Lord of the Fire Lands (Tale of the King's Blades Book 2) by Dave Duncan

Author:Dave Duncan [Duncan, Dave]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2014-04-01T00:00:00+00:00

With all the cnihtas coming and going, nobody noted Radgar when he shimmied up behind Dad and tapped his shoulder. One of the silver-haired witan was on his feet, droning out an appraisal of the wording.

"Radgar!" His father looked around and frowned, then took another look. "What's wrong with you?"

"Hangover. Listen, lord! I've got a spy in the Chivian camp."

The frown became a royal glare capable of melting steel. "Radgar!"

"It may be a trap, but you can test it. Clause Twenty-five: You demanded a waiver of all import duty on salt fish for ten years. The envoys will offer one third for five years, but they can go as far as waiving all of it for five years and half for the next five." He was young and his memory was fresh as dew. He could parrot back what the Blade had told him word for word, even the bits he did not understand. "Clause Twenty-three: Chivial will pay an indemnity of ten thousand gold crowns every year for eight years and five thousand for another four. Clause Twenty-two: No prejudicial treaties with other states for the next fifteen years without reciprocity." And so on—fishing rights, harbor fees, consular privileges, clause after clause.

Dad's eyes grew wider and wider, his face redder and redder. At the end he said only, "Where did you get this?"

"Told you—I got a spy! Oh, Dad, Dad! He says to test it. If you can beat Uncle Rodney down on Twenty-five and Twenty-four to the limits I said, then you'll know the rest is right, won't you?"

"You little fiend! What comes after? You stopped at Fifteen."

"He says you won't get that far until tomorrow, and he wants to talk terms before that. I think he wants land!"

"I bet he does," his father said softly. "Yes, it could be a trap, but the gamble is worth it. Go away. Stay away unless I send for you. Don't talk about this. But tonight I'll either abdicate in your favor or make your butt so sore you won't sit down for five years. Fair enough?"

He grinned so widely that Radgar laughed and immediately wished he hadn't. Until then, he had forgotten his aching gut.

"I'll make you my chancellor."

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.