“NEVER INTERFERE WITH MELENGAR AGAINBY ORDER OF THE KING… AND US”

“If this keeps up, we’re going to own Melengar,” Hadrian mentioned.“What’s this we stuff?” Royce asked. “You’re retired, remember?”“Oh? So you’ll be leading the Nationalist advance, will you?”“Sixty-forty?” Royce proposed.”

“Alric! Stop it!" Pickering snapped at him. "You mustn't let the men see you crying!"Fury flared in Alric, and he spun on the count. "No? No? Look at them! They are dying for me. They are dying on my order! I say they do have a right to see their king! They all have a right to see their king!"Alric wiped the tears from his cheeks and gathered his reins. "I'm tired of this. I'm tired of having my face put in the dirt! I won't stand it. I'm tired of being helpless. That's my city, built by my ancestors! If my people chose to fight, then, by Maribor, I want them to know it's me they fight!"The prince put on his helm, drew his father's large sword and spurred his horse forward, not at the trench but at the castle gate itself.”

“So,” Royce said, “you want us to escape from this prison, kidnap the king, cross the countryside with him in tow while dodging soldiers who I assume might not accept our side of the story, and go to another secret prison so that he can visit an inmate?”Arista did not appear amused. “Either that, or you can be tortured to death in four hours.”“Sounds like a really good plan to me,” Hadrian declared.“Royce?”“I like any plan where I don’t die a horrible death.”

“Bah!” Magnus scoffed. “Humans always blame dwarves. A baby goes missing and it was a dwarf that stole it. A princess runs off with a second son of a king and it was a dwarf who lured her to a deep prison. And when they find her with the prince—lo, she was rescued!“A king is stabbed in the back in his own chapel, and a princess’s toweris turned into a death trap,” Royce called back to them. “Friends arebetrayed and trapped in a prison—yes, I can see your surprise. Where do they get such ideas?”“Damn his elven ears,” Magnus said.”

“Royce cast a harsh and anxious look at the prince.“What?” Alric asked.“I thought we discussed the importance of keeping a low profile.”“Oh, please.” The prince waved a hand at the thief. “I don’t think it willget me killed if this monk knows I’m the king. Look at him. I’ve seendrowned rats more formidable.”

“Just—don’t—move,” Guy said with his hands spread out in front of him. He looked as if he were trying to catch a wild horse, and did not advance, dismount, or draw his sword.Just then the portcullis dropped.“There’s no escape,” Guy assured him.From a nearby door, a handful of guards trotted toward Hadrian with their swords drawn.“Stop!” Guy ordered, raising his hand abruptly. “Don’t go near him. Just fan out.”The men waiting in line looked from the soldiers to Hadrian and then backed away.“I know what you’re thinking, Mr. Blackwater,” Guy said in an almost friendly tone. “But we truly have you outnumbered this time.”