Guardians of the Keep: Book Two of the Bridge of D'Arnath Read Online Free

not for pain or fear of dying. A
    stooped, middle-aged man, soberly dressed and unremarkable, was the recipient of a diatribe being laid
    on like a flogger’s cane. “How can there not be enough silver to pay the wine merchant? You’ve likely
    put it all in your own pocket. I’ll have you hanged!”
    “But my lady—”
    “Comigor is the richest hold in the Four Realms, and you are paid exorbitantly to manage it. Perhaps
    if we were to take your wage out of your flesh, you would find what’s needed.”
    “But, if you please, my lady, we have spent . . . prodigiously ... in the past year: the new furnishings,
    the gem dealer, the dressmakers. And now the roof is leaking in the west wing and the forge is unusable
    since the fire, and we cannot even hire laborers—”
    “How dare you accuse me! My husband denied me nothing, but my steward dares tell me ‘no more’?
    I suppose you would have me wear rags. I suppose I am to suffer completely.”
    “But my lady, the rents are eight months overdue.” The steward blotted his forehead with a wide
    kerchief.
    “Then get them, fool. Must I hold your hand?”
    “Duke Tomas—may blessed Annadis write his name— left instructions at the first of this year that my
    lady must see to collecting the rents, as he was to be away on the appointed day. The Lords of Comigor
    have honored their covenant with the tenants for more than five hundred years. Only the lord or a
    member of his family may receive the rents. The tenants are not permitted to deliver their coins to anyone
    else.”
    The bruised patience in the steward’s voice gave me the sense that this was not the first time for such
    an argument.
    “You insufferable prig. It was certainly not my choice to rot here while my husband went charging all
    over the Four Realms, but of course he never consulted me in this or any other matter. ‘For Gerick’s
    inheritance,’ he said. ‘To keep the vultures in Montevial from getting any ideas.’ As if I knew nothing
    about inheritance and ambition. At least he can’t pester me about it any longer. A new lord rules
    here—though he listens to me no better than his father.” The painted fan that Philomena had been
    napping like a pennant in a gale fell still, and her rosy face beamed with sudden inspiration. “Of course!
    My son can do it! He is the castle lord now. I’ll command him to collect the cursed rents.”
    The long-suffering steward replied patiently. “Until he comes of age, the young duke cannot collect
    the rents, Your Grace. He is too young to be held to account, and therefore he cannot fulfill the terms of
    the covenant.”
    Philomena uncorked a silver vial she had snatched from her bedside table, inhaled deeply, and closed
    her eyes for a moment, then motioned to one of her maids. “Even if I could escape from my bed, I would
    not spend an entire tedious day nodding and smiling to filthy peasants. I care nothing for their nasty
    children or their cows or their wheat. Find some other way to get the money. Send the soldiers. Take
    hostages. I don’t care.”
    “My lady, please . . . the dishonor of it . . .”
    The steward seemed on the brink of tears, but Philomena turned her attention to a silver-backed
    mirror a maid had brought her, instantly rapt as the girl began to brush her golden hair. The steward
    stood his ground for a few moments, but when the lady began directing the maid in how to braid her
    tresses, he bowed and slunk out of the room.
    I knew well of the Comigor Covenant. How many times had I been forced to dress in my stiffest
    clothes and sit in endless boredom beside my mother and Tomas as my father collected his rents? The
    ceremony played out like an elaborate dance figure. On the first day of every year, Covenant Day, the
    line of tenants would stretch through the great hall, across the outer ward and far into the outer bailey.
    One by one they would step forward, and my father would graciously invite the man to sit with him at