BooksBarbecue
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Chapters (76)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. PART I
  6. ONE
  7. TWO
  8. THREE
  9. FOUR
  10. FIVE
  11. SIX
  12. SEVEN
  13. EIGHT
  14. NINE
  15. PART II
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. PART III
  27. TWENTY
  28. TWENTY-ONE
  29. TWENTY-TWO
  30. TWENTY-THREE
  31. TWENTY-FOUR
  32. TWENTY-FIVE
  33. TWENTY-SIX
  34. INTERLUDE
  35. PART IV
  36. TWENTY-SEVEN
  37. TWENTY-EIGHT
  38. TWENTY-NINE
  39. THIRTY
  40. THIRTY-ONE
  41. THIRTY-TWO
  42. THIRTY-THREE
  43. THIRTY-FOUR
  44. INTERLUDE
  45. PART V
  46. THIRTY-FIVE
  47. THIRTY-SIX
  48. THIRTY-SEVEN
  49. THIRTY-EIGHT
  50. PART VI
  51. THIRTY-NINE
  52. FORTY
  53. FORTY-ONE
  54. FORTY-TWO
  55. FORTY-THREE
  56. FORTY-FOUR
  57. FORTY-FIVE
  58. INTERLUDE
  59. PART VII
  60. FORTY-SIX
  61. FORTY-SEVEN
  62. FORTY-EIGHT
  63. FORTY-NINE
  64. FIFTY
  65. FIFTY-ONE
  66. FIFTY-TWO
  67. PART VIII
  68. FIFTY-THREE
  69. FIFTY-FOUR
  70. FIFTY-FIVE
  71. FIFTY-SIX
  72. EPILOGUE
  73. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  74. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  75. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  76. Newsletter Sign-up

The relative calm might have lasted if not for a throng of civilians that ran back into the courtyard, a mob of roughly twenty men who were probably fleeing one gang of soldiers only to find themselves back where the fighting began. They had weapons, mostly improvised, and paused for only a second. Then they switched into offense, screaming unknowable curses and rushing for the quite visible crown on Robin’s head.

William was closest. A handful of soldiers stood nearby but only one had a weapon, which was probably why they hadn’t joined in the first swell of violence. William thought about the dozen swords that Robin swore would make no difference.

He rose to meet the oncoming line.

Breathe.

One man led, three behind him, the others behind that. William was safe at his flanks, but could not let the crowd get past him to Robin. Only thing to do was focus and react.

It’s the easiest thing in the world, killing a man.

All William saw was a collection of vital points, and all he had to do was get the tip of his blade to each of them. Prick a man just about anywhere and he bleeds, slice in the right place and his life, everything he was, simply slips away. Some men study swordplay, practice their footwork, train for tournaments and sport fencing. They learn to deflect and riposte, counter and target. Not these men. They didn’t know how to fight. They wouldn’t thrust or lunge at the right places. They were easy.

So while the soldier next to William met his first opponent with full energy, hacking at the man’s club, William had already side-stepped and jabbed, jabbed, sliced into the ribs of two men and across the belly of a third. He didn’t pause to see if they fell, he moved on, quick movements, just the tip, into just the right place, just enough to puncture and pull that hot spray of blood that held their every moment until now. The edge of his blade shattered the teeth of a man who thought screaming would help, then his hilt collapsed the temple of another who would have been saved by a helmet. William stepped shy of a wide swing coming from a man older than his father, and pricked him just hard enough at the top of the sternum to notice his neck go limp. None of these people would fight until their dying breaths. Each would drop, shocked, hold their wound, and curl up in the hopes of surviving, then surrender to the darkness.

But of course, it didn’t last long.