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Read book online ยซA Flight of Ravens by John Conroe (books to improve english .TXT) ๐Ÿ“•ยป.   Author   -   John Conroe



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a bit of a twit, annoying and condescending.  He had received training with weapons as we all had but had no natural talent for it nor the will to work hard at it.  Sarcastic and smarmy, he was nonetheless always the least threatening of my two brothers.  In order for him to be a shaper agent, he would have had to be infected by the Paulโ€™s priests.

โ€œWhat has he said, Sire?  Has he explained why and how?โ€ I asked.

King Helat was staring through me, clearly looking for some reaction on my part.  Instead of answering my questions, he turned and looked off to my left side.  A man stepped forward, out of the gloom.  I recognized him after a moment.  Carter Toothaker, the kingโ€™s rook.  He was never seen in public, and very seldom visible even in the castle.  Toothaker was King Helatโ€™s attack dog, his personal weapon in the night.  Remover of dissidents, investigator, fixer, assassin, and rumored potential eslling.  In all my years with the royal family, Iโ€™ve seen Toothaker exactly twice, both times in the halls of the castle, both times coming from the kingโ€™s chambers.  Even Brona had only met the man a handful of times.  He was perhaps even more shadowy than my Shadows.

Tall and whipcord thin, he had straw-colored hair, cut very short, and eyes so light blue that they appeared to be almost like glacial ice. He looked to be of the same age as my father, yet he was clearly a much more dangerous man than dear old chubby dad. Both times I had seen him, he had been expressionless, his cold eyes empty of humanity, like the gaze of a death rattler.  Now, as then, he wore a completely blank mask as he looked from me to King Helat.  I almost missed his pronouncement, almost turned my head to look back at the king.  Something made me stop my glance away and, in that moment, I saw the smallest shake of his head, so minute a movement that I was still trying to decide if it was real when the king spoke.

โ€œYou were blasรฉ about your family before you left.  You appear surprised now,โ€ the king commented.

โ€œTallen has never, to my knowledge, shown the slightest ambition, the sightest dissatisโ€ฆโ€ I trailed off, remembering his words at Ircianโ€™s Naming.

โ€œTurns out that he was not, in fact, content with his lot in life,โ€ King Helat said, ignoring my pause.  โ€œIt would seem that playing third to your father and oldest brother is, according to him, a form of unrelenting torture.โ€

โ€œBut, Sire, to join the Paul?โ€ I asked.  โ€œI could possibly see him assassinate Gracid and maybe even my father, but betray the kingdom?โ€

โ€œYou may be shocked to hear this, Savid, but most citizens do not share your degree of patriotism,โ€ the king said.

I looked at the two squads of guards surrounding me, then glanced at where Toothaker stood in the shadows.  โ€œYou thought I might be in on it?  Your Majesty,โ€ I added hastily.

โ€œYou were not the only person surprised by this revelation, Savid.  It has been suggested that if Tallen was a traitor, why not his younger brother?โ€

โ€œBut there is almost no one in the kingdom the Paul hates more than myself, Sire,โ€ I said.

โ€œWith the exception of myself and Brona, that would seem to be true.  But what a cover it would make, right?โ€

He never looked at Slinch, but by his stiffness, I knew Neil was the one planting those thoughts in the kingโ€™s ear.

โ€œI cost the Paul thousands of woldlings,โ€ I said.

โ€œHe cares nothing about cost, either in coin or lives, Savid,โ€ Helat said.  โ€œYou know this.โ€

โ€œMay I see him?โ€ I asked.

โ€œI think not,โ€ the king said.  โ€œNot so much out of a concern for your behavior, Savid, but it seems your brother harbors almost as much ill will for you as he does Rucian and Gracid.  Had you enjoyed an unremarkable military career and retired into an obscure life running an inn, it might have been different.  Instead, you outshone the rest of your family and live an exciting life outside the constraints of your father.  He is, to say the least, extremely jealous of you.  He was injured during his capture and Doctor Eltienne wants him kept quiet in between the rigors of his questioning.โ€

I nodded at his words, then took another glance around me.  None of the soldiers had relaxed even a little.

โ€œThere is, perhaps, more, Sire?โ€ I asked.

He smiled a cold smile and glanced at Slinch as if to say, See, heโ€™s not stupid.

โ€œYes.  Youโ€™ve been careless with the property of the crown, Savid.  I canโ€™t abide that,โ€ the king said.

โ€œI have, Your Majesty?โ€

โ€œThe woldling prisoner has escaped.  You failed to properly secure him.โ€

โ€œAsh?โ€ I asked stupidly.

โ€œIn your absence, upon the recommendation of Neilโ€™s observer, I commanded that the woldling be turned over to the Ravens for debriefing.  Yet he was missing when agent Fontina arrived at your facility to secure him.โ€

Fontina must have had some way of backtracking to our cells, a Finderโ€™s stone or similar object she was able to leave behind.  Ash would have sensed them coming for him, upstairs in the safehouse above the holding cells.

โ€œAnd this happened recently, Sire?โ€

โ€œThe day after you left.  Iโ€™m told there was no sign that the creature had ever been returned to his cell.  I am extremely disappointed in you, Savid.  Carelessness with my property is unforgivable.โ€

I had to throttle down all of my reactions.  To claim a damaged soldier as his personal property was in my mind even more unforgiveable, yet he was waiting for a reaction, an outburst, clearly prepared with an overwhelming number of soldiers as well as his pet assassin waiting in the wings.

โ€œDid you want me to attempt to retrieve Ash, Your Majesty, or am I bound for the executionerโ€™s block?โ€

He frowned, his face going a little red.  Beside him, Brona had gone as white as a sheet, her eyes imploring me to shut my mouth.

โ€œYou are bound for a cell,

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