I’ll Raid Your Nest

Richard quickly realised that the possibility of an open murder had been precluded by the secret assassination attempt and the poisoning. They couldn’t afford to face him directly about these things. Perhaps he could blow up the issue, he thought, but this idea was immediately rejected. He was in the enemies’ backyard, and forcing a confrontation would only guarantee his death. He started cursing himself fervently; in all his calculations, he hadn’t expected the barbarians to stoop so low!

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. His first thought was to escape anyway— if the elders killed him here, then he wouldn’t even be able to avenge Mountainsea’s fate. However, just as he turned around he saw two shrine warriors step forward,...