Free Blood Ties by Peter David

“When that bastard Logan killed him. You were there, and our ‘heroic’ ruler was there as well. And you both just stood there, the both of you utterly useless. Logan shot down the major, like a damned dog, just shot him down. And then”—and Trevor took another swig of his ale—“when there was an actual chance to get some vengeance—when Logan was called to account for his misdeeds—was there any real justice? No. Our beloved ruler gave him a free pass.”
    â€œYou think I was happy about that?” I said. “I was in favor of seeing Logan get the same treatment that he gave the major!”
    â€œYeah, but he didn’t. And what did you do? You continued to serve our bloody ruler, that’s what. That’s how much you cared about the major.”
    â€œThere were things that needed to be done, including defending Albion, in case you’ve forgotten,” I said.
    He regarded me with open disdain, and said, “Some of us managed to accomplish that deed without tossing the major to the vultures.”
    â€œLook, maybe we should just agree to disagree about this,” said Baron. He’d always fancied himself the peacemaker and a big believer in allies working together seamlessly instead of having disagreements. I appreciated the hopefulness of his thinking, but unfortunately it wasn’t always possible for the world to be that way.
    â€œDo you think it was an easy decision for our ruler to make, sparing Logan?” I said.
    â€œRoyalty sticking together, covering each other’s backsides. Yeah, that’s never happened before,” said Trevor. Much to my annoyance, there was acknowledging laughter from some of the others.
    â€œIt had nothing to do with backside covering and everything to do with the fact that Logan had plenty of troops at his command. Troops who fought alongside ours when the land was overrun by the darkness. If Logan had been killed, do you think any of his soldiers would have fallen in line? No,” I said, before Trevor or anyone else could interrupt. “They would have dispersed. They would have been useless as a fighting force. Killing Logan would have done nothing to bring back the major, but it would have ensured that thousands more would have died.”
    â€œThousands of people that I don’t give a damn about,” said Trevor.
    â€œOur ruler didn’t have the luxury of not caring about thousands of people. And maybe if it had been you who had become ruler, you might be seeing things a bit differently. Walking out in the public, under the eyes of all the people who depend on you. Yes. Yes, I think you might indeed see things differently.”
    Trevor regarded me for a good, long time. The only sound to be heard in the encampment was the crackling of the cook fires. And then, finally, to my astonishment, he lowered his gaze and shrugged. “Perhaps.”
    You have to understand that Trevor in an argument was like a dog with a bone in its mouth. Short of shooting him, he wasn’t inclined to let anything go. So for him to make such an admission was one hell of a concession. Rather than give voice to my astonishment, I just inclined my head slightly, and said, “All right, then.”
    â€œAll right, then,” said Trevor.
    Baron was visibly relieved although a few of the men around looked disappointed. Perhaps they’d been interested in easing their boredom by watching an all-out brawl erupt. How tragic that they were destined for disappointment.
    Eager to turn conversation in another direction before someone else took up the spear and threatened more trouble, I turned quickly to Baron, and said, “So do you have anything in particular you’re heading for at the moment? Anyplace that is in need of such an obviously formidable band as this?”
    â€œWell,” said Baron, “there’s the problem at Black-holm . . .”
    Immediately there were moans from the