Ranger's Apprentice 3 & 4 Bindup Read Online Free PDF Page A

yesterday’s breakfast spilt upon it … that such a person doesn’t deserve to be King of this fair land?’ he asked. The wagoner mumbled and shifted in his seat, unwilling to make eye contact.
    The tavern keeper jerked his head almost imperceptibly towards the back entrance of the building. His wife looked away to it, then back to him, her eyebrows raised in a query. ‘The Watch,’ he mouthed carefully and saw understanding dawn in her eyes. Stepping quietly, and still out of the Ranger’s line of sight, she crossed the back room and let herself out the rear door, closing it behind her as silently as she could manage.
    For all her care, the latch made a slight click as it fell into place behind her. The Ranger’s eyes snapped around to the tavern keeper, suspicious and questioning.
    â€˜What was that?’ he demanded and the tavern keeper shrugged, rubbing damp palms nervously on his stained apron. He didn’t try to speak. He knew his throat was far too dry to form words.
    For a fleeting moment, he thought he saw a flash of satisfaction in the other man’s expression, but he dismissed the thought as ridiculous.
    As the minutes dragged by, the Ranger’s insults and slanders of King Duncan grew more vivid and more outrageous. The landlord swallowed nervously. His wifehad been gone ten minutes now. Surely she must have found a detachment of the Watch? Surely they should be arriving here any minute, to remove this dangerous man and stop this treasonous talk?
    And, even as he framed the thought, the front door banged back on its hinges and a squad of five men, led by a corporal, forced their way into the dimly lit room. Each of them was armed with a long sword and a short, heavyheaded club hanging at his belt, and each wore a round buckler slung across his back.
    The corporal appraised the room as his men fanned out behind him. His eyes narrowed as they made out the figure hunched at the table.
    â€˜What’s going on here?’ he demanded and the Ranger smiled. It was a smile that never reached his eyes, the tavern keeper noticed.
    â€˜We were talking politics,’ he said, his words laden with sarcasm.
    â€˜Not what I heard,’ the corporal replied, thin lipped. ‘I heard you were talking treason.’
    The Ranger’s mouth formed an incredulous O and his eyebrows arched in mock surprise.
    â€˜Treason?’ he repeated, then looked curiously around the room. ‘Has someone here been telling tales out of school then? Is someone here a tell-tale tit, whose tongue should be … split!’
    It happened so quickly that the tavern keeper barely had time to throw himself flat behind the bar. As the Ranger spat out the last word, he had somehow scooped up the longbow from behind him and nocked and fired an arrow. It slammed into the wall behind the spot where thetavern keeper had been standing a second before, and buried itself deep into the wood panel, quivering still with the force of its impact.
    â€˜That’s enough …’ the corporal began. He started to move forward but, incredibly, the Ranger had another arrow nocked already. The dully gleaming broadhead was aimed at the corporal’s forehead, the bow was drawn and tensed. The corporal stopped, staring death in the face.
    â€˜Put it down,’ he said. But his voice lacked authority and he knew it. It was one thing to keep dockside drunks and rowdies in line, another entirely to face a Ranger, a skilled fighter and a trained killer. Even a knight would think twice about such a confrontation. It was way beyond the capabilities of a simple corporal of the Watch.
    Yet the corporal was no coward and he knew he had a duty to perform. He swallowed several times, then slowly, slowly, raised his hand to the Ranger.
    â€˜Put … down … the … bow,’ he repeated. There was no answer. The arrow remained centred on his forehead, at eye level. Hesitantly, he took a pace