The Pirates of Pacta Servanda (Pillars of Reality Book 4) Read Online Free PDF

spot where they try to board.”
    “Throwing lead?” Mage Dav asked.
    “That means firing our rifles,” Mari explained. “You Mages will have to do whatever you can to either scare off the galley or stop anyone trying to board us.”
    “We will cast what spells are possible,” Alain cautioned. “And if any Syndaris should reach the deck of this ship we will deal with them.” He partly drew the long knife which all Mages carried under their robes, and Mage Dav and Asha did the same.
    Mari’s eyes met his. “At times like this I wish you could use my pistol.”
    “It is hard. I could strike someone with it if they came close enough,” Alain said.
    “And yet you can’t use a hammer,” Mari muttered, glaring into the fog again.
    They stood at the rail, saying little and even then speaking in low voices. Except for the quiet creaking of wood as the
Gray Lady
rode the barely apparent ocean swell, the sailing ship made no sound, a fact for which Alain was grateful. It left the galleys no clue to follow to their location. He frowned very slightly as a thought occurred to him. “Mage Asha and Mage Dav. The galleys seek us here in the fog. They know of our presence in this small part of the sea despite not being able to see us.”
    Mage Dav nodded without expression. “They must have a Mage with them, one who can sense the presence of you, me, or Asha. Only the dense fog has kept them from finding us before now. I cannot sense this Mage, though.”
    Asha gazed into the fog, her expression a curious mixture of blankness and intensity. She was, very slowly, following Alain’s lead in beginning to show traces of her feelings again. “I sense…” Asha pointed off the stern of the
Gray Lady
, her arm and hand slowly moving forward. “There. It is very hard. He hides himself well. But I know him.” She looked at Alain. “Niaro, the Mage who was almost your downfall in Palandur.”
    “Great,” Mari muttered. “Can this Niaro cast fire like Alain?”
    “No. His Mage gifts are modest.” Asha nodded to Alain. “His envy, I think, feeds his ability to find Alain despite Mage Alain’s skill.”
    Alain saw Mari’s jaw tighten and her hands flex upon the weapon she held. Mari did not like shooting at others, often displaying great distress after having to do so, but she would when necessary. Now she looked ready to deal with Niaro. “We need to discourage him,” she said. “If I get him in my sights, he’s going to have something to worry about besides his own inadequacies as a Mage.”
    “I believe he was also attracted to me,” Asha explained, almost apologetically. “In physical ways, and blamed my rejection on Mage Alain.”
    Alli smothered a laugh. “He’s a man? He saw you? Yeah, he was probably hot for you. What do you think, Dav?”
    Mechanic Dav looked uncomfortable, but wisely refrained from replying.
    Asha shrugged lightly at Alli’s statement, then tapped her robes where the long Mage knife was concealed beneath them. “I am experienced at discouraging those Mages whose attention was not welcome. Niaro did not take that well.”
    Bev, who had been more distant than the others around Asha, now turned an approving smile on her.
    Mari glanced up at the sails, staring at the fog drifting among them. “I thought I felt a breeze.”
    A sailor came running along the deck, bare feet making little noise, his gaze turned upward where the fog had begun swirling. The masts, spars and booms creaked as the gentle, erratic breeze pushed at the still-limp sails, the sound seeming huge amid the silence on the ship.
    Alain concentrated on preparing himself for action as the fog began opening up slightly in small patches. For a moment he could clearly see the quarterdeck of the
Gray Lady
not far from him, then it vanished in the white mist again. “I should go to the quarterdeck as we discussed.”
    “Let’s change that plan. I’d rather you stay here, if you don’t mind,” Mari said.
    Grateful that she had