The Hallowed Isle Book Four Read Online Free PDF Page B

the people on whom they have preyed.”
    There was blood on his blade, but it seemed to him he could feel a hum of satisfaction from the sword. Carefully he wiped it and slid it into the sheath once more. When he looked up, he met Medraut’s considering gaze.
    He says he will not make me his heir , thought Medraut, watching the high king as he took his place on the bench the monks had set out for him, but why has he brought me along on this journey if not to show me what it is to be a king?
    Gaining Artor’s throne was not going to be easy. The gash where the arrow had nicked his arm throbbed dully and he adjusted the sling to support it, remembering the first shock of pain, and the next even more disturbing awareness that the arrow had come from behind. He had said nothing to Artor, for he could prove nothing. But the psychic defenses honed by years with Morgause had snapped back into place like a king’s houseguard. It was only when he felt that familiar wary tension return that he realized that traveling with his father, he had begun to let them down.
    The fort at Bremetennacum had fallen into ruin, but the townsfolk here had managed to maintain their ditch and palisade. Perhaps the reason was the rich bottomlands of the valley and the river with its easy access to the sea. The land was good here, and so was the trade, but that only made the place a more attractive target for raids. The magistrates who had been seated on their own benches beside him gazed sourly around them, torn between gratitude to the king for capturing the robbers and resentment of the pace at which they were required to deal with them.
    They had sentenced the leaders to hang, but the remainderthey enslaved, arguing that it was justice that those who had stolen the fruit of others’ labors should be denied the use of their own. As the last of the prisoners was marched off to death or servitude, the townsmen straightened, anticipating the feast that had been prepared to honor their visitor.
    But Artor was not yet done with them.
    â€œWe’ve cleared out one nest of vermin, and you and your goods will have safe passage to Mamucium and Deva—for a time. But what happens when some other ruffian decides to settle in? I cannot be everywhere, and who will protect you then?”
    â€œWe are merchants and farmers, lord, not fighting men—” one of the magistrates said sullenly. He gestured in the direction in which the prisoners had gone. “If we were, do you think we would have suffered that lot for so long?”
    â€œIf you cannot defend yourselves, then I will have to appoint you a protector . . .” the king said slowly. “Is that what you desire?”
    â€œOh, my lord—” Another man looked up eagerly. “Indeed it is! He and his men can stay at the old fort, and—”
    Artor’s features creased in a sardonic smile, as if he had heard this before. “And who will rebuild it? And what will they eat? An ill-fed man cannot swing a sword—”
    â€œBut you— We supposed—” The magistrates wilted beneath his glare.
    â€œI will give you Paulinus Clutorix, a veteran of the Saxon wars, and three experienced men.”
    â€œBut that’s not enough—”
    â€œVery true,” Artor continued briskly. “He will take on more, enough to mount a regular patrol, and he will drill every man of fighting age in this valley in the use of arms so that when the time comes to go after a band of outlaws, or you see yon river bobbing with Irish coracles, you’ll have a force sufficient to deal with them.”
    The town fathers were frowning. Their reluctance seemed strange to Medraut, who had grown up among a warrior people who had never been forbidden by the Romans to bear arms. But he could see that some of the younger men weregrinning. He had seen his father fight the day before. Now, he was seeing how Artor ruled.
    â€œAnd there will be a levy,