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
The men below had not come to serve the county, they came for free room and board. Skinny lads, mangy beards, they were an insult to the proud blue tabard of the Nottingham Guard. It frustrated Guy to no end to witness the erosion of his company through his fingers. Too many of Guy’s best men had left Nottingham to join the war, and not enough of his worst. The castle’s complement had been halved twiceover, while their work had doubled. Opportunists and thieves were quick to find advantage in the city the war left behind, and the goodfolk suffered the worst of it. The men under Guy of Gisbourne’s command were often the only defense between order and anarchy, not just in the city but across the county.
Guy inhaled sharply and looked anywhere else. Nottingham Castle perched atop its hill—Castle Rock as some called it—and offered a stunning view of the countryside in every direction. Its three tiered baileys sprawled out until the castle walls stopped at the sparkling river Trent to the south, and the bulk of the city he loved to the east. Guy had seen Nottingham through every wave of prosperity and hunger, through peace and war. He’d fought bravely under his own predecessor fifteen years ago when an army swarmed Nottingham’s streets to scale the castle walls. Yet Guy had never feared for his men before, nor their ability to protect Nottingham’s people.
Until now.
The source of his fear loomed ominously over Jon Bassett’s shoulder. Squirreled away in the top level of the highest keep, the greatest threat to Nottingham now came from within. Guy had dutifully served three different men who sat in the High Sheriff’s seat, and never needed doubt the man’s orders. But yesteryear’s spring had brought them the Baron Roger de Lacy—and Baron Roger de Lacy had brought ignorance and corruption of the highest level to Nottingham.
Ignorance from the top, and them from the bottom.
Guy couldn’t identify any from his vantage, but they were there amongst the recruits, pretending to be honest men.
Gerolds.
“Captain?” Bassett asked, and Guy realized he’d drifted off into thought. Saying it all out loud would feel like an admission of failure, because that’s exactly what it was.
“Damnation.” Guy ground his teeth, and told the story.
ONLY TWO MONTHS AGO Guy had received an order that from anyone other than Sheriff Roger de Lacy would have been a joke. Guy had immediately raged about its consequences, but the baron was predictably disinterested in logic. De Lacy only cared about quick results, and had presented an easy solution to low recruitment numbers.