War God #01 - Oath of Swords by David Weber

Author:David Weber [Weber, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy
ISBN: 0-671-87642-2
Publisher: Baen Publishing Enterprises
Published: 1995-02-01T23:00:00+00:00

The City Guard wasn't happy when it finally arrived, for Angcar was an orderly place. The city fathers frowned on battles in a public inn at the best of times, and sixteen dead was a dismaying body count, even when the Guard didn't find two hradani in the midst of the carnage.

By the time it arrived in the person of one Captain Deskhan, however, the patrons who hadn't taken to their heels had reemerged from under the tables. The musician who'd caught up Brandark's balalaika had returned it, and he and the Bloody Sword sat in a corner, with the Angcaran keeping time on a small hand drum while the hradani plucked out a melody. Alwith had ordered ale all round on the house, and the witnesses were prepared to wax vehement in the hradani's defense. In fact, four or five of them illustrated every gory moment of the encounter in graphic pantomime, and the baffled Deskhan had no choice but to accept that whatever had happened, the hradani hadn't started it.

He departed at last with a wagonload of dead assassins and a grudging verdict of self-defense, and Talamar stood in the inn door and waved farewell with a cheeriness that astonished Bahzell.

"I'm thinking that's an unhappy man yonder. How likely is it he'll be after making trouble for you out of this?"

"Oh, not very." Talamar shrugged. "He doesn't like it, but he'll cool off once you folk leave. Besides, he's as little liking for dog brothers as the next man, and he can use this tale to astonish people for years."

The Angcaran cocked his head and grinned. "For that matter, so can Alwith and I. We'll have more custom than we can handle for days—maybe weeks—once word of this gets around!"

"And welcome to it," Bahzell rumbled. "But, d'you know, I'm still wondering how you spotted them at the start like that?"

"I didn't." Talamar closed the door and headed back to the taproom beside him. "To be honest, I was keeping an eye on you." He shrugged with another grin. "The two of you seemed like peaceable fellows, but if someone got drunk enough, he might have taken it into his head to pick a quarrel with you. As for the dog brothers," his grin became a frown, "they came in in ones and twos, so gradually I never noticed, and I should have, since they were all strangers. But there was something odd about the way that first fellow held his hand when he headed over your way, and I've seen those little blowguns before."

"D'you think he really believed he could kill me with such as that and not be found out?"

"Bahzell, if he'd hit you with that dart, you'd never have known a thing about it," Talamar said grimly. "Didn't you see it?"

"Not clear," the hradani rumbled, "and your Guard captain was after taking it with him when he left."

"It was tipped with mindanwe sap. A scratch of that, and you're gone in seconds. All anyone would think

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