Read Online Songreaver by Andrew Hunter - Free Book Online Page A

bookcases that once lined the entry hall. The chipped
onyx skull that once capped the carved pillar at the foot of the
stairs looked up at him with empty eyes from the corner of the
landing.
    "Caleb?" Garrett called out, "Lampwicke?"
    "They took everything," Cenick said.
    "What do we do?" Garrett asked, his voice
sounding very small.
    "We take it back," Cenick said.
    ****
    The two of them camped out in Uncle's dining
room after Cenick saw to their animals' needs in the now-empty
carriage house. They shared a bit of cold rations and said little
before bedding down in the same musty blankets they had carried
with them from the swamp.
    Cenick rose, shortly after dawn and told
Garrett to stay home and bar the door against strangers while he
went out to investigate what headway Max might have made with the
church.
    Garrett locked the door behind Cenick after
he left, and gathered his courage to explore the drafty old house.
Upstairs proved as empty as he had feared. At least the Templars
had left the witchfire sconces on the walls that provided light on
command. Garrett lit them all, feeling slightly better for it as he
wandered the empty rooms, bundled against the cold in two layers of
robe and a torn blanket.
    He felt better still when he discovered a
stack of wood and kindling piled beside the hearth in Uncle's
bedroom. Someone had been using the room to catalogue Uncle's
belongings, judging by the scattered inventory tags he found swept
into the corner. He picked up one of the little scraps of paper and
saw the blurry sigil of an auction house stamped in one corner. His
lips began to tremble and his eyes burned at the thought of someone
selling Uncle's books in the street like some dead man's
belongings.
    A sudden mad determination seized hold of
Garrett, and he stormed back to the dining room to rummage through
his pack. He picked out the cleanest purple robe that he could
find, one of Jitlowe's hand-me-downs, and dressed himself in it. He
pounded as much dirt from his Chadiri boots as he could, restoring
them at least to a semblance of their former crimson glory. He
belted on his Chadiri sword as well, and around his neck he hung
the polished skull talisman that Max had given him after the
victory at Taelish. He slung his satchel over his shoulder, and it
hung, heavy with the weight of a half canister of essence. It was
the last of Cenick's personal supply, and he had insisted that
Garrett carry it upon their arrival at the city, in case things
went badly.
    Garrett stood up to his full height and took
a deep breath. He wished for a moment that he had a mirror, but
then again, he was afraid he could not possibly look as imposing as
he felt. If only he had a staff like Uncle's, but that would
probably make it a little hard to ride a wolf.
    The thought of Ghausse brought a vicious grin
to Garrett's face. Who needed a sorcerer's staff when you had a
full-grown dire wolf?
    ****
    Much of the celebratory mood of the city had
rolled over into a sort of headachy good humor. The people went
about their daily business with a bleary-eyed, yawning detachment.
Few people even took much notice of Garrett as he rode his wolf
through the winding streets of the Lower City. Of those that did
notice, a surprising number of them reacted with cheerful greetings
rather than dismay or alarm.
    "Good mornin', Deathlord," a thick-bodied
teamster with short, gray hair called out as Garrett approached,
"You ghosted any redjacks today?"
    "None today, I'm afraid," Garrett laughed, "I
think we chased all the rest of 'em off though."
    The teamster spat, slowing his team of horses
and the wagon they pulled to a halt. "I wish you'd killed 'em
all... but thank you for what you done. I had family at
Marcushal."
    Garrett nodded. "That's not too far from
Brenhaven, is it?" he asked.
    The teamster narrowed his eyes. "You know the
place?"
    "My dad's bakery was in Brenhaven," Garrett
said.
    The teamster's face split into a broad grin.
He stepped forward and gave