Chapters (76)
- Title Page
- Copyright Notice
- Dedication
- PROLOGUE
- PART I
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- PART II
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- PART III
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- INTERLUDE
- PART IV
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- INTERLUDE
- PART V
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- PART VI
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- INTERLUDE
- PART VII
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- PART VIII
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- EPILOGUE
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- Newsletter Sign-up
“Yes, Sheriff,” he stammered to collect his thoughts. It would take an hour to describe the events of the past few days, and the details would be wasted on de Lacy. He didn’t know the city, not in the intimate way Guy did. Guy could list a dozen places they had raided and de Lacy wouldn’t understand the difference between any of them, he wouldn’t know the history of the gangs who claimed those areas, nor their subtleties. The last three days had been a marathon of peacekeeping, which involved more than just sending Guardsmen into buildings and yelling at whomsoever they found. But de Lacy’s understanding of the real work it took to keep a city safe was amateur at best, so that’s what Guy gave him.
“We’ve raided every alley between Red Lion Street and Leenside. Sixty men arrested the first day alone. The gangs know they’re not allowed to target Guardsmen. There has been some resistance, but no casualties on our side.”
“What about their side?” William de Wendenal asked.
“What about their side?” Guy shot back. “Even if Bassett turned deserter, as you say, the rumor holds that the forest outlaws have him. These gangs have ties with them, which means they share responsibility for capturing a Guardsman. What do you suppose the people think when they hear something like that?”
Someone like Wendenal couldn’t understand why Guy had used such strength. It was not petty vengeance. If the citizens of Nottingham thought the Guard couldn’t protect its own men, they would not feel safe themselves. The people would instead turn to the gangs for protection, who would have run of the city within days. Even the slightest dent in the Guard’s reputation could have disastrous effects. Men like Wendenal simply saw this as vanity.
“So instead, we’re the ones to fill the streets with violence.” De Lacy’s eyes drifted lazily to the tall vaulted ceiling. “And what do we lose while the city lives in fear? When you scare everyone out of the markets, how are they to make their living? When there is no one brave enough to step outside, who suffers most? You cannot arrest everyone unfortunate enough to live in the alleys. We cannot declare a civil war within our own city, we cannot have its inhabitants terrified to live here—”
“We cannot have our men taken prisoner—”
“—I cannot have you interrupting me again.” The Sheriff’s nostrils flared and his skin shivered. “Your impatience has wrought terror on this town. I want this resolved peacefully, immediately, and with as much favor toward the poorest of our city as possible.”