LITMIR.BIZ

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stomach. If it were not for Godfrey she would never come near it, and she hated him for making her stoop to this. Why couldn’t he just stay away from the alehouses?

      Gwen turned another corner and there it was: Godfrey’s tavern of choice, an excuse of an establishment, sitting there crooked, door ajar, drunks spilling out of it, as they perpetually did. She wasted no time, and hurried through its open door.

      It took her eyes a moment to adjust in the dim bar, which reeked of stale ale and body odor; as she entered, the place fell silent. The two dozen or so men stuffed inside all turned and looked at her, surprised. Here she was, a member of the royal family, dressed in finery, charging into this room that probably hadn’t been cleaned in years.

      She marched up to a tall man with a large belly whom she recognized as Akorth, one of Godfrey’s drinking companions.

      “Where’s my brother?” she demanded.

      Akorth, usually in high spirits, usually ready to unleash a tawdry joke that he himself was too satisfied with, surprised her: he merely shook his head.

      “It does not fare well, my lady,” he said, grim.

      “What do you mean?” she insisted, her heart thumping.

      “He took some bad ale,” said a tall, lean man whom she recognized as Fulton, Godfrey’s other companion. “He went down late last night. Hasn’t gotten up.”

      “Is he alive?” she asked, frantic, grabbing Akorth’s wrist.

      “Barely,” he answered, looking down. “He’s had a rough go. He stopped speaking about an hour ago.”

      “Where is he?” she insisted.

      “In the back, missus,” said the barkeep, leaning across the bar as he wiped a tankard, looking grim himself. “And you best have a plan to deal with him. I’m not going to have a corpse lingering in my establishment.”

      Gwen, overwhelmed, surprised herself and drew a small dagger, leaning forward and holding the tip to the barkeep’s throat.

      He gulped, looking back in shock, as the place fell deadly silent.

      “First of all,” she said, “this place is not an establishment – it is an excuse of a watering hole, and one that I will have razed to the ground by the royal guard if you speak to me that way again. You may begin by addressing me as my lady.”

      Gwen felt outside of herself, and was surprised by the strength overcoming her; she had no idea where it was coming from.

      The barkeep gulped.

      “My lady,” he echoed.

      Gwen held the dagger steady.

      “Secondly, my brother shall not die – and certainly not in this place. His corpse would do your establishment far more honor than any living soul who has passed through here. And if he does die, you can be sure the blame will fall on you.”

      “But I did nothing wrong, my lady!” he pleaded. “It was the same ale I served to everybody else!”

      “Someone must have poisoned it,” Akorth added.

      “It could have been anyone,” Fulton said.

      Gwen slowly lowered her dagger.

      “Take me to him. Now!” she ordered.

      The barkeep lowered his head in humility this time, and turned and hurried through a side door behind the bar. Gwen followed on his heels, Akorth and Fulton joining her.

      Gwen entered the small back room of the tavern and heard herself gasp as she saw her brother, Godfrey, laid out on the floor, supine. He was more pale than she had ever seen him. He looked a step away from death. It was all true.

      Gwen rushed to his side, grasped his hand and felt how cold and clammy it was. He did not respond, his head lying on the floor, unshaven, greasy hair clinging to his forehead. But she felt his pulse, and while weak, it was still there; she also saw his chest rise with each breath. He was alive.

      She felt a sudden rage well up within her.

      “How you could leave him here like this?” she screamed, wheeling to the barkeep. “My brother, a member of the royal family, left alone to lie like a dog on the floor while he’s dying?”

      The barkeep gulped, looking nervous.

      “And what else was I supposed to do, my lady?” he asked, sounding unsure. “This is not a hospital. Everyone said he was basically dead and – ”

      “He is not dead!” she screamed. “And you two,” she said, turning to Akorth and Fulton, “what kind of friends are you? Would he have left you like this?”

      Akorth and Fulton exchanged a meekish glance.

      “Forgive me,” Akorth said. “The doctor came last night and looked at him and said he was dying – and that all that was left was for time to take him. I didn’t think anything could be done.”

      “We stayed with him most the night, my lady,” Fulton added, “at his side. We just took a quick break, had a drink to pass our sorrows, and then you came in and – ”

      Gwen reached up and in a rage swatted both of their tankards from their hands, sending them flying to the floor, the liquid spilling everywhere. They looked up at her, shocked.

      “Each of you, grab one end of him,” she ordered coldly, standing, feeling a new strength rise within her. “You will carry him from this place. You will follow me across all of King’s Court until we reach the Royal Healer. My brother will be given a chance for real recovery, and will not be left to die based on the proclamation of some dim-witted doctor.

      “And you,” she added, turning to the barkeep. “If my brother should live, and if he should ever return to this place and you agree to serve him a drink, I shall see to it firsthand that you are thrown in the dungeon never to come out.”

      The barkeep shifted in place and lowered his head.

      “Now move!” she screamed.

      Akorth and Fulton flinched, and jumped into action. Gwen hurried from the room, the two of them right behind her, carrying her brother, following her out the bar and into daylight.

      They began to hurry down the crowded back streets of King’s Court, toward the healer, and Gwen only prayed that it was not too late.

      Chapter Three

      Thor galloped across the dusty terrain of the outer reaches of King’s Court, Reece, O’Connor, Elden, and the twins by his side, Krohn racing beside him, Kendrick, Kolk, Brom, and scores of Legion and Silver riding with them, a great army going out to meet the McClouds. They rode as one, preparing to liberate the city, and the sound of hooves was deafening, rumbling like thunder. They had been riding all day, and already the second sun was long in the sky. Thor could hardly believe he was riding with these great warriors, on his first real military mission. He felt that they had accepted him as one of theirs. Indeed, the entire Legion had been called up as reserves, and his brothers-in-arms rode all around him. The Legion members were dwarfed by the thousands of members of the king’s army, and Thor, for the first time in his life, felt a part of something greater than himself.

      Thor also felt a driving sense of purpose. He felt needed. His fellow citizens were under siege by the McClouds, and it was left to this army to liberate them, to save his people from a horrible fate. The importance of what they were doing weighed on him like a living thing – it made him feel alive.

      Thor felt security in the presence of all these men, but he also felt a sense of worry, too: this was an army of real men, but that also meant they were about to face an army of real men. Real, hardened warriors. It was life and death this time, and there was far more at stake here than he had ever encountered. As he rode, he reached down instinctively and felt reassured by the presence of his trusted sling and his new sword. He wondered if by the day’s end it would be stained with blood. Or if he himself would be wounded.

      Their army suddenly let out a great shout, louder even than the horses’ hooves, as they rounded a bend and on

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