Luck in the Shadows Read Free Page B

against a flint and hurried on to show Rolan their breakfast.
    Stepping from the shelter of the trees, he froze in terror.
    O Dalna, they found us!
    A rough-clad stranger was standing with his back to Alec, looking out over the pool. His tunic of green homespun and leather breeches were unremarkable; it was the long scabbard slung low on the intruder's left hip that caught the boy's attention.
    Alec's first thought was to melt back into the woods, find Rolan. As he took a cautious step back, however, his heel struck a dry stick. It snapped loudly and the man whirled about, sword drawn. Dropping the rabbit and the mushrooms, Alec turned to bolt. A familiar voice behind him brought him to a halt.
    "It's all right. It's me. It's Rolan."
    Still poised to run, Alec took a wary look back and realized his mistake. It was Rolan, after all, though he bore little resemblance to the foppish coxcomb of the night before.
    "Good morning," Rolan called. "You'd better go get that coney you dropped. I've only got one other and I'm famished!"
    Alec's cheeks flushed hotly as he hastily gathered up the rabbit and mushrooms and brought them to the fire.
    "I didn't recognize you," he exclaimed.
    "How can you look so different?"
    "Just changed my clothes." Rolan pushed back the thick brown hair that hung now in damp waves over
    his shoulders. "I don't suppose you got a very good look at me before, racing around in the dark as we did."
    This was true, Alec reflected, sizing his companion up. Rolan somehow seemed taller in the daylight, though he was not a large man at all.
    Rather, he was slender and fine-featured, with large grey eyes set over high cheekbones and a long, narrow nose. His mouth was fine, almost thin, and tilted at the moment in a lopsided grin that made him look younger than Alec would have guessed before.
    "I don't know, Rolan—"
    "Oh, and about the name." The grin tilted a bit higher. "It isn't actually Rolan Silverleaf."
    "What do I call you, then?" asked Alec, not particularly surprised.
    "You can call me Seregil."
    "How's that?"
    "Serah-gill."
    "Oh." It was an odd-sounding name, but Alec sensed it was all he was going to get for the moment. "Where were you?"
    "Checking to see if anyone tracked us. There's no sign of Asengai's men yet, but we'd better move on soon in case they get lucky. We'll eat first, though. You look starved."
    Alec knelt by the fire, inspecting the two lean coneys with a rueful smile. "We'd be eating venison if I had my bow. Those bastards took everything I owned. I don't even have a knife! Lend me one and I'll clean these."
    Reaching into the top of one tall boot, Seregil handed him a long poniard.
    "Maker's Mercy, that's a beauty!" Alec exclaimed, running a thumbnail appreciatively along the edge of the narrow, triangular blade. As he set about cleaning the first rabbit, however, it was Seregil's turn to be impressed.
    "You're pretty handy at that sort of thing," he remarked as Alec opened the belly with a single quick stroke.
    Alec offered him a purplish-brown lobe of liver. "You want some of this? Good for your blood in the winter."
    "Thanks." Accepting the morsel, Seregil sat down by the fire and watched him thoughtfully.
    Alec colored a little under that frank gaze.
    "Thank you for saving my life last night. I'm in your debt."
    "You handled yourself well enough. How old are you, anyway? You look young to be roaming around
    all by yourself."
    "Sixteen last summer," Alec replied a bit gruffly. He was often taken for younger than he was. "I've lived my whole life in the woods."
    "But not alone, surely?"
    Alec hesitated, wondering how much he really wanted to reveal to this odd stranger. "My father died just after the summer solstice."
    "I see. An accident, was it?"
    "No, he had the wasting sickness." Tears stung Alec's eyes and he bent lower over the rabbit, hoping Seregil wouldn't notice. "It was a hard death. Even the drysians couldn't help him in the end."
    "You've been on your own all of three