Free The Baker's Boy by J. V. Jones

the
appropriate prayers of healing.
    "What
happened?" asked Baralis.
    "The king was
shot." Carvell looked down at the floor, as if he bore part of the blame.
    "Who would
dare do such a thing!" exclaimed Baralis, careful to keep a note of
indignant surprise to his voice. "Where is the arrow? Did anyone get a
good look at it?"
    "Maybor
removed it," answered Carvell.
    Maybor moved
forward. "Yes, it is true I did, but in my panic to withdraw it from the
king, I threw the damned arrow away." His gaze met Baralis'.
    "That was not
a wise move, Maybor." Baralis turned to look at the other men present.
"What if the arrow had been barbed? You might have caused the king worse
damage by removing it." There were murmurs of agreement in the room.
Baralis noted the quick flash of hatred in Maybor's eye.
    "How do you
know the arrow was not barbed?" asked Maybor coolly. The room grew quiet
as they waited for Baralis' reply.
    "I could tell
the moment I saw the king's wound that a barbed arrow had not been used."
The men reluctantly nodded their heads. Baralis promised himself that one day
he would deal with Maybor; the man was altogether too unpredictable. Furthermore,
he was beginning to suspect Maybor regretted entering into the conspiracy.
Well, I have one more card up my sleeve that you don't know about, Maybor,
thought Baralis, and it is time I played it.
    "Did anyone
else get a look at the arrow?" he asked, his voice pitched low to gain the
attention of everyone in the room. "I did, my lord." One of the
houndsmen stepped forward. Maybor looked up, his face ashen.
    "And who are
you?" Baralis knew well who the man was-he had paid him ten gold pieces
only days ago for his part in this little performance.
    "I am Hist,
King's Houndsman."
    "Tell me,
Hist, what exactly did you see?"
    "Sir, I can't
be exactly sure, but the shaft did seem to have a double notch." Maybor
stepped forward, his hand raised in protest, about to speak. Baralis did not
give him the chance.
    "A double
notch!" he exclaimed to the room. "We all know the Halcus arrows are
double notched." The room erupted into an uproar:
    "The Halcus,
those treacherous bastards."
    "The Halcus
have shot our king."
    "To hell with
the peace at Horn Bridge," pitched in Baralis.
    "We must
avenge this deed."
    "We must beat
the Halcus senseless."
    Baralis judged the
time was right. "We must declare war!" he cried.
    "Aye,"
cried the men in unison. "War!"
     

Two
    "No, Bodger,
there's only one way to tell if a woman has a passionate nature and it ain't
the size of her orbs." Grift leant back against the wall, arms folded
behind his head in the manner of one about to impart valuable knowledge.
    "How can you
tell, then, Grift?" Bodger drew closer in the manner of one about to
accept such knowledge.
    "Body hair,
Bodger. The hairier the woman, the more passionate the nature. Take old widow
Harpit. She's got arms as hairy as a goat's behind and you won't find a randier
woman anywhere."
    "Widow
Harpit's not much to look at, though, Grift. She's got more hair on her upper
lip than I have."
    "Exactly,
Bodger! A man would count himself lucky to bed her." Grift smiled
mischievously and took a long draught of ale. "What about your Nelly, how
hairy is she?"
    "My Nelly has
arms as smooth as freshly turned butter."
    "You won't be
getting much then, Bodger!"
    Both men chuckled
merrily. Grift filled their cups and they relaxed for a while, sipping their
ale. They liked nothing better, after a cold morning patrolling the castle
grounds, than to sit down with a cup of ale and bandy ribald remarks. There was
usually a little gossip exchanged, too.
    "Here, Grift,
last night while I was relieving myself in the ornamental gardens I heard Lord
Maybor having a real go at his daughter. He even gave her a good
slapping."
    "Maybor ain't
what he used to be. Ever since this damned war with the Halcus he's been
getting nasty and hot tempered-you never know what he's gonna be doing
next." Both men turned at the sound of