Oath of the Thief by Zackery Arbela

Author:Zackery Arbela [Arbela, Zackery]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

A lot could happen in three days, particulary if a man kept his ears open and his feet busy.

A walk through the Broom Ward ducking in and out of various taverns, taking in a cup of wine in the common rooms:

“Getting worse, I tell you.”

“No argument from me on that score.”

“I mean, it’s been bad in the past, but Suns and Spirits! Those schoolmen are out to murder each other That fracas in Gesmor Square was just the latest. I've heard of students being stabbed in the back, having their throats slit when they bed down in a brothel...yesterday morning they found a man floating in the harbor, a porter working for the School of the Chrysanthemum. Had his throat cut from ear to ear. Now I’m hearing that half the staff working at their tower are staying home for fear of the same!”

“One can only imagine how the Chrysanthemum’s will respond.”

“You know, bad as it was in the old days, at least when the nobles whipped out their swords, they could only stab and slash. They couldn’t throw out fireballs from their hands and burn down half the city if they got it wrong…”

An hour later, in a coffee house by the East Gate, where traders gathered to share news and swap lies:

“Can’t last.” The merchant shook his head as he sipped from his cup. After a moment he picked up the pot and poured a second, sliding it over to Fenn. “Never seen it this bad. The problem is beyond the city walls now.”

“Go on.” Fenn picked up the cup and took a sip, hiding his grimace. He had little love for coffee (a noxious brew introduced in Avexin, supposedly by traders from offworld, and since spread like a weed across the east of Tyberia. To his tongue it tasted like especially bitter shoe leather.)

“Well, the schoolmen rule in the city, but the old nobles are still a power in the countryside. Every town and village of note in Seren is sworn to Kirondaal, have been for at least two hundred years. But now they’re taking sides in these disputes between the schools, swearing for one faction and the other. A man like me, who goes along the country roads to trade, is now asked who he stands with, and Heaven help if he gives the wrong answer!”

“They really care about those arguments between wizards and witches?” Fenn asked sipping from the cup again. Hmm...not that bad, actually…

“Shh!” The merchant looked around. “Don’t say those words where a schoolman can hear them! They take it as an insult...but no, in truth it all just posturing for their own benefit. But here’s the thing that is really troubling: the nobles are recruiting men to their private armies. If you go outside these walls it’s all hills and valleys, and nearly every hill has a castle on its top, and they are all filling up with armed men sworn to one noble house or another. The Council is so busy fighting among themselves, they don’t see the storm gathering outside the city.

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