Heir to the Empire

33. The Act of Betrayal - Ethelston

The clang of the silver goblet ferociously hitting the floor of the Ravenscourt great hall was enough to make Jarendrud shudder.

"She told me this would happen, she fucking told me!" shouted Ethelston as his metallic plate followed shortly after the goblet.

Ethelston stood up and paced around the room, holding his hands upon his head in frustration.

"Who told you, my lord?" Jarendrud asked, slightly fearful of Ethelston's current state of fury.

"Erdudvyl!" Ethelston responded abruptly, "she warned me that I place to much trust in people."

"My lord, Arminell seemed like a solid choice at the time of his appointment, the other soldiers looked upon it favourably," Jarendrud responded, hoping to give Ethelston some reassurance.

Ethelston sat at the table once more, his face full of thunder. "Yet he has been working for the very people that have killed some of his own. Perhaps I should allow the guards to choose the type of execution he will receive."

Jarendrud frowned, his years of stress painted themselves on his forehead "My lord, there are a few things that you will need to consider before you go down this route if you are willing to listen to my words?"

Placing his hands on the table in front of him, Ethelston took deep breaths. It had been some time he had been this angry, and generally, a night at a brothel would help him relieve some of that stress. Though every time that thought entered his head, guilt inexplicably followed.

With that option not available to him, he recalled some techniques that he had learnt on his travels, especially from the Xu Lian province. Using some of those breathing techniques he acquired, he could feel the turmoil bursting around his mind start to ease.

"Speak." he eventually responded abruptly.

"My lord, please consider this an opportunity, not a problem, " Jarendrud explained. "Arminell will likely have most, if not all, of the names of the city guard that moonlight for the Black Knife Syndicate. With those names, we could finally have the opportunity to go on the offensive by uncovering more name, locations, people and banners."

Ethelston did not want to make it visible how much his words spoke true. Despite all of Jarendrud's explanations on espionage, it was something else that chewed away at Ethelston's mind against the idea of executing his Captain of the guard.

He had given his word not to execute anyone who came forward.

His mind was like a tempest, on one side, the sense of fury battered its way throughout, on the other hand, his sense of honour. Both were gradually eating their way through him; however, he could not go against his word.

Reaching forward, he grabbed ahold of the bottle of wine in front of him. With no goblet readily available, he drank straight from it to allow the sweet taste of grapes and sugar to ease the back of his throat. As the alcohol relaxed his mind, it also allowed him to think with less emotion.

He watched Jarendrud as he spoke, questioning whether the man, known as his spymaster, was as loyal as he made himself out to be. Keeping Arminell alive, was that all part of the Black Knife Syndicates plan, or was it an excellent opportunity that Jarendrud had developed to take them down?

These were silly thoughts, Jarendrud had always been loyal, even to his father. But then his father had eventually barely kept his life at his final days in Ravenscourt.

He drank once more, questioning himself whether he knew who to trust. As a mercenary, life was simple; you were out for yourself and out for the money. Betrayal was all part of the day job. A few slit throats or cut ears later and problems were generally resolved. It was impossible to run Ravenscourt with that type of mindset.