Three Kings by George R. R. Martin

Author:George R. R. Martin [R.R. Martin, George]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2020-04-14T17:00:00+00:00

The knowledge burned in his brain as he walked to the door of Constance’s flat. It wasn’t public yet. The outcry was yet to come. He hadn’t taken any action, but he already knew the way this would have to play out. A joker had died and the Fists would answer in kind, but louder. He could already feel the blood on his hands, oiling the wheels of recrimination, of action and reaction, as they swirled faster and faster, going from them to the nats and back to them, and so on, until the wheels were turning too fast to stop, too fast to see whose turn it was any more.

His knock on the door betrayed none of this. ‘May I come in?’ he asked when Constance answered. She nodded.

Green Man ducked into the room and closed the door behind him. ‘These are difficult times for all of us. You’ve been a friend so I wanted to warn you. Things are going to get much worse before they get better and you could be in danger.’

‘Something’s happened, hasn’t it?’ asked Bobbin.

Green Man looked into those gold-framed eyes and found that he did not want to lie. ‘I suppose you’ll find out soon enough. An elderly joker woman was assassinated aboard the Queen Mary.’

Constance had gone awfully pale. ‘And now five more innocent people are going to die.’

‘We live by the law of five for one. Five for every single one. If it’s any consolation, I’ll do my best to ensure the targets are far from innocent.’

‘But you can’t!’

‘It’s wrong,’ agreed Bobbin. ‘It’s just going to make things worse.’

‘Let me be clear: I cannot stand by and do nothing.’ He shook his head. ‘The Fists need to give an answer. And, believe me, if I don’t give it, someone else will. And then things really will get worse.’

Constance did not seem convinced. ‘You’re not a foolish man, you have to see this for what it is.’ Her voice was grim and determined. ‘Of course, what you’ve described is so awful everyone will have to condemn it. But you’re not being realistic if you think that the revenge you seek won’t come back on you and the Twisted Fists. You kill nats and you’ll play right into their hands. That’ll be the story, not concern over this woman who has died.’

Green Man shook his head. ‘If the world were fair you’d be right. But the press isn’t on our side any more than the police are. This will be hushed up and brushed under the carpet. I’ve seen it before.’

‘Please,’ said Constance, the plea catching him as he turned to go. ‘If you fight, it will be people in the middle like us who suffer.’ She nodded at Bobbin. ‘We have the funds to leave if need be, but what about the people you say you want to protect?’

‘Look around. They’re already suffering. I intend to make sure they don’t suffer alone.’

For a second time, he made to leave. To his surprise he felt Constance’s hand on his arm.

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.