Read Online 2 Defiler of Tombs by William King - Free Book Online Page A

spoke the language well which somehow did not surprise Kormak. He had long ago learned that scholarship was to be found in the most surprising places.
    “It is acceptable,” said Aisha. She spoke better than the old woman, clearly, fluently with a precise accent as if the language was her native one. Very few people spoke it that way save the Old Ones themselves and sorcerers and Guardians. Kormak nodded.
    “You don’t say much, do you?” said the old woman looking at Kormak. “I could get more words out of the wolf, I think.”
    Kormak shrugged.
    “I like a man who knows how to hold his tongue,” said Agnetha. “And now you are thinking it’s probably because I can talk for two. My old man used to say the same.”
    “You wished to speak with us,” said Aisha. “What do you have to say?”
    Again there was an imperiousness to her manner, that of a woman who expects to be obeyed and not to have servants waste her time. The Old Tongue made that even more obvious. The old woman laughed.
    “I have greeted your cordially, mistress, because of the signs you have made and the sisterhood we share but remember this is my hall and you are a long way from home. It never hurts to be polite.” It was the manner of a lesser noble greeting a greater one but still aware of the prerogatives of their station. Aisha made a courtly gesture with her left hand and inclined her head submissively.
    “Now you are mocking me,” said the old woman.
    “Not at all. I know the Power when I see it and you have it.”
    Kormak studied them sidelong while pretending to look at the fire. There were strange cross-currents here. His attention did not go unnoticed. The old woman coughed and winked at him and said, “You are not the first strangers to come this way of late, and not the only one who possesses the Power.”
    “I suspected as much,” said Aisha. “It was a stranger from the south, was it not?”
    “Like yourself,” said the old woman.
    Aisha shook her head. “Nothing like me.”
    “That remains to be seen — if you will forgive me for saying.”
    “A wise woman judges people by their deeds not by their words.”
    “Truth,” said the old woman and laughed softly. She leaned forward and used a poker to stir the fire. Flames leapt up. Kormak felt his eyes become a little drier.
    “You don’t look surprised, Sir Kormak,” the old woman said.
    “I saw the body of a Watcher, killed by magic. I have seen sorcery like that before. It’s the sort of magic the Necromancers of Khand use to dispose of their enemies.”
    “You have walked the Lethian Shore?” Aisha asked.
    Kormak nodded.
    “I am surprised a man of your kind left Khand alive. Most join their legions of unliving.”
    “It is a bad place,” Kormak said. “And the people are unwelcoming.”
    Aisha laughed, a sound like the tinkling of silver bells, clear and cold and without much mirth in it. “You have a gift for understatement,” she said.
    The old woman was frowning. “I know little of the men of Khand but what I have heard is not good. The same can be said of all those who traffic with the undying. Why would one of that sort be here?”
    “Why would one of them be here and opening barrows?” Kormak asked. He looked directly at Aisha but she was looking at the old woman, perhaps deliberately.
    “He is looking for something,” the old woman said. She too was looking at Aisha as if the other woman could give her some answers. Aisha said nothing. Kormak was not surprised. No sorcerer would give away secrets to another, not without getting something in exchange. Secrets were the currency of their world.
    “He is looking for something,” the old woman repeated. This time it was not a question.
    “How long ago did he pass?” Aisha asked.
    “A few days. We saw him on the road. Some of my boys went down to take a look, what they saw made them think twice about going closer.”
    Kormak wondered if she meant something stopped them from trying to rob the