saying. ‘My boys, they’re good lads. They work the quarry to support their mother and their sister, who’s barely more than a babe. Who’s going to put food on the table while they’re off fighting?’
Thurbal tapped a foot impatiently. The stocky grey-haired Augmentor wasn’t much for subtlety. If it were up to him, he would have thrown every likely recruit in chains and packed them off to the training camp in wagons. Barandas was fast reaching the point where he wondered if that might not be the best approach. ‘You will be provided for while your boys are away,’ he said. ‘These are dangerous times. Magical abominations roam the wilderness. We will make men out of your sons; teach them how to use a sword so that when the threat to Dorminia is over, they may return and help protect the town from the horrors that plague this land.’
The woman looked at her boys. ‘What if they don’t return?’
Barandas shook his head. ‘Then you will be compensated appropriately. We are at war. Every man must play his part.’
The youngest crossed his arms and shot Barandas a defiant look. ‘This isn’t Malbrec’s fight. Why don’t you all go back to Dorminia and leave us be? I’m sick of your bloody Magelord telling us what to do.’
His mother gasped. Her other son turned to remonstrate with his brother, but the damage was already done. Thurbal had drawn his scimitar. He dashed across to the youth and grabbed him by the throat with his free hand. ‘Listen to me, you little prick,’ he snarled. ‘You’ll fight, all right. You’ll fight as though your life depends on it – because if you don’t, I’ll cut your balls off and send them back to your dear old mum here to remind her of what a gutless little whelp she raised.’
‘You’re choking him,’ the boy’s brother protested. The lad had turned red. His mother moaned pitifully.
Before Barandas could order his deputy to release the boy, the older brother grabbed Thurbal’s arms from behind. He tried to pull the Augmentor away from his sibling – but quick as a flash Thurbal threw his elbow back to drive deep into the young man’s stomach, causing him to release his grip and double over in agony.
‘Enough,’ Barandas ordered, but the grey warrior ignored his command, stepping forwards to bring the pommel of his scimitar crunching down into the lad’s skull once, twice, and then a third time, each blow connecting with a sickening crunch. The quarryman flopped down onto the ground.
‘Enough,’ Barandas barked again, and this time his own sword was in his hand. ‘Lower your weapon. Disobey me again, Thurbal, and I’ll kill you.’
His deputy sneered back at him and waved his scimitar in the air. The pommel was covered in blood. ‘That’s right, defend these cowards,’ he spat. ‘All your softly-softly bullshit will count for fuck all when the Sumnians arrive. You know what they do to their enemies? Let me tell you—’
He didn’t get the chance. With a flick of his wrist, Barandas disarmed his subordinate and sent his scimitar spinning out of his hands to land a dozen feet away. Thurbal’s mouth dropped open in shock.
‘I told you to lower your weapon,’ said Barandas. Despite his anger he couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief. Thurbal had needed a dressing down, but his disarming of the man could very well have backfired and left him holding one half of a severed sword. That wouldn’t have done much to establish his authority over his rebellious colleague.
‘You can retrieve your scimitar when I say so.’ Barandas looked down at the fallen quarryman. Blood leaked from the top of his head and pooled on the ground next to him.
It was then that his mother started to scream.
‘Someone fetch a physician,’ he said loudly to the slack-faced onlookers. He turned to the woman and her younger son, who looked as if he was about to piss himself. ‘I am sorry for what occurred here. Come and find me when you know if he is… likely to pull through. I would see you recompensed in some way.’
He left the sobbing woman and the small crowd that had gathered behind. Reprehensible though Thurbal’s actions were, the incident had been coming ever since Barandas and his two deputies arrived in Malbrec. The town had seemingly forgotten that it was a vassal of Dorminia; forgotten that it was Salazar who kept them safe and allowed them to sleep soundly in their beds.