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x The woods went still.
Carter’s wet, thin gasps sounded horribly loud, like a man drowning on dry land.
Soon even that stopped.
Only blood kept falling to the ground.
“Lord Greenhand!” Todd’s furious voice cut through the trees.
“Do you know what you have done?” Gavin and the others moved at once to block him.
Samwell saw the knight coming hard and fast, and knew this was the moment when any show of fear would ruin him.
So he stepped forward instead of back.
“Todd Flowers!
What do you think you are doing?
You dare draw steel on me?” Todd’s sword had come halfway from its sheath.
It stopped there.
He took another step.
“Do you truly not know what Carter did?” The knight’s mouth moved, but no answer came.
Samwell advanced again.
“Do you not know why I killed him?
Will you swear before the Seven that you knew nothing of what he did?” Pressed step by step, the bastard knight lost the force with which he had entered the clearing.
His sword remained caught in the sheath, neither drawn nor returned.
Samwell felt the danger pass.
If Todd had not drawn his blade in that first rush of anger, he would not draw it now.
Only then did Samwell become aware of his own heartbeat hammering in his chest, and of the sick heat rolling in his stomach.
He hid his trembling hands behind his back and forced his face to stay cold.
It was the first time he had killed a man.
Risky or not, Carter had to die.
If he lived, Samwell would lose command of the expedition.
Worse, he would lose command of his own life.
That was not something he would accept.
The knight slowly mastered himself.
He looked at Carter’s body hanging from the tree, and anger rose in him again, tangled with something he did not want to name.
Fear.
Over the past month, he had learned that the castoff eldest son of House Tarly was not useless.
He had not known the man could be this ruthless.
He took a breath and let go of his sword hilt.
“Lord Greenhand, even if Carter offended you first, you should not have killed him.
My men will be angry.
Angry men may not be willing to help you settle new lands.
Some may come looking for trouble.
We are in the wilderness, not behind castle walls.” His tone turned almost light.
“That is simple enough.
Tell them Carter fell into a bandit trap and died.” The knight gave a short, humorless laugh.
“My lord, as a knight, you should know honesty is a virtue.” “Is it?” Samwell’s mouth curved.
“Then, honest Ser Todd, tell me this: why did Lady Olenna truly send you with me?” Todd went still.
Samwell smiled.
“If you will not say it, I will.” The knight looked at him, disbelief plain in his eyes.
Samwell stepped close and lowered his voice to a single word.
“Pirates.” Todd’s eyes widened.
His breathing changed.
He knew he had guessed right.
“Would you like to know how I worked it out?” Todd said nothing, but curiosity betrayed him.
“You are a bastard of House Redwyne, are you not?” After a moment, he answered.
“Yes.
My father is Ser Desmond.” That was no great secret, and not difficult to guess.
Lady Olenna had been born a Redwyne of the Arbor.
Sending a Redwyne bastard to follow him south made sense.
“When Lady Olenna suggested this place for my settlement,” Samwell said, “I had one question.
How is the new domain supposed to live?” Todd’s expression shifted.
“The land along the Red Mountains is poor.
It will not feed itself well by grain or herd.
It is not Casterly Rock with gold beneath its feet.
So what are my people meant to do?” He gave a soft laugh.
“Lady Olenna told me the coast would allow trade.
With what?
Stones?” He pointed south, though the map existed only in his mind.
“Then I noticed where she had placed me.
Near the mouth of the Torrentine.
The lands along that river, from Starfall toward High Hermitage and Blackmont, are Dornish.
The southern end of the Redwyne Straits lies close as well, and one of the busiest sea routes into Dorne passes nearby.” Todd’s face tightened.
“Dornish merchant ships on the sea.
Dornish traffic on the river.
A poor lord with armed men and no clean way to feed them.” Samwell looked at him.
“Am I meant not to understand what Lady Olenna wants?” The knight could no longer hide his unease.
“And then there is you,” Samwell continued.
“A man of Redwyne blood.
The Arbor has no shortage of ships or sailors.
If this little business is exposed, the blame falls on me, the chartered lord in the mountains.
House Tyrell and House Redwyne keep their hands clean.” He lowered his eyes.
Samwell sighed and set a hand on his shoulder.
“Have you considered what happens to you if it fails?
You may not be the first name condemned, but do you think your reputation survives?” The knight said nothing.
Samwell’s voice softened.
“I am the waste my family threw away.
You are a bastard no one meant to raise too high.
We are the same kind of men, Todd.
Lady Olenna’s plan gambles with both our futures.
Are you truly content to be the puppet on her strings?” Todd looked up and gave a cold smile.
“Do we have a choice?
If I do not gamble, how do I rise?
And you—do you truly believe you can settle those lands without House Tyrell?” “That is why we should work together.” Samwell tried to put an arm around his shoulders.
Todd stepped aside.
“We are working together now,” he said.
“Settling new lands.” “You know I mean more than that.” “I know.” Pain flickered through Todd’s eyes.
“But we have no better road.
You said it yourself.
The land is poor.
If we do not do what Lady Olenna wants, what way out do we have?” “A lawful one.” His head snapped up.
“What way?” Samwell smiled.
“If you want to know, swear fealty to me first.” Todd snorted and did not move.
Samwell was not disappointed.
If Todd had dropped to one knee after a few clever words, that would have been worth less than silence.
Samwell had no land yet, no castle, no wealth that was truly his.
A Redwyne bastard would not bind himself to such a man so easily.
The words, the trap, Carter’s death: all of it had been meant to shake Todd.
More than that, it had been meant for the old woman behind him.
Lady Olenna would hear of this.
He kept smiling.
“Think on it.
You can gamble your name and future on an unlawful scheme, or you can follow me in building something that earns coin in the open.” He turned and led his men back toward camp.
Todd Flowers remained beneath the trees, staring into the dark.
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS TheDevotedReader I hope you enjoyed this chapter.