Master and Fool by J. V. Jones Read Free Book Online

rid of
Garfus."
    "What did he
say about Melli?" Jack hardly recognized his own voice. It was cold,
commanding.
    "Why, Jack,
give me a minute to get settled and I'll tell you all he said."
    "Tell me
now."
    Stillfox made time
for himself by raking through the ashes then pulling up chair. Finally he
spoke. "Nine of Annis' best generals are heading to Highwall to assist in
coordinating the invasion."
    Despite his
determination to learn about Melli, Jack couldn't help but ask, "Invasion
of what?"
    The herbalist
shrugged. "Bren, of course."
    "Why `of
course'? Why not invade the kingdoms, or try and rout Kylock's forces on the
Halcus field?"
    "Because Bren
will soon belong to Kylock."
    Jack felt a single
tremor pass down his spine. "I thought the duke's marriage had put an end
to that."
    Stillfox tried to
backtrack. "Ah well, when he marries Catherine it's as good as his. And
Highwall isn't the sort of city to split hairs in matters of war."
    He was lying.
Self-righteous anger-so briefly tasted earlier while he thought of Castle
Harvell-began to build within Jack. Stillfox was keeping something from him. He
was playing him for a fool. "What happened between Melli and the
duke?"
    Stillfox looked
nervous. "Jack, I have my reasons for keeping things from you-"
    "Reasons! I
don't want to hear your reasons. I want to hear the truth."
    "You're not
ready to run away to Bren yet. Your training has barely started." Stillfox
took a step forward.
    Jack stepped
toward the door. "You are not my keeper, Stillfox. My life is my own
responsibility, and I'll have no one deciding what is and isn't right for me to
hear." Jack was trembling. Anger was flowing through him and he made no
effort to control it. "Now either tell me what happened to Melli, or as
Borc is my witness I will walk out this door and find out for myself."
    Stillfox raised
his arm. "Jack, you don't understand-" Jack's hand was on the latch.
"No. You're the one who doesn't understand, Stillfox. I've had a bellyful
of lies, they've destroyed everything I ever had-I'm sick to the death of them.
And today I've finally heard one too many." As Jack spoke he thought of
Tarissa, Rovas, and Magra: they were all liars. Even his mother had practiced
deceit. Who was worse, he wondered: people who lied outright like Rovas and
Tarissa, or people who kept the truth to themselves like his mother and
Stillfox?
    Jack brought down
the latch with his fist. He couldn't really see the difference.
    "Jack! Don't
go," cried the herbalist, rushing forward. "I'll tell you
everything."
    Opening the door,
Jack said, "Too late now, Stillfox. I doubt if I'd believe you
anyway." Stepping out into the warm summer rain, he slammed the door
behind him. He set a course to meet with the high road. If he was lucky, he'd
reach Annis by dusk.
    Tavalisk had just
come from his counting house where he'd been counting out his money. Such a
trip always served to reassure him. Gold was the ultimate feather
pillowwhenever one had to fall back on it, one could be sure of a cushioned
blow. The archbishop's stockpile of gold was the nearest thing he had to a
family; it was always there to comfort him, it asked no questions and told no
lies, and it would never ever die and leave him helpless.
    Tavalisk did not
remember his real family fondly. His mother might have indeed brought him into
the world, but she chose both the place and the circumstance badly.
    Born in a beggar's
hospice in Silbur, his earliest memory was watching his mother's pig die of
swine fever. It just lay in the rushes amidst its own filth and willed itself
to death. Tavalisk remembered scraping around in the dirt to bring it acorns,
but the creature refused to eat them. It simply stayed in its comer and never
made a sound. Tavalisk had loved that pig, but when it let itself die, making
no effort to save itself, he turned against it. He beat the last breath out of
it with a warming brick he'd snatched from the hearth.
    Even at such a
tender age, when he was still