Oathbreaker, Book 1: The Knight's Tale - Colin McComb

though I have a good idea who ordered it. She is dead now, and naming names would serve only
to inflame passions better left to heal. And if I were mistaken, why, that would be worse.
My father’s death showed me that politics is a more dangerous battleground than the
fields of war—certainly a good deal more treacherous. By the time of his murder, however, I had
ensconced myself firmly in the military, nearly beyond the reach of his particular enemies, and
too valuable to the Empire to be punished for his sins.
I digress again.
General Hawkins was brilliant, with a knowledge of strategy and tactics so deep it was
practically instinctive. When I was permitted to remain in his tent for any length of time, I learned
more than I ever had learned in the training schools, and the more level-headed tactics of
Hawkins have led me through many a battle safely and well. He earned his nickname, though, for
he did not care if he brought suffering and destruction as long as he achieved his goal, and he
loved nothing more than to lead his troops personally so that he might taste the blood of his foes.
There were many in his staff who felt as he did, declaring that diplomacy and respect are the
battleground of the courtier, that we in the armies were simply the muscle behind the words and
should commit ourselves fully to the craft of death. That attitude led us nearly to the brink of
destruction.
I entered the army and the general staff during a time of peace, during the old king’s final
attempts at negotiations with the Siullans to the east. As the history books tell us, those attempts
were doomed to failure, and they failed not long after they began, a year into my service. The
people of both sides wanted peace, but our rulers had no heart for it. Outwardly, they called for
calm, but between themselves, they understood that the negotiations would ultimately bear no
fruit. Furthermore, the Siullan leaders understood that old King Fannon III offered them nothing
but a golden servitude. They had their pride. They answered him.
The Siullans laid explosives throughout the city of Amchester that fall. Ten thousand
died, among them the ambassador to the Siullans. Their senators denied responsibility, but both
they and we knew it was their answer to our proposition. King Fannon called upon General
Hawkins to speak to their answer.
The general mustered two of the Empire’s seven armies, and led the First and Third east
in the heavy autumn rains, creating two massive, curved pincer arms that measured over fifty
miles long from end to end. (The Second and the Fourth were both armies whose ranks brimmed
with soldiers from our eastern provinces, and we did not want their loyalty tested—we always
send warriors who have little connection to the land they'll conquer so that they do not falter at
the sight of a friend's face.) The First Army was to the north, the Third to the south. We had
Colin McComb Oathbreaker, Book 1: The Knight's Tale
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