Exploitable Weaknesses by Brian Keller (red queen free ebook txt) 📗

for the night. He continued walking westward. Perhaps he could reach the edge of the Forest by morning.

A few hours after dark, he could see the glow of a few cooking fires to the north, well off the road. He considered approaching them, perhaps offering to share his rabbits in exchange for a place near one of their fires, or simply sneaking in and stealing a bundle of wood and kindling. He decided against both options. Even if the men around the fires didn’t detect him, any horses they had surely would. And a horse could easily give him away as he neared the campsite. Since he had no idea what allegiances these men might have, it simply wasn’t worth approaching. He wasn’t starving yet, just getting hungry, and by tomorrow he’d be surrounded by more firewood than he could carry.

It was still a few hours before dawn when he reached the edge of the forest. Even in the darkness, he could see well enough to gather an armload of fallen branches as he moved amongst the trees and deeper into the Forest. Once he felt he was far enough away from the road, he dropped the firewood, set his gear on the ground, and started whittling one of the sticks he’d picked up, making a pile of wood shavings.

Once he’d gotten a fire started, he cleared the space immediately surrounding the flames and then cut a few green sticks to use for spits to skewer the rabbits. He then busied himself between adding more fuel to the fire, remaining careful to keep the fire small, and turning the spits to evenly roast the meat. He had no cup to catch the drippings, so he had no means to baste the meat. As a result, it came out quite dry. It filled his stomach just the same and he let the fire slowly die out as he slept. He was chilled but contented.

Chapter 3

It took him three days to find Utsef, or more accurately put, to be found by Utsef. In that time, Cooper had hunted a deer and dressed it out. He then built a much larger fire than he needed and roasted almost an entire shoulder of venison over it. As it cooked, he scraped and prepared the deer hide for tanning. He didn’t know how long he’d need to stay in the Forest before returning to Paleros. He expected he’d want warmer clothing before too much longer, so it would be best to get started immediately.

He’d filled his belly and was adding a few more branches to the fire, to keep the flames bright, when he realized that the fire had done the job as he’d expected it would. Utsef stepped into the small clearing that Cooper had chosen for his campsite. The woodsman greeted him with a nod, then turned his head and spoke over his shoulder to the Forest behind him, “Lower your arrows. It’s Cooper.” A disembodied voice from the trees pierced the darkness, “Cooper?!?” In moments, Loryn scrambled into view and rushed toward him. He managed to rise in time to greet her as she wrapped her arms around him. She stepped away, slightly self-conscious, “What are you doing here?” Her eyes swept the edge of the clearing, “Are you here alone? We circled around and couldn’t find anyone else.” Cooper let his head hang in response. He took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh. He raised his head and looked at Utsef, “Call everyone in and get warm by the fire. I have much to tell you.”

Over the next ten minutes he quickly summarized recent events, starting with, “The Guild has been raided by the Army, aided by the City Watch. Our members have been killed, captured, or driven into hiding. Jarell was the primary traitor in our midst but he was being assisted by none other than Master Vorni. Master Loril killed Master Vorni a few weeks ago and Jarell is dead.” Utsef interrupted only long enough to ask, “Are you sure Jarell is dead?” Cooper nodded, “I pierced his heart with my own blade.” Technically, this was true and Cooper needed to claim that kill simply to avoid explaining what had actually happened in the Ruins. He wasn’t prepared to have that conversation with anyone.

He also explained the growing influence of the drugs that Lukasi traders had been bringing in, and added his suspicions, “With the Guild gone, the slavers from Lukasi will be free to expand throughout the city. I expect that the City Watch will be completely unable to handle the matter, and the Army would destroy half the city if they’re called upon to take care of it.” Utsef nodded, “And what do you believe will be done about it? In the Guild’s absence?” Cooper had been considering this for the last few days, if for no other reason than to distract himself from everything that had happened. He phrased his reply carefully, “I would predict one of two potential outcomes, neither of which is favorable to us. First, and the most likely, the Prince will direct the City Watch, augmented by select units of the Army to address the growing problem. I believe that the Lukasi slavers will be able to expand faster than the Watch can control. Success or failure depends on how quickly the slavers can consolidate their gains and establish their own networks. The second option, and still a likely response, would be for the Prince to direct the Royal Spymaster to develop a secret police. There are several problems and challenges inherent to this option, and that is why I feel it is a less likely response than the first one I’d mentioned.” Utsef’s students looked around amongst themselves, as if to see whether anyone had anything else to add. Eventually all eyes settled on Utsef. The Master Assassin, normally quite cheerful, appeared distraught and seemed lost