Read Online The Essence Gate War: Book 01 - Adept by Michael Arnquist - Free Book Online Page A

and then he suddenly leaned away from Bellimar and fell back half a step. Shaken, he cast about to his men as if to gauge their reactions, or to reassure himself of their presence. Then he recovered and made a curt gesture. The guards formed around them, and they moved as a group in formation through the room.
    As they approached, Morland pushed the papers from him and raised the goblet to his lips, studying them with dark, dispassionate eyes over its jeweled rim. Amric was seated in the chair nearest Morland but still well out of arm’s reach, Halthak to his immediate left, and Bellimar next. The guards took stolid stances behind their chairs, hands resting on the pommels of their swords.
    A mric took a moment to study the merchant. He was a tall man, lean and hard like a twisted piece of iron swathed in silks. His dusky complexion, aquiline features and sunken cheeks gave him a cadaverous appearance, and his dead eyes seemed to be weighing whether to eat his prey and be done with it or try to wring some utility from it first. Amric felt an immediate and abiding dislike for the man.
    T he silence hung taut in the air as they regarded each other. Finally Morland spoke in a voice like dry leaves. “Do you know why I am here, swordsman?” he rasped.
    “It is your house,” Amric replied.
    Morland’s eyes tightened at the corners. “Here, in Keldrin’s Landing?”
    “For the scenery?” Amric hazarded . He heard Bellimar stir in his seat, but he did not glance aside.
    “You are baiting me, here, at the center of my power?” Morland demanded.
    “My apologies,” Amric said. “It seems I left my manners in an alley, skewered on the point of an assassin’s dagger. Forgive me for saying it, but you and Vorenius look nothing alike.”
    “Ah yes,” Morland said. “Now is as good a time as any to put that distasteful matter behind us. The boy is an utter fool. I can scarcely believe we share a bloodline, however distant it might be. The only use I can find for him is gathering hired swords to me, and even that is largely just to keep him out from under foot.”
    “ If he is so onerous to you,” Bellimar said, “why retaliate on his behalf, when he was prevented from committing a heinous act, and still allowed his life in the end?”
    Morland waved a dismissive hand . “Vorenius’s actions out in the wilds are his own affair, provided he does not invoke my name. Had you slain him, swordsman, I would have been well rid of him and the matter would be closed. As it is, you spared his life, and he returned to Keldrin’s Landing squawking of the assault to all who would listen. To my eternal chagrin, his relation to me is somewhat well known here, and thus propriety had to be observed.”
    “Then it was a matter of etiquette?” Amric asked, bristling.
    “I am pleased you understand . More importantly, I have devised a means by which we can clear the debt between us.”
    “I owe you no debt,” Amric growled.
    “Sadly,” said the merchant, “that is not, strictly speaking, the case. You have caused me a loss of face, however indirect, and I cannot be seen to brook such defiance. It would erode my business dealings.”
    “What do you propose?” Bellimar interjected before Amric could retort.
    “I understand you seek the Sil’ath warriors who came to me weeks ago,” Morland stated, then paused. “Speaking of which, where is your other Sil’ath companion?”
    “Oh, he is about somewhere,” Amric said . “He sends his regrets that he will not be meeting you face to face this evening.”
    The implication was not lost on Morland, who gave a tight-lipped smile. “How unfortunate. May he come to no harm in his wanderings tonight. As I was saying, you seek the Sil’ath warriors who came to me weeks ago. As circumstance would have it, they undertook a task for me but have not returned. You can absolve your debt to me, and theirs as well, by completing this task. This will be of mutual benefit to us both, since