Read Online Hush (Dragon Apocalypse) by James Maxey - Free Book Online

assume you stole the harpoon as well.”
    “I most certainly did not steal it. Aurora was the high priestess of the ice-ogres. She died recovering the harpoon, which was the most sacred relic of her people. I’ve made a promise to see that it gets returned to her homeland.”
    “When you said you wanted to book passage to Qikiqtabruk you didn’t mention that you’d be transporting a treasure being hunted by an ancient witch. You’re placing my family in danger by bringing it aboard.”
    “I swear I didn’t know there was a witch looking for the harpoon,” said Infidel. “But, look, does it really matter what kind of cargo I’m bringing aboard? Everyone here is being hunted by the Church of the Book, the Storm Guard, and the slaving Wanderers. What’s one more enemy?”
    “If you’re my passenger, I have an obligation to defend you. I can’t do that if you’re keeping secrets.”
    “I don’t need defending,” said Infidel.
    “Don’t you?” Gale asked. “I’ve been too polite to mention it, but your face is covered with cuts and bruises. When you were last aboard my ship, swords bounced off your skin, and you didn’t bother with armor.”
    Infidel crossed her arms. “You Wanderers make a big deal out of privacy. I’ll ask you to respect mine.”
    “Don’t speak to me of respect. You’re asking me to risk my family. It’s easy to forget this here in the tropics, but the northern kingdoms are in the thick of winter. The coast of Qikiqtabruk is completely ice-locked. There will be no safe harbor.”
    “Aw, Ma, don’t be like that,” said Jetsam, who was no longer standing on the waves but was instead doing a breaststroke in the air above his mother. I’d forgotten that in addition to being able to walk on water, Jetsam could swim in air. “If we make another boring run between the Isle of Apes and Raitingu I’ll go crazy. Let’s go to Qikiqtabruk and fight some witches.”
    Mako stretched his lanky arms overhead to snatch his brother by the belt. He yanked Jetsam back down to the deck and said, “Speak to Mother like that again and I’ll break your jaw.”
    “No jawbreaking, please!” said Infidel, looking embarrassed to be in the middle of a family dispute. “Look, the whole reason I’m hiring the Freewind is that I don’t want to fight anybody. I want to get up north as quickly as humanly possible, hand the harpoon to the first ice-ogre we meet, then get the hell out of there. If I liked cold weather even a little bit, I wouldn’t live on the Isle of Fire.”
    “So what’s your hurry?” asked Gale. “I’d be more open-minded about this mission if you were waiting until summer. The north sea isn’t nearly as treacherous then.”
    Infidel bit her lower lip. She stared at Gale for several long seconds. Finally, she took a deep breath and said, “If you must know, I’m pregnant. I think. I want to get this over with as quickly as possible before my health won’t permit it.”
    Gale chuckled, then dismissed Infidel’s concerns with a wave of her hand. “You’ll not be so fragile as you imagine. I first sailed the Sea of Wine when I was six months pregnant with Levi. You’ll be fine if you wait until summer.”
    “Or,” said Brand, stepping forward, “Or, we can accept the mission now, but for an extra fee.”
    “You’ve already admitted that Sorrow paid a large fee for you to carry her to any destination she wanted. Just because I’m choosing the destination doesn’t mean you can change the price,” said Infidel.
    “We negotiated that price without full disclosure of the value of the cargo,” said Brand. “Due to the need for additional security, our standard fee must be doubled.”
    Gale didn’t look upset that Brand was launching into a negotiation to sail to a place that she’d just said was too dangerous to sail to. Wanderers are notorious hagglers; Gale was no doubt voicing protests as a basis for negotiating a higher fee. Brand was now doing the job he was