to navigate. If not, you’ve only gone a day or two out of your way.’
    ‘You’re best advised to drop this idea. If you’re really serious about it,’ Joris said.
    ‘You haven’t told me to fuck off yet. All the other captains had well before now,’ Soren said, his hopes rising. ‘Perhaps you don’t believe all the stories quite as strongly as you say.’
    Joris sighed and frowned again. ‘You’re right on one thing. Making passage through the straits would cut weeks off my voyage. Take a look around.’ He gestured about the haphazard state of the ship. ‘Business is hard and the time that shortcut would save me would be a gift from the gods. But nobody goes near those isles; it can’t be without good reason.’
    ‘Take me close enough to row your small boat there to the island. Continue on your way, and stop off for me again when you’re on your way back. If I return safely, you’ll know that there’s no danger, that all the stories are baseless superstition, and that you can use the straits between the Isles. Keep it to yourself and you’ll have a big advantage over every other merchant crossing the Middle Sea. If I don’t make it back, it’s no loss to you,