Free The Black Company: The First Novel of 'The Chronicles of The Black Company' by Glen Cook Page A

told. By his lack of a defense the man confessed a moral guilt.
    “You disgust me.” The Captain used his soft, dangerous voice. “Get out of here. Don’t cross my path again. I’ll leave you to my friend’s mercy if you do.” The man stumbled away.
    The Captain turned to Raven. “You mother-lorn fool. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
    Wearily, Raven replied, “Probably better than you do, Captain. But I’d do it again.”
    “And you wonder why we dragged our feet taking you on?” He shifted subject. “What are you going to do with these people, noble rescuer?”
    That question had not occurred to Raven. Whatever the upheaval in his life, it had left him living entirely in the present. He was compelled by the past and oblivious to the future. “They’re my responsibility, aren’t they?”
    *   *   *
    The Captain gave up trying to catch the Limper. Operating independently now seemed the lesser evil.
    The repercussions began four days later.
    We had just fought our first significant battle, having crushed a Rebel force twice our size. It had not been difficult. They were green, and our wizards helped. Not many escaped.
    The battlefield was ours. The men were looting the dead. Elmo, myself, the Captain, and a few others were standing around feeling smug. One-Eye and Goblin were celebrating in their unique fashion, taunting one another through the mouths of corpses.
    Goblin suddenly stiffened. His eyes rolled up. A whine slipped past his lips, rose in pitch. He crumpled.
    One-Eye reached him a step ahead of me, began slapping his cheeks. His habitual hostility had vanished.
    “Give me some room!” I growled.
    Goblin wakened before I could do more than check his pulse. “Soulcatcher,” he murmured. “Making contact.”
    At that moment I was glad I did not own Goblin’s talents. Having one of the Taken inside my mind seemed a worse violation than rape. “Captain,” I called. “Soulcatcher.” I stayed close.
    The Captain ran over. He never runs unless we are in action. “What is it?”
    Goblin sighed. His eyes opened. “He’s gone now.” His skin and hair were soaked with sweat. He was pale. He started shaking.
    “Gone?” the Captain demanded. “What the hell?”
    We helped Goblin get comfortable. “The Limper went to the Lady instead of coming at us head on. There’s bad blood between him and Soulcatcher. He thinks we came out here to undermine him. He tried to turn the tables. But Soulcatcher is in high favor since Beryl, and the Limper isn’t because of his failures. The Lady told him to leave us alone. Soulcatcher didn’t get the Limper replaced, but he figures he won the round.”
    Goblin paused. One-Eye handed him a long drink. He drained it in an instant. “He says stay out of the Limper’s way. He might try to discredit us somehow, or even steer the Rebel toward us. He says we should recapture the fortress at Deal. That would embarrass the Rebel and the Limper both.”
    Elmo muttered, “He wants flashy, why don’t he have us round up the Circle of Eighteen?” The Circle is the Rebel High Command, eighteen wizards who think that between them they have what it takes to challenge the Lady and the Taken. Raker, the Limper’s nemesis in Forsberg, belonged to the Circle.
    The Captain looked thoughtful. He asked Raven, “You get the feeling there’s politics involved?”
    “The Company is Soulcatcher’s tool. That’s common knowledge. The puzzle is what he plans to do with it.”
    “I got that feeling in Opal.”
    Politics. The Lady’s empire purports to be monolithic. The Ten Who Were Taken expend terrible energies keeping it that way. And spend as much more squabbling among themselves like toddlers fighting over toys, or competing for Mother’s affection.
    “Is that it?” the Captain grumbled.
    “That’s it. He says he’ll keep in touch.”
    *   *   *
    So we went and did it. We captured the fortress at Deal, in the dead of night, within howling distance