Free The Broken World by J.D. Oswald Page B

war, my lady,’ he said.
    ‘War? Invasion more like. And just why do you need to wage this war anyway? What did we ever do to your precious Twin Kingdoms that you have to murder innocents?’
    ‘There have been three separate assassination attempts on Queen Beulah since she ascended to the throne less than a year ago. All of them can be traced directly back to King Ballah. If your king wasn’t so keen on toppling our rightful monarch and putting his puppet in her place, we wouldn’t have to do everything in our power to stop him.’
    Lady Gremmil turned away from him, not answering his accusation. He gazed at the back of her head as she stared out the window again. His captains would start reporting in soon. The town was taken; it was just a matter of mopping up.
    A scuffle in the hall outside dragged both his and Lady Gremmil’s attention to the door. It was kicked open, and Captain Osgal strode in, dragging another man by the scruff of his neck. He paid no heed to the lady, but hauled his captive up to the table where Melyn sat, then threw the man to the floor.
    ‘I found him hiding in the stables. Thought you might want to talk to him before I cut off his head, sir.’
    Melyn looked down at the cowering figure. He had grey hair and wore an expensive cloak. His fingers were covered in fine jewels, which flashed in the pale light from the window as he held his hands over his head.
    ‘Well, this is a surprise. I didn’t think to see you again so soon.’
    The grey-haired man looked up at Melyn’s voice. Duke Dondal had managed to avoid injury so far, which only confirmed the inquisitor’s low opinion of him. Unlike Lord Gremmil, who had led his men against an army of shadows, trying to buy time for messengers to escape the city.
    ‘Inquisitor Melyn? But how—’ Dondal struggled to his feet, but Osgal floored him again with a well-placed boot.
    ‘You stay on the floor in front of His Grace.’
    ‘I had hoped we might run into each other eventually, Dondal. I’m anxious to hear how you managed to keep your head after plotting against your king. After introducing an assassin into his royal palace.’
    ‘I had no choice, Melyn. The plot was uncovered before I even arrived in Tynhelyg. My only option was to persuade Ballah my plan had always been to hand the boy over to him.’
    ‘How very convenient for you. And I suppose you gave Ballah all my gold as well. That might have convinced him of your loyalty. Not much consolation for poor old Errol though. Mind you, he fooled us all.’
    ‘Errol? Errol who?’
    Melyn looked up in surprise. He wanted Lady Gremmil
to witness all he did in the castle, so that she could report back to Ballah, but he hadn’t anticipated any questions from her.
    ‘He’s of no concern to you. Just a spy.’
    ‘Oh, so not the Errol Balch we found near death on the king’s road then. Only he was a spy, of sorts.’
    ‘Errol … Balch?’ Melyn looked straight at Lady Gremmil, picking out images and memories from her mind. She was remembering a young man with long black hair and an earnest expression. She cared about his well-being for some unaccountable reason. So he had passed through Gremmil. Melyn wondered what had become of the dragon. ‘He’s calling himself Balch, is he? How amusing. I wonder if he knows. Tell me, when did you last see him?’
    ‘It must have been a week ago. Just before Dondal arrived. He said he was carrying a message to the king about a possible invasion from the north. It would seem he was right about that.’
    ‘The boy’s still alive? I thought Queen Beulah had killed him,’ said Dondal, first staring at Melyn, then at Lady Gremmil, then back at Melyn.
    ‘So did she. But Errol’s proved himself quite hard to kill on more than one occasion now. We can talk about him later. Right now I want to know how Ballah has deployed his armies in the south.’
    ‘And why would I tell you that? Assuming, that is, I know anything about it.’
    ‘Oh come now,