King of the Bastards Read Online Free PDF Page B

Another shark brushed by him, but he barely noticed.
    Rogan blinked. “You speak madness! I haven’t bedded a black woman
since before I wed Desna, my Queen. That was decades ago.”
    “Indeed it was. Yet her son is the rightful heir to your seat.
Even now, Karac moves to assassinate young King Rohain, and to bed your
daughter, and to take what is rightfully his.”
    “What’s your name, dog?” Rogan snarled; his forearms flexing as
his grip tightened on his sword handle. “I would know before I feast on your
heart.”
    “I am Karac’s younger brother,” the man grinned. “My name is
Karza. I am the one who is about to take your life. I am also a product of your
loins.”
    Eyes narrow, Rogan hissed, “You lie.”
    “Try me and see…
father
.”
    Rogan charged Karza. The warrior fought well, easily deflecting
Rogan’s wild, angered blows. The black man was no simple pirate, but properly
trained in the methods of physical combat. He warded off the old man and then
kicked him in the stomach. Stumbling backward, Rogan crashed to the splintered
deck. His breath whooshed from his lungs. Laughing, Karza thrust at him, but
Rogan lashed out, forcing him back.
    As Rogan rose up and charged his opponent again, Javan pushed
himself out of the water and onto the boat. Swords clashed, echoing above the
screams of the sharks’ unfortunate victims.
    Javan knew that while his uncle’s fighting ability looked
deadlier than ever, his stamina would eventually wane. Karza obviously
understood this as well, and played the older warrior for time. They locked
together in a dance, stabbing and parrying, thrusting and kicking. Karza’s fist
crashed into the side of Rogan’s head. Rogan spun away, sucking in salty air
and narrowly avoiding the curved blade.
    Javan glanced down at the water. The upper half of Captain
Huxira’s lifeless body bobbed on the surface. The old man’s cheek still bulged
with a wad of chewing leaf. Javan reached out and closed Huxira’s eyes. Then he
seized a floating bow. He had three arrows left in his quiver. Removing two, he
snapped them down onto the cord of the bow and drew back.
    “Goddess,” he prayed, “guide my hand.”
    He loosed the missiles. Both arrows struck Karza in the back,
below his shoulder blades, impaling his lungs—just as General Thyssen had
taught Javan to do.
    Staggering forward, Karza raised his sword. Blood spewed from his
mouth as he coughed. Rogan renewed his attack. There was little power behind
the corsair’s defense as Rogan slapped the curved blade down and raised his
weapon again. The heavy broadsword bit into Karza’s shoulder, and both the
curved sword and the arm that held it fell into the water.
    Karza screamed.
    Rogan laughed. “Some son of mine you are, must’ve been from what
was left on the mattress.”
    Javan expected Rogan to hesitate at slaying one of his own
bastard children, but he did not. With a guttural curse, Rogan grasped Karza’s
beaded hair and removed the pirate’s head, sawing through flesh and bone, slow.
Half dead from the arrows, Javan wondered if Karza felt the sawing action meant
to torture him before death. Rogan kicked the corpse into the sea and held the
head aloft, bellowing with rage before flinging it to the sharks as well. There
was a splash, and then Karza’s head rolled upright, bobbing on the surface and
staring at them with glassy eyes.
    Panting for breath, Rogan crouched on the floating timbers,
staring at his opponent’s face. Despite the warrior’s black skin, their
profiles were the same.
    “He’ll soon sleep in a shark’s belly.” Rogan looked to the
horizon.
    “He claimed you were his father,” Javan murmured, sucking wind.
    “If he was a product of my loins…” Rogan shrugged, still watching
the horizon. “Every man can have an off night, Javan.”
    The great mother vessel sank fast and Javan picked off a pirate
trying to swim to them for salvation. Then he fished arrows out of the water to
re-supply his