The Dragon Lord (The Book of Years Series 3) by Peter Morwood

Author:Peter Morwood [Morwood, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Venture Press
Published: 2017-07-26T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

“I often wondered why you had such an interest in ymeth,” said Dewan staring at Gemmel’s back as they rode along on hired horses. He was trying to strike up a conversation for what felt like the hundredth time. Even an argument would be better than the gloomy silence which had settled over the sorcerer since talking to Kathur the Vixen. A hard woman in a hard profession, he thought. As hard as any man, and maybe harder.

Perhaps it was the sympathy from Gemmel, or the protection offered by Dewan’s ready sword, but no matter how she felt inside, Kathur closed it away like the hot coals in a dampered stove and rose magnificently above what had been done to her. She was long gone now, by ship to south or west, funded by enough gold from a secret cache that Gemmel’s offer of silver had only made her laugh. It was a genuine laugh at that, the first in far too long, but if laughter came hard talk came easily and it had all come spilling out, as unselective as an up-ended bucket.

Dewan and Gemmel had heard about the governor of Tuenafen, about the garrison commander’s son and the stableboys, how several of the seaport’s magistrates liked to relax after a hard day administering the Empire’s justice, and how two of their wives got their own back. Although Gemmel seemed scandalised it had been fascinating, and would have been most useful had they planned to stay in Tuenafen and set up as professional blackmailers.

But they also heard about Aldric, and what Kagh’ Ernvakh planned for him.

At first Dewan had laughed, as he felt certain Aldric would have done, at the ballad-singer’s notion of rescuing a captive princess from a lofty tower. But the laughter had been brief and Gemmel hadn’t joined in. This matter stopped being a child’s tale and a source of amusement when it involved a friend and the risk of that friend’s death. Dewan was also well aware that for Gemmel, Aldric Talvalin was much more than a friend. He had heard the title altrou – foster-father – used more than once by the younger man, and knew Albans didn’t grant such titles lightly.

The risk centred on someone Kathur had named with venom several times: an Imperial officer called Hautheisart Voord Ebanesh. She had been Voord’s lover, then his mistress, five years ago and even then his tastes had inclined more towards exotic than erotic. Voord, Dewan decided, was peculiar. But promotion to hautheisart at twenty-seven suggested an aptitude beyond the ordinary in more than just bedroom acrobatics.

They knew now where that warped genius lay. Voord was a gamester, a gambler, a player of one side against another and both sides for himself. His games extended back beyond the death of old Emperor Droek and the division of the Empire. They continued through that division and right up to the present day, complex, self-serving and often murderous. He still played both sides, although of late there seemed a marked preference for one over the other, but Voord still worked hardest for Voord.

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.