iron edge of…
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Through the stout oak door, Croy could hear the voices…
Chapter Thirty-Eight
The river Skrait twisted through Ness, carving its way between…
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Walking through the brambles surrounding Coruth’s shack was disincitement enough,…
Chapter Forty
Malden moved out of the way as Coruth swept into…
Chapter Forty-One
When dinner was finished Malden took his leave. He was…
Chapter Forty-Two
The thieves of Ness gathered just before midnight, when the…
Chapter Forty-Three
A few murmurs drifted up from the crowd regardless of…
Chapter Forty-Four
Perhaps there was a second reason why Cutbill had chosen…
Chapter Forty-Five
“I have grand plans for the people of Skrae,” the…
Chapter Forty-Six
The sky glowed a deep blue-black that made Malden’s head…
Chapter Forty-Seven
The air in Coruth’s house felt like it had been…
Chapter Forty-Eight
Mörget whirled his axe through the air and brought it…
Chapter Forty-Nine
The bandit camp proved a sorry affair. Two dozen men…
Chapter Fifty
Barbarian pickets controlled the road between Helstrow and Redweir, but…
Chapter Fifty-One
The Baron sighed and looked down at his maps and…
Chapter Fifty-Two
Money kept coming in, as it always had, and that…
Chapter Fifty-Three
It didn’t take long for the thief-takers to make their…
Chapter Fifty-Four
Slag followed Malden all the way across the Sawyer’s Bridge…
Chapter Fifty-Five
“Protection?” Malden repeated, when Herwig had told him what she…
Chapter Fifty-Six
Croy knelt low in the brambles by the side of…
Chapter Fifty-Seven
I didn’t want this job, Malden thought. I never asked…
Chapter Fifty-Eight
It wasn’t easy getting the word out so late in…
Chapter Fifty-Nine
An old fishwife with a face like a rotten parsnip…
Chapter Sixty
Coruth did not wait to hear if he would follow.
Chapter Sixty-One
In a muddy field just off the Helstrow road, Baron…
Chapter Sixty-Two
Mörgain’s barbarians were distracted by the archers and turned outwards…
Chapter Sixty-Three
Spittle flecked their red-painted lips. They came running with blood…
Part 3
A Change of Station
Interlude
“Halt, here,” Mörgain said, and the paltry remnants of her…
Chapter Sixty-Four
Malden grabbed onto a window ledge and hauled himself upward.
Chapter Sixty-Five
Malden leaned down and kissed Cythera gently. She wrapped her…
Chapter Sixty-Six
Loophole would never walk easy again. When the mob seized…
Chapter Sixty-Seven
He already knew what his Helstrovian second-in-command wanted, but still…
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Dead bodies littered the forecourt of Easthull manor. Not a…
Chapter Sixty-Nine
“The king is dead,” Coruth said, plucking at long blades…
Chapter Seventy
A thousand barbarians marched north, pulling wagons full of books…
Chapter Seventy-One
“The Godstone is cracked. The cracks need to be repaired.
Chapter Seventy-Two
“Be of good cheer, lad,” Slag said, as he led…
Chapter Seventy-Three
Croy kept his horse to a walk as they crept…
Chapter Seventy-Four
Malden reached up and grasped the snout of a gargoyle.
Chapter Seventy-Five
Malden lowered himself through the trap door by his hands.
Chapter Seventy-Six
Malden’s candle fell from his hand and flickered out instantly.
Chapter Seventy-Seven
Malden closed the door behind him and bent low to…
Chapter Seventy-Eight
“Malden, no one loves me,” Cutbill said. He poured two…
Chapter Seventy-Nine
“The
