Victor, Vanquished, Son by Morgan Rice

Author:Morgan Rice [Rice, Morgan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2017-08-14T22:00:00+00:00

***

Justin stood on one of Haylon’s beaches, swinging a hammer inexpertly as he tried to construct a fresh barricade to slow down any invading force. He no longer felt like Sir Justin Berverlard, Warden de Castael and Burgoman of the Seventh Marsh. That was the name of a young man back on the Northern Coast, who spent his time wondering what his lord would want. Now he was just Justin, or Sir Justin at most, when he needed to be able to give orders. It was strange how more responsibility should bring with it a shortening like that.

Right now, his responsibility was to help with repairing the protections of the island, along with a large crew of men under his command. Some of them were former liegemen of Lord West, some of them were islanders, and a few were even former soldiers of the Empire. Shirtless in the sun, Justin had to admit that he had a hard time picking the different contingents apart.

Maybe there was a lesson in that.

“Sir Justin! Sir Justin!”

He looked up to see a boy running over, carrying a scrap of parchment in his hand. Justin suspected that it might be fresh instructions from Akila, or perhaps from Ceres. Justin had to admit he was more than a little in awe of the young woman with the powers of the Ancient Ones. He’d seen her arrive on the island, and it had been like something out of legend.

“What is it?” Justin asked, taking the note. The parchment looked as though it was little more than a scrap grabbed in haste and sent without even the time to scrape it properly.

“Word from the mainland, my lord,” the boy said.

Justin was no one’s lord, but he was too busy reading to correct the boy. With every word he read, his heart fell.

“What is it?” the boy asked. “What’s wrong?”

Had he come from Lord West’s lands? Did he have family waiting there? Justin had no way of knowing, but he knew he couldn’t hold back the truth. It would come out soon enough, and it was better if he was the one to tell it, so that it didn’t sound like a lie.

“The First Stone’s men invaded Lord West’s lands,” Justin said. “They tore down the castles and slaughtered anyone they didn’t enslave.”

How many people had been left there? How many people had died because Justin hadn’t been able to persuade them to go with him? How many deaths would weigh on his conscience because he hadn’t been able to save them?

“You saved lots of people,” the boy pointed out. “If you hadn’t been there, no one would have left, and everyone would have died.”

Justin knew it was the truth, and he tried to cling to it. There were people alive now who wouldn’t have been if they had stayed in Lord West’s lands. He’d managed to get some of them, most of them, to leave.

Even so, the deaths weighed on him like a heavy suit of armor.

He wouldn’t allow the same thing to happen here.

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