Free 1618686836 (F) by Dawn Peers

hadn’t felt strong reactions of tense disapproval in this combination, and had to report it to Sammah. She shut the door and dashed to the window, leaning out and trying to find something else to focus her attention on. By the time the sickness had passed, and she ventured back out in to the corridor, both Yvette and the strange man had disappeared.
    Relieved, though more than slightly curious about who that man had been, Quinn trotted back to her apartments at the other side of the castle, her tasks for the day complete. The nausea was forgotten, and the exhaustion she had felt towards the end had been replaced with an alert wakefulness, with buzzing questions rampaging around her head.

12
     
    “You look terrible, Shiver. Are you still drunk?”
    Sammah reclined in his chair exhaling smoke rings from a long draw on his pipe as the Lord of Sevenspells swayed on his feet. He was a pathetic sight, with long dark circles under his bloodshot eyes, his hair dishevelled and his white tunic blotted pink with spilled red wine.
    “I’m fine, baron.” Shiver’s words were heavy. He deliberately intoned, as if he was concentrating on pronouncing each and every word correctly. Elias had just dragged Shiver out of his bed without warning. Sammah needed to let Shiver know who was really in the dominant position in their partnership.
    “We’ve isolated one of your men, Shiver. Why are you trying to work a position on me?”
    “Men?” Shiver staggered back a step and belched. Sammah kept his face straight, taking another long toke from his pipe, exhaling yellow smoke at the blind-drunk lord.
    “One of your spies. He wasn’t what I’d call robust. Very easy to break. I hear you’re trying to position yourself against the king on revenues. Why didn’t you run this past me first?”
    Frowning, Shiver tried to form a response. “I didn’t plan this, baron. It wasn’t my idea.”
    “Aren’t you in control of what your men do?”
    Shiver bristled through his drunken haze. “I am Sevenspells. No one moves without my consent.”
    Sammah waved Elias closer into the room. “So I’ll ask you again, and this will be the last time I ask you politely. Why are you moving against the king out of our agreed position?”
    Sammah watched Shiver’s Adam’s apple work up and down, suddenly thinking it would have been a good idea to have Quinn in here. The cloud of alcohol though, he knew, would confuse what she felt in the room.
    “What the king charges in taxes has nothing to do with our agreement. This is for my people, not for you. Not against you.”
    Sammah flicked a finger up at Elias. The huge guard grabbed Shiver’s wrist, twisting the loose arm behind the lord’s back and pushing up viciously. Shiver yelled out in agony and shock as Elias pushed him down to his knees, now pulling up on the vulnerable arm to keep Shiver under control. Shiver started panting, the unexpected pain sobering him in an unexpected and unwelcome way. His eyes darted to Sammah, who was still reclined in his chair, quietly smoking from his pipe, assessing the situation.
    “You must understand Shiver, that I don’t like doing this. You are my strongest ally. I hate having to teach you lessons. But I don’t trust you, and you are doing nothing to help me change my mind. We can’t push forward with our plans, if I’m occupied with keeping an eye on you all the time. So, here’s what you’re going to do.
    “Call off your men. I’ve already got rid of one of them. I want the rest of them out of the city by sundown tonight. I don’t care what the king is taxing you. Think of the wider work here, Shiver. It’s not going to matter in the future, the little extra the king takes from you here and now. You’ll get it all back and more. You just need to start falling in line. If you can’t follow basic orders, then I will need to replace you with someone more manageable. There are others that think the same as us, Shiver. Don’t think you’re the