King of the Bastards Read Online Free

now there was something
else
in the distance.
    “Sire,” he said. “Look.”
    Rogan squinted at the stern of the ship, shielding his eyes with
his gore-streaked hands. “Ho! Crow’s nest! What is that on the horizon?”
    The sailor perched high above directed his viewing glass to where
Rogan pointed. “Eyes of an eagle on you, my Lord. It’s a ship!”
    “I deduced that, you donkey’s ass.” Rogan spat, still getting his
breath back. “Of what kind? Whose markings?”
    The sailor concentrated and then looked down from his viewer.
“Hard to say sir, but it is moving very fast. A large galley. There are no
markings, no flag. I—” He raised his glass and looked in another direction.
“Sire! Off port! Another ship, but much smaller.”
    “Get me a looking glass,” Rogan ordered one of the sailors, who
still appeared stunned from the fight with the sea monster. The young man swiftly
vanished and then returned with a long viewer.
    Rogan looked skyward and again saw the large bird. “What is that
cursed thing up there, Javan?”
    “At first I thought it an eagle, sire, but the tips of the wings
point at strange angles like those of a bat.”
    “A bat? That size? Don’t jerk me around.”
    Wagnar, Harkon, Javan, and Captain Huxira gathered around Rogan,
watching the horizon with apprehension. The larger ship produced tiny ships off
its sides as it sailed toward them.
    Javan gasped. “It’s a mother ship.”
    Huxira leaned forward, his breath reeking of chewing leaf.
    “They are not of Olmek-Tikal. What are they, King Rogan?”
    Rogan frowned at the title given him by the descendent of
Atlantis. “The small vessels look like Pryten reavers. Notice the great speed
they exhibit and the way they harness the wind with their short sails.”
    “Prytens?” Wagnar laughed. “Pirates? Those savages could in no
way be here. Their lands lie halfway around the world.”
    Rogan’s countenance grew grim. “Those fools would have the sack,
but you’re right. It wouldn’t be possible for them to sail all this way.”
    With diplomacy, Javan said, “A Pryten reaver could survive the
journey through these hostile waters if lashed to a larger ship.”
    Frowning, Rogan considered this. He raised his glass to the sky,
seeking the bird again.
    The man in the crow’s nest called out, “They are coming right at
us!”
    Captain Huxira spat a wad of brown juice over the side of the
damaged craft. “A few pirate bastards? They will be sorry to tangle with us. Fix
bows!”
    Harkon wiped the monster’s sticky blood from his blade. “A few
dozen Pryten savages will meet a harsh fate trying to board us. I’ll send their
balls back in memory of their dead Queen Tancorix to her daughter, Andraste.”
    Despite the losses incurred during the sea beast’s attack, the
bireme sported seventy men rowing, two-dozen sailors, the two Alatervaeian
bodyguards, Javan, and Rogan.
    As the ship took to battle stations and the sailors re-armed
themselves with bows, the man in the crow’s nest sang out, “They aren’t
Prytens!”
    Again, Rogan raised his glass, muttering, “You wouldn’t know a
Pryten if you shat on one. Shut your fool mouth and abide by me.” He focused on
the men in the small vessels and his mind spun. “Donar’s balls, he’s right.
They are blacks from the dark kingdoms.”
    Javan gripped his bow. “Those savages couldn’t pilot such vessels
so far away from home any better than a Pryten. It isn’t possible.”
    “Unless they were hired, supplied, and helped. I was a pirate
amongst men such as these on the Ebony Coast in my youth. Don’t discount their
abilities based solely on the color of their skin and the gods they worship.
They are damned fierce warriors.”
    “I will take your word for it, sire.”
    “Then take my word for something else, as well. The captain was
right. That assault by the sea monster wasn’t random. Neither is this. We are
under attack and it’s anything but random.”
    “But who