Dark Heart Read Online Free PDF

to.
    ‘Swordsman!’
    A small, neatly dressed man wearing the green and white—and, unlike the other Racemen soldiers Noetos had seen, ‘white’ meant exactly that in this case—stood before Noetos, head bowed slightly, his whole demeanour screaming obsequiousness. Noetos remembered his sort, having witnessed a parade of self-serving men seeking favour from his father. They had all possessed smooth voices and smoother wits. His father had hated them.
    ‘Captain Cohamma requires your presence,’ the man said.
    ‘Tell him I’ll be at his disposal in a moment.’ Noetos made for the door of the Man-o’-War.
    ‘He also bade me tell you that your son and daughter are with him down by the floral clock.’
    Rage swamped Noetos more swiftly than an unseen wave. He placed a hand on the man’s shoulder and tightened his grip until he drew a gasp.
    ‘And why are my children not out of harm’s way, as I instructed them?’
    ‘I…forgive me, sir, you are hurting me.’
    ‘So I am,’ Noetos said agreeably, and increased the pressure slightly.
    ‘In…in Raceme, sir, all competent sword hands are required to defend the town in time of crisis.’
    The man spoke rapidly, breathing heavily through his nose. Noetos smiled. It doesn’t take much to break through the shell of your urbanity, does it?
    ‘So, when one o’ your men told the captain about your son’s skill with the blade, the captain sent me to look fer ’im.’ The cultured tones were giving way to a rougher speech. Noetos knew he was behaving badly, but did not loosen his grip. ‘His sister—please, sir!—his sister refused t’ be parted from ’im, so she was given a blade and stands beside ’im. Please, sir, let go me arm!’
    ‘Take me to them.’
    Noetos gave the man’s shoulder a shove— this is not the person you wish to push , his mind whispered traitorously—and followed him to the upturned carts and assorted furniture that served as Captain Cohamma’s defences.
    After a brief scan of the area, the fisherman realised that this would be no ordinary street battle. Raceme’s streets were wide and without cover: no force could advance on an opponent without risking decimation from hidden archers. The Lecita Stream, flanked by broad avenues, offered little cover for the Neherians. Ample evidence of failed attempts to storm Cohamma’s position littered the stream’s grassy banks and floated in the water.
    Stalemate.
    Noetos closed his eyes briefly in anger as a realisation struck him. Bregor was right, Alkuon curse the man: he had just assessed the tactical situation before seeking out his own children. Curse his upbringing.
    There they were, either side of the captain himself. Safely sheltered behind an upturned haywain. Noetos strode across the street to Cohamma. Giving Anomer a passing nod, and not quite meeting his daughter’s eye, he took the captain by the elbow.
    ‘They make no further attack?’
    ‘Nay,’ came the taciturn reply.
    Probably offended at how Noetos had walked in and taken command, though he’d obviously sent men out searching for him. Nothing for it. I’m a leader. You’ll have to reconcile yourself to that, Cohamma.
    ‘And you are agreed that their next move will be to flank us?’
    ‘Aye, that was m’ thought.’ The captain’s eyes lightened. Someone to talk tactics with.
    ‘So why is there no force posted on Suggate?’
    ‘They bayn’t landed on Ring’s Beach,’ Cohamma said. ‘No boats light enough. Suggate is safe.’
    ‘And what’s to stop them breaking out through Water Gate and flanking the entire city that way? Come on, man, I’d think of it, and so will they, if they haven’t already. We hold the line here, arrayed against what might be nothing more than a shadow force, while they enter the city through Suggate and roll it up behind us.’
    ‘Or they scale th’ wall anywhere ’long its length,’ Cohamma growled. ‘Nuffin’ we can do, son. Not enough bodies. We lost more’n half our