The Curse in the Gift (The Last Whisper of the Gods Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

thickly muscled arms and tree-trunk legs, he looked ready to stride into battle. His face, a maze of crisscrossed scars that included a misshapen nose and an ear missing both lobe and tip, was evidence of a life spent fighting. His normally bald head showed thick salt-and-pepper stubble; he had stopped shaving crown, chin, and upper lip following the poisoning. Alicia knew he was frustrated about his infirmity but there was nothing any of them could do for him and, to his credit, he hadn’t slowed them down. The poor road conditions and unseasonably bad weather had accomplished that. They were days behind schedule. By now, they should have been in the mountains but the peaks still loomed ahead, appearing closer than they were. Alicia had learned that mountains could be seen from a long distance away. A very long distance.
    “Looks to be clear, Milady.” Vagrum’s assessment promised the welcome hope of a rain-free, snow-free ride and the associated potential of making real progress.
    “If the weather holds, how long to the pass?” asked the wiry, red-haired Rexall, who was in the process of tightening the ropes around his bedroll.  Because the two small beds in the room had been given to Alicia and Kara, he and Vagrum had slept on the floor. Alicia suspected he might have enjoyed a more comfortable night.
    “Hard to say.” Vagrum had been in these parts before but it had been many years. “If we make good time, we’ll get there tomorrow night but we won’t want to start in ’til mid-morning the day after. If it’s open. If the weather up there was as bad as what we went through, we may be stuck. Only a fool would attempt them narrow, twisty paths with snow and ice on the ground.”
    If that was the case, was Sorial also stuck?  If he had gone this way, was he ahead or behind?
    “Two days sounds right,” said Kara, whose familiarity with the area was superior to Vagrum’s. It was unusual for her to speak to the entire group. During the journey, she had mostly kept to herself, although she occasionally engaged Alicia in conversation. At more than five decades of life, Kara was the senior member of the group. She remained a striking woman - slim, short in stature, and with long, flowing ebony hair that spilled over her shoulders. Despite her age, it showed only hints of gray. Constant exposure to the sun had darkened her skin to a deep umber, a characteristic that complemented her warm, dusky eyes. One look at her delicate features made it apparent that she was a native of the northern city of Syre, the northeastern-most major human settlement on the continent. But Kara didn’t advertise her heritage, preferring to keep her face hidden under an oversized cowl when outside.
    “There’s a large inn near the mouth of the pass. Unlike some of the places we’ve passed recently, this is a major stopping point for travelers entering and exiting the mountains. It’s a good place to spend a night but, more importantly, we’ll be able to find out whether the pass is open and, if it is, what the conditions are like. Also, if Sorial went this way, it’s likely Warburm would have stopped there. Someone might remember his party.”
    Vagrum nodded. “I remember the place. Goes by the name of The Gateway Inn. Last time I was there, they sold sure-footed mules for weary travelers who didn’t want to walk all the way through.”
    They departed the inn shortly thereafter, retrieved their horses from what passed for a stable, and returned to the road - a wide, muddy trail running north-south. In the clear, cool morning air, the mountains towered above to the left, no longer mere splotches on a distant horizon. The road, which had been gently climbing for days, ascended more steeply here in the lower foothills.
    The morning passed as many recent mornings had passed, with the four of them riding in silence, two-by-two. Rexall and Vagrum were in front with Kara and Alicia following. Shortly after they re-mounted following a