The Winter Vow by Akers Tim

Author:Akers, Tim [Akers, Tim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B077RJXL4B
Publisher: Titan Books
Published: 2018-08-21T06:00:00+00:00

29

IAN DRESSED QUICKLY and went down to the ruined doma. Volent was waiting in the courtyard, surrounded by about a hundred nervous guardsmen, recently dragged from their sleep to watch three priests say their prayers.

“You don’t trust these three, do you?” Volent asked. “Not with all that’s happened at the Fen Gate?”

“Who am I supposed to trust? How can I trust you? Our families have more than history, Deadface.”

“I am not that man anymore,” Volent said. “I have defeated that darkness.”

“We are all the person we used to be, for better or worse.” Ian surveyed the ranks of tired soldiers. “And where is Clough?”

“She refused to leave your sister’s side. Said someone had to protect the future of this household, if you weren’t willing to do it yourself.” Volent paced by the entrance to the doma. “We shouldn’t do this now. Not at night, not in the middle of winter. We should wait.”

“What better time to seek Cinder’s blessing, Volent? Come on. We can submit to cowardice later.”

The two went into the doma. The walls had been scrubbed clean, but the floor was still littered with the wreckage of the fire, and the altar at the far end of the room was a shattered ruin. Veureux and his two assistants stood in the middle, heads bent close together, whispering. On Ian’s arrival, they turned as one, pale faces among the shadows.

“We will need light, Sir Blakley.”

“Of course. Volent, have the servants bring braziers, from the main hall, if no others can be found spare. And see that they are lit with frairwood.”

“Mundane light will do nicely, Ian. Frairwood protects, but it disrupts, as well. We must have clear air to do our business.”

Volent hesitated, but at Ian’s impatient gesture, the knight marched out of the open door and disappeared. Ian turned to the priests.

“I thought to wait for this until the roof was restored, at least. My people have been working for days to see it done.”

“That would explain why you had not yet sent to Cinderfell for a new frair, given Daxter’s unfortunate death. If you meant to replace him at all, that is,” Veureux said. He crossed his arms, regarding Ian with a cocked eye and smug smile. “What really happened here, Blakley? This room is a riot of gheists and violence. Who killed Frair Daxter?”

“Pagan tribesmen,” Ian answered simply, unwilling to say more than was necessary.

“And did these pagans break into Houndhallow, to loot the doma and desecrate it? There are signs enough of battle, but they are months old. The walls are repaired, and the keep refurbished, but the doma stands untended. How do you explain these things?”

“There was a siege. The pagans attacked, but they were tricked into it by a heretic… a man named Folam Voidfather.” He went on to explain how he and Gwen Adair turned Folam’s deception to their advantage, ending the siege. “Afterward, the tribes sheltered in our courtyard. But tensions flared, leading to the damage you see now.”

“Tensions that led

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