The Envoys of War (The Envoys of Chaos Book 1) by Dave Lawson

The Envoys of War (The Envoys of Chaos Book 1) by Dave Lawson

Author:Dave Lawson [Lawson, Dave]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scaramouche Books
Published: 2024-10-19T00:00:00+00:00


“And that’s when I realized King Jok of Kosel, wearing only a see-through sarong, was the bugger on the donkey, drunk as you like, singing ballads of lost love. Well, singing is a loose term. He was actually braying.”

A chorus of guffaws greeted Gen’s story. She basked in their laughter, the pats on the back, and, most importantly, the free drinks. She’d never met King Jok, but Cordyn had, and she found it easier than expected to repeat his stories as if they’d happened to her, changing the details when necessary. Most of Cordyn’s stories involved a romantic conquest of sorts, and Gen refused to add any of that to the stories. While Cordyn may have seduced a young noblewoman of Kosel right before seeing the nearly naked king, Gen fought four thieves with her sword, teaching them a lesson: if you threaten a kind Piranese traveler, point daggers at her, and attempt to steal her coin, you’ll meet her blade, and the last bits of your life will be pain. The men at the bar, in varying stages of inebriation, enjoyed the stories, at least. They bought her drinks and begged for more tales. She sipped on her sixth—or was it the seventh? —glass of winterplum wine. Not the best vintage, but drinkable, and for free, she’d drink swill.

“Yer the funniest woman I’ve ever met,” a toothless man said. He stunk of whiskey and vomit, but he had a deep purse and had bought Gen three drinks. She considered him a dear friend.

“You’re a gem as well, by Hurod.” She slammed her palm on the bar top. “Innkeep, more wine!”

The dozen men around her cheered and slammed their own palms on the bar. The innkeep poured the wine, muttering curses all the while.

I seem to have made an enemy. I should check my next glass for spittle.

“Tell us another story,” the toothless man said. The rest of her audience joined in with shouts of agreement.

“Well, I suppose I could tell you about the time I saved my weakling friend, Cordyn, from the jaws of death. And the jaws of a Trunellic lion. We were traveling through Trunel—”

A cloaked man descended the stairs and entered the bar. The man tried to hide his face, but she saw his upturned nose.

Tobias.

Assuming he’d not left and then returned, he’d been at the inn for at least three hours. They made eye contact for a moment, and then Tobias covered his face with a large scarf and stormed out of the inn. Gen saw no sign of Topper. The boy had either left earlier or was still upstairs.

“Glad to see the last of that bastard for the night,” the toothless man said.

“Do you know him?”

“Know him?” The toothless man conferenced with his companions. “No, but he’s been here every night this week, the nob. Using the rooms upstairs. It’s godsdamned hard to get decent service when wealthy bastards show up and throw coin around.”

“Do you know why he’s been here?”

“Meeting a woman, I’d guess.



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