Read Online Angst (Book 4) by Robert P. Hansen - Free Book Online Page B

Tyrag. He needed a plausible reason
for doing it, something that would bear closer scrutiny than a claim of king’s
privilege. But Angus was a member of one of his Banners, and the king could use
those Banners for special missions. What kind of mission might that be? If
Grayle was dead, it would have to be one that would lead to Angus’s death…
    Should he send them to the Lake of Scales to find out if the
fishmen are there? No, Commander Garrett was already doing that, and rightly
so. It wasn’t a task for the Banner. But what about sending them into The Death
Swamps? Those rumors about soldiers disappearing weren’t rumors at all, and
Captain Blanchard knew it. Something was stirring deep within that foul swamp’s
bowels, and he needed to know what it was. He could send them there, couldn’t
he? Yes. Captain Blanchard had said he had served in The Borderlands with
Hobart. It would make sense to send an old veteran like Hobart into the swamps
to see what was in there, and it was an ideal mission for a Banner. Too ideal.
They would probably survive, and he couldn’t have that. So, where could he send
them to die?
    King Tyr shook his head. He didn’t have to make the decision
yet. Grayle could still be alive, and if she was, there would be no reason to
waste a Banner on a fool’s errand, no reason to have Angus killed…

 
    11
    “I thought you dead,” a woman gruffly said as she shook Taro’s
shoulders. Taro opened his eyes and looked at her. What was her name? Someone’s
wife, wasn’t she? Clarise? No. Clareth? Yes, she—
    “That was a foul thing you did, Master Taro,” Humphrey
scolded him from his left. Taro tried to turn his head to look at Humphrey, but
his neck was too stiff for him to do it. Instead, he looked sidelong at his
former apprentice, who was sitting at the table with his hands wrapped
possessively, protectively around a large mug. The large man stared into that
mug as if he could discern the future by studying the remnants of his drink. It
was futile, of course, but try telling that to the villagers duped by diviners.
“A foul thing,” he repeated, slowly rotating the mug.
    “No, Humphrey,” Taro said in his softest, most sympathetic
tone. “It was necessary.”
    “Necessary!” Humphrey snapped as he fixed an angry glare on
Taro. “How can you say that? I would have helped you without it!”
    Taro sat unruffled and dismissed Humphrey’s anger while
accepting his admonition. “I know,” he said, twisting his body around to look
at the common room. Villagers were everywhere. Some were sitting with their
heads lowered, much like Humphrey had done. Others were rousing those who
hadn’t recovered on their own yet. A few looked at him and quickly turned away.
Most ignored him and focused on what they were doing.
    “Why did you do it, Master Taro?” Humphrey asked into his
mug.
    Taro lifted his right leg and turned his chair away from the
fire so he could face his former apprentice. Humphrey was a large man—portly,
well-muscled, energetic—but he somehow looked small sitting hunched over his
mug like that. “It was inevitable,” Taro said. “It was part of my vision.”
    Humphrey reluctantly glanced at him. The anger softened but
was still there, along with hints of pain and sorrow. What have you seen? Taro
wondered as Humphrey resumed studying his mug. Taro reached out his hand and
patted Humphrey’s bulky forearm. “Tell me,” he said. “What did you see?”
    Humphrey shuddered and shook his head. “It was horrible,
Master Taro,” he said.
    “Describe it to me,” Taro ordered. “I must know.”
    Humphrey didn’t look at him as he said, “Fire. Screams.
Death.”
    Taro waited for Humphrey to continue, but when he didn’t, he
asked, “Where will it happen?”
    Humphrey sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said.
“All I see are the flames.” He frowned and added, “And bodies.”
    Taro frowned. “How many?” he asked.
    Humphrey shrugged. “Too