A Feast of Dragons - By Morgan Rice Page 0,25

so deep into drink so early in the day. It was not a holiday, at least as far she could recall. Then again, she supposed that for these people, it always was.

One man, seated at the bar, was slower to turn than the others, and when he did, his eyes opened wide at the sight of her.

“Gwen!” he called out, surprise in his voice.

Gwen hurried over to Godfrey, feeling all the emotion pouring out of her. Godfrey looked at her with real concern, stumbled up from his barstool, and hurried over to her, laying a protective arm around her.

He guided her away from the others, to a small table in the corner of the tavern. His two friends, Akorth and Fulton, kept others at bay, and created a wall for their privacy.

“What happened?” he asked, quietly and urgently, as he sat beside her. “What happened to your face?” he asked, reaching towards her cut.

Her back to all the others, she sat beside her brother, and finally felt all her emotion pouring out. Despite her best efforts, she broke down sobbing, covering her face in her hands, in shame.

“Gareth tried to kill me,” she said.

“What!?” Godfrey exclaimed, horrified.

“He sent one of his attack dogs after me. I was bathing, in King’s River. He surprised me. I should have been more vigilant. I was stupid. I was caught off guard.”

“Let me see,” Godfrey said, pulling back her hand from her scar.

He looked at her cheek, then turned and snapped his fingers at Akorth, who ran off behind the bar and returned shortly with a clean, wet rag. He handed it to Godfrey, who wiped her cheek carefully and thoroughly. The cold water stung as he did, but she was grateful for his help. He handed her the rag and she held it to her cheek.

She saw his genuine concern, and for the first time in her life, she felt a real brotherly love for him, felt proud that Godfrey was her brother, felt that he was someone she could rely on. It broke her heart that he stayed in this place.

“Why are you here?” she asked. “I looked for you everywhere, and I was told that you’d come back here. You promised. You promised your drinking days were over.”

Godfrey looked down at the table, crestfallen.

“I tried,” he said, crushed. “I really did. But the pull of drink was too strong. After today, after our failure in the servant’s quarters…I don’t know. My hopes got so high. I was sure Steffen would give us the proof we needed. But after that failed, I lost hope. I got depressed. And then I heard the news of Kendrick, and that pushed me over the edge. I needed a drink. I’m sorry. I couldn’t control it. I know I shouldn’t have come back here. But I did.”

“What news?” Gwen asked, alarmed. “What news of Kendrick?”

He looked at her, surprised.

“You haven’t heard?”

She shook her head, welling with anxiety.

“Gareth had him arrested. He’s been charged with our father’s murder.”

“What?” Gwen called out, horrified. “Gareth can’t get away with that! That is ridiculous!”

Godfrey looked down and shook his head slowly.

“He already has. He is King—he can do whatever he wants now. It is heresy to question the King’s judgment, isn’t it? And worse: Kendrick is set to be executed.”

Gwen felt a pit in her stomach. She didn’t think she could feel any worse than she had this morning. But now she did. Kendrick, who she loved more than anything, imprisoned, set to be killed. It made her physically sick to think of it, to think of him, such a fine man, wallowing away in the dungeon, and executed like a common criminal.

“We must stop it,” Gwen urged. “We can’t allow him to die!”

“I agree,” Godfrey said. “I can’t believe Gareth tried to harm you,” Godfrey said, looking really stunned.

“Can’t you?” Gwen asked. “It seems he will stop at nothing until we’re all dead. We’re all obstacles, don’t you see? We’re all obstacles in his mind. He needs us out of the way. Because we know his true nature. He is guilty of our father’s murder. And he won’t stop until the rest of us are dead.”

Godfrey sat there, shaking his head.

“I wish we could do more,” Godfrey said. “We have to stop him.”

“We both do,” Gwen answered. “We can’t wait any longer.”

“I was thinking, this morning,” Godfrey said, sitting up straight, eyes lighting with excitement, “of something that happened the other day. In the forest. I crossed paths with