The Madness of Gods and Kings by Christian Warren Freed Read Free Book Online Page A

shadows for years before garnering Pelthit’s attention. His downfall was systematic and eventual. How he arrived to the dismal end was a matter of the Dae’shan’s discretion.
    “That is…plausible, but what happens when the Wolfsreik returns home? What then shall you do, I wonder?”
    Harnin frowned. He hadn’t thought of that.
     
     
     
    Skaning entered the throne room with great trepidation. He’d never liked Harnin and was wary from their earliest days of knowing each other. The older One Eye was devious from the core. A man like that didn’t stay at the right hand of a king for so long without taking care of the odds and ends behind the scenes. Skaning knew Harnin had personally killed over a score of men without Badron ever finding out. That was before the change. The rebellion and theft of Delranan changed matters drastically. Harnin was free to kill at will. Jarrik had already been banished, in all but name, to the west in a futile attempt at hunting down the rebellion and restoring order.
    Given the rash of recent failures, Skaning tended to believe Harnin was about to drop the hammer. He was forbidden from wearing arms, but managed to smuggle a short dagger under his tunic. Conspiracies ran rampant in Chadra Keep. Bodies swung from the ramparts daily, pecked apart by crows. Skaning had no desire to become the latest addition to the makeshift gallows.
    “Come in already,” Harnin snapped upon seeing Skaning’s hesitation.
    The younger lord, last of the council, entered and halted a respectful distance from the broken throne. “You summoned me.”
    Ignoring the impudence, Harnin drummed his fingertips on the carved armrest. His eye narrowed in what would have been a menacing glare if he’d had both eyes. Instead it merely made him appear to be squinting in the twinkling firelight. “Jarrik has failed me, again.”
    “The rebellion is spread out across the kingdom. Finding the head is not an easy task,” Skaning replied, defending his friend.
    “Truly. Perhaps you can explain how Jarrik’s managed to lose over a dozen supply trains while accumulating minimal results? Or how losses in personnel vastly outweigh enemy deaths? Don’t preach to me about difficulties, Skaning. We have tactical and numerical superiority yet we can’t defeat a militia comprised of peasants. Why?”
    Because you command . Yet how could he explain that to Harnin without having his head taken from his neck? He already knew the answer and decided to redirect Harnin’s accusations before becoming a victim. “We’ve successfully driven the rebels from all of the major cities. They command a handful of minor villages and have less than a thousand capable fighters. Jarrik is driving them deeper into the wilds.”
    “He’s being led deeper into the wilds,” Harnin countered. “Taken away from the culture centers where the army will be ineffective.”
    “The rebels will also be ineffective. They are scattered, incapable of coordinating a major attack,” Skaning theorized. “We have the opportunity to cut them off and destroy them group by group.”
    Malevolence sparked in Harnin’s eye. “I’m glad you and I agree on this, Skaning. You will take a small command of specialized soldiers and hunt down Ingrid and her leadership. Kill them all. Do you understand? Hunt them down to the man and do not return until the wilds are retaken. Only then can we focus solely on the east.”
    Turmoil sparked in his stomach. He’d expected something drastic and, thankfully, wasn’t being ordered to kill Jarrik. At least not yet. Still, that didn’t prevent him from wondering exactly what Harnin expected him to accomplish with a handful of men whereas Jarrik already had close to two thousand in the field. Life secure for the moment, he wasn’t about to press. Instead he asked, “Is there word on Badron?”
    Shadows swirled behind the throne, briefly yet enough to draw his attention. “Our beloved king is already making the return