Free The Crown of the Usurper by Gav Thorpe Page B

theoretical man, for it had not been greed that had overthrown Magilnada, nor had it been ambition that had been the cause of Anglhan's downfall. The only mistake Anglhan had made in his attempt to become his own man was that he had been too obvious in his approach.
      As he watched the governor of Ersua arguing with the blackcrest officer, Anglhan was certain that this time he had made the right choices. When he had been approached by Leraates, Anglhan had been offered overt power: agents and legions, money and an army of Brothers to do his bidding. It had been a foolish move on the part of Urikh – or whoever was acting on Urikh's behalf – because it showed Anglhan how necessary he was.
      This other, fictitious Anglhan, might also have been swayed by the desire for revenge against Ullsaard, for upsetting his earlier plans. The real Anglhan sneered at the sentimentality of revenge. If Ullsaard was to be killed, that was one thing and a pleasurable step on the road back to a superior fate, but Anglhan would not allow such sentiment to drive him. Of course, he had not let Leraates know that; the Brother was convinced that Anglhan hungered for Ullsaard's blood as a hound hungers for a bone. It was convenient to let Leraates think that Anglhan would stop at nothing to see Ullsaard slain, and to also think that in Anglhan he had found the perfect man to blame when news of the treachery against the king finally came to the surface. Anglhan knew perfectly well what Urikh had in mind. The new king wanted his hands clean of any involvement in Ullsaard's killing, and to be able to claim that he had acted in good faith on the news of his father's death, which would be revealed at a later time to be the machinations of the faithless, treacherous Anglhan Periusis.
      Anglhan wanted to laugh at the naiveté of Urikh's ploy. It was more obvious than a ten-thousand strong army marching down a road. The lure of gold and soldiers was not tempting at all, because Anglhan had no desire to leave his mark anywhere near the death of Ullsaard. In becoming governor of Magilnada, Anglhan had put himself into the view of the powerful and the ambitious men around him. That had been his mistake, not greed. This time he would work through others – Leraates and Asuhas for the moment, and ultimately the king. They would be the public face of Anglhan's private power.
      "There has been a disturbance in the lower halls," announced Asuhas, having dismissed the blackcrest captain. "It seems there has been some fighting between the Brotherhood guards and the Twenty-first."
      "As I understand it, the blackcrests are not very popular," said Anglhan. "This hardly seems to me to be pressing news."
      "While it is true that there is always tension between the Brotherhood troops and traditional legions, it is also normal for legion discipline to be maintained. There was a particular event that triggered the animosity into confrontation, and that is the cause for my concern."
      "A trigger?" asked Anglhan, not really interested. The bully boys of the Brotherhood and Captain Lutaan's men could slaughter each other for all the difference it made to the former governor.
      "It seems that some of the Twenty-first, and it is unclear how many, were masquerading as members of the brotherhood detachment. I cannot fathom why that would be the case."
      "Just stirring trouble, no doubt," said Anglhan, although now he was convinced that earlier he had not been hallucinating. That legionnaire had been old Gelthius. He hadn't seen the former debtor since Thunder Pass, but he could now see a connecting line going from what had happened between the Twenty-first and the blackcrests through Gelthius and back to Ullsaard. It was just a suspicion at the moment, but there would be records at the Brotherhood precinct that would confirm or dispel those suspicions.
      "I'm sorry, were you talking?" Anglhan said, realising that he had not been listening to Asuhas