The Bloody North (The Fallen Crown) by Tony Healey Read Free Book Online Page A

You butchered him like a pig."
    "I  . . . am acting on . . . orders from the . . . High Protector himself!" the Captain gasped, bent forward, hands on his knees. He peered up. "Are you going to . . . kill me? "
    Rowan shrugged. "I think you should pay for what you've been a party to here, but I 've not decided on the price yet. I'll let you know when I do. It might be beyond your means to pay . . . in which case, I'll have to start cutting."
    The Captain swallowed. "What do you want with me? Revenge?"
    "Knowledge. You tell me what I need to know, and I might just let you live," Rowan lied. There was no way the Captain would ever make it out of the tree s. But since when did he owe such a ruthless killer anything remotely like truth and honesty?
    We kill. We lie. We cheat. We steal. We break e very rule in the book. It's all the same. Once you've crossed the line, it's crossed for good. We don't deserve anything. It was the same when I was partners with Bonnet, and it's the same now. War, peace . . . it's all the same. Truth and honesty rarely have a place in anything we do.
    Out there in the valley Royalists clashed with Breakers, the air heavy with the sound of battle. Men fighting one another, weapons clashing against shields, chopping into flesh and bone. Horses stamping their feet. Smoke streamed up from one of the tents, set aflame during the fighting.
    "Was it you who offered the chance at making a deal?" Rowan asked, hearing the din of the battle and blocking it out for now.
    "I had it put forth to all villages and towns in the area that if Larch and his boys were to appear, that's what they were to tell them. They'd be offered amnesty and a chance at a new life if they handed themselves in," the Captain said. "Word of mouth, you could say. It worked, too. Soon came calling, didn't he?"
    "Sure. You lured them in like rats to cheese. Who ordered Larch and the others killed then, eh?"
    The Captain swallowed. "Wagstaff . But I interpreted the High Protector's orders to cease all Royalist operations in Starkgard, acting on them in my own way."
    Rowan's eyebrows rose in surprise. " You, huh? You sure? I wouldn't want you to take all the blame yourself, now . . ."
    "No," the Captain said, shaking his head. "No, it was all my decision to lie to him, to draw him in."
    "Right."
    The Captain's eyes became hard, mean, his face fixed in a nasty scowl. "I don't want any more Royalist traitors in my camp. Feeding you. Clothing you. Helping you along. To hell with the lot of you. Traitors! Insurgents! You should be in a ditch somewhere, rotting like the scum you are! You really thought we would offer you a second chance? Should've got with the winning team in the beginning."
    Rowan swiped the Capta in with the back of his hand. The man's jaws clanged together from the hit. "Shut your mouth. Next question. What do you know about a rogue calls himself Quayle. Said to run with a dozen or so others."
    "I've heard of him. He sided with us during the war," the C aptain said. "Quayle was put in charge of his own unit, by who I do not know."
    "Where is he?"
    "North, last I heard. Town of Greyside at the foot of the mountains," the Captain said. "He's out though. No longer works for either side."
    Rowan had heard of Greyside before. There weren't many passes through the mountains, but Greyside had been established next to at least one of them, and as such, continued to prosper. Men were always coming and going from the mountains, though few ever ventured further. After all, the territory beyond the mountains was called 'The White Waste' for a reason . . .
    " Greyside," Rowan said, mostly to himself. "It'll take me all winter to get there. Quite a ride. Quite a journey."
    But one worth taking.
    The Captain didn't say anything.
    "What about his men? Quayle's men. You must know what became of them, a man in your position. You must hear whispers of things before they happen."
    The Captain licked his lips. "From what I