Birthright: War by Simon Hawke

Author:Simon Hawke [Hawke, Simon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-7869-0495-2
Publisher: Fanversion Publishing
Published: 2021-05-08T16:00:00+00:00

”What are you doing here, Alain?” asked Derwyn. ”I told you if you had news to report, to send it by the usual courier. By coming back here, you may have compromised yourself. If I have spies in Avan’s camp, he undoubtedly has spies in mine.”

”I am already compromised,” the man named Alain replied. ”The assassination failed. Bran Dulcain arrived in Daulton and immediately began asking about a dark man with a scar. I barely managed to get away in time. My usefulness to you in Avan’s camp has ended.”

”What happened?” Derwyn asked. ”How did it fail? Or did you even bother staying long enough to find out?”

”I knew that you would want a full accounting, so I stayed in Daulton—at considerable risk to myself, I might add—long enough to contact the men I hired for the job. Only three of them made it back. Three out of ten. The others were all killed. But one of them must have survived long enough to talk. The three who came back didn’t know for sure. They never bothered going back to check. In any case, Dulcain had my description, so whether he killed the man who gave it to him or let him live is anybody’s guess.”

”He killed all seven?” Derwyn asked. ”He must be as good as they say, despite his age.”

”He didn’t kill any of them,” Alain replied.

”Then who did?”

”A breed,” Alain replied. ”I don’t know his name, but the men say he was traveling with Dulcain. And there was another man with them, but the breed did all the killing, with throwing knives as my men were riding up. If their report is to be believed, he dropped seven of them before they even realized what was happening.”

”He was carrying seven knives?”

”At least, or so I’m told. He apparently had them sheathed in cross-belts on his chest. They said they never saw anyone so fast… or so deadly.”

”Elf warriors are raised from childhood with blades in their hands,” said Derwyn. ”I can still recall how they fought us when my father tried to take the throne. Michael had a number of elf warriors from Tuarhievel with him. They were the equal of a battalion of our men.”

”What would an elf warrior be doing riding with Bran the Blade?”

”How in Haelyn’s name should I know?” Derwyn impatiently replied. ”But you said he was a breed?”

”That’s what I was told.”

”How could they tell if they never got that close?”

”By the way he was dressed. And he had reddish hair with thick silver streaks running through it. Full-blooded elves do not have red hair.”

Derwyn grunted. ”The question is, was he just another mercenary or has Avan negotiated an alliance with Prince Fhileraene?”

Alain shook his head. ”I do not know, my lord.”

”You are supposed to know. Why do you think I had you there?”

”If Lord Kier has arranged an alliance with Tuarhievel, then it has been a closely guarded secret. I have heard nothing of any such negotiation.”

”You have not heard much at all, it seems.

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