The Betrayed by Igor Ljubuncic Page A

annexation business private for now. They do not need to know that until we have our legions in the Territories. After this war ends, there will be hard facts in the field of battle, and that’s what matters.”
    Vlad spun with sudden, mad clarity in his eyes. “But we will be stealing from the gods. Won’t the gods object?”
    Olga put the wool and needles down. She extended her arms in a hug. “Come here.”
    The king walked up to his wife, knelt, and let himself be embraced. Some of her hair caught in his crown, disturbing it. Almost panicking, he rose, readjusting it, making sure it never fell off. He would not let go of the sword either.
    “They will not object,” Olga spoke quietly, patiently, almost like a mother soothing a child after a nightmare. “But I will talk to Goddess Diana for you and ask her.”
    “Will you talk to her?” Vlad asked.
    “I will,” she said, nodding deeply.
    The mask of fury twisted her husband’s features again. “I’ll be a hero!”
    “You remember how the Safe Territories came to be, don’t you? It was a consensus. The leaders of the realms decided to protect the gods. In return, the patriarchs have agreed to speak in their favor and allay the fears of the common man. We gave them land and protection, and they gave us support. Now, we need a little bit of land, and they need some support from us. The patriarchs are smart. They will understand.”
    Vlad started pacing again. “I need to—” There was a knock on the chamber doors. He threw on a robe and turned around. “Enter!”
    A pair of children came in. Sasha and Sergei were their children, twins, almost eleven now.
    Olga looked up from her knitting. It was that time of the morning again. “Hello, children.”
    Almost mechanically, King Vlad went to a rack of swords adorning one of the walls and drew a long wooden stick from the mass of blades.
    “Sasha, you first!” the king said. The girl approached and stood before her father. He lashed. The cold, polished wood slammed into the side of her left leg with a loud, wet sound. Sasha flinched, but did not make a sound.
    “Education is important,” the king mumbled, almost in a trance.
    Sergei came second. When his father struck him, he yelped. A tear rolled down his cheek.
    “Stop crying! You embarrass the family!” Vlad roared. “Be strong, like your sister. You must be strong.”
    Whispering good-byes, the two children retreated almost as suddenly as they had come.
    “Do you think it helps?” Olga asked him for the thousandth time.
    “Definitely! It builds their character! Look at me!” He shrugged off his robe and punched his chest proudly.
    “You are the instrument of your father’s education, that’s for sure, dear!”
    Vlad harrumphed triumphantly. He resumed his irritating stroll, to and fro, to and fro.
    “Let no one say that King Vlad stood idly while the other nations clashed!” he yelled.
    “Yes, dear,” Olga said, knitting.

CHAPTER 10
     
    A rmin felt like a man falling down a bottomless pit. For the last two weeks, he had been investigating the murders of the eight council members, with very little success. The murders had no pattern and seemed random. There was little or no connection between the victims. They had shared almost no history together, had done business with one another just as often as they had done it with hundreds of other merchants. Worst of all, there seemed to be no motive whatsoever.
    The eight had been prominent citizens, yet not so prominent as to invoke fury or jealousy. They were just moderately powerful, only a bit influential, and no richer than many of their still-living-and-breathing comrades. No one could tell of any vendettas or bad blood. And although a few of them had shared some of the more exotic passions of Eybalen’s nightlife, they had not caused any great grief or scandal.
    It seemed like a dead end. But for Armin, it was pure ecstasy.
    For him, challenge was the greatest stimulant in the world. Even