Chronicles of Den'dra - Spencer Johnson Page 0,176

effortlessly. Urake waited until they had disappeared over the edge of a rise before unwrapping Oscarion and cutting his ankle bindings. At first the man stared stupidly about, blinking his eyes and squinting. This changed rapidly as Urake seized a handful of slush and began scrubbing his face vigorously.

“Thundering fool! Unhand me at once! My father will have your head for laying a finger on me.”

“Your father is dead if you don’t remember.” Oscarion was still squinting, but he fastened his gaze on Urake and tried to arrogantly smile. The effect was made humorous by the red crease left by a fold in the blanket he had been wrapped in.

“That is right. That murdering elf whore killed him. That also means that I am Lord Loneka. Unbind me or your life will be forfeit.” This time, Oscarion managed a haughty air to his voice.

“Look around you boy, see any wolf sigils?” Urake growled before waving at Emeck and Tusul to continue.

“Hold your place knaves, I will have an explanation at once.”

“Go on, this brat will be following shortly under his own power even if I have to thrash him for every step.” This elicited some chuckling from Emeck and Tusul before they continued. Oscarion was properly horrified and struck speechless for a moment.

“You wouldn’t dare lift a finger against the Lord of house Loneka!”

“I would, just try me you traitorous dog.” Urake’s tone was enough to get Oscarion stumbling on awkwardly, trying to keep an eye on Urake and the snow ahead.

“I am not the traitor. You are the one committing treason. I am to wed the princess and be the king of the Braebach.”

“I very much doubt that you will be marrying any princess, however the truth will soon vindicate itself. We are going to visit the Princess so this should all resolve itself shortly… I hope.”

“You take me for a fool! This isn’t the way to Shienhin. There is no snow on the road. By my estimate, we are in the highlands. They have snow there all the year around. How you managed to get me this far is a wonder, that much I have to give you credit for. Name your price.”

“Name my price? Why?” Urake narrowed his eyes enough to keep Oscarion from pausing to negotiate.

“Loneka is the wealthiest house in the Braebach. You took me for ransom. What is your price?” Oscarion attempted to negotiate while walking but found it difficult.

“Safrym was the wealthiest house.”

“What does that have to do with my ransom?” Oscarion demanded abruptly.

“Only this, your grandfather betrayed house Safrym to Illiad. I saw that he didn’t live long to enjoy the fruits of that betrayal; however, it would seem that poor foresight was hereditary.” Urake breathed a sigh of relief when topping the next rise revealed a line of trees the marked the edge of the Heights.

“I won’t listen to a common bandit impugn the name of my house. Hear me? I will not take another step until this is settled.” Oscarion turned and planted his feet stubbornly. Urake smiled ruefully before striking the lordling in the middle of his chest with an open handed punch. It was still enough force to send him skidding over backwards and gasping for breath like a fish out of water.

“I warned you what would happen if you tried me.” Urake spoke with a dangerously quiet voice as he pulled Oscarion up by the front of his jacket. The lordling walked a few paces before unwisely trying to pick up negotiations again.

“I don’t believe that my house has the dishonorable past that you ascribe to it, but with that aside, how much do you want for my ransom?”

“House Loneka pillaged and looted when Safrym fell. A large portion of Loneka’s wealth was Safrym’s.” Oscarion’s eyes widened and his nose flared in anger, although he had enough sense to not argue again.

“Why do you care so much about this Safrym and what does it matter if a little of the gold in my ransom came from Safrym?”

“A little? Loneka raped, pillaged, and burnt m… Safrym’s estates. No other house was so foul in their dealing. Even the houses that had opposed Safrym from the beginning censured Loneka.”

“How can you dare say such things? You weren’t there!” Urake shook his head sadly and smirked slightly on seeing the rage spring into Oscarion’s eyes.

“I was there, a banner man to Lord Ermor.” The rage died a little and was replaced by a morose silence as Oscarion tried to puzzle