A Picture of the Heart by Timothy Copeland

Author:Timothy Copeland
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Timothy Copeland
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

27

JUST ADD A SPRINKLE OF GOSSIP

Nichols stood underneath the archway at the back of the crowd in his borrowed breastplate and seethed as he listened to Joran telling everyone he was no longer in command. Rather intentionally or by dumb luck—he guessed the latter—Joran had successfully ruined his plan to speak with his troops before they learned of his dismissal. The truth was out there, but there were other ways to accomplish his plan. He’d worked too hard planting seeds of doubt about the King and Joran over the last six months to stop now. All he had to do was give his former troops—at least A-troop—a little nudge in the right direction.

The scene filling the street below the wall would appear little more than an unorganized gaggle to the untrained eye. Still, there was an unseen order that Nichols could exploit. As always, groups of six-member teams were huddled together. He’d like to target his former A-squad first since they were the more likely of the two groups to take the bait Sosie had given him to dangle in front of them. However, they were standing on the crowd's western fringe, where Joran and his new lap dog, Laine, were standing atop the wall. So, he’d have to start near the stairs where B-squad was and then work his way west.

On the whole, B-squad was loyal to White Oak, but there was at least one defender that Nichols had heard questioning some of Joran’s decisions. Although he’d really like to have at least two defenders in the group with doubts, he’d have to work with what he had. After all, he wasn’t looking for an all-out rebellion, although that would be nice. But really, all he wanted was to stir the pot and see what happened, and it was time to find out.

“Where’s the king,” Nichols shouted as he neared B-squad. “I heard he fled the city,” he said to the group of defenders near the stairs.

Nichols smiled to himself. Two minutes ago, he couldn’t hear himself think. Now, he had their undivided attention. Sosie had been right. Even mentioning the king may not join the battle was all it took to cause confusion. Nichols wondered whether Sosie had genuine inside information about the king or if he’d simply chosen something he knew would cause the most uproar among the troops. In truth, he may never know. Sosie wasn’t exactly one to share his plans or information sources just because someone was curious. In fact, expressing curiosity about that man’s business was practically a death sentence.

“One of the guards told me he overheard the king say this was a losing battle,” he said to a small group of archers on his way toward A-squad. “The king thinks this is a losing battle,” he turned and shouted toward Joran and Laine, who were near the stairs.

The whispers flowing across the crowd said the plan was working to perfection. Now, it was time to seal the deal. Joran had somehow discovered

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