A War in Crimson Embers (The Crimson Empire) by Alex Marshall

Author:Alex Marshall [Marshall, Alex]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2017-12-04T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

8

Even from up here in the forest of spikes that ran atop Darnielle Bay’s ramparts you couldn’t actually see the new Immaculate wall far to the east, but the view was nonetheless stunning. The afternoon sun glittered off the blue waters of the sound, the russet islands that spotted it, and the crimson sails of the Azgarothian ships they had passed on their way into the harbor. Darnielle Bay’s fleet was smaller than that of Diadem, but looking down on the black ships at the quays and the swarm of Chainites still spread across the promenade, Maroto supposed there was something to be said for quality over quantity. The Azgarothian frigates and sloops were crewed by actual marines, right, whereas there must have been some serious shake-ups in the Imperial navy right before they set sail for Jex Toth. There were more far more clerics and fat cats on board than actual sailors or soldiers, their holds light on weaponry and supplies and heavy on art, expensive wine, and other treasures. It was almost as if the Burnished Chain had been preparing to relocate to the Sunken Kingdom and not wage war on it, as the Holy See had claimed to Azgaroth’s elite.

Yet even if they took out his gag before giving him the goose, Maroto wasn’t inclined to waste his last few breaths pointing that out to people who wouldn’t listen no matter what he said. Better to try to exonerate Bang, Niki-hyun, and Dong-won, and when that inevitably failed at least apologize for getting them dragged down with him. He should have guessed that as soon as he announced himself to the Holy See the Chainites would take a strong interest in tracking down the other three curious castaways who had also come aboard at Jex Toth.

That was what really broke his heart now that they were all up here—that instead of going down on his own he was getting his friends killed in the bargain. The Star would be better off without Maroto around to louse it all up, presumably, but these pirates were good folk … well, okay, so they were pirates, but by piratical standards they were … no, no, actually, from the stories they’d told they were proper arseholes even by piratical standards. But they were his friends, if nothing else, and maybe with time and wisdom they would’ve become the sort of truly good people he didn’t have much personal experience with himself.

Assuming good people even existed in this nasty world. There certainly weren’t any to be found around here. The principal Azgarothian mourner with the clock sitting atop her veil was still present, but she’d left her overly dramatic coterie on a lower veranda, and so up here on the grand terrace she and the gagged prisoners chained to a stone loop in the center of the floor were the only ones bringing down the party mood. Merrily as the cardinals mingled with Darnielle Bay’s officers and senators and minor royalty you

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.