Read The Way of the Brother Gods for Free Online

mother. That boy was so excited, he practically danced in the classroom. Well, I'll never forget the day he got back from this wonderful visit. He didn't want to talk, he didn't want to play, he didn't want to do anything but sit on a rock. And, of course, he didn't smile.
    "I never found out what went wrong exactly, but my own folks told me enough about the fishing villages that I could guess."
    Malja said, "She was a whore?"
    "I think so."
    "Those fishing villages are an ugly life. With so few people left since the Devastation, the waters are filled with food, and the women come thinking they'll get security. But fishing is hard work and you have to love the water, too. Not as many men are interested. Most of these villages I've seen had three, maybe four, women for every man. No man needs to settle down to one woman. Lots of whores there, and most do it for food."
    "The point is," Fawbry said, ducking beneath a low hanging vine, "that you shouldn't guess at what Harskill is like from the little you find in that journal."
    Waving off his words, Malja said, "Don't compare me to some pampered kid you once knew."
    "My Kryssta, you're an idiot," Fawbry said, not making an attempt to hide his frustration. "Or maybe I'm the idiot for thinking you might have grown a bit, changed at all since I first met you. You are so selfish that you actually convince yourself that you do these things for others. You don't really care about me or Tommy."
    "Don't you dare say —"
    "Look at that boy!" Fawbry's face turned red as he jabbed a finger in Tommy's direction. "Something terribly wrong has happened to him and you just want to contentedly follow him? I understand fully that you hope to find Cole and Harskill and a portal to your home. And that's what I'm saying. That is all you hope for. If Tommy or I get killed in the process, so be it."
    Malja backhanded Fawbry, knocking him to the ground. Her skin boiled with rage, and she had to stop her hands from grabbing Viper. "I have changed. I'm not that single-minded thing you met years ago. But even back then, I always loved Tommy and I've always worried about what might happen from his use of magic. You are the idiot, if you can't tell that much about me."
    Brushing off his multi-colored robe, Fawbry said, "It's just that Tommy's in trouble. You can see that. And yet here you are reading that journal and dreaming about Harskill. I know those things are important, but we shouldn't be doing this. We should turn around, take Tommy back north for help. Maybe find Tumus. She helped him once before and she knows all about Barris Mont, and since Barris Mont is inside Tommy, she could tell us what to expect, what to do. That plan at least has some logic behind it. You're just leading us toward a wish."
    Malja reined in her anger and in a tight but quiet voice, she said, "My guess is that we've gone more than half the way to wherever it is we're going. There can't be that much further south before we hit ocean. So, if we turn back for help, it'll probably take longer to go that way than to just push on. I don't know what's happening to Tommy, but don't think that I don't care just because you can't see it. I think the faster we get to Cole, the faster we get to helping Tommy. Besides, if we chose to go back, who's going to turn him around?"
    Fawbry looked ahead at Tommy hovering patiently for them. The boy didn't turn around while he waited, but his shoulders were high with tension. It physically hurt him to wait.
    "Come on," Malja said. "Get on your horse and let's go."
    With his only hand, Fawbry patted his horse and whispered a calming word. Malja moved in to hold the horse steady so Fawbry could remount. "You'd think this would get easier," he said, "but I swear, every time I mount up, it gets worse."
     
    * * * *
     
    That night they camped under a low overhang — roots and rocks formed their ceiling. Malja spent her time attending Viper — cleaning, sharpening, oiling. She had neglected the