Lorik The Protector (Lorik Trilogy) Read Free

reputation in the small town gave her an added bit of security. People knew that Vera was Stone’s woman, and as such, they gave her respect.
    Lorik’s lip was bleeding and his muscles felt weak. His head was soaked with sweat and his knuckles were skinned and bloody. The inn was dim but not crowded. It took a moment for the big man’s eyes to adjust, but Vera recognized him instantly. Her heart leapt into her throat and she froze in panic and fear. Lorik was her oldest and dearest friend, but he looked in that moment like a vicious animal, the type of ruthless killer she remembered from her days in Hassell Point, where pirates and outlaws congregated.
    Once his eyes adjusted to the gloom of the inn, he moved toward her, his feet dragging across the rough-hewn planks of the floor. The common room had grown silent, and the only sounds were Lorik’s ragged breathing and his heavy boots shuffling across the floor.
    “Oy! We need ale over here!” said an older man with skinny legs and a protruding belly.
    “Give me a few minutes alone,” Lorik said.
    Vera was surprised to see two sailors with Lorik. She didn’t recognize either man, but they both seemed protective of Lorik.
    He walked toward Vera, then slumped onto the bench across the long table from her. She could see the bruises forming on his face. The flesh around one eye was puffy, and his clothes were ripped in several places.
    “I see you found the Pit,” she said in a disapproving tone.
    “I did, then I found you.”
    “How did you know where to find to me?” she asked.
    “It wasn’t hard.”
    “Is Liam alive?” she asked, trying her best to keep the fear she felt for Stone out of her voice, but failing.
    “Yes.”
    “You fought him?”
    “Yes.”
    “Is he hurt?”
    “No more than me.”
    “But you beat him, didn’t you?”
    “Barely,” Lorik said. “I got lucky this time. He didn’t want to hurt me.”
    “But you had no qualms about hurting him?” Vera demanded. “Why are you here, Lorik?”
    “I’m sailing north to fight the Norsik.”
    “Why?”
    “It needs done,” Lorik said.
    “I’ve never understood you,” she said. “Even in Hassell Point, you could have had a wife, children, a good life, but you were never satisfied, were you? What is it you’re chasing?”
    “I don’t know,” Lorik said. “Why are you so angry?”
    “Look at you. You look like a pirate or an outlaw. You look like you belong with Marsdyn’s gang.”
    “So you’re mad because I was fighting? What about Stone? He was there, too.”
    “He was doing what he had to do to protect us.”
    “Is that right? I thought he had gold. I know you had plenty of coin when you left the Marshlands. So why does he need to fight?”
    “Things have changed, in case you haven’t noticed. We can’t go around spending gold. We’d have every outlaw and unfortunate person waiting to stick a knife in our backs. I don’t like Stone fighting, but it serves a purpose.”
    “Purpose is in desperate need right now,” Lorik said, taking the pint of ale that was set in front of him by a nervous inn keeper. Lorik emptied the cup in one long, thirsty draught and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
    “Did Griff find you?” he asked.
    “Yes,” she said.
    “Why don’t you relax?” Lorik said. “I thought you’d be glad to see me.”
    “I am glad to see you. I’m just not glad to see you looking the way you do.”
    “Sorry about that. I guess I could have cleaned up a bit, but I suspect that Yulver will want to sail with the tide.”
    “Sail where?”
    “North,” Lorik said. “We’re going to fight the Norsik.”
    “It’s a fool’s errand,” Vera said.
    “No it isn’t,” Lorik said. “You know how vicious they are. The Norsik are slavers. They’ll raid into Ortis for years if we don’t drive them back now.”
    “It isn’t your fight. You’ll just be killed.”
    “So? At least my death will have some meaning,” Lorik said.
    “Death