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

“Then why don’t you do it?” I said. “Fall on your own sword if you claim it to be for the Cause.”

He chuckled. “If it were that simple, my boy. This plan, our plan, goes back many many years, and unfortunately, I am so wrapped up in it now, there is no way for me to unravel myself from it, not without failing.”

“You’ve already failed,” I said coldly. “Your plan was ruined once I killed the prime.”

He smiled. “Yes, Fedorick told you more than he should. But he didn’t tell you everything. Our plan must evolve as we all must evolve, but it continues nonetheless.

“You were only able to destroy one granary, the other two still stand, and now the Imperials are here. Whatever leverage you think you have, it won’t be enough.”

Monroe wore an amused look. “You see much, but your eyes are still shut. This was never about eliminating the food supply or even taking it. It was about controlling it. Cyllia has had the worst two harvests in a hundred years. Blame the soil, blame the gods, but come winter, the grain in the North will be all we have to feed the people and a marching army.”

“They will just take it; they won’t stand for…”

“Take what? The grain harvested from lands I now legally own? Why would they? I am a noble, respectable man. I will just sell them the grain, no need for such fuss, and I will stand to make a handsome profit.”

“So you did this all for coin? That’s it? A few more bags of iron to line your vault?”

“You really are blind, boy. This has nothing to do with coin. This has everything to do with power. I own the land. I own the grain. I own Belen, and with the war coming, I now own Cyllia. You say I have no leverage. I have all the leverage! Leverage enough to make me governor, king, sovereign of a new land, and a new nation.”

“You are a fool if you think Cyllia will just tolerate—”

“For as much as you hate them, you understand them little. The Empire will bicker and argue and threaten, but in the end, they will sign a deal because what they want more than anything is their cut. They will know what I know. I could be an ally, providing tribute to their cause. Or I can be an ally to their enemies and hobble them and their war effort in one night of fiery vengeance.”

He smiled. “It only took burning one of the granaries and setting an ambush to get their attention. The Empire knows they dance on the edge of a knife, fighting a war against the Seveli and the Mere. They won’t risk a third enemy, especially when that enemy could rally a people they still fear today. No, I know them well. They dance on the knife, but for the right price, they will guarantee the tune to be soft and sweet.”

He stroked the lord stone on his sword with a long finger. “I should thank you for the recovery of Sethelyn. I was remiss to part with it, but after you and my son killed so many of the prime’s forces…? Well, a modification of our original agreement was in order. I was afraid I would never see it again; it was my first blade and one of the oldest in the family.”

“And what of Crylwin?” I asked. “Is he dead too? Just another casualty of your plan?”

Monroe laughed. “Crylwin’s quite well, recuperating comfortably at the estate. He is so fond of you had it not been for his bravery the night of your party, he might have been a complication. God’s blessing; he was safely removed from the board.”

“So that’s it then? I am meant to die so you can carry out this coup?”

He adjusted the silver chain he wore around his neck. “Incriminating you with the forge would have been enough. Had there been nothing else, we might have found a way around this. But you have been quite busy, my boy, and it seems you do not have luck on your side.”

“I thought we made our own luck?”

He shrugged. “Know that this was not always my intent, though there was always a safety net should we need it. You could have been a tool in this, a shining beacon of a new Rukland; you would have carried my standard. You would have brought the people hope for a better future.”

I spat on the floor. “Yes, well, the best-laid plans and all that. I’m just curious. How? How did you convince the Seveli, the Golmere, and the Sunemere to start a war?”

He stood and turned for the door. “I didn’t.”

“Will you permit me a question?” I asked.

He turned back to me. “I suppose I owe you that much.”

I stood. “How did Ada die?”

The door shut behind him, and I heard the turning of a key.

Chapter Fifty and Four

Summer 1272, Cyllian Imperial Count

I took the opportunity to dress, restoring a small measure of my dignity, not that I had anywhere to go. Monroe made a point to bring me the same clothes I wore to the estate on the day of my party- how fitting. I laid back on my cot and closed my eyes, then heard shuffling beyond the wall.

“Yes?” I called out, not bothering to sit up.

“You are most unlucky, not-Cyllian,” the voice said. “I feel sorry for you.”

“Aren’t you in the same prison?”

He was silent for a moment. “Yes! But our...situations are different.”

“And how is that?”

“You are going to die.”

“And you’re not?”

He made that strange laughing sound again. “I should think not.”

“And why is that?”

“I am more valuable alive,” he said.

I rolled my eyes. I was in no mood for games or riddles or clever irritants with strange accents.

“He should have told you,” the voice continued. “He said much, but not all. I...recognize his voice. We have met before.”

Another pause of silence.

“He asked me questions the others