Read Online The Sword of Bheleu by Lawrence Watt-Evans - Free Book Online Page B

sight anywhere outside the Northern Waste?”
    â€œAh, this is the best news of all! There are overmen living on the Yprian Coast. We are not the only survivors.”
    â€œThe Yprian Coast? That barren wasteland?”
    â€œIs the Northern Waste any better?”
    Galt did not answer that. Instead, he asked, “Are you sure we could trade elsewhere?”
    â€œAt the very least, we could trade with the Yprians and with Dûsarra. I think we could probably go anywhere we pleased without interference; humans care more for gold than for ancient hatreds.”
    â€œStill, any overland trade route would have to go through the Barony of Skelleth; it extends from the Yprian Gulf to the Sea of Mori.”
    â€œWhat of it? Do you think the Baron’s thirty-odd guardsmen can patrol the entire border?”
    â€œIt would still be preferable to have the Baron’s permission.”
    â€œYes, it would be preferable, but it is not necessary, and it would also be preferable to make plain to all that overmen are not to be treated with the disrespect the Baron of Skelleth has displayed.”
    While Galt digested this, Kyrith scribbled on her tablet, then handed it to Garth. It read, “What disrespect? Why not go home?”
    He handed it back. “No, Kyrith, I can’t go home yet. I can’t go back to Ordunin until the Baron releases me from my oath.”
    She made a questioning gesture.
    Garth said, “What are you asking?”
    She wrote and handed him the tablet. It read: “What oath?”
    â€œGalt should have told you,” Garth replied. “He was there. I swore an oath to the Baron of Skelleth when last I saw him. He proposed that in order to remove all legal impediments to trade between Skelleth and the Waste and to put a formal end to the war with Eramma, I, as Prince of Ordunin, should surrender and swear fealty to him, thereby making Ordunin and its territory—which is to say, the entire eastern half of the Northern Waste—part of the Barony of Skelleth. He called this a simple and reasonable thing, but we both knew he devised it to humiliate me, as I had humiliated him once before. He insisted that I swear to present this proposal to the City Council as soon as I returned to Ordunin. I was unarmed, on a peaceful trading mission, and caught off-guard; I swore the oath he demanded. I will not present any such disgraceful scheme to the City Council, however. Therefore, if I am not to break my sworn word, I cannot return to Ordunin until the Baron releases me from my vow. This is one reason we must confront him, quite aside from trading concessions or my exile from Skelleth; he must release me. He will release me. He will release me, or I will kill him.”
    Garth’s voice had gone flat and toneless during this speech, which was a sign of mounting anger among overmen. Galt and Kyrith both noted it, and Kyrith put a hand on her husband’s arm, attempting to calm him.
    Galt noticed the gesture, and something else caught his eye as well. Koros stood behind its master, and an immense two-handed broadsword, easily six feet in length, was thrust horizontally through the warbeast’s harness, along the creature’s right flank. A huge red jewel was mounted in the weapon’s pommel, and the gem was glowing with an eerie, bloody light of its own.
    â€œGarth,” he said, “that’s an interesting sword there. Where did you get it?”
    Garth turned to glance at the sword and froze when he saw the crimson glow. He had been working up to a murderous fury, imagining himself using the sword to impale a cowering, whimpering Baron of Skelleth; visions of blood and fire had been flashing through his mind. Now, he struggled to suppress those urges.
    For a moment he regretted leaving Frima in Saram’s care; had she been there, she would probably have warned him sooner.
    When he thought he had himself more or less under control, he said, “I found