The Broken Pieces(26)

Silence followed. The four men looked to one another as Gregane stood perfectly still, awaiting an answer.

“It’s a trap,” Kevin said, breaking the spell.

“I can assure you it is no trap,” insisted Gregane.

“Which is what you’d say if it was a trap.”

“I will have no petty bickering,” Arthur said, turning his attention to Jerico. “He speaks of the Lion eyeing a nation of his own. What do you think he means, paladin? Why would he ask us to save him from their priests?”

Jerico’s heart hammered in his chest. He thought of how Luther had arrived with his dark paladins, priests, and mercenaries, and then crushed Sebastian’s army just when victory over Arthur was within his reach. Sebastian, who had been so loyal to Karak. But eyeing a nation of their own…

“We have to do as he says,” Jerico said. “Now.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I assume Gregane could tell us, if we let him. But Luther wants the North to himself, doesn’t he?”

Gregane nodded.

“They’ll raise their swords against you,” he said, “so long as milord Sebastian writes a will leaving all his lands and titles to the temple of Karak. If not…” He shook his head. “I don’t know what they’ll do if we refuse. But Sebastian is convinced they’ll kill him.”

“Ashhur grants me knowledge to the truth of a man’s words,” Jerico said. “Gregane does not lie.”

“Perhaps Gregane doesn’t, but Sebastian might have lied to him,” Kevin argued.

“This is preposterous,” Kaide said. “We know the temple hates Sebastian, even if we don’t know why. We saw them crush his army. Now they come for him, and he begs us to save him. I wonder, though, what happens after we’ve weakened ourselves fighting such a powerful foe? What happens when Sebastian’s forces exit the castle afterward, demanding we surrender?”

“The seal,” Kevin said. “There’s no seal on that letter. It isn’t binding. Sebastian could always claim it was a forgery even if we managed to present such an argument before the King.”

“And we’ll have killed members of Karak’s temple,” Kaide continued. “Suddenly we have dark paladins of the Stronghold swarming into the North with a vengeance, and all we’d have to protect ourselves is one lousy paladin.”

Gregane looked furious, but clearly knew his arguments carried no weight in that meeting. There was no guarantee that Gregane even knew Sebastian’s true plans. He could just be a piece in a larger game. Jerico listened to their arguments, and he knew there was a shred of truth to them. Sebastian had shown a lack of honor before in sending assassins after Arthur. But what could he have done to earn the ire of the temple? Jerico shook his head. It didn’t matter. His own talks with Luther were enough to convince him of that. He thought of Luther ruling all the people of the North, passing their laws, controlling their fates. A terrifying precedent to set.

“We can’t let this happen,” he said. “It doesn’t even matter if it’s a trap. We can’t risk it. I know the man who leads Karak’s followers. He’s brutal, and dangerous. If he’s wanting to conquer the North, then we need to take action before he can consolidate power. This is Sebastian’s only hope to stop him, the one thing he knew Luther would not expect.”

“My brother is a self-centered coward,” Arthur said. “This isn’t him.”

“Then perhaps for once he is trying to be brave. Don’t spit in his face.”

“I’ll spit in it if I damn well please,” Kaide said, his neck turning red. “I don’t care about gods, Karak, or Ashhur. I’ll even side with Jerico that Luther needs to die after what he did to my sister. But you promised me Sebastian. I have thousands of men and women, all waiting to see me hoist that tiny little shit’s head by the hair over the walls of his castle, before slamming it down on a pike. Arthur, you cannot spare the life of your brother. It’s no longer yours to spare. It’s mine now, mine alone.”

“And who are you to tell a lord what they can and cannot do?” Arthur asked.

“The man who’s filled the ranks of half your army.”

“Filled them with farmers and sheep herders. Not warriors, not real soldiers like those my bannermen bring me. Only one in ten even has a sword.”

Jerico could feel the situation spiraling out of control, and he had no idea how to stop it. What could he do to fix their distrust, especially when much of it centered on Sebastian, a man proven to be particularly untrustworthy? He begged Ashhur to give him words, because he had no idea what to say.