Read Online Through the Flames by Ryne Billings - Free Book Online Page A

after she finished swallowing a bite. “You said that we were headed to Caldreth, but you never explained why.”
     
    “No, I didn’t,” Caleb agreed. Though he did not wish to explain everything to her, he knew that it would be unwise to hide it, especially if she was intent on helping him.
     
    “Well?” she prompted him, impatiently.
     
    “Before my father died, he made two requests of me. The first was to find the Sword of Kirakath, and the second was to bring the men that razed Kirakath to justice,” Caleb explained with sadness clear in his eyes. “He told me that if I wear this sword at my hip in Caldreth, the one that knows how to find the Sword of Kirakath will contact me.”
     
    Though curiosity was clear upon her expression, Katie did not ask about the Sword of Kirakath. Instead, she asked, “How are you supposed to find the ones that razed your village?”
     
    Without saying a word, Caleb slipped the index finger and thumb of his left hand into the underside of the right sleeve of his undershirt. Removing his fingers from the inside of his sleeve, Caleb pulled out a square piece of cloth that bore the emblem of two crows pinned together by an arrow.
     
    Katie took the cloth from his hands without asking and looked it over carefully. Finally, she returned it and said, “I don’t recognize the symbol, but I know someone who can find it out.”
     
    “You do?” Caleb asked in surprise.
     
    She simply nodded before appearing to grow serious. “Before I say anything further, I need to know how you plan to get us inside Caldreth. We are both covered in dirt, and you have quite a bit of blood on your clothes. Factoring that in with your very nice sword is going to cause us problems if we try to get in through the front gates.”
     
    “How else would we get in though?” Caleb asked, clearly believing that that was the only way.
     
    Katie looked at him with surprise, but she merely sighed. “We will be brought before a magistrate within an hour if we try things your way. I have no doubt that we would be hung, which brings up the only possibility that I can see working. We need to come in with clean clothes, and it would help if we were riding horses.”
     
    “What are you talking about?” he asked, unsure of what she was getting at.
     
    “Before I explain, you need to know the truth about me,” Katie said as she looked towards the fire. “I’ve lived on my own on the streets of Caldreth since I was thirteen. The only way I could survive was by becoming a thief and stealing what I needed to survive. Over the years, I met a man a few years older than me. He’s a fence, a merchant that deals in stolen property. He’s also one of my few friends. Because he lives a few miles away from Caldreth, he is our best bet at getting in the city.”
     
    “Then we will have to meet with him,” Caleb said with a single moment of thought on the matter. With a single glance, he could see Katie’s surprise. “My father used to tell me never to judge a man until I understood his actions and circumstances. I’m sure you only did what you needed to do.”
     
    “Again, I say that you are the most interesting man that I’ve ever met,” she said with a soft smile. Shaking her head suddenly, she said, “The man that we’ll be visiting will help us, but he won’t do anything for free.”
     
    Alarm crossed Caleb’s features at that. “How are we going to pay for his services?”
     
    With that, Katie removed a small cloth sack about the size of her fist from behind her at her belt. Holding the sack in front of her, she said, “I picked up what those highwaymen gained before we left their camp. We have about fifty crowns.”
     
    His eyes widened at that news. He had never imagined being near such a large sum of money. If everyone in Kirakath had pitched in, they might have been able to come up with a single crown.
     
    “When did you do that?” he asked. He could not remember seeing her pick