The Viscount and the Witch Read Online Free Page A

fingers in the air as if trying to conjure a thought. “Let’s say—purely as an example—a merchant sets up shop across the street from an established one. The established merchant, let’s call him Bernie , doesn’t like it, so he tells the new guy, we’ll call him Andrew , to leave. Let’s say Andrew doesn’t. The next thing you know some thugs tear Andrew’s place apart and breaks his wife’s arm. Then Bernie tells the new guy—Andrew—that he needs to leave, or the next time he’ll be dead.”
    “So you’re the thugs?” Albert asked?
    “No, we…”—he looked at Hadrian—“we help the new merchant.”
    “How so?”
    “I’m a creative problem solver.”
    “You bust-up Bernie’s store?”
    “No, that would get Andrew killed.”
    “What then?”
    “I hire the same thugs to trash the store of the wealthiest merchant in town—and tell them Bernie supplied the gold. Next day someone starts an ugly rumor that ’ole Bernie is causing trouble for his competition. The story is easily confirmed because of the first incident. The wealthy merchant, we can call him Sebastian, has connections—they always do. The next day a fire burns Bernie’s shop to the ground. Unfortunately for him, Bernie’s caught in the fire having accidently fallen asleep in his shop—tied to his bed.
    “The money we paid the thugs is only half of what Andrew paid us. We pocket the rest. Once I get Hadrian schooled in the art of intimidation, we’ll make more.”
    “They shouldn’t have killed him,” Hadrian said.
    “See what I have to deal with? Problem is, you don’t get too many jobs like that. But what you said about ransom is true. There can be good money in that if you grab the right target. Even he can’t complain too much about that kind of work.”
    “Well, in return for the meal, let me offer you a bit of advice,” Albert said. “We’re just outside the City of Colnora, and if I were you, I wouldn’t pull any kind of job around here, or the Black Diamond will be after you.”
    “Black Diamond?” Hadrian asked. “Is that the city patrol?”
    Albert chuckled, and Royce shook his head, looking at Hadrian as if he had dropped his pants in public.
    “You’re not from around here?” Albert asked.
    “From Hintindar, a tiny manorial village south on the Bernum river.”
    “And you’ve never heard of the Black Diamond?”
    “I haven’t been in the area much. I’ve been away for quite a few years.”
    “Oh,” Albert said. “Well, the Black Diamond is a thieves’ guild. Some would say the thieves’ guild. The most powerful and extensive one in the world. Their headquarters is just down that road in Colnora. And like any thieves’ guild, they don’t like interlopers. If they find out you’re practicing your trade around here, they’ll track you down and slit your throats. And trust me they’ll know. The Black Diamond is not an organization to toy with. Kings have been known to bow to them rather than face their wrath.”
    “Well, I hope they catch up with that woman who stole our horses then,” Hadrian said.
    “They already know about her,” Royce said. “She was Black Diamond.”
    “What do you—” Hadrian shook his head. “You knew? I can’t believe you didn’t say anything. You just let her take our horses and all our gear?”
    “What part of ‘you need to learn a lesson’ didn’t you understand?”
    “You’re insane, do you know that?”
    “Yeah, well you’re not the first to bring it up. But there’s nothing more to be done tonight. I suggest we settle in and get some sleep.”
    Royce scrambled up to the loft and bedded down there. Hadrian continued to stare in shock after him for a minute before giving up and mounding a pile of hay near the fire. “I honestly can’t believe him sometimes.”

    The nights were still chilly and by morning there was a damp fog hanging in the air. Royce was the first one up. He got the fire going again, which surprised Hadrian as they had