Red Slippers: More Tales of Mithgar by Dennis L. McKiernan

Author:Dennis L. McKiernan
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi
Tags: Fantasy
ISBN: 9780451460233
Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Published: 2005-02-15T06:00:00+00:00

Assassins and schemers were put to death,

—Lords, ladies . . . the queen!—

Till one night Hadron simply vanished,

The mad king nevermore seen. . . .

In the moonless night the weighted body sewn in canvas slid over the side of the Dragonboat to splash into the deep waters nigh Gelen, where, if the corpse ever came to light, the Gelenders would bear the blame.

As the ripples of its passage subsided under the rolling swells, “Well, Duke Richter, what now?” asked Baron Vogle.

“Though she’s a bastard,” said Richter, “we’ll put Hadron’s daughter on the throne.” He paused, as if trying to dredge up a memory. “What is her name again?”

“Gudlyn, sire,” answered Degroot, Richter’s chief at arms. “Gudlyn the Glorious.”

“Ah, yes. Gudlyn. She will assume the throne after a proper period of searching for the missing king.” Duke Richter glanced over the side and broke into laughter.

Baron Vogle shook his head. “She’s Hadron’s get, Richter, and likely to go mad as well. She, like her sire, just might decide to have more of the court put to death.”

“Should that happen, should she become a threat, there’s always the sea,” replied the duke, gesturing at where the body had gone.

“Sire,” said Degroot. “What of the raids? Mad though he was, Hadron at least ordered us to plunder . . . to our profit, I add.”

“Oh, we’ll not stop our pillaging,” said Richter. “It fills my coffers with gold and brings thralls to my estates and my bed.”

He broke into laughter and was joined by the others, and the ship swung about and headed east for Konigstadt, soon to be renamed Koniginstadt, for now a queen would sit on the capital throne.

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.