The Hero's Tomb Read Online Free Page B

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    Joseph had heard tales of the Grey Brothers, back in the Legless Mermaid. They were goblins – underground fighters who hit back at the League, ripping down their banners, rescuing prisoners from their gaols and robbing rich League merchants to buy bread for families who hadn’t any of their own. They were heroes.
    It was hard to imagine good folk like that doing business with Jeb the Snitch. But then, Jeb had aknack for making people trust him, only to betray them later. Joseph knew that all too well.
    The most vicious, treacherous crook in all the Old World. And he’s the one person who can help me find the truth.
    But first he had to find Butcher’s Cross, and that turned out to be trickier than he’d thought. He asked directions from a dockhand who sent him one way, then a revenue man who sent him the other. A gang of kids threw stones at him, and one managed to grab hold of Clagg’s waterlogged coat, forcing him to shrug it off and dart down a side street.
    After that people wouldn’t stop giving him funny looks. Some shouted mongrel , and worse. He began hurrying through the shadows, avoiding eye contact with anyone.
    It wasn’t long before his feet were sore and his belly was rumbling. He used some of Clagg’s coins to buy a greasy fish pie, then ducked into a dark alleyway to wolf it down, keeping a lookout for butchers as he ate.
    Whatever happened, he wasn’t going to give up. He was going to find Jeb the Snitch. The goblin’s face had haunted Joseph’s dreams every night since the Battle of Illon. Those cold, pale eyes. That smirking mouth and sharp goblin teeth. The ludicrous outfits, so brightly coloured it almost hurt to look at them.The last time Joseph had seen Jeb, the goblin had been levelling a pistol at him, howling threats of death – and worse.
    He brushed the last of the pastry from his face, trying not to imagine what Tabitha would say if she were here. You’re crazy. That goblin would slit your throat for half a ducat. He cheats and lies for a living. It was all true. But still, Joseph had to find him.
    He set out again, striding faster this time and tipping his hat down low, now that he had no outsized coat to disguise what he was.
    At last, as the sun had set and his clothes had dried stiff with salt, Joseph found Butcher’s Cross. It was a narrow avenue running into the heart of Azurmouth, lined with stalls and shop fronts that stank of meat on the verge of going bad.
    Joseph hurried along it, dodging the occasional passing carriage, weaving in and out of the crowds. A group of whitecoats were playing dice on upturned crates by the side of the road, and Joseph hurried past, head down. He couldn’t bear the thought of being picked up by the League’s soldiers when he was so close.
    At least it’s dark now. So long as I stick to the shadows, I—
    He froze, sensing that someone was watchinghim. But when he looked up he saw that it was only a horse, loitering under a shop’s awning in the glow of a lantern, as though waiting for its owner to come out. A dappled beast, with a silvery mane that flopped over its eyes and gave it a faintly comical look. It blinked at him.
    Definitely not a whitecoat. For the first time that day, Joseph allowed himself a smile.
    He turned into a smaller, darker street where the buildings overhung most of the cobblestones. Seagull Alley proclaimed a rotten board propped on the street corner. Halfway down was a building with a black studded door, in the shadow of a whale.
    Joseph hesitated. It really was a whale – a small one, but big enough to cause some serious discomfort to anyone who might be underneath if it fell. It was suspended like a tavern sign by a pair of chains wrapped around each end, and the carcass was half rotten and turned some indeterminate colour by weather and age and Thalin knew what else. A gull perched on the whale’s head, glaring at Joseph.
    His pockets were still full – the pocket watch in one, and the wooden spoon in