The Huntsman's Amulet Read Online Free PDF

but you’ll know that the stories are true once and for all. All the risk is mine.’
    Soren could see the captain was interested, but kept his excitement to himself.
    Joris sighed deeply and stroked the greying stubble on his chin. ‘Your point’s well made. But I just don’t know. We sail on the morning tide, come back then. I’ll have made up my mind by morning, one way or the other. Be ready to depart if I decide to take you.’

     
    Soren headed back to the inn to pack his things. He knew Joris was on the hook, even if the captain had not quite admitted it to himself. There were so many stories about the Isles that it was difficult to dismiss them completely, but Soren didn’t care. The potential reward was too great for him to be held back by rumours and old wives’ tales. If the information he needed to master the Gift was there, any risk was worth taking. It was the key to killing Amero.

     

Chapter 5
    The Voyage

     
     
    T here was little that needed doing to prepare Soren for departure from Auracia. He’d arrived there with nothing more than his sword and dagger, a purse of coins and the clothes on his back. In the time since, he’d added little to this; no more than the additional clothing he needed so as not to appear completely down and out.
    He arrived at the docks shortly after dawn. The tide was not due to turn for another couple of hours, but he didn’t want Joris to have an excuse not to take him.
    He was pleased to see there was more activity on the ship than there had been the previous day. It was not quite the hive of activity that the larger merchantmen were, but she showed signs of being ready to go to sea. The deck looked ordered and neat and men moved about with a sense of purpose.
    ‘Captain Joris,’ Soren shouted.
    A moment later Joris appeared at the bulwark. ‘I was hoping you wouldn’t show.’
    Soren shrugged.
    ‘You’re insane. You realise that?’
    ‘It’s been said before.’ He knew he had his berth and smiled.
    ‘If I think my crew or ship are in danger at any time, I’ll turn around.’
    ‘All right. I understand,’ Soren said.
    ‘If I think you are a danger to my crew at any time, I’ll throw you overboard.’
    ‘That’s fair,’ Soren said.
    ‘You’d best come aboard and get your kit stowed away then,’ Joris said.
    There was not much enthusiasm in his voice, but he had agreed and that was enough for Soren.

     
    Ferrata felt his anger threaten to flare as he watched the sails drop and the ship accelerate away from the harbour. A few deep breaths were all he needed to quell the rage, but his displeasure would be harder to shift.
    ‘You.’
    The rough looking dockworker Ferrata directed his call at stopped. He did not appear to take kindly to being spoken to so harshly. One look at Ferrata clearly convinced him that his irritation would be better taken out on someone else.
    ‘That ship.’ Ferrata pointed out at the ship Soren had boarded. ‘Where’s it headed?’
    The dockworker looked out to where Ferrata was pointing. ‘ Honest Christophe ? Sails between here and Venter,’ he said, before continuing on his way.
    Ferrata looked back at the ship and swore.

     
    As Captain Joris had promised, there was not much in the way of luxury to be found on board the Honest Christophe . Soren’s berth was a hammock on the lower deck, slung from the wooden beams above. The air had a putrid tang of bilge water and the stench of the rotting remains of whatever loose bits of cargo had ended up in the bilge. The smell, coupled with the rolling of the ship meant that Soren could only spend a couple of moments below before he became nauseated. It wasn’t so bad when he remained up on deck, but there was little or no chance to get any sleep there.
    He had taken a sea voyage several years before and the memory of it still made the bile rise in his throat. This time around he seemed to be coping better, but the sea was far more placid than it was in the north. A gentle