New chapter!
Thanks for all the support!
x The three sons of Shadowcat Fang had been ready to die bravely.
Then Samwell gave them a chance to live.
No one wanted death when life stood close enough to touch.
If he had ordered all three killed, they could have gone proudly, with curses in their mouths and courage on display.
But when he said only one would die and the other two would walk free, courage became harder.
The three warriors lowered their heads and said nothing.
“Well?” Samwell asked.
“Have the three brave brothers decided?” Silence.
He gave a small, contemptuous shake of his head.
“Then let us make it simpler.
Who first proposed the attack on my settlement?
Let him bear the guilt.” Still silence.
“What is this?
Three warriors, and not one of you dares speak the truth?
If none of you answer, I will choose at random.” “It was Keman,” Kemu said quietly.
Samwell’s mouth curved.
“Which one is Keman?” He did not need the answer.
The youngest brother was already glaring at Kemu.
“You want me dead that badly?” Kemu avoided his eyes.
“It was your plan.” “And all three of us agreed to it.
Why should I carry it alone?
It is only death.
Let us die together if we must.” Samwell spoke lightly from the side.
“That would be wasteful, Keman.
Someone should carry on your family’s blood.
So.
Is it decided?
Keka, you are the eldest.
Speak.” Keman looked to his elder brother.
Keka kept his head lowered.
The youngest brother gave a bleak smile.
“You too, brother?” Keka remained silent.
“Silence is consent.” Samwell drew his sword and stepped behind Keman.
“Your brothers have chosen you.” Keman ignored the blade approaching from behind.
He kept staring at Keka and Kemu, as if trying to see the truth of them before he died.
The sword fell.
Keman felt no pain.
Instead, the rope around his wrists loosened.
He turned, stunned.
Samwell had cut his bonds.
“I have changed my mind,” Samwell said.
“Only one of you may live.” He tossed the sword at the brothers’ feet.
At the beginning, such a trick would have failed.
The three of them would never have turned on one another so easily.
Now the ground had shifted.
The sword had barely struck the dirt before Kemu lunged for it.
Betrayal, once begun, found its next step easily.
But Kemu was still bound hand and foot.
He could not beat Keman, whose hands were free.
“Brother,” Kemu pleaded, forcing a smile as the sword point rose toward his chest.
“Listen to me.
I only spoke the truth.
The one who wants you dead is that cursed lord.
This is his trap.
He forced me.
He forced—” The sword went through his heart.
Kemu died by his younger brother’s hand.
Samwell clapped once, slow enough that it might have been praise or mockery.
Then he pointed to Keka.
“One more.” Keman pulled the blade free and went to his eldest brother.
His voice came out hoarse, as if dragged up from the grave.
“Brother.
Look at me.” Keka kept his head down.
“Look at me!” The shout tore from Keman like the cry of a wounded beast.
Keka finally looked up.
His gaze went first to Samwell.
Samwell met it without flinching.
“You are a demon,” Keka said through his teeth.
“The demon was already in you,” Samwell answered calmly.
“I only brought it into the light.
Three brave brothers.
Bonds of blood.
All lies thin enough to tear with one finger.
You call lords false and do not see your own falsehood.” “Look at me,” Keman rasped again.
Keka turned to him at last.
Shame sat plain in his eyes.
“Did you want me to die?” Keman asked.
Keka did not answer that.
Instead, he spoke with sudden sincerity.
“Kill me.
Then run as far as you can.
Do not think of revenge.
He knows how to turn men against themselves.
You will never beat him.” “You have no right to tell me what to do.” Keka sighed, closed his eyes, and lifted his chin.
Keman’s face twisted through hesitation, grief, hatred.
In the end, he drove the sword into his brother’s chest.
Hot blood sprayed across him.
Keman staggered back and stood still, as if he had turned to stone.
Samwell’s voice cut through the silence.
“Good.
I keep my promise.
You are free.
Return to your father and tell him this: I do not enjoy slaughter.
I would rather have submission than ruin.
If he is willing to bow, let him come to me, and I will accept the people of Shadowcat Fang as my subjects.
If he refuses, he had better have enough warriors left to stop my swords.” Keman did not move.
“What?
Afraid to return?
Do not worry.
If you do not stand against me again, I will not tell your tribe how your brothers died.” Keman finally lifted his head.
His face was covered in blood.
His features had not changed, but the man looking out through them seemed different.
“My lord, I do not think my father will submit.” Samwell raised an eyebrow.
“Why?
Does Shadowcat Fang still have enough warriors?” “No.
Those warriors are dead or your prisoners.
The rest have had their courage broken.
But my father will not submit because submission would mean death for him.” “Death?” “Reach lords would kill him.” Samwell understood.
“He harmed a noble of the Reach?” “Yes.
When he was young, he raided beyond the mountains and killed a member of House Hightower.” That explained it.
With the Hightowers’ influence in the Reach, even Samwell might not be able to protect the chieftain.
“Why tell me this?” “Because my father will not submit.” Keman lowered himself to the ground.
“But I will.” He crawled to Samwell’s feet and pressed his forehead against his boot.
“My lord, Keman swears himself to you.
Let me be the sword in your hand.
Let me clear every obstacle from your path.
May the gods witness me.
If I break this oath, let my blood run dry.” Samwell looked down at the back of the wild man’s head, thoughtful and amused.
After a moment, he said, CREATORS’ THOUGHTS TheDevotedReader I hope you enjoyed this chapter.