Read Online Exile's Return by Raymond E. Feist - Free Book Online Page A

father, trying to make this a fit place to live in.”
    “Seems they did a good job.”
    She shrugged. “I don’t know. We still have bandits and raiders to worry about. The Bentu slavers will take a free man and head south; they’ll sell him to a rich farmer or a miller, or if he’s a warrior, take him to the City of the Serpent River for the games.”
    “This City of the Serpent River. How far is it?”
    “Weeks by boat. Longer by foot. I don’t really know. Is that where you will go?”
    “Yes,” answered Kaspar. “I need to get home, and to do that I need a ship, and the only ships that travel to my homeland are there.”
    “It’s a long journey.”
    “So I gather,” he said flatly.
    After an hour, Sagrin returned and said, “Here’s what Kelpita will do…” He outlined a trade of some goods, seed at a future date, and some trade with another merchant in the next village. At the end, Jojanna seemed satisfied.
    Kaspar said, “Throw in a room for the night, including supper, and you have a deal.”
    “Done!” said Sagrin, slapping his hands together. “We have roasted duck and some stew for tonight’s meal, and the bread was freshly baked this morning.”
    As he walked to the kitchen, Jojanna whispered to Kaspar, “Don’t expect too much. Sagrin can’t cook.”
    Kaspar said, “Food is food and I’m hungry.”
    Then Jojanna said, “You still have no horse.”
    Kaspar shrugged. “I’ll find a way. Perhaps I’ll find a boat heading downriver.”
    “That would be difficult.”
    “Why?” asked Kaspar as he moved to pour himself another ale while Sagrin worked in the kitchen.
    “I’ll tell you over supper. I had better go find Jorgen.”
    Kaspar nodded, drank the ale. A man could have a worse life than being married to a woman like Jojanna, with a son like Jorgen , he thought to himself. Then he looked around the pitiful inn and thought, But he could have a much better one, too .
     
    Kaspar came awake first. Jojanna and Jorgen slept on two cots that served for beds in the inn and Kaspar lay on a pallet on the floor.
    Something had disturbed his rest. He listened intently. Horses!
    Drawing his sword, he hurried along the hall and down the stairs. He found Sagrin already waiting in the common room, holding an old blade. Kaspar motioned for the stout old soldier to move to one side of the door as Kaspar hurried to the window.
    He counted five riders. They milled around and chattered. One pointed toward the inn and another shook his head and pointed up the road. They wore heavy cloaks, but Kaspar could see enough of their garb to recognize them for what they were: soldiers.
    After a moment, they turned as a group and rode north.
    Kaspar said, “They’re gone.”
    “Who were they?” asked Sagrin.
    “Soldiers. They wore cavalry boots. I could see a single stripe on their tunics, though I couldn’t make out its color—white or perhaps yellow. They bore identical swords, but no bows or shields. They wore turbans with feathers on their heads.”
    “Damn,” said Sagrin. “They must have decided to go to Mastaba, but they’ll be back.”
    “Who are they?”
    “There is a bandit to the south, in the city of Delga—if you can call it a city—who calls himself the Raj of Muboya. Those are his men. He’s claiming all the land between Delga and the banks of the Serpent Lake, and he’s garrisoning the towns and villages. The bastard is also taxing people.”
    Kaspar said, “Is he offering protection?”
    “Of a sort,” answered Sagrin. “He protects us from the other renegades and bandits around here, so he can pluck us like chickens himself.”
    “It costs money to govern,” said Kaspar.
    “I do just fine without a government,” said Sagrin.
    “Find enough people with swords to agree with you, and you might convince him. Those five I saw could probably run this entire town without additional help.”
    “You’re right,” said Sagrin as he sat heavily in a chair. “I’m what