A Promise of Iron by Brandon McCoy (the reading list .txt) 📕

I placed my hands on top of the table, hands that were still bound tightly with the leather strap, and selected a cigar. I set it delicately in my mouth then smiled.

Vis stood and stepped towards me. He waited for me to lean towards him; when I did, he struck a fresh match and lit my cigar. I puffed a few times to get the ember going, then took the cigar from my mouth to hold it as casually as possible with confined hands.

“You mentioned Alerhold before, what were you doing there exactly?” he asked as he resumed his seat.

I brought the cigar to my lips and puffed. “I was given property as a gift from my lord father. I went to inspect my holdings.”

“I find the timing to be conspicuous to take a trip to such a remote location, don’t you?”

“There was no concern at the time,” I said. “There was little for me to do in Forhd, and I was escorting a friend as a guest, I thought some time in the country would do us both some good.”

He scribbled some quick notes on the stack of pages he held in front of him then shuffled through them before finding a passage from earlier.

“Yes, a Ms. Lira, correct? Formerly Lady Lira Valerius of House Valerius. You mentioned she had become estranged from her father.”

I nodded.

“So leaving town had nothing to do with the sizeable withdrawal she had taken from her father’s account the day you departed?”

I shrugged. “That wasn’t the reason for my visit, it might have been hers, but to my understanding, the withdrawal was a legal transaction. Are you implying there was some nefarious intent here?” I puffed on my cigar and exhaled slowly, allowing my lips to curl into a polite smile.

He matched the gesture almost exactly.

It was all a dance, of course, an elaborate play with roles meant to be acted. He had this information already; his veiled threats against Lira wouldn’t bait me; she was safer than I was. He had all the proof he needed to charge me or else I wouldn’t be sitting here. This was a matter of forcing a confession, which meant his case was weak at the very least. I didn’t need to help him confirm anything at this point. My trial would be in a few hours. He hadn’t shown all his cards yet, but the closer to dawn I got, the more confident I felt.

“What is the strength of the Sunemere force camped on Belen Heights?”

“As I told the commander, over a thousand with maybe a dozen Golmere slaves serving as pathfinders.”

He looked down at his notes and confirmed the information was the same as the last time I had answered it.

“Why did they let you and,” he paused to look over his notes, “First Sword Borton, leave? Per your own account and statements gathered from witnesses, you were wounded and in no position to defend yourself.”

“Witnesses,” I muttered, shaking my head. “I killed the prime; it was clear to me that the Sunemere appreciated that gesture. Or maybe they assumed our wounds would simply take us upon the road. I really don’t know; I don’t spend much time considering the working mind of Mere.”

He chuckled and lifted the palm of his hand towards me. “I understand you are frustrated, this can be such a tedious process, but we’re almost finished. I just have a few more questions.”

Just a few more questions before your hounds come in and begin to tear off parts of my body, I thought grimly.

“Why has the Circle conspired with the Seveli against the Empire?”

I took a final pull on the cigar then stamped it out on the edge of the stone table. Ash and sparks fell to the ground as I rolled the half-finished tobac between my fingers, spilling the loose brown leaf out onto the table. I used my hands to rake it into a neat, orderly pile, admired my work for a moment, then blew hard, scattering it across the table.

“I wouldn’t know,” I said. “I don’t work for either; I am a carpenter and an officer, an officer that just did the Empire a great service by killing that fucking prime and scattering the Golmere horde.”

Vis bobbed his head as these government types liked to do then pressed the iron circle down on the table. “But we found this circle in your possession? How would you come of this if you weren’t working with them?”

“As I already said, I was in charge of recovering the bodies of our men. I found it in the pocket of one of the fallen and wasn’t about to bury good iron in the ground. Until you told me hours ago, I had no idea what it was.”

“Just an honest Ruk then?” Vis asked. “Convenient.”

I shrugged.

“Just one last question,” he said as he stood up from his chair. “Why did the Circle burn the granary in Belen Heights?”

I shrugged, though not as effortlessly it should have looked. “I can only assume that it was to keep it out of the hands of the Golmere.”

Vis nodded again, offered me a polite smile, then reached into his pocket. He placed an iron star on the table. It was worn and rusted, something that should have been melted down long ago. Half of it was missing, but I knew rust had nothing to do with that.

My eyes went wide.

“Thank you for your cooperation,” he said. As he stood, he offered the slightest of bows. “Your trial will begin at dawn; I suggest you get some rest, you will need to be prepared for your defense.”

I smiled as he rapped his knuckles on the door. It opened a crack; then it opened wider to reveal several other figures waiting in the dark hallway.

“It appears you are popular,” Vis mused. “Pity, you do look rather tired.”

I worked my fingers into an obscene gesture. His smile faded, and his copper eyes sparked angrily at me. The next